FIVE APPLE PRODUCTS THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE

Apple II When it was released:

June 10, 1977

Original retail price:

$1,298 for 4k of memory and $2,638 for 48k of memory

What it did:

Along with two other consumer-friendly, ready-to-use systems that came out that summer – the Commodore PET 2001 and the Radio Shack TRS-80 – The Apple II helped shape our view of what a personal computer could be.

Why it was important:

The computer industry didn’t take consumer products seriously in 1977. That changed quickly. More important, the Apple II launched Apple down the road to even more innovations.

Most recent version:

Apple halted production on the IIE in November 1993.

Macintosh When it was released:

Jan. 24, 1984

Original retail price:

$2,495 with 128k of memory and no hard drive at all

What it did:

Introduced the graphical interface to consumer computing. Users clicked and pointed, dragged and dropped.

Why it was important:

The Mac puported to be “the computer for the rest of us.” If you didn’t want to code and didn’t want to be a programmer – you just wanted to get work done – then the Mac was your machine. Macs were – and are – especially loved by graphic designers. This newspaper page was written and designed with a Mac ... and edited on an ipad.

Most recent versions:

Mac Pro: Dec. 10, 2019, Mac Mini: Nov. 17, 2020, imac M1: May 21, 2021

ipod/itunes When it was released:

Oct. 23, 2001

Original retail price:

The first ipods sold for $299 and $399

What it did:

Revolutionized the music world. Sales of music CDS sank as illicit music trading took off. itunes proved there was still a market for reasonably priced singles (99¢, at the time) and gave record companies a place where they could sell them.

Why it was important:

For the first time, music fans had a portable and easily customizable way to store and listen to their collections of digital music. Apple ported itunes over to PC computers in 2003.

Most recent version:

ipod Touch 7: May 28, 2019

iphone When it was released:

June 29, 2007

Original retail price:

$599 for an 8 GB model

What it did:

“Apple is going to reinvent the phone,” Steve Jobs said at the launch of the iphone. That’s pretty much what happened. Cellphones gave way to “smartphones” with touch screens and internet access that retained nearly all the function of the popular ipod.

Why it was important:

Within a year, the iphone accounted for 39 percent of Apple’s business. Apple was no longer a computer company. It was now a consumer electronics company.

Most recent versions:

iphone 13, iphone 13 Mini, iphone 13 Pro and iphone 13 Pro Max: Sept. 24, 2021

ipad When it was released:

April 3, 2010

Original retail price:

$629 for a 16 GB model and $829 for a 64 GB model

What it did:

Way back in 1983, Jobs told a design innovation conference: “We want to put an incredibly great computer in a book that you can carry around with you and learn how to use in 20 minutes.” It took Apple 27 years to pull it off.

Why it was important:

The ipad represented the ultimate in portability. It was great for use in a car, on a plane or in the waiting room at your doctor’s office. Other manufacturers have scrambled to follow Apple’s lead.

Most recent versions:

ipad Air 4: Oct. 23, 2020, ipad 9 and ipad Mini 6: Sept. 24, 2021