The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and distinctive aluminium, minimalist designs. They are popular among students, creative professionals, and software engineers. The current Mac lineup includes the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, as well as the iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro desktop computers. All Macs run the macOS operating system.
The first Mac was released in 1984 under the name Macintosh, and was advertised with the now-famous 1984 ad. Over the years, the Mac has undergone four major transitions: from Motorola 68000 to PowerPC processors, from Classic Mac OS to Mac OS X, from PowerPC to Intel x86 processors, and from Intel to Apple silicon processors. Since 2020, Macs have used the same ARM-based Apple silicon architecture as iOS devices. Critics have praised the performance and power efficiency of Macs with Apple silicon chips.
History
edit1979–1997: First Macintosh and first post-Jobs era
editThe Macintosh was conceived in 1979 by computer scientist and Apple employee Jef Raskin. Raskin wanted to create an easy-to-use, low-cost computer for the average consumer, and named the computer after his favorite type of apple, the McIntosh. The Macintosh project started as a small team consisting of Raskin, hardware engineer Burrell Smith, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. In 1981, Steve Jobs, who had been removed from the Apple Lisa team by Apple CEO John Sculley, took over the Macintosh team after Wozniak went on temporary leave due to a plane crash.
In 1983, Apple licensed the rights to the Macintosh name from audio equipment manufacturer McIntosh Laboratory, and in 1986, the company bought the trademark outright. The first Macintosh was unveiled in 1984 and was the first successful personal computer to feature a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI). Jobs was partially inspired by Xerox PARC, an R&D institute that had partnered with Apple, when developing the GUI. The Macintosh played a pivotal role in starting the desktop publishing revolution, thanks in part to the Aldus PageMaker publishing software and Apple's LaserWriter laser printer. It had an all-in-one design and was described as a "revolution" by the New York Times.
During the 1980s, the Macintosh became popular among creative professionals and in schools. Apple continued to release new models, including the PowerBook notebook lineup, which were the first portable computers to incorporate a keyboard behind a palm rest and a built-in pointing device (a trackball) in front of the keyboard. The second generation of PowerBooks were the first laptops in the world to have a trackpad, built-in Ethernet, and stereo speakers. In 1991, System 7 introduced virtual memory and cooperative multitasking. On the hardware side, Apple discontinued the use of Frog Design's Snow White design language and brought product design in-house under the Apple Industrial Design Group.
After 1992, Apple pursued a more aggressive business strategy and began "flooding the market" with Mac models targeting every niche. The company also started a Macintosh clone program, which allowed other manufacturers to make computers that ran System 7 in order to compete with Windows. In 1994, Apple's market share fell to 8.5%, compared to market leader Compaq's 10.3%. That same year, Apple abandoned Motorola CPUs in favor of the RISC PowerPC architecture developed by the AIM alliance of Apple, IBM, and Motorola. The Power Macintosh line, the first to use the new chips, was highly successful, with over a million PowerPC units sold in just nine months. However, Macintosh clones were cannibalizing the sales of Apple's more profitable Macintoshes. Even after the transition to the superior PowerPC architecture in the mid-1990s, the lower prices of Wintel PCs, poor inventory management, and the release of Windows 95 contributed to a sustained decline in Macintosh sales.
1998–2005: Return of Jobs and revival
editFor years, Apple had been seeking to replace its aging Mac OS operating system, which lacked multitasking and memory protection and was prone to crashing. In 1997, the company acquired NeXT, founded by Steve Jobs after his departure from Apple in 1985. NeXT had developed the Unix-based NeXTSTEP operating system. Jobs initially served in an advisory role, but was appointed interim CEO of Apple on September 16, 1997, and became permanent CEO in 2000. Under Jobs' leadership, the company improved its operations and inventory turnover, and closed the Advanced Technology Group. Jobs also streamlined the complex Macintosh product line, creating the consumer-oriented iBook and iMac and the high-performance PowerBook and Power Mac. These products were successful due to their performance, pricing, and design, and helped return Apple to profitability. The company also stopped licensing Mac OS to Macintosh clone manufacturers and changed the product line's name from Macintosh to Mac.
For years, Apple had been seeking to develop a successor to its aging Mac OS operating system, which lacked proper multitasking and memory protection, and was prone to crashes. In 1997, the company acquired NeXT, founded by Steve Jobs following his departure from Apple in 1985, to form the foundation of their next OS. Jobs returned to Apple in an advisory role, and was appointed interim CEO in September 1997, becoming permanent CEO in 2000. He improved the company's operations, including inventory turnover, and closed the Advanced Technology Group, which had developed QuickTime, QuickDraw 3D, and OpenDoc. Jobs also simplified the unwieldy Macintosh product line to four main products: the iBook, iMac, PowerBook, and Power Mac. All were successful due to their high performance, competitive prices, and appealing designs, which helped return Apple to profitability. The company also stopped licensing Mac OS to Macintosh clone manufacturers, and changed the lineup's name from Macintosh to Mac.
The iMac G3, an all-in-one computer, was introduced in 1998. Its translucent and colorful plastic case, designed by Apple's chief design officer Jony Ive, is considered an industrial design landmark of the late 1990s. The iMac was first available in Bondi Blue, with later revisions in Blueberry, Grape, Tangerine, Lime, and Strawberry colors. Its colorful design, ease-of-use, and Internet capabilities were central to its marketing, leading the Associated Press to call it "futuristic" and "eye-catching". In an effort to abandon legacy technologies, the iMac removed the floppy disk drive, SCSI port, and proprietary ADB port, in favor of a CD-ROM drive and two USB ports. The iMac was a critical and commercial success, with 800,000 units sold in 139 days, resulting in a profit of $309 million in 1998, and contributing to Apple's first profitable year since 1995. However, the iMac's bundled "hockey puck" mouse was widely criticized for awkward design, imprecision, and lack of a right-click button..
The colorful aesthetic of the iMac was later applied to the new Power Mac G3 "Blue and White" and the iBook in 1999, completing Apple's four-product computer lineup. The iBook was the first notebook to support Wi-Fi, and was marketed as an "iMac to Go". It received over 140,000 preorders before shipping in September 1999, and was the best-selling portable computer in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of that year. In 2000, Apple released the Power Mac G4 Cube, which received praise for its unique design. However, the machine was costly and lacked expandability, and its translucent case was prone to cracking. It was discontinued after just one year on the market.
Following increasing discontent from Mac OS users and developers regarding its technical rot and missing features, such as preemptive multitasking and protected memory, Apple released an early preview of Mac OS X, a Unix-based successor to the Classic Mac OS. The Mac OS X Public Beta, released in September 2000 was based on NextSTEP and FreeBSD, and used Darwin and the XNU kernel as its foundations. It also featured a revamped user interface called Aqua. The initial version of Mac OS X, version 10.0 Cheetah, was released in March 2001. Subsequent releases of Mac OS X, including versions 10.1 Puma (2001), 10.2 Jaguar (2002), 10.3 Panther (2003), and 10.4 Tiger (2005), expanded upon the operating system's capabilities and introduced new features. Older Mac OS applications were able to run on early versions of Mac OS X under a compatibility environment called Classic.
At Macworld 2001, Steve Jobs unveiled a new "digital hub" strategy, positioning the Mac as the centerpiece of the user's digital life. This effort ultimately led to the creation of the iLife software suite, which included iTunes, iMovie, GarageBand, iDVD, and iWeb. These apps allowed consumers to easily listen to music, edit videos, create songs, burn homemade films to DVDs, and create websites. iTunes's "Rip, Mix, Burn" ad campaign was criticized by some, who alleged that it encouraged media piracy. iTunes was expanded with the launch of the iTunes Music Store in 2003, which went on to become the largest music vendor in the world by 2010, helped in part by the popularity of Apple's iPod line of portable music players.
Apple continued to release more Mac models, such as the education-oriented eMac, the metal-clad PowerBook G4, and the Power Mac G5. The iMac G3 was succeeded by the "sunflower" iMac G4 and the flat-panel iMac G5, both of which adopted white polycarbonate designs, abandoning the array of translucent colors of the iMac G3. On January 11, 2005, Apple introduced the Mac Mini, an affordably-priced standalone desktop computer aimed at attracting desktop users of the Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems to the Mac.
2005–2011: Transition to Intel processors and unibody redesign
editAt WWDC 2005, Steve Jobs announced that all Macs would switch from PowerPC to Intel processors, revealing that Mac OS X had been internally developed to run on both architectures since 2001. This transition aimed to make the Macs more power-efficient and competitive with Wintel PCs. The PowerPC G5 chip's heavy power consumption and heat output prevented its use in smaller form-factor Macs, such as the PowerBook and Mac Mini, which remained on the PowerPC G4 chip. The transition allowed Apple to add more powerful multi-core processors and increase battery life on their notebooks. The Rosetta translation layer enabled users to continue running PowerPC-based apps on Intel Macs until its removal in Mac OS X Lion.
As part of the transition to Intel processors, Apple rebranded its PowerBook line to MacBook Pro, its iBook line to MacBook, and its Power Mac line to Mac Pro. The MacBook and MacBook Pro gained built-in iSight cameras and the magnetic MagSafe charging port. The swith to Intel chips led to a continuous increase in the Mac's market share, thanks in part to the Switchers ad campaign, and allowed users to run Microsoft Windows natively on Mac hardware through Boot Camp, a utility that was released as a public beta in April 2006.
The MacBook Air was introduced at Macworld 2008 as the "world's thinnest notebook". However, its ultra-light form factor came at the cost of compromised specifications, such as a slower low-power Core 2 Duo chip, a non-replacable battery, fewer ports, a slower hard drive, and no optical drive. Despite these shortcomings, the first-generation MacBook Air launched at a high price of $1,799 and did not garner significant popularity until later revisions improved its performance and reduced its price.
In October 2008, the second-generation MacBook Pro switched to a more recyclable "unibody" aluminum and glass enclosure and eliminated several toxic chemicals, representing an early step in Apple's efforts to promote environmental friendliness. The company's design chief, Jony Ive, sought to give Apple products a minimalist and simple feel, including the elimination of removable batteries in notebooks.
After the release of the iPhone, Apple began a multi-year effort to bring many of the iPhone's innovations "back to the Mac", including multi-touch gesture support, instant wake from sleep, and flash storage. Multi-touch technology was integrated into all of Apple's pointing devices for the Mac, including MacBook trackpads, the Magic Mouse, and the Magic Trackpad.
On February 24, 2011, Apple released the first computer to support Intel's new Thunderbolt connector, which had two-way transfer speeds of 10 Gbit/s. This connector used the same physical interface as a Mini DisplayPort, and was backwards compatible with that standard.
2012–2016: Early Tim Cook era
editFollowing a period of deteriorating health, Steve Jobs resigned as CEO on August 24, 2011, and Tim Cook was named as his successor. At WWDC 2012, the MacBook Pro with Retina display was unveiled, featuring a thinnder body, faster processor and GPU, a high-resolution Retina display similar to that of the iPhone 4, the MagSafe 2 charging port, and quieter impeller fans on the 15-inch model. It received largely positive reviews, with Nilay Patel of The Verge calling it "one of the best displays to ever ship on a laptop". In November 2012, the iMac was redesigned with thinner edges, faster processors, and the removal of the SuperDrive.
At WWDC 2013, the new Mac Pro was introduced with Phil Schiller proclaiming "Can't innovate anymore, my ass!" in response to critics who claimed that Apple could no longer innovate without Jobs. This new model featured a miniaturized design with a glossy dark gray cylindrical body and internal components organized around a central cooling system. Tech reviewers praised the 2013 Mac Pro for its power and futuristic design; however, it was poorly received by professional users, who criticized its lack of upgradability and the removal of expansion slots.
The iMac was refreshed in 2014 with a 5K Retina display, making it the highest-resolution all-in-one desktop computer at the time of its release. The MacBook was reintroduced in 2015 with a completely redesigned aluminum unibody chassis, a 12-inch Retina display, a fanless low-power Intel Core M processor, a much smaller logic board, a new Butterfly keyboard, a single USB-C port, and a solid-state Force Touch trackpad with pressure sensitivity. While it was praised for its portability, it was criticized for its lack of performance, the need to use adapters to use most USB peripherals, and a high starting price of $1,299.
In 2015, Apple initiated a service program to address a widespread GPU defect in the 2011 15-inch MacBook Pro, which could cause graphical artifacts or prevent the machine from functioning entirely. That same year, a new MacBook Pro was released featuring the same Force Touch trackpad as the MacBook.
2016–2019: Neglect of professional users and reliability issues
editThe fourth generation MacBook Pro was released at an Apple Special Event in October 2016, featuring a thinner design, the replacement of all ports with four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, the addition of the "Butterfly" keyboard, a P3 wide color gamut display, and the replacement of function keys with an OLED Touch Bar. The MacBook Pro received mixed reviews, with many reviewers criticizing the Touch Bar for making it harder to use the function keys by feel, as it had no tactile feedback. The Thunderbolt 3 ports and the need to purchase dongles were also sources of frustration for many users, particularly professional users who relied on USB-A devices and SD cards. A few months after its release, many users reported problems with stuck keys and letters being skipped or repeated. Electronics repair organization iFixit identified the cause as dust or food crumbs getting under keys and jamming them. Due to the Butterfly keyboard being riveted into the laptop's case, it could only be serviced at an Apple Store or authorized service center.
After several years without any significant updates to the Mac Pro, Apple executives admitted in 2017 that the 2013 Mac Pro did not meet expectations, and that the company had designed themselves into a "thermal corner", preventing them from releasing a planned dual-GPU successor. The long-standing keyboard issue on MacBook Pros, Apple's abandonment of the Aperture professional photography app, and the lack of Mac Pro upgrades led to declining sales and a widespread belief that Apple was no longer committed to professional users. Apple also unveiled their future product roadmap for professional products, including plans for an iMac Pro as a stopgap and a next-generation Mac Pro that would be expandable. The iMac Pro was formally announced at WWDC 2017, featuring updated Intel Xeon W processors and Radeon Pro Vega graphics.
In 2018, Apple released a redesigned MacBook Air with a Retina display, Butterfly keyboard, Force Touch trackpad, and Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports. A third-generation Butterfly keyboard was also added to the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, incorporating silicone gaskets in the key mechanism to prevent key jamming from trapped dust and small objects. However, many users continued to experience reliability issues with these keyboards, leading Apple to launch a program to repair affected keyboards free of charge. Higher-end models of the 2018 MacBook Pro 15-inch models also faced another issue where the Core i9 processor reached unusually high temperatures, resulting in reduced CPU performance from thermal throttling. Apple issued a patch to address this issue via a macOS supplemental update, blaming a "missing digital key" in the thermal management firmware.
In the 2019 and 2020 revisions of the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, the unreliable Butterfly keyboard was replaced with a redesigned scissor-switch Magic Keyboard. On the MacBook Pros, the Touch Bar and Touch ID were made standard, and the Esc key was detached from the Touch Bar and returned to being a physical key. At WWDC 2019, Apple unveiled a new Mac Pro with a larger case design that allows for hardware expandability, as well as introducing a new expansion module system (MPX) for modules such as an optional Afterburner card for faster video encoding. Almost every part of the new Mac Pro is user-replaceable, with iFixit praising its high user-repairability. It received positive reviews, with reviewers praising its power, modularity, quiet cooling, and increased focus on professional workflows.
2020–present: Transition to Apple silicon processors
editIn April 2018, Bloomberg reported that Apple was planning to replace Intel chips with ARM processors, similar to those used in its phones, causing Intel's shares to drop by 9.2%. The Verge, commenting on the rumors, stated that such a decision made sense, as Intel was failing to make significant improvements to its lineup, and could not compete with ARM chips on battery life.
At WWDC 2020, Tim Cook announced that the Mac would be transitioning to Apple silicon processors, built upon an ARM architecture, over a two-year timeframe. Apple also unveiled a Developer Transition Kit for developers to port their apps to ARM, and the Rosetta 2 translation layer enabling Apple silicon Macs to run Intel apps. This represents the Mac's fourth major transition. On November 10, 2020, Apple announced their first system-on-a-chip designed for the Mac, the Apple M1, and a series of Macs that would ship with the M1: the MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and the 13-inch MacBook Pro. These new Macs received highly positive reviews, with reviewers highlighting significant improvements in battery life, performance, and heat management compared to previous generations.
The iMac Pro was quietly discontinued on March 6, 2021 after only receiving two minor updates. On April 20, 2021, a new 24-inch iMac M1 was revealed, featuring seven new colors, thinner white bezels, and an enclosure made entirely from recycled aluminum. On October 18, 2021, Apple announced new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros featuring a bezel-less mini-LED 120 Hz ProMotion display, MagSafe, HDMI, and SD card ports. These laptops can be equipped with either an M1 Pro or M1 Max chip.
On March 8, 2022, the Mac Studio was unveiled, featuring more powerful M1 Max or M1 Ultra chips in a similar form factor to the Mac mini. It drew highly positive reviews for its flexibility and wide range of available ports. Its performance was deemed "impressive", beating the highest-end Mac Pro with a 28-core Intel Xeon chip, while being significantly more power-efficient and compact. The Mac Studio was introduced alongside the Studio Display, replacing the 27-inch iMac, which was discontinued on the same day. At WWDC 2022, Apple announced an updated MacBook Air based on a new M2 chip. It incorporates several changes from the 14-inch MacBook Pro, such as a flat, slab-shaped design, full-sized function keys, MagSafe charging, and a Liquid Retina display with rounded corners and a notch incorporating a 1080p webcam.
Marketing
editThe original Macintosh was marketed at Super Bowl XVIII with the now-famous "1984" ad made by Ridley Scott. The ad alludes to George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, and symbolizes Apple's desire to "rescue" humanity from the conformity of computer industry giant IBM. The ad was later considered a "watershed event" and a "masterpiece." Before the Macintosh, high-tech marketing catered to industry insiders rather than consumers, and as a result, journalists covered technology like the "steel or automobiles," with articles written for a highly technical audience. The Macintosh launch event "pioneered" event marketing techniques that have become "widely emulated" in Silicon Valley, by creating a mystique about the product and giving an inside look into its creation. Apple also took a new "multiple exclusives" approach regarding the press, giving "over one hundred interviews to journalists that lasted over six hours apiece," and introduced a new "Test Drive a Macintosh" campaign.
Apple's brand, which established a "heartfelt connection with consumers", is cited as one of the keys to the Mac's success. After Steve Jobs's return to the company, he unveiled the "Think different" advertising campaign, positioning the Mac as the best computer for "creative people who believe that one person can change the world".[1] The campaign featured black-and-white photographs of historic figures like Albert Einstein, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. It proved highly successful and won several awards, including a Primetime Emmy. In the 2000s, Apple continued to use successful marketing campaigns to promote its Mac line, including the "Switch" and "Get a Mac" campaigns.
Apple's focus on design and build quality has helped establish the Mac as a high-end, premium brand. The company's emphasis on creating iconic and visually appealing designs for its computers has given them a "human face" and made them stand out in a crowded market, attracting glowing press coverage. The Mac has been praised for its user-friendly and easy-to-use interface, as well as its integration with other Apple products and services. Apple has long made use of product placements in high-profile movies and television shows to showcase its computers, such as in Mission: Impossible, Legally Blonde, and Sex and the City. Apple is known for not allowing villains to use its products in movies and television shows, and its own shows produced for the Apple TV+ streaming service often feature prominent use of MacBooks.
The Mac is known for having a highly loyal customer base. In 2022, the American Customer Satisfaction Index gave the Mac the highest customer satisfaction score of any personal computer, at 82 out of 100. As of that same year, Apple is the fourth largest vendor of personal computers, with a market share of 8.9%.
Hardware
editApple outsources the production of its hardware to Asian manufacturers like Foxconn and Pegatron, maintaining a high degree of control over the end-product. As a highly vertically integrated company, Apple designs its own operating system and produces its own chips, allowing for tight control over all aspects of its products and deeper integration between hardware and software.
All current Mac models use ARM-based Apple silicon processors, except for the Mac Pro, whose Apple silicon version is still in development. Apple silicon Macs have been praised for their performance and power efficiency. They can run Intel apps through the Rosetta 2 translation layer, as well as iOS and iPadOS apps distributed via the App Store. All current Mac models come equipped with high-speed Thunderbolt or USB 4 connectivity, with speeds up to 40 Gb/s. All Macs with Apple silicon utilize custom-designed integrated graphics. MacBooks are recharged with either USB-C or MagSafe connectors, depending on the model.
Apple offers a range of accessories for the Mac, including the Studio Display and Pro Display XDR external monitors, the AirPods line of wireless headphones, and input peripherals such as the Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Mouse.
Software
editThe Mac line of personal computers run the macOS operating system, which was first released in 2001. Within the market of desktop and laptop computers, macOS is the second most widely used desktop OS, behind Microsoft Windows and ahead of ChromeOS. macOS is based on the Darwin operating system and the XNU kernel. The macOS user interface, Aqua, has been praised for its intuitive design. Macs are also integrated with other Apple devices, including the iPhone and iPad, through Continuity features such as Handoff, Sidecar, Universal Control, and Universal Clipboard. This allows for seamless transitions between different Apple devices.
The Mac has a wide variety of popular apps available, including cross-platform apps such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Cloud, Mathematica, Visual Studio Code, Ableton Live, and Cinema 4D. Apple has also developed several apps specifically for the Mac, including Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, iWork, GarageBand, and iMovie. A significant amount of open-source software and command-line programs are cross-platform and therefore run natively on macOS. Many applications written for Linux or BSD also run on macOS, often using X11. Apple's official integrated development environment for macOS is Xcode. This allows developers to create apps for the Mac and other Apple platforms.
References
edit- ^ Elliott, Stuart (1998-08-03). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; Apple Endorses Some Achievers Who 'Think Different'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-03.