From Apple I to iPhone Duo: 50 Years of Apple Products
Apple I（1976）
In Steve Jobs's garage in 1976, Wozniak hand-soldered the Apple I—a bare circuit board with no case, keyboard, or power supply. Buyers added their own peripherals. A footnote in tech history—and the seed of what became the world's most valuable company.
· CPU: MOS 6502 @ 1 MHz · RAM: 4 KB (expandable to 8 KB) · Display: composite video (character terminal) · Production: ~200 units · Launch price: $666.66 USD (1976)
Apple II（1977）
Released in June 1977, the Apple II was Apple's first real commercial hit—a friendly, expandable, color-capable personal computer that helped launch the home-computing revolution. Built around a MOS 6502 chip with BASIC built-in, it sold millions over 16 years and made Apple a household name.
· CPU: MOS 6502 @ 1 MHz · RAM: 4 KB (expandable to 48 KB) · Display: NTSC color composite, 280×192 · Storage: cassette tape (later 140 KB floppy) · Expansion: 8 peripheral slots · Production: ~5–6 M units (entire Apple II family, 1977–1993) · Launch price: $1,298 USD
Apple III（1980）
Apple's first business computer, the Apple III launched in May 1980 to challenge IBM and Xerox—but a botched heat-sink design caused chips to detach from the logic board. It dented Apple's reputation for years until the redesigned III+ arrived in 1983.
· CPU: Synertek 6502A @ 1.5 MHz (III+) · RAM: 256 KB · Display: 12" monochrome CRT, 560×192 · Storage: 140 KB 5.25" floppy (built-in) · OS: Apple SOS · Production: ~75,000 units (III + III+) · Launch price: from $4,340 USD
Apple Lisa（1983）
Released in January 1983, the Apple Lisa was the first commercial computer with a graphical user interface, a mouse, and document-centric workflow. Priced at $9,995—about $30,000 in today's dollars—it flopped commercially but directly inspired the Macintosh a year later.
· CPU: Motorola 68000 @ 5 MHz · RAM: 1 MB · Display: 12" monochrome CRT, 720×364 · Storage: dual 871 KB "Twiggy" floppies · OS: Lisa OS · Production: ~100,000 units · Launch price: $9,995 USD
Macintosh 128K（1984）
In January 1984, the legendary "1984" Super Bowl ad introduced the original Macintosh—the first mass-market computer with a graphical user interface. It nearly bankrupted Apple—but its DNA still lives in every Mac today.
· CPU: Motorola 68000 @ 7.83 MHz · RAM: 128 KB · Display: 9" monochrome CRT, 512×342 · Storage: 400 KB 3.5" floppy · Production: ~70k in first 100 days; ~260k combined with the 512K · Launch price: $2,495 USD
LaserWriter（1985）
When Apple launched the LaserWriter in 1985 with Aldus PageMaker, it ignited the desktop publishing revolution and saved the Mac platform. At $6,995 it wasn't cheap, but it turned design studios and newsrooms upside down—ushering an era when anyone could typeset a magazine.
· Print tech: Canon laser engine · Resolution: 300 dpi · Speed: 8 pages/min · Language: Adobe PostScript · RAM: 1.5 MB (expandable to 4.5 MB) · Production: ~1 M units (1985–1988) · Launch price: $6,995 USD
Macintosh II（1987）
The Macintosh II launched in March 1987 as Apple's first modular Mac with color. With six NuBus slots and a 68020 processor, it turned the Mac into a serious creative workstation—and the workhorse of the early desktop-publishing era.
· CPU: Motorola 68020 @ 15.67 MHz · RAM: 1 MB (expandable to 8 MB) · Display: external, up to 640×480, 256 colors · Storage: 800 KB 3.5" floppy + optional 20 MB SCSI HDD · Expansion: 6 NuBus slots · Production: ~500,000 units · Launch price: from $3,898 USD
iMac G3（1998）
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the company's survival depended on a single product. The iMac G3, launched in August 1998 with its Bondi Blue translucent design, sold 800,000 units in five months—becoming the first pop-culture computer of the internet age.
· CPU: PowerPC G3 @ 233 MHz · RAM: 32 MB (expandable to 1 GB) · Display: 15" CRT · Storage: 4 GB HDD · Connectivity: USB only (no legacy ports) · Production: ~5 M units (all colors, 1998–2003) · Launch price: $1,299 USD
AirPods（2016）
In 2016, when Apple dropped the iPhone 7's headphone jack, it also launched AirPods. First mocked, then copied by everyone. They became Apple's most popular accessory and defined a whole new category—true wireless stereo (TWS)—now worth over $100 billion globally.
· Chip: Apple W1 · Battery: 5h listening (24h with case) · Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.2 · Sensors: dual beamforming mics, optical IR sensors · Case: Lightning (no wireless) · Cumulative sales: ~200 M units by 2024 · Launch price: $159 USD
Apple Vision Pro（2023）
Apple's first spatial computer, Vision Pro launched in February 2024 at $3,499, blending digital content with the physical world via dual micro-OLED displays. It sold modestly—but defined the category Apple hopes will one day replace the iPhone.
· Chip: M2 + R1 (dual-chip) · Display: dual micro-OLED, 23 M pixels (≈4K per eye) · Sensors: 12 cameras, 5 sensors, 6 mics · Battery: external pack, ~2 h · Weight: ~600 g · Production (estimated): 500–700 K units · Launch price: $3,499 USD
iPhone Duo（2026）
Apple's first foldable iPhone, unveiled September 10, 2026, opens like a book to reveal a 7.6-inch inner display—making it the thinnest iPhone ever at just 5.02 mm unfolded. It ditches Face ID for Touch ID and runs on Apple's first 2nm chip, the A20 Pro.
· Form: horizontal book-fold · Cover display: 5.4" OLED, 120 Hz · Inner display: 7.6" LTPO OLED, 3000 nit · Chip: A20 Pro (2nm) · RAM: 12 GB · Cameras: dual 48 MP rear + 12 MP under-display · Production forecast: 3–5 M units (first batch) · Launch price: from $1,999 USD