Apple's Mac computers celebrate a major milestone as they turn 40 today

24 January 2024 , 08:48

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In a major milestone for personal PCs, Apple’s hugely popular Mac computers are celebrating their 40th birthday today. The very first Macintosh was first shown to the world all the way back on January 24, 1984, with it promising to change the way people view computers.

That original machine - which was unveiled during the Super Bowl XVII in an iconic advert created by Ridley Scott - featured just 128KB of RAM, had a tiny 9-inch black and white screen and used a floppy disk drive to transfer files - it also cost over $2,000.

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The first Mac was revealed 40 years ago today (APPLE)

Despite its high price, the first Mac became a big hit thanks to its all-in-one design and easy-to-use MacOS operating system which featured a desktop and viewable folders - that was a pretty novel idea at the time.

Over the past 40 years, the Mac has evolved significantly with these machines always managing to grab the headlines despite Microsoft's Windows having a much bigger share of the market.

The colourful iMac G3 was a standout machine that made home computing seem a lot more fun. Then there was the stupidly slim Aluminium iMac that featured a design so skinny it seemed impossible to believe Apple had crammed a computer inside. And who can forget the first MacBook Air that was removed from an A4 envelope by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs during a famous keynote in 2008.

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Apple's Mac computers celebrate a major milestone as they turn 40 today

The colourful iMac G3 was a huge success for Apple (APPLE)

Things have changed again in recent years with Apple moving away from its long-term partnership with Intel and making its very own M-branded silicon. This has allowed Apple to push the boundaries further with its latest PCs - such as the Mac Studio and Mac Mini - now faster and much more efficient than before.

Apple co founder Steve Jobs shows off the MacBook Air (GETTY)

That power and lower energy use now means MacBook users can also work all day without going near a plug - that’s something that seemed impossible just a few years ago. In fact, Apple boasts that a single charge can get you up to 22 hours of battery life on a MacBook Pro 16-inch, or 18 hours on our thinnest lightest laptop MacBook Air 13-inch.

Only Apple knows what is next for its popular Macintosh PCs especially as personal computing is set to change again with the firm launching its immersive Vision Pro headset next month.

Let's hope there are plenty more big birthdays to come in the future for the Mac.

Apple Vision Pro (APPLE)

If you have a Mac and iPhone in your pocket here are some neat tricks to try.

• If your iPhone or iPad and Mac are near each other Handoff makes it possible to automatically pass what you’re doing from one device to another. E.g. start writing an email on your iPhone, finish it on your Mac, start a report on your iMac, move it to your iPad to edit on the go.

• With Continuity Camera, you can use your iPhone as a secondary camera for all your video conference calls on your Mac, giving you another option or angle to always look your best.

• With Universal Clipboard you can copy images, video, or text on your iPhone or iPad and then paste into another app on your nearby Mac.

• Use your iPad and Mac together with a single set of trackpad and keyboard, with Universal Control and reach peak productivity.

• No Wi-Fi? With Instant Hotspot your Mac can remotely activate the Personal Hotspot on your iPhone when they are near each other.