The Macintosh Turns 27 Today

Today marks the 27th Birthday of the iconic beige box which ultimately gave way to the iMac I’m typing this post on. On January 24th, 1984, Steve Jobs introduced the Macintosh to the world. The first machine to run Mac OS (then System 1.0), the Macintosh revolutionized the personal computer industry, and changed the face of industrial design in the computing market. Prior to the machine’s release, the concept of an all-in-one computer was largely unheard of. In the days leading up the the machine’s official unveiling, Apple aired its famous Orwellian inspired–Ridley Scott directed– advert during Super Bowl XVIII.

Though its specs may seem paltry by today’s standards, for its time, the Macintosh yielded the complete package for many users. Here’s a quick history lesson:

The Macintosh (later rebranded Macintosh 128k) debuted in January 1984 for the initial price of $2,495. Carrying the model number: M0001, it boasted the following specifications:

Macintosh

• Built-in Display: 9-inch
• Processor: 8 MHz Motorola 68000
• System Bus: 8 MHz
• Internal Storage: None
• Media: 400 KB 3.5” Floppy
• Onboard RAM: 128 KB (Expandable to 4 MB)
• Graphics: None
• Peripherals: Apple Mouse and Keyboard

Today, accounting for inflation, $2,495 in 1984 dollars would buy you the following:

iMac 27-inch

• Processor: 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
• Cache: 8 MB L3
• Internal Storage: 2TB Serial ATA Drive + 256GB Solid State Drive
• Media: 8x double-layer SuperDrive
• RAM: 16GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
• Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5750 1GB GDDR5 SDRAM
• Peripherals: Magic Mouse + Magic Trackpad

and you’d still have a little under $1,000 left over!

We’ve certainly come a long way in just 27 years. I raise a toast to the “Insanely Great” little machine which arguably started it all. Cheers, and Happy Birthday!

What are your memories of the Macintosh? Feel free to share below!