This article mac pro pan malt about the family of personal computers. For the original Macintosh, see Macintosh 128K.

Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software engineers. The first Mac was released in 1984, and was advertised with the highly-acclaimed “1984” ad. After a period of initial success, the Mac languished in the 1990s, until co-founder Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997. See also: History of Apple Inc. Steve Jobs resting his forearms on a Macintosh computer, in front of a red background.

In the late 1970s, the Apple II was one of the most popular computers on the market, especially in education. Apple introduced the Apple Lisa in 1983. Parallel to the Lisa’s development, a skunkworks team at Apple was working on another project. Conceived in 1979 by Jef Raskin, the Macintosh was envisioned as an affordable, easy-to-use computer for the masses, with the Lisa’s graphical interface. Upon its 1984 release, the first Macintosh was described as a “revolution” by the New York Times. In late 1985, Bill Atkinson, one of the few remaining members of the Macintosh team, embarked on a journey to create a Dynabook, Alan Kay’s concept for a tablet computer that stores and organizes knowledge. In the late 1980s, Jean-Louis Gassée, a Sculley protégé who had succeeded Jobs as head of the Macintosh division, made the Mac more open and expandable to appeal to tech enthusiasts and make inroads in the enterprise market.