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For Apple Corps, an unrelated company, please see Apple Corps.

Apple Inc. is an American corporation that makes computer hardware, software, and electronics. Their most popular products include the Macintosh family of personal computers, the iPod portable music player, the iPhone smartphone, and the iPad tablet. Apple's best-known software includes the Mac OS X operating system, the iTunes media browser, the iLife suite of multimedia and creativity software; the iWork suite of productivity software; Aperture, a professional photography package; Final Cut Studio, a suite of professional audio and film-industry software products; Logic Studio, a suite of music production tools; and iOS, a mobile operating system.

Apple was started in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak^[1]. Before they made the company, they sold "blue boxes", which had telephone buttons on them. People could use them to make telephone calls from pay phones without paying any money. The company's first product is now called the Apple I computer. They were almost ready to sell it, but a problem happened. Steve Wozniak was working for the computer company Hewlett-Packard, and the papers that said he could work there said he had to give everything he invented to the company before he could do what he wanted to do with it. He showed the first Apple I to the boss at Hewlett-Packard, but they did not want his computer. Wozniak was free to do what he wanted to do with the Apple I. It was sold in 1976. In 1977 they made their second computer, called the Apple II.

One of the most popular products made by Apple is the iPod. It was introduced in 2001, and Apple sold over 100 million in six years^[2]. All iPods can play music, the most recent iPod Touch with the high quality LED screen can take and display quality pictures, record, view and edit high definition videos, communicate with the Internet for features such as e-mail, gaming, and blogging, record word and voice memos, and even get office work done.

There are several different types of iPods:

iPod shuffle (4th generation)

• iPod shuffle 2 GB - This model has no screen, instead a click wheel to control the music, and is very small. It is the cheapest iPod available. Playlists and Genius Mixes can now be synced to the iPod shuffle, but apart from that it has only basic music playback functions, and also comes with the year old feature called voiceover. It comes in five different colors: silver, orange, pink, green, and blue. A polished stainless steel version is exclusively available online. It can hold about 1,000 songs.^[3]

iPod nano

• iPod nano 8 GB - available in orange, green, blue, pink, and silver, the sixth generation iPod nano was completely re-designed to be a lot smaller and announced on September 1st. It's very similar to the shuffle in shape and size, but the main difference is the new multi-touch screen capable of displaying album art and synced pictures. It also comes packed with an accelerometer sensor, voiceover, FM radio, pedometer, playlists and live pause. The new tiny design uses minimal battery, capable of lasting a full 24 hours. The 8GB can hold about 2,000 songs.^[4]
• iPod nano 16 GB - comes in the same colours as the 8GB type. It can hold about 4,000 songs.^[4]

iPod classic

• iPod classic 160 GB - comes in black or silver. This is the chunkiest and most original looking iPod, but the best music holder. It can hold about 40,000 songs.^[5]

iPod touch

• iPod touch 8 GB - has a multi-touch screen and looks much like the iPhone. It is capable of browsing the web, viewing high quality media and for use as an Internet communicator through Wi-Fi. Some say it is an iPhone without the phone. Apple recently announced the fourth generation iPod Touch, equipping it with a front and rear facing camera, a better display, a better processor for faster performance, and it has a thin new design. This makes it a lot closer to the iPhone 4. The 8GB model is still being continued, and is capable of holding about 1,750 songs.^[6]
• iPod touch 16 GB - This model can hold about 4,000 songs, but was discontinued in September 2009.
• iPod touch 32 GB - This model can hold about 7,000 songs. It first went on sale in February 2008.^[6]
• iPod touch 64 GB - This model can hold about 14,000 songs.^[6] It first went on sale in September 2009.

(PRODUCT) RED

The red iPod shuffle and iPod nano models are part of the "(PRODUCT) RED" program. This means that some of the money used to purchase these iPods goes to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa.^[7]

Computers are what Apple is known for. Computers by Apple run the Mac OS X operating system, which is included with every new Mac.

Laptops

• MacBook (basic laptop, mainly for home and school use)^[8]
• MacBook Pro (a better laptop for professional people)^[9]
• MacBook Air (a very skinny and light laptop, mainly for people who need a light laptop that still works)^[10]

Desktops

• Mac Mini (a very tiny, but fully functional computer that does not come with its own monitor, keyboard, or mouse. Used mainly for home and school)^[11]
• iMac (a computer where everything is built in behind the screen, mainly for home and school)^[12]
• Mac Pro (a powerful, fast computer that does not come with its own monitor, for professional people)^[13]

Software

Apple also makes software for their computers. Some of the software that Apple makes is:

• iLife (a set of programs designed for everyday use) contains iMovie, a program for making movies, GarageBand, a program for making music, iPhoto, a program for organizing photos, iTunes, a program for organizing (and buying) music, iWeb, a program for making web pages, and iDVD, a program to make DVDs. These programs are considered very simple to use.^[14]
• iWork (a set of programs for office stuff) contains Pages, a program for making documents and Keynote, a program for making slideshows, and "Numbers" for making spreadsheets.^[15]
• Final Cut Studio (a set of programs for creating professional movies) contains a program for video making called Final Cut Pro, a program for music making called Soundtrack, Motion, a program for high-quality moving graphics authorship, and DVD Studio Pro, a program used to make professional DVDs.^[16]
• Final Cut Express (a set of programs similar to Final Cut Pro, but simplified and cheaper)^[17]
• Aperture (for professional photographers to edit their photos)^[18]
• Logic Studio (A set of programs where professionals can edit and produce audio)^[19]
• Logic Express (a set of programs similar to Logic Studio, but simplified and cheaper)^[20]

Most computer users in the world use Microsoft Windows, the rival to Mac OS X. About 8% of computer users use Apple's Macintosh computers. It is not legal to run Apple's Mac OS X on a Windows computer. However, it is allowed to run Windows on modern Macintosh computers. Even though Apple makes their computers to run Mac OS X, they also make software that allows you to install Windows. This software is called Boot Camp.

Apple TV

The Apple TV is a box that plugs into a TV. It can connect wirelessly to any computer that has the Apple program iTunes on it. The Apple TV can play music, and show photos or videos from iTunes on your TV. Apple recently released a newer version of the Apple TV. It is about a quarter of the size of the older version and instead of using a hard drive to store movies and TV shows, they are rented and streamed over the internet.

iPhone

The iPhone is a phone, iPod, and more with a touch screen.^[21] The newest iPhone released uses 3G (which is quicker than normal mobile phone connections) to surf the web. The current version, the iPhone 4, boasts Apple's faster A4 processor and a front facing camera for video chat, among other features. The iPhones come in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB types. The iPhone 4 currently only comes in black, however, a white version is scheduled to be released in Spring 2011. The iPhone 4 comes in a 16GB and a 32GB versions. Apple also released an 8GB version of the iPhone 3GS.^[22]

iPad

The iPad is the first tablet computer by Apple Inc. It was introduced on January 27, 2010 and is similar to an iPod touch with a larger display.

Following several campaigns (for example, Green my Apple^[23]), Apple has made their products greener. Recently, the new notebook line removed many toxins and improved the products battery life and recharge cycles.

Recent improvements

• The MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air have highly recyclable aluminum and glass enclosures, mercury-free displays and arsenic-free display glass. The printed circuit boards, electrical components, mechanical parts, and internal cables are BFR-free and PVC-free.^[24]
• A 13-inch MacBook consumes only 14W in idle with the display on, and meets ENERGY STAR requirements.^[24]
• The MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and the LED Cinema Display boast energy-efficient LED display technology. The MacBook LED backlit display uses 30% less power compared to conventional CCFL-backlit displays.^[24]
• Sleep-mode energy usage has decreased 93% between the first-generation and current-generation iMac. This is due to improvements in CPU power management and increased hardware efficiency.^[25]
• Between the fourth-generation iPod nano and the first-generation iPod nano, the packaging is 32% lighter and uses 54% less volume.^[26]
• Apple products are compliant with the European Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment, also known as the RoHS directive. Examples of materials restricted by RoHS include lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and PBB and PBDE flame retardants. Apple met many of the RoHS requirements long before the July 2006 deadline.^[27]

CEOs

• 1977–1981: Michael Scott
• 1981–1983: Mike Markkula
• 1983–1993: John Sculley
• 1993–1996: Michael Spindler
• 1996–1997: Gil Amelio
• 1997-present: Steve Jobs (Interim CEO 1997–2000)
• 2004 & 2009: Tim Cook (Acting CEO during Steve Jobs health issues)

Directors

• Bill Campbell (CEO)|Bill Campbell, Chairman of Intuit Inc.
• Millard Drexler, Chairman and CEO of J.Crew
• Al Gore, Former Vice President of the United States
• Steve Jobs, CEO and Co-founder of Apple; also a director of The Walt Disney Company
• Andrea Jung, Chairman and CEO of Avon Products
• Arthur D. Levinson, Chairman and CEO of Genentech
• Jerry York, Chairman, President, and CEO of Harwinton Capital

Executives

• Steve Jobs, Chief Executive Officer
• Tim Cook, Chief Operating Officer
• Peter Oppenheimer, Chief Financial Officer
• Philip W. Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing
• Jonathan Ive, Senior Vice President of Industrial Design
• Bertrand Serlet, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering
• Ron Johnson, Senior Vice President of Retail
• Sina Tamaddon, Senior Vice President of Applications
• Scott Forstall, Senior Vice President of iPhone Software
• Bob Mansfield, Senior Vice President of Mac Hardware
• Daniel Cooperman, General Counsel and Secretary

Employees

Since formation of the Apple Computer Company in 1977, Apple has employed over 75,000 people worldwide. The majority of Apple's employees have been located in the United States but Apple has substantial manufacturing, sales, marketing, and support organizations worldwide, with some engineering operations in Paris and Tokyo.

Apple employees include employees of companies Apple owns, and less important, but still relevant companies such as FileMaker Inc. and Braeburn Capital.

Apple Corps has repeatedly sued Apple Inc. for trademark infringement. In the first case, Apple Inc. agreed not to go into the music industry. Apple Corps believes this agreement was broken when Apple Inc. launched iTunes, the music store.

• Apple's website
• For information on Apple and the Environment

Category:American technology companies Category:Apple Inc.