41 Apple Facts You Didn’t Know
In honor of the Apple's forty-one years of innovation, success, and defying the odds stacked against it, iDrop News has compiled an extensive list of 41 interesting facts about Apple you probably never knew. Press the Right Arrow to Begin.
41 Smoke While You Work on Your Mac? Think Twice.
Not only does smoking within the vicinity of your Mac void the warranty (even if you buy into AppleCare), but Cupertino even reserves the right to refuse out-of-warranty service because it has deemed nicotine a bio-hazard. Don’t believe it? Just ask the guy whose complaint about the policy went all the way up to Steve Jobs. The late co-founder and former CEO replied: “Nicotine is on OSHA's list of hazardous substances and Apple would not require an employee to repair anything deemed hazardous to their health.”
40 Apple Employs How Many Full-time Workers?
According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple, Inc., as of July, 2015, has hired approximately 115,000 full-time employees, globally, who hold positions ranging from receptionists, to technical support agents, retail employees, to software and hardware developers, engineers, upper managerial heavyweights, and just about every tech-savvy role you can fathom, in-between.
39 And They Make How Much?!
While retail store employees and technical support agents make a generous hourly wage, ABC News reports that at Apple’s Cupertino, California-based headquarters the ‘average’ full-time employee takes home $125,000 every year.
38 Apple Has More Cash Than the U.S. Treasury
Forbes recently reported that Apple has approximately $160 billion in liquid cash on hand — freely dispensable at its discretion. In comparison, the U.S. Treasury holds about $49 billion in liquid currency intended to keep the government afloat, of course.
37 What’s the Deal With 9:41?
Have you ever taken a close look at Apple’s iPhone in marketing images? If you have, you’ll likely notice that the time in the top-center of the display always reads 9:41. That’s because 9:41 am is the precise moment in time, at Apple’s Macworld Expo on January 9, 2007, when Steve Jobs announced his company's pride-and-joy — the most polarizing smartphone of all-time.
36 A $3 Million iPhone?
While the most expensive and luxurious iPhone can currently be yours for between $2,000 and $6,000, depending on your preferred level of ostentatiousness, if you were to travel back in time to 1991 and try to accumulate the individual parts to build one from scratch, they'd collectively cost you a whopping $3 million. Over $1.4 million just for the RAM itself, according to a Tech Policy Daily report.
35 Why ‘Apple’?
Legend has it that Steve Jobs, who at the time of his company’s founding was a fruitarian, was especially fond of the crisp and delicious tree fruit and decided to name Apple, accordingly. Swaths of farmland and wooded orchards largely overran Silicon Valley, in the early 1980s too, so his ease of access to them may have influenced his decision.
34 Poor Little Lisa…
One of Apple Computer Inc.’s lesser-known product flops was its Lisa — an extremely cumbersome, quirky, and, might we add, downright weird-looking machine, that never really flourished in the general market. The Lisa was discontinued after a short run in the early 1980s and legend has it that about 2,700 of them are currently buried deep in a Utah landfill. This was after the product proved a total failure, of course, and the company needed some wide-open space to get rid of all those units long before environmentally-friendly initiatives became the core of its philosophy, of course.
33 Apple Rakes in the Dough
It’s little secret that Cupertino pulls in some serious revenue every quarter. While some are certainly better than others, after a period of progressive, year-over-year-over-year decline, Apple recently reported its most profitable quarter in, years, while officially proclaiming that it has, once again, returned to growth.
32 Secrecy
While Apple is known for its high levels of secrecy when working on projects, when a secret project is actually being worked on, the team’s desk is cut off from the rest of the pack in no time at all. Because, according to Business Insider, Apple has a full-time team of professional Carpenters on-site at any given time, who are willing and able to erect a new set of walls at the behest of upper-management.
31 Steve Jobs Was a Huge Fan of Porsche
Long before the Apple Watch was a concept, Steve Jobs used to rock a more subtle, yet nevertheless glamorous, timepiece. Like his favorite German luxury sports car, Steve was also quite fond of Porsche watches, too and apparently would even give one of the $1,000 timepieces to any employee who so much as commented on how good it looked on his wrist.
30 Trust
Long before an Apple new-hire gets the opportunity to work on developing or assisting with a product, he or she will first be assigned to work on a ‘quasi-project’ — in other words, to work on a fake product that will never actually become a product in order to determine if they can trusted with the company’s actual secrets, according to Gizmodo.
29 Who Is Siri?
We all know what Siri sounds like by now, right? Of course, while she can also be programmed to sound like a male, the voice of Siri by default is that of a woman with an unmistakably robotic, yet slightly feminine tone in her voice. According to CNN’s independent analysis, the Siri we all know and talk to on our iPhones and iPads is none other than that of Susan Bennett — an American-born voice-over artist who has allegedly spent plenty of time in high-tech voice booths, reading from scripted texts and perfecting the voice we hear every time we hold down on our home buttons.
28 Apple’s iPod Could Have Been a PHILIPS iPod
Could you imagine the iPod having never been an Apple-branded product? Well, imagine this: rumor has it that Tony Fadell, affectionately known as the father of the iPod, had actually pitched the iPod concept to companies including PHILIPS and Real Networks — even before he presented it to Apple. For better or for worse, though, those two companies apparently turned Fadell’s offer down, citing how they couldn't really see a future in the product. Once Fadell went to Apple with the idea, however, Steve Jobs & Co. immediately jumped on board with it and we all know this story has a happy ending.
27 The iPhone’s Internal Codename
For some time before it was shown off on stage at Macworld 2007, Apple's iPhone was a super-secret deal around the company’s 1 Infinite Loop campus. So secret, in fact, that for more than a three year period of time leading up to its unveiling, the original iPhone was supposedly referred to as 'M68' by workers, developers, and executives in the know.
26 Jony Ive’s Wardrobe
Have you ever watched an official product video on Apple’s website? They generally star the company's top brass, talking up the hottest features, design points, and “absolutely magical” goodness that the new item has to offer. If you’ve paid close attention to Jony Ive, in particular, you might have also noticed a similarity in his choice of clothing — he apparently likes G-STAR branded T-shirts, and quite a bit, as the brand is all he wears, and all he has worn for the last 17 years or so, when filming the videos.
25 Apple Is a Pretty Big Deal
We all know Apple is a special company, but it’s actually the largest Information Technology (IT) company in the entire world by measure of its total worldwide assets and revenue stream. It’s also the second largest smartphone manufacturer on Earth, right behind Samsung which is a pretty big deal considering Apple’s one and only device is the iPhone, and Samsung is, well, all over the map, really.
24 2012 Was a Great Year for Apple
One of Apple’s ‘best years ever’ came back in 2012, according to CNET. Not only did the company sell 125 million iPhones (that’s 340,000 per day), but the tech-giant also sold 58.31 million iPads, marking by far one of the tablet’s best performing years on record.
23 Apple Sells A LOT of Products
Statistics provided courtesy of Programmer Neal Aragwal’s ‘Every Second’ real-time Apple sales tracker shows us that the company sells A LOT of products. Check the site out for yourself, if you ever want to see the magic happen, as it’s happening. The numbers are quite impressive, to say the least.
22 Be Careful What You Say to Siri!
Siri can be a life-saving utility when we need her help the most. But did you know that every time you ask her something, no matter what it is, Siri sends that information to Apple’s servers where it’s processed, analyzed, and stored for at least two years? Well, it is. Also, be sure not to say anything to her like “Hey Siri, 108” since we recently learned that’s not a good idea, at all.
21 Most Valuable Brand in the World
While Google’s parent company, Alphabet, recently overtook Apple as the world’s most valuable brand, Cupertino’s die-hard fans can rest assured that, once upon a time, with an estimated value of $170.3 billion, Apple held the title of ‘the world’s most valuable brand’ for three years running.
20. Apple and Samsung are Actually Friends… Sort of
Sure, they’re technically rivals in the smartphone space, and they’ve been suing the pants off each other for years now. But Apple and Samsung actually have a deeper relationship than all of that superficial hullabaloo. Not only does Samsung manufacture the iPad’s Retina display, as well as some A-series silicon, but rumor has it that the South Korean company will also be the upcoming iPhone 8’s OLED display supplier.
19. Apple’s Highest Stock Value Ever Was Actually Higher Than It Is Now
While Apple (AAPL) shares are currently trading at ‘their all-time high’ of around $144 apiece, there was once a time, believe it or not, when the company’s stock was hovering around $650 a share. Back in 2014, according to The Wall Street Journal, Apple Inc. was worth so much money, the company had to divest its shares by authorizing a 7-for-1 stock split — effectively rendering 1 share of $645 AAPL stock the equivalent of 7 shares at around $94 apiece. Still, the company’s ‘new’ value has nearly doubled since then.
18. Apple Had One of the Most Successful IPOs in History
Second only to Ford Motor Co., who went public in 1958, Apple’s was the most successful Initial Public Offering on record. As Fortune notes, if you had bought into Apple’s IPO back in December, 1980, to the tune of just 100 shares @ $22 apiece ($2,200), even factoring in all the stock splits and revaluations over the years, your 100 shares would have multiplied into 5,600 today — with a combined value of $632,800.
17. The Power of Names
Before Steve Jobs & Co. ultimately settled on the name iPhone, there were actually a number of other names for the iconic device that were under serious consideration. Could you imagine owning an Apple ‘TriPod’? How about a ‘TelePod’? Believe it or not, Apple had even considered calling the iPhone, iPad, at one point in time, according to PCMag.
16. Steve Jobs was Fired From His Own Company
In 1985, after a contentious power struggle broke out between Steve Jobs and one of Apple Computers’ earliest CEOs, John Sculley, the company’s board of directors unanimously voted to oust the co-founder. Not all was lost, though: at just 30 years young, Jobs went on to pursue a number of lucrative ventures during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
15. A Billionaire Is Born
One of those more profitable ventures emerged from the Pixar animation company, which Jobs co-founded in the early 1990s. Animation was always a passion of his, and when the opportunity arose to join forces with Disney in creating the timeless classic, Toy Story, Jobs was among the foremost contenders to cash in on the deal — rendering him a billionaire by 1996, even before returning to Apple the following year.
14. Apple I Sells For Close to $1 million at Auction
While the first Apple I personal computer kit originally cost $666 to build, and while the devil certainly had no hand in its development, the nostalgia of the company’s first device in its fully functional form snagged a whopping $905,000 at auction back in 2014. Interestingly, the winning bid was placed by the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, where the device will supposedly remain on display for all to see.
13. Original Rainbow Apple Logo Was Designed by Ronald Wayne
Though he left the company just 12 days after it was founded in 1976, cashing out his potential fortune for a few months of rent and a tank of gas, Ronald Wayne played an instrumental role in designing the company’s first legitimate logo — the iconic rainbow-clad Apple of Macintosh computers past. Wayne was actually an engineer for Atari at the time of joining Apple however it’s unknown if his decision to cash out of Apple was in any way related to that.
12. How Many Apple Stores Are There?
By 2005, Cupertino had opened 116 brick & mortar Apple Stores in various countries around the world — with the majority of them right here in the U.S. By 2014, that number had ballooned to 437 and the number continues to climb every single year.
11. China Is Home to Many Fake Apple Stores
Fake Apple stores in China are rampant. Some are more convincing than others, but many Chinese 'Apple Store' employees were actually shocked to learn they didn't work for the real company.
10. “1984”
During the 3rd quarter of Super Bowl XVIII between the Los Angeles Raiders and the Washington Redskins, Apple aired its first star-studded TV advertisement featuring its inaugural Macintosh Computer. It was a runaway success, and, though it’s now 33-years old, the spot will forever be cemented in history as one of the most iconic Super Bowl ads of all-time.
9. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates Were Buddies (Kind Of…)
It may be hard to believe, but at one point in time, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates actually got along — to an extent. The infamous Apple vs. Microsoft rivalry actually began in 1983, long after the tech tycoons had established their empires, respectively. At the core of their feud was Jobs’ desire to have Gates create a Microsoft platform for the struggling Mac. Shortly thereafter, as legend has it, Gates did a full 180 on his “pal” when he took the wraps of Microsoft Windows OS, which soon become Apple’s chief rival in the PC race of the 1980s and 1990s. Though their relationship has had its ups and downs over the years, one could say the two have at least remained civil in their respective pursuits of power.
8. Apple ‘QuickTake’ Is a Quick Flop
With Jobs notably absent from any role at Apple during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the company endured a period of desperately trying to regain its image amidst an increasingly competitive PC space. Under the guidance of CEO, John Sculley, the company then began to experiment with a number of consumer-centric products, including CD Players, video game consoles, and even the QuickTake hand-held digital camera, which was ultimately a huge flop that resulted in the ousting of Sculley, altogether.
7. Speaking of Video Game Consoles…
Before there was XBOX, PlayStation, or even the iconic Nintendo 64 console, Apple tried its own hand at the increasingly popular video game business of the 1990s and early millennium. Unfortunately, the company’s Pippin console was as much of a flop as it was a sight for sore eyes, and was yet another in a string of major fails that contributed to Apple’s decline in the 1990s.
6. Apple Clothing?
Okay, this is kind of odd, even we’re not afraid to admit. But after the ousting of Jobs in 1985, Apple even decided to try its luck in — wait for it — the fashion industry. The firm didn’t get very far as you can imagine with fashion faux pas like these hideous things.
5. “We Need All The Help We Can Get…”
When Jobs returned to the helm of Apple in 1997, the company was in such dire condition after years of product flops gone haywire, that the newly-appointed CEOs first major announcement at Macworld 1997 included the news that Bill Gates planned to invest $150 million to help revive the beleaguered Mac-maker. To deafening boos from the audience, Jobs then displayed this iconic image of Gates delivering the news, himself. Told you they were [kind of] buddies, right?
4. “One More Thing…”
Perhaps one of Jobs’ most ubiquitous statements of all-time was delivered for the first time at the end of his keynote speech at Macworld the following year. Having joined forces with acting Chief Design Officer, Jony Ive, it was there Jobs officially took the wraps off the iMac G3 computer. Colorful, powerful, affordable, and single-handedly responsible for returning Apple to growth, the iMac G3 set the stage for the iMac as we know it today.
3. The “i” in iMac
Speculation has run rampant as to what the i preceding iMac, iPhone, iPad, and several other i-clad products from Apple actually stands for. As Mashable notes, however, we can finally put those questions to rest: Steve Jobs, himself, noted at Macworld 1998 that the i actually stands for “internet” — the perfect mashup between the web and Mac, the web and Phone, etc.
2. 2012 MacBook Pro Will Always Be a Classic — Here’s Why
Not only was Apple’s mid-2012 MacBook Pro (MD101LL/A) one of the last Mac computers that Steve Jobs had a personal hand in designing before his passing in October, 2011 but it will forever go down in infamy as one of the company’s most iconic MacBooks. Boasting the first of Apple’s aluminum unibody designs, the mid-2012 MacBook Pro boasts modern innovations like USB 3, Thunderbolt, a slot-loading DVD drive, and much more — and while the MacBook Pro has certainly evolved quite substantially since then, the machine (though currently out of stock) is still for sale via Apple’s Online storefront.
1. Ronald Wayne Loses Out — Big Time
Apple’s lesser-known co-founder, Ronald Wayne, sold his 10% share of Apple for a measly $800 just 12 days after the power-trio founded the company. While he was also given a $1,500 payout shortly thereafter, the gut-wrenching truth is, if Wayne had opted instead to hold onto his share for just a few more decades, it would have been worth a staggering $60 billion today.