3 Emagic
Known for its creation of revolutionary digital audio workstation (DAW) software, Logic Pro, Apple acquired this small software company back in 2002 for $30 million. While Logic has evolved substantially over the last 15 years, establishing a reputation for excellence and ease in digital music creation, the Mac-maker primarily made the purchase to help it develop the DAW-based GarageBand software title, which has since become a focal component of the company’s iLife software suite for Mac and iOS.