CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA — Apple Inc. marked its 50th anniversary on April 1, 2026, a half-century after Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak cofounded the company on April 1, 1976, in Los Altos, California. Apple has reached a market capitalization of $4 trillion.

A third cofounder, Ronald Wayne, sketched the first Apple logo by hand but left the company before it was officially incorporated, accepting an $800 check for his shares. Apple officially incorporated in 1977, the same year it introduced the Apple II, designed by Wozniak. The availability of VisiCalc spreadsheet software propelled the Apple II ahead of market leaders Tandy and Commodore, according to the National Museum of American History, and Apple began selling the machine to business customers.

Apple's first product, the Apple I, was built in 1976. It was a motherboard with a processor and memory intended for hobbyists — customers had to build their own case and add their own keyboard and monitor. Wozniak invented the Apple I and hand-built every kit, while Jobs handled the business side and sought to convince potential investors that the personal computer market was poised for rapid growth.

In 1979, Apple engineers visited the Xerox PARC campus for three days in exchange for the option to buy 100,000 Apple shares at $10 per share. Jobs subsequently spearheaded the effort to equip the Lisa computer with a graphical user interface. Apple introduced the Macintosh personal computer in 1983, the same year John Sculley became CEO. Jobs had recruited Sculley from PepsiCo with the pitch, "Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?" Also in 1983, Microsoft announced it was developing its own graphical user interface called Windows.

In 1985, Jobs attempted to oust Sculley. Instead, Apple's board of directors removed Jobs from his managerial duties, and he resigned from the company, going on to found NeXT to make advanced workstations. Wozniak also left Apple and sold most of his shares in 1985, stating that the company was going in the wrong direction.

In the 1990s, Apple entered multiple new markets that were unsuccessful, including the Newton MessagePad, which was not a hit with consumers. The company introduced the PowerBook laptop and released the System 7 operating system in 1991, which brought color to the Macintosh interface and remained in use until the release of OS X in 2001.

Jobs later returned to Apple and eventually stepped down as CEO to focus on his health. Tim Cook succeeded him. Under Cook, Apple launched the Apple Watch, AirPods, and the Vision Pro headset. The company also released its artificial intelligence software, Apple Intelligence.