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In this feature we tell the story of Apple. We start with the early days, the tale of how Apple was founded, moving on through the Apple I, to the Apple II, the launch of the Macintosh and the revolution in the DTP industry... To the tech-industry behemoth that we know and love today.

So sit back as we take a stroll down memory lane. Why not brush up on what really happened before you go and watch the Steve Jobs movie, with its interesting interpretations of several important events in the company's history?

On 1 April 1976 Apple was founded, making the company 41 years old as of the 1 April 2017 - here's a historical breakdown of the company.

The history of Apple

Our Apple history feature includes information about The foundation of Apple and the years that followed, we look at How Jobs met Woz and Why Apple was named Apple. The Apple I and The debut of the Apple II. Apple's visit to Xerox, and the one-button mouse. The story of The Lisa versus the Macintosh. Apple's '1984' advert, directed by Ridley Scott. The Macintosh and the DTP revolution. Read more: The Mac's Birthday .

We go on to examine what happened between Jobs and Sculley, leading to Jobs departure from Apple, and what happened during The wilderness years: when Steve Jobs wasn't at Apple, including Apple's decline and IBM and Microsoft's rise and how Apple teamed up with IBM and Motorola and eventually Microsoft. And finally, The return of Jobs to Apple.

The foundation of Apple

The history of everyone's favourite start-up is a tech fairytale of one garage, three friends and very humble beginnings. But we're getting ahead of ourselves...

The two Steves - Jobs and Wozniak - may have been Apple's most visible founders, but were it not for their friend Ronald Wayne there might be no iPhone, iPad or iMac today. Jobs convinced him to take 10% of the company stock and act as an arbiter should he and Woz come to blows, but Wayne backed out 12 days later, selling for just $500 a holding that would have been worth $72bn 40 years later.

Ron Wayne
How Jobs met Woz

Jobs and Woz (that's Steve Wozniak) were introduced in 1971 by a mutual friend, Bill Fernandez, who went on to become one of Apple's earliest employees. The two Steves got along thanks to their shared love of technology and pranks.

Jobs and Wozniak joined forces, initially coming up with pranks such as rigging up a painting of a hand showing the middle-finger to be displayed during a graduaction ceremony at Jobs' school, and a call to the Vatican that nearly got them access to the Pope.

The two friends were also using their technology know-how to build 'blue boxes' that made it possible to make long distance phone calls for free.

Jobs and Wozniak worked together on the Atari arcade game Breakout while Jobs was working at Atari and Wozniak was working at HP - Jobs had roped Woz into helping him reduce the number of logic chips required. Jobs managed to get a good bonus for the work on Breakout, of which he gave a small amount to Woz.

The first Apple computer

The two Steves attended the Homebrew Computer Club together; a computer hobbyist group that gathered in California's Menlo Park from 1975. Woz had seen his first MITS Altair there - which today looks like little more than a box of lights and circuit boards - and was inspired by MITS' build-it-yourself approach (the Altair came as a kit) to make something simpler for the rest of us. This philosophy continues to shine through in Apple's products today.

So Woz produced the the first computer with a typewriter-like keyboard and the ability to connect to a regular TV as a screen. Later christened the Apple I, it was the archetype of every modern computer, but Wozniak wasn't trying to change the world with what he'd produced - he just wanted to show off how much he'd managed to do with so few resources.

Speaking to NPR (National Public Radio) in 2006, Woz explained that "When I built this Apple I... the first computer to say a computer should look like a typewriter - it should have a keyboard - and the output device is a TV set, it wasn't really to show the world [that] here is the direction [it] should go [in]. It was to really show the people around me, to boast, to be clever, to get acknowledgement for having designed a very inexpensive computer."

Jobs and Woz
It almost didn't happen, though. The Woz we know now has a larger-than-life personality - he's funded rock concerts and shimmied on Dancing with the Stars - but, as he told the Sydney Morning Herald, "I was shy and felt that I knew little about the newest developments in computers." He came close to ducking out altogether, and giving the Club a miss.

Let's be thankful he didn't. Jobs saw Woz's computer, recognised its brilliance, and sold his VW microbus to help fund its production. Wozniak sold his HP calculator (which cost a bit more than calculators do today!), and together they founded Apple Computer Inc on 1 April 1976, alongside Ronald Wayne.

Why Apple was named Apple

The name Apple was to cause Apple problems in later years as it was uncomfortably similar to that of the Beatles' publisher, Apple Corps, but its genesis was innocent enough.

Speaking to Byte magazine in December 1984, Woz credited Jobs with the idea. "He was working from time to time in the orchards up in Oregon. I thought that it might be because there were apples in the orchard or maybe just its fructarian nature. Maybe the word just happened to occur to him. In any case, we both tried to come up with better names but neither one of us could think of anything better after Apple was mentioned."

According to the biography of Steve Jobs, the name was conceived by Jobs after he returned from apple farm. He apparently thought the name sounded "fun, spirited and not intimidating."

The name also likely benefitted by beginning with an A, which meant it would be nearer the front of any listings.

The Apple Logo

There are other theories about the meaning behind the name Apple. The idea that it was named thus because Newton was inspired when an Apple fell out of a tree hitting him on the head, is backed up by the fact that the original Apple logo was a rather complicated illustration of Newton sitting under a tree.

Later the company settled on the bite out of an Apple design for Apple's logo - a far simpler logo design. These logos are probably the reason for other theories about the meaning behind the name Apple, with some suggesting that the Apple logo with a chunk taken out of it is a nod at computer scientist and Enigma code-breaker, Alan Turing, who committed suicide by eating a cyanide infused apple.

However, according to Rob Janoff, the designer who created the logo, the Turing connection is simply " a wonderful urban legend."

Equally the bite taken out of the Apple could represent the story of Adam and Eve from the Old Testament. The idea being that the Apple represents knowledge.

Selling the Apple I

Woz built each computer by hand, and although he'd wanted to sell them for little more than the cost of their parts - at a price at that would recoup their outlay as long as they shipped 50 units - Jobs had bigger ideas.

Jobs inked a deal with the Byte Shop in Mountain View to supply it with 50 computers at $500 each. This meant that once the store had taken its cut, the Apple I sold for $666.66 - the legend is that Wozniak liked repeating numbers and was unaware of the 'number of the beast' conection.

Byte Shop was going out on a limb: the Apple I didn't exist in any great numbers, and the nascent Apple Computer Inc didn't have the resources to fulfil the order. Neither could it get them. Atari, where Jobs worked, wanted cash for any components it sold him, a bank turned him down for a loan, and although he had an offer of $5,000 from a friend's father, it wasn't enough.

In the end, it was Byte Shop's purchase order that sealed the deal. Jobs took it to Cramer Electronics and, as Walter Isaacson explains in Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography, he convinced Cramer's manager to call Paul Terrell, owner of Byte Shop, to verify the order.

"Terrell was at a conference when he heard over a loudspeaker that he had an emergency call (Jobs had been persistent). The Cramer manager told him that two scruffy kids had just walked in waving an order from the Byte Shop. Was it real? Terrell confirmed that it was, and the store agreed to front Jobs the parts on thirty-day credit."

An original Apple I (in a case)
Jobs was banking on producing enough working computers within that time to settle the bill out of the proceeds from selling completed units to Byte Shop. The risk involved was too great for Ronald Wayne, and it's ultimately this that saw him duck out.

"Jobs and Woz didn't have two nickels to rub together," Wayne told NextShark in 2013. "If this thing blew up, how was that... going to be repaid? Did they have the money? No. Was I reachable? Yes."

Family and friends were roped in to sit at a kitchen table and help solder the parts, and once they'd been tested Jobs drove them over to Byte Shop. When he unpacked them, Terrell, who had ordered finished computers, was surprised by what he found.

As Michael Moritz explains in Return to the Little Kingdom, "Some energetic intervention was required before the boards could be made to do anything. Terrell couldn't even test the board without buying two transformers... Since the Apple I didn't have a keyboard or a television, no data could be funnelled in or out of the computer. Once a keyboard had been hooked to the machine it still couldn't be programmed without somebody laboriously typing in the code for BASIC since Wozniak and Jobs hadn't provided the language on a cassette tape or in a ROM chip... finally the computer was naked. It had no case."

An original Apple I board, from the Sydney Powerhouse Museum collection
Raspberry PI and the BBC's Micro Bit aside, we probably wouldn't accept such a computer today, and even Terrell was reluctant at first but, as Isaacson explains, "Jobs stared him down, and he agreed to take delivery and pay." The gamble had paid off, and the Apple I stayed in production from April 1976 until September 1977, with a total run of around 200 units.

Their scarcity has made them collectors' items, and Bonhams auctioned a working Apple I in October 2014 for an eye-watering $905,000. If your pockets aren't that deep, Briel Computers' Replica 1 Plus is a hardware clone of the Apple I, and ships at a far more affordable $199, fully built.

When you consider that only 200 were built, the Apple I was a triumph. It powered its burgeoning parent company to almost unheard-of rates of growth - so much so that the decision to build a successor can't have caused too many sleepless nights in the Jobs and Wozniak households.

The Apple II

Apple II
The success of the first Apple computer meant that Apple was able to go on to design its predecessor.

The Apple II debuted at the West Coast Computer Faire of April 1977, going head to head with big-name rivals like the Commodore PET. It was a truly groundbreaking machine, just like the Apple computer before it, with colour graphics and tape-based storage (later upgraded to 5.25in floppies). Memory ran to 64K in the top-end models and the image it sent to the NTSC display stretched to a truly impressive 280 x 192, which was then considered high resolution. Naturally there was a payoff, and pushing it to such limits meant you had to content yourself with just six colours, but dropping to a more reasonable 40 rows by 48 columns would let you enjoy as many as 16 tones at a time.

Yes, the Apple II (or apple ][ as it was styled) was a true innovation, and one that Jobs' biographer, Walter Isaacson, credits with launching the personal computer industry.

The trouble is, the specs alone weren't really enough to justify the $1,300 cost of the Apple II. Business users needed a reason to dip into their IT budgets and it wasn't until some months later that the perfect excuse presented itself: the world's first 'killer app'.

The first app on an Apple computer: Visicalc

Dan Bricklin
Dan Bricklin was a student at Harvard Business School when he visualised "a heads-up display, like in a fighter plane, where I could see the virtual image [of a table of numbers] hanging in the air in front of me. I could just move my mouse/keyboard calculator around on the table, punch in a few numbers, circle them to get a sum, do some calculations..."

Of course, we'd recognise that as a spreadsheet today, but back in the late 1970s, such things existed only on paper. Converting them for digital use would be no small feat, but Bricklin was unperturbed. He borrowed an Apple II from his eventual publisher and set to work, knocking out an alpha edition over the course of a weekend.

Many of the concepts he used are still familiar today - in particular, letters above each column and numbers by the rows to use as references when building formulae. (Wondering how it compares to Numbers today? Here's our Numbers review.)

The technological limitations inherent in the hardware meant that it didn't quite work as Bricklin had first imagined. The Apple II didn't have an incorporated display and although the mouse had been invented it wasn't bundled with the machine. So, the display became the regular screen, and the mouse was swapped out for the Apple II's game paddle, which Bricklin described as being "a dial you could turn to move game objects back and forth... you could move the cursor left or right, and then push the 'fire' button, and then turning the paddle would move the cursor up and down."

It was far from perfect and working this way was sluggish, so Bricklin reverted to using the left and right arrow keys, with the space bar in place of the fire button for switching between horizontal and vertical movement.

VisiCalc was unveiled in 1979 and described as "a magic sheet of paper that can perform calculations and recalculations". We owe it a debt of gratitude for the part it played in driving sales of the Apple II and anchoring Apple within the industry.

Writing in Morgan Stanley's Electronics Letter, shortly before its launch, analyst Benjamin M Rosen expounded his belief that VisiCalc was "so powerful, convenient, universal, simple to use and reasonably priced that it could well become one of the largest-selling personal computer programs ever... [it] could some day become the software tail that wags (and sells) the personal computer dog."

How right he was, as Tim Barry revealed in a later InfoWorld piece in which he described an experience that would have been familiar to many:

VisiCalc
"When I first used VisiCalc on an Apple II, I wanted to get a version that could take advantage of the larger system capabilities of my CP/M computer. Alas it was not to be... We ended up buying an Apple II just to run VisiCalc (a fairly common reason for many Apple sales, I'm told)."

Apple itself credited the app with being behind a fifth of all series IIs it sold.

Apple II success: colour graphics

So a piece of software worth a little more than $100 was selling a piece of hardware worth ten times as much. That was uncharted territory, but even with the right software the Apple II wouldn't have been a success if it hadn't adhered to the company's already established high standards.

The February 1984 edition of PC Mag, looking back at the Apple II in the context of what it had taught IBM, put some of its success down to the fact that "its packaging did not make it look like a ham radio operator's hobby. A low heat-generating switching power supply allowed the computer to be placed in a lightweight plastic case. Its sophisticated packaging differentiated it from ... computers that had visible boards and wires connecting various components to the motherboard."

More radically, though, the Apple II "was the first of its type to provide usable colo[u]r graphics... contained expansion slots for which other hardware manufacturers could design devices that could be installed into the computer to perform functions that Apple has never even considered."

In short, Apple had designed a computer that embodied what we came to expect of desktop machines through the 1980s, 1990s and the first few years of this century - before Apple turned things on its head again and moved increasingly towards sealed boxes without the option for internal expansion.

Almost six million series IIs were produced over 16 years, giving Apple its second big hit. Really, though, the company was still getting started, and its brightest days were still ahead.

For VisiCalc, the future wasn't so bright, largely because its developers weren't quick enough to address the exploding PC market. Rival Lotus stepped in and its 1-2-3 quickly became the business standard. It bought Software Arts, VisiCalc's developer, in 1985 and remained top dog until Microsoft did to it what Lotus had done to VisiCalc - it usurped it with a rival that established a new digital order.

That rival was Excel which, like VisiCalc, appeared on an Apple machine long before it was ported to the PC.
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Apple, Xerox and the one-button mouse

Apple has never been slow to innovate - except, perhaps, where product names are concerned. We're approaching the eighties in our trip through the company's history and we're at the point where it's followed up the Apple I and II with the III. Predictable, eh?

The two Steves founded the company with a trend-bucking debut and had the gumption to target the industry's biggest names with its two follow ups. That must have left industry watchers wondering where it might go next.

The answer, it turned out, was Palo Alto.

Xerox had established a research centre there - Xerox PARC, now simply called 'parc' - where it was free to explore new technologies a long way from the corporate base on the opposite side of the country. Its work helped drive forward the tech that we still use every day, such as optical media, Ethernet and laser printers (we aren't just talking about photocopiers!) Of most interest to Mac users, though, is its revolutionary work on interface design.

The Apple I, II and III computers were text-based machines, much like the earliest IBM PCs. But Jobs, who was working on the Lisa at the time, wanted something more intuitive. He convinced Xerox to grant three days' access to PARC for him and a number of Apple employees. In exchange Xerox won the right to buy 100,000 Apple shares at $10 each.

To say this was a bargain would be a massive understatement. Apple has split its stock four times since then - in 1987, 2000, 2005 and 2014. Companies do this when the price of a single share starts to get too high, in an effort to stimulate further trading. So, assuming Xerox held on to those shares, it would have had 200,000 by 1987, 400,000 by 2000 and 800,000 by 2005. The split in 2014 was rated at seven to one, so Xerox's holding would leap from 800,000 to 5.6m. Selling them at today's prices would rake in $708m (£450m). Not bad for a three-day tour.

Jobs was bowled over by the Xerox Alto, a machine used widely throughout the park, with a portrait display and graphical interface, which was way ahead of its time. It had been knocking around for a while by then, but Xerox, which built 2000 units, hadn't been selling it to the public. It wasn't small - about the size of an under-counter fridge - but it was still considered a 'personal' machine, which was driven home by the user-centric manner in which it was used. It was the first computer to major on mouse use, with a three-button gadget used to point at and click on objects on the screen.

Jobs decreed that every computer Apple produced from that point on should adopt a similar way of working. Speaking to Walter Isaacson some years later, he described the revelation as "like a veil being lifted from my eyes. I could see what the future of computing was destined to be."

The Lisa and the Macintosh

It kicked off a race inside Apple between the teams developing the Lisa and the Macintosh.

Jeff Raskin
The official line at the time was that Lisa stood for Local Integrated System Architecture, and the fact it was Jobs' daughter's name was purely coincidental. It was a high-end business machine slated to sell at close to $10,000. Convert that to today's money and it would buy you a mid-range family car. The project was managed by John Couch, formerly of IBM.

Jeff Raskin, meanwhile, was heading up development of the Macintosh, which had smaller businesses and home users firmly in its sights, and each team wanted to be the first to ship an Apple computer with a graphical interface.

The Lisa
Whichever team got their first, Apple - as a company - wanted them to do it at a price that wasn't prohibitively expensive, and that meant finding some cheaper solutions to the ones arrived at by Xerox. The Alto's mouse, for example, had three buttons and cost $300. Jobs wanted something simpler, and capped the price at $15. The result was a one-button mouse (which maybe hasn't stood the test of time as well as Jobs might have expected, with most of us regularly requiring that ctrl-click or right-click).

Jobs was so excited by the potential of the mouse and graphical interface that he got himself more and more involved in the Lisa's development, to the extent that he started to bypass the management structure already in place. The caused upsets, and in 1982 matters came to a head.

The Apple Lisa had an advanced gui
Michael Scott was Apple's president and CEO at the time, having been brought to the post by Mark Markkula (Apple employee number three, and investor to the tune of $250,000). The two men worked out a new corporate structure, which sidelined Jobs with immediate effect, and handed control of the Lisa project back to John Couch. Jobs, also stripped of responsibility for research and development within the company, was little more than a figurehead. That left him on the lookout for a new project.

Perhaps inevitably, he turned to the Macintosh.

Named in honour of Raskin's favourite edible apple (the McIntosh), the Macintosh had been in the works since 1979, so when Jobs joined the team it was already well advanced. That didn't stop him making extensive changes though, including the commission of a new external design and integration the graphical operating system. Raskin left the Macintosh team when he and Jobs fell out, and Jobs assumed control for the remainder of its development.

However, this enforced switching of sides meant that Jobs - technically - ended up on the losing team. The Lisa launched in 1983, with its graphical user interface in place; the Macintosh debuted the following year. The race had been won by the Lisa.

It was a pyrrhic victory, though. The Macintosh, which we'll be covering in more detail below, was a success, and Apple's current computer line-up - iOS devices aside - descends directly from that first consumer machine.

You can't say the same of the Lisa. It cost four times the price of the Macintosh, and although it had a higher resolution display and could address more memory, it wasn't nearly as successful. Apple released seven applications for it, covering all of the usual business bases, but third party support was poor.

Nonetheless, Apple didn't give up. The original Lisa was followed by the Lisa 2, which cost around half the price of its predecessor and used the same 3.5in disks as the Macintosh. Then, in 1985, it rebranded the hard drive-equipped Lisa 2 as the Macintosh XL and stimulated sales with a price cut.

At this point, though, the numbers didn't add up, and the Lisa had to go. The Macintosh went on to define the company.

By 1984, Apple had proved twice over that it was a force to be reckoned with. It had taken on IBM, the biggest name in business computing, and acquitted itself admirably. The Apple I and II were resounding successes, but while the Apple III and Lisa had been remarkable machines, they hadn't captured the public imagination to the same degree as their predecessors. Apple needed another hit, both to guarantee its future and to target the lower end of the market, which to date it had largely ignored.

That hit, we all now know, was the Macintosh: the machine that largely guaranteed the company's future.

If you'd like a visual guide to Apple history take a look at our Apple timeline in pictures and video

All change: Jef Raskin versus Steve Jobs

The Macintosh
We'll always remember Steve Jobs as the man who launched the Macintosh, but he only arrived on the project in 1981 - two years after Jef Raskin had started work on the low-cost computer for home and business use. Jobs quickly stamped his mark on it, and Raskin left in 1982 - before the product shipped. We must give Raskin credit for original idea and its name (his favourite kind of apple was the McIntosh, but this was tweaked to avoid infringing copyright), but otherwise the machine that eventually launched was a fair way away from the one he'd originally envisaged.

Raskin's early prototypes had text-based displays and used function keys in place of the mouse for executing common tasks. Raskin later endorsed the mouse, but with more than the single button that shipped with the Macintosh. It was Jobs and Bud Tribble, the latter of whom is still at Apple (he is Vice President of Software Technology), that really pushed the team to implement the graphical user interface (GUI) for which it became famous.

They saw the potential of the GUI's desktop metaphor after seeing one in use at Xerox PARC, and they'd already laid much of the groundwork for Apple's own take on the system as part of the Lisa project. Tribble tasked the Macintosh team with doing the same for their own machine which, in hindsight, may have been the most important directive ever issued by anyone inside Apple.

If the Macintosh team had continued down the text-and-keyboard path, it's unlikely their product would have sold as well as it did - and Apple, as we know it, might not exist today at all.

Find out about the original Mac team members - here are some of their stories.

The Macintosh project: Simpler and smarter

Through several iterations, the prototype Macintosh became both more able and less complex to build. It had fewer chips, and the Apple engineers were able to push them further and faster. By the time it was ready to launch, the Macintosh incorporated the kind of graphics hardware that would have cost tens of thousands of pounds to buy in any rival machine, yet Apple was aiming to sell it at a price that would put it in reach of the better-heeled home user.

The final spec was radical for its day, with a 6MHz Motorola 68000 processor ramped up to 7.8MHz, 128KB of Ram, and a 9in black and white screen with a fixed 512 x 342 pixels. To put that into perspective, it's not even enough to display an app icon from a retina-class iOS device at its native resolution, but it could still accommodate System Software 1.0 - Apple's fully graphical operating system.

The Macintosh project: good looks

But it wasn't just what went on inside the box that made it such an attractive device. The Macintosh looked just good on the outside. Sure, it was shrouded in beige plastic - but the all in one body incorporated the floppy drive and a handy carrying handle, so you could easily take it with you, wherever you needed to work. It looked friendly, too, and that made it more approachable.

There were still some limitations, though. The original Macintosh didn't have a hard drive, so you had to boot from a floppy and could only temporarily eject the system disk when you needed to access applications and data. Apple partially fixed this shortcoming by offering an external add-on drive, which allowed users to keep the System disk in situ and delegate responsibility for apps and data to a second disk. It was an expensive add-on, though, and the external Hard Disk 20, which cost $1495 and gave just 20MB of storage, was still a year away from going on sale.

Despite it limitations, though, many of the features established on that first Macintosh are still in use today. We've dropped the 'System' monicker in favour of 'OS' (which stands for Operating System), but we still use the Finder name, which debuted there, and both Command and Option appeared as modifier buttons on its keyboard (the latter has since been usurped by alt, at least in the UK, but the name lives on for many users).

(You'd be surprised by how many people are confused by the fact that Apple still referrs to the Option key on the Mac keyboard even though on UK keyboards that key is known as Alt, find out more here: What is Option on a Mac?)

The Macintosh project: pixels

The hardware was only half of the story. Coder Bill Atkinson had implemented a radical system by which the Macintosh System software allowed for overlapping windows in a more efficient manner than the computers at PARC had done, and Susan Kare spent months developing a visual language in the form of on-screen icons that have since become classics.

Susan Kare and the Command logo she designed
It's Kare that we have to thank for the on-screen wrist watch (to indicate a background process hogging resources) and the smiling Mac - among others - as well as the seemingly illogical square and circles combination she chose for the command key. (This is a common symbol in Sweden, where it's used to denote a National Heritage site - not a campsite as has been reported.) Her paint bucket and lasso graphics are used widely in other applications, and the fonts she designed for use on the original Macintosh, which included Chiacgo, Geneva and Monaco, are still in use today - albeit in finer forms.

The Macintosh went on sale in January 1984, priced at $2,495. It wasn't cheap, but it was good value for what you got, and that was reflected in its sales. By the beginning of May that same year, Apple had hit the landmark figure of 70,000 shipped units, which was likely helped in no small part by a remarkable piece of advertising directed by Ridley Scott.

Find out how the iPhone 5s compares to the Original 128k Macintosh
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Apple's '1984' advert

Nobody would ever deny that the original Macintosh was a work of genius. It was small, relatively inexpensive (for its day) and friendly. It brought the GUI - graphical user interface - to a mass audience and gave us all the tools we could ever need for producing graphics-rich work that would have costs many times as much on any other platform.

Yet, right from the start, it was in danger of disappointing us.

You see, Apple had built it up to be something quite astounding. It was going to change the computing world, we were told, and as launch day approached, the hype continued to grow. It was a gamble - a big one - that any other company would likely have shied away from.

But then no other company employed Steve Jobs.

Jobs understood what made the Macintosh special, and he knew that, aside from the keynote address at which he would reveal it, the diminutive machine needed a far from diminutive bit of publicity.

He put in a call to Chiat\Day, Apple's retained ad agency, and tasked them with filling sixty seconds during the third quarter break of Super Bowl XVIII.

Super Bowl ads are always special, but this was in a league of its own. Directed by Blade Runner's Ridley Scott and filmed in Shepperton Studios in the UK, its production budget stood somewhere between $350,000 and $900,000, depending on who is telling the story.

The premise was simple enough, but the message was a gamble, pitting Apple directly against its biggest competitor, IBM.

International Business Machines dominated the workplace of the early 1980s, and the saying that 'nobody ever got fired for buying IBM' was a powerful monicker working in its favour. People trusted the brand, staking their careers on the simple choice of IBM or one of the others. As a result, the others often missed out, and if Apple wasn't going to languish among them, it had to change that perception.

So the ad portrayed Apple as humanity's only hope for the future. It dressed Anya Major, an athlete who later appeared in Elton John's Nikita video, in a white singlet and red shorts, with a picture of the Mac on her vest. She was bright, fresh and youthful, and a stark contrast to the cold, blue, shaven-headed drones all about her. They plodded while she ran. They were brainwashed by Big Brother, who lectured them through an enormous screen, but she hurled a hammer through the screen to free them from their penury.

Even without the tagline, the inference would have been clear, but Jobs, Apple CEO John Sculley and Chiat\Day turned the knife the with the memorable slogan, 'On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like Nineteen Eighty-Four.'

It was a gutsy move, never explicitly naming IBM, and never showing the product it was promoting, but today it's considered a masterpiece, and has topped Advertising Age's list of the 50 greatest commercials ever made.

Jobs and Sculley loved it, but when Jobs played it to the board, it got a frosty reception. The board disliked it and Sculley changed his mind, suggesting that they find another agency, but not before asking Chiat\Day to sell off the two ad slots they'd already booked it into.

One of these was a minor booking, slated to run on just ten local stations in Idaho, purely so the ad would qualify for the 1983 advertising awards. Chiat\Day offloaded this as instructed, but hung on to the Super Bowl break and claimed that it was unsellable.

As Jobs' biographer, Walter Isaacson, explains, "Sculley, perhaps to avoid a showdown with either the board or Jobs, decided to let Bill Campbell, the head of marketing, figure out what to do. Campbell, a former football coach, decided to throw the long bomb. 'I think we ought to go for it,' he told his team."

Thank goodness they did.

There are two ways to judge an ad. One is how well it markets your brand, and the other is how much money is makes you. The 1984 promotion was a success on both fronts. Ninety-six million people watched its debut during the Super Bowl, and countless others caught a replay as television stations right across the country re-ran it later that evening, and over the following days.

Fifty local stations included a story on it in their new bulletins, which massively diluted the $800,000 cost of the original slot. Apple couldn't have booked itself a cheaper ad break if it had tried.

The revenue speaks for itself. The ad, combined with Jobs' now legendary keynote, secured the company's future, and kicked off a line of computers that's still with us today - albeit in a very different configuration.

It's perhaps no surprise that following the success of the 1984 advert, Apple booked another Super Bowl slot the following year for a strikingly similar production, this time filmed by Ridley Scott's brother, Tony.

'Lemmings' once again depicted a stream of drones plodding across the screen. The colours were muted, the soundtrack was downbeat, and the drones were blindfolded, so it was only by keeping a hand on the drone ahead of them that they could tell where they were headed. Only when the penultimate drone dropped off the cliff over which they were marching did the last in line realise that a change of course was called for - and a switch to Macintosh Office.

It wasn't a great success. As sterndesign's Apple Matters explains, the advert "left viewers with the feeling that they were inferior for not using the Mac. Turns out that insulting the very people you are trying to sell merchandise to is not the best idea."

Wired put it succinctly: "Apple fell flat on its face... People found it offensive, and when it was shown on the big screen at Stanford Stadium during the Super Bowl, there was dead silence - something very different from the cheers that greeted '1984' a year earlier."
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The Macintosh and the DTP revolution

The Macintosh got off to a good start, thanks to Jobs' spectacular unveiling, its innovative design, and the iconic '1984' advert, but it still needed a killer application, like VisiCalc had been on the Apple ][, if it was really going to thrive. It found it in the shape of PageMaker, backed up by the revolutionary Apple LaserWriter printer.

The $6,995 LaserWriter, introduced in March 1985 - just over a year after the Macintosh - was the first mass-market laser printer. It had a fixed 1.5MB internal memory for spooling pages and a Motorola 68000 processor under the hood - the same as the brain of both the Lisa and the Macintosh - running at 12MHz to put out eight 300dpi pages a minute.

It wasn't the first laser printer - just as the Macintosh wasn't the first desktop machine and the iPod wasn't the first digital music player - but, in true Apple style, it was different, and that's what mattered. Functionally, it was very similar to the first HP Laserjet, which used the same Canon CX engine as the LaserWriter and had shipped a year earlier at half the price. However, while HP had chosen to use its own in-house control language, Apple opted for Adobe's PostScript, which remains a cornerstone of desktop publishing to this day.

It was a neat fit for Adobe, which had been founded by John Warnock when he left Xerox with the intention of building a laser printer driven by the PostScript language. Jobs convinced him to work with Apple on building the LaserWriter, and sealed the deal shortly before the Macintosh launched.

As a key part of the Apple Office concept, introduced through 1985's less popular Lemmings Super Bowl ad, the LaserWriter was network-ready out of the box, courtesy of AppleTalk, so system admins could string together a whole series of Macs in a chain and share the printer between them, thus reducing the average per-seat cost of the device. This made it immediately more competitive when stood beside its rivals and, as InfoWorld reported in its issue of February 11, 1985, "Apple claims a maximum of 31 users [can be attached] to each LaserWriter but its own departments at its Cupertino, California headquarters hook up 40 users per printer."

So, everything was in place on the hardware side. What was missing - so far - was the software.

Paul Brainerd, who is credited with inventing the term 'Desktop Publishing', heard of Apple's intention to build a laser printer and realised that the Mac's graphical interface and the printer's high quality output were missing the one crucial part that would help both of them fly: the intermediary application. Thus, he founded Aldus and began work on PageMaker.

The process took 16 months to complete, and when it shipped in July 1985, for $495, PageMaker proved to be the piece that completed the DTP jigsaw. The publishing industry was about to undergo a revolution, the like of which it wouldn't see again until we all started reading online.

Although it was later available on Windows and VAX terminals, PageMaker started out on the Mac, and firmly established the platform as the first choice for digital creative work - which is perhaps why it's favoured by so many designers today. It's hard to believe, in an age where we're used to 27in or larger displays, that the Macintosh's 9in screen, with a resolution smaller than the pixel count of an iOS app icon, was ever considered a viable environment for laying out graphically-rich documents, but it was.

By March 1987, less than two years from launch, PageMaker's annual sales had reached $18.4m - an increase of 100% over the previous year, according to Funding Universe.

PageMaker versus QuarkXPress

But good things don't last forever, and eventually PageMaker lost a lot of its sales to QuarkXPress, which launched in 1987, undercut its high-end rivals and by the late 1990s had captured the professional market. In 1999 Forbes reported that at one point 87% of the 18,000 magazines published in the US were being laid out using XPress (including Forbes itself).

Adobe and Aldus merged in 1994, retained the Adobe brand and transitioned products away from the Aldus moniker. It was a very logical pairing when you consider that PageMaker was conceived to take advantage of the graphics capabilities of an Apple laser printer, which in turn were served up by an Adobe-coded control language.

Quark was going from strength to strength at the time of the merger, and four years later - in summer 1998 - Quark Chief Executive Fred Ebrahimi, in Forbes' words, 'announced his intention to buy Adobe Systems of San Jose... a public company with three times Quark's revenues'.

Quark versus InDesign

Of course, the acquisition didn't go ahead, and what followed is now a familiar story to anyone in publishing. Adobe was already working on InDesign under the codename K2, using code that had come across with the Aldus merger. InDesign shipped in 1999 and after a few years of InDesign and PageMaker running side by side, the latter was retired.

PageMaker's last major release was version 7, which shipped in 2001 and ran on both Windows and OS 9 or OS X, although only in Classic mode on the latter. It's no doubt still in use on some computers and lives on in the shape of the archived pages on Adobe's site here.

InDesign was out in the wild by then and Adobe was keen to push users down a more professional path. We think that's a shame as there's still space in the market for a tool like PageMaker to act as an entry ramp to InDesign further down the line.

Business users may now turn to Pages, with its accomplished layout tools and help from dynamic guides, but a fully-fledged consumer and small business-friendly tool like PageMaker would still find a home in many an open-plan workspace.
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Jobs vs Sculley

It's all been good news so far in our story of Apple's founding and early development. We're still in the mid-eighties. The company is still young, but going from strength to strength, and it's offering up some serious competition for its larger, longer-established rivals. Few would have guessed that trouble was just around the corner.

To explain what happened next, we need to step back a few months and look at the company structure.

Steve Jobs may have been Apple's most public face, and the co-founder of the company, but he wasn't its CEO in the mid-1980s. He hadn't yet turned 30, and many on the board considered him too inexperienced for the role, so they first hired Michael Scott, and later Mark Markkula, who had retired at 32 on the back of stock options he'd acquired at Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel. Markkula was one of Apple's initial investors, but he didn't want to run the company long term.

When he announced his desire to head back to retirement, the company set out to find a replacement. It settled on John Sculley, whom Jobs famously lured to Apple from Pepsi by asking '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?'

Walter Isaacson, in his biography of Steve Jobs, quotes one of Sculley's reminiscences: 'I was taken by this young, impetuous genius and thought it would be fun to get to know him a little better.'

That's exactly what he did, and during the honeymoon period everything seemed to be going swimmingly. As Michael Moritz writes in Return to the Little Kingdom, 'At Apple, Sculley was greeted like an archangel and, for a time, could do no wrong. He and Jobs were quoted as saying that they could finish each others' sentences.'

Their management styles were wildly different, though, and it's perhaps inevitable that this led to some conflicts between the two men. Sculley didn't like the way that Jobs treated other staff members, and the two came to blows over more practical matters, including the pricing of the Macintosh.

From the moment of its inception, the Macintosh was always supposed to be a computer for the rest of us, keenly priced so that it would sell in large numbers. The aim was to put out a $1000 machine, but over the years of gestation - as the project became more ambitious - this almost doubled.

Shortly before its launch it was slated to go on sale at $1,995, but Sculley could see that even this wasn't enough and he decreed that it would have to be hiked by another $500. Jobs disagreed, but Sculley prevailed and the Macintosh 128K hit the shelves at $2,495.

That was just the start of the friction between the two men, which wasn't helped by a downturn in the company's fortunes. Sales of the Macintosh started to tail off, the Lisa was discontinued and Jobs didn't hide the fact that his initial respect for Sculley had cooled. The board urged Sculley to reign him in.

That's exactly what he did, but not until March 1985 - just shy of two years after arriving at the company. Sculley visited Jobs in his office and told him that he was taking away his responsibility for running the Macintosh team.

Talking to the BBC in 2012, Sculley explained what went on inside the company at the time: "When the Macintosh Office [Apple's office-wide computing environment including networked Macintosh computers, file server, and a laser printer] was introduced in 1985 and failed Steve went into a very deep funk. He was depressed, and he and I had a major disagreement where he wanted to cut the price of the Macintosh and I wanted to focus on the Apple II because we were a public company. We had to have the profits of the Apple II and we couldn't afford to cut the price of the Macintosh because we needed the profits from the Apple II to show our earnings - not just to cover the Mac's problems. That's what led to the disagreement and the showdown between me and Steve and eventually the board investigated it and agreed that my position was the one they wanted to support."

But Jobs wasn't ready to go without a fight.

Sculley had to leave the country on business that May, and Jobs saw this as the perfect opportunity to wrest back control of the company. He confided in the senior members of his own team, which at the time included Jean-Louis Gassée, who was being lined up to take over from Jobs on the Macintosh team. Gassée told Sculley what was happening, and Sculley cancelled his trip.

The following morning, Sculley confronted Jobs in front of the whole board, asking if the rumours were true. Jobs said they were, and Sculley once again asked the board to choose between the two of them - him or Jobs. Again, they sided with Sculley, and Jobs' fate was sealed.

Jobs leaves Apple

Scully reorganised the company, installed Gassée at the head of the computer division and made Jobs Apple's chairman. That might sound like a plum job - indeed, a promotion - but in reality it was a largely ceremonial role that took the co-founder away from the day-to-day running of the company.

This wasn't Jobs' style. He felt the need to move on and do something else and, a few months later, that's what he did. He resigned from Apple and founded NeXT, a company that would design and build high end workstations for use in academia, taking several key Apple staff with him.

If this had happened in the 2000s, when Apple was riding high on the back of the iPod and iPhone and was prepping the world for the launch of the iPad, it could have had catastrophic consequences. In the 1980s, though, the outcome was somewhat different.

DeWitt Robbeloth, editor of II Computing magazine, wrote in the October 1985 issue, "Most industry savants agree the move was good for Apple, or even crucial. Why? There were serious differences between the two about what Apple products should be like, how they should be marketed, and how the company should be run."

So, Sculley was in control and could run Apple as he saw fit. Now we'll see exactly where that takes the company over the following months. Read next: 12 Apple execs you need to know

Jean-Louis Gassée takes over from Steve Jobs

The most recent stop of our tour through the history of Apple saw Jobs leave the company after falling out with the board. It wasn't entirely unexpected - and the news wasn't greeted with the same kind of dread as the announcement of his cancer many years later. Indeed, Wall Street responded positively to Jobs' departure, and the price of Apple stock went up.

Jean-Louis Gassée, who had been Apple's Director of European Operations since 1981, was appointed by CEO John Sculley to take over from Jobs and head up Macintosh development. Fewer positions could have been more prestigious in a company that owed its very existence to that single iconic product line - particularly at a time when the company's focus and ethos was about to undergo a significant change.

Apple post-Jobs (the first time)

In the months leading up to his departure, Jobs had been focused on consumer-friendly price points, initially wanting to sell the Macintosh for $1,000 or less into as many homes and businesses as possible. In the event, that never came to fruition, as the final spec simply couldn't be built, marketed and shipped at that price while still turning a profit.

However, with Jobs now busy elsewhere, the board was free to re-think what Apple was about and the kind of machines it would produce. It was already appealing to creative business users thanks to the prevalence of Macs in design and layout offices so, logically enough, it made the decision to target the high-end market with more powerful, and thus more expensive Macs. Although the company would sell fewer units, each one should - in theory - deliver similar or higher profits.

The policy had its own nickname, '55 or die', which was a nod to Gassée's dictat that the Macintosh II should deliver at least 55% profit per machine, perhaps explains why it was so expensive. A basic system with a 20MB hard drive (insufficient to hold an average Photoshop file today) started at $5500, but bumping up the spec, with a colour display, more memory and larger hard drive, could easily see the price double.

When stood against their PC counterparts, then, Apple's new computers looked pretty expensive, but they had several benefits that kept their users loyal - in particular, the user interface. It's important to remember that although Windows may be ubiquitous today, that wasn't always the case.

When the Macintosh II first appeared in 1987, Windows was less than two years old, still at version 1.04, and still an add-on to DOS rather than a full-blown, stand-alone operating system.

Once the designers of the mid-1980s had got used to working visually, they didn't want to go back to using a text-based computer, so until Windows hit the big time, which happened with Windows 3 at the end of the 1980s, Apple had the graphical market pretty much to itself.

Apple gets colourful: the Machintosh II ships with a colour display

This would be enough to encourage complacency in some companies, but not Apple, which continued to innovate in a way that would at least partially justify the high prices. The Machintosh II, for instance, wasn't simply a spec-boost of the original Macintosh. It looked completely different, being housed in a horizontal case that the end user (or an engineer) could open themselves to upgrade the memory, drives and so on. This was a major break from Apple's established way of doing things, where all previous computers, with the exception of the build-it-yourself Apple I, had been shipped in closed boxes, largely because Jobs saw this as a way of making them more friendly and less threatening.

It was also the first Macintosh to ship with a colour display, and although it's difficult to imagine what a difference that would make today, we only need to think back to early, mono iPods and compare them to the iPod touch to understand the impact it must have had.

Aside from heading up the development of conventional computers, Gassée also oversaw a lot of Apple's behind-the-scenes development, where designers were dreaming up new products that would one day drive the company to new heights. Two of the fruits of those labours, the Newton MessagePad and the eMate, were particularly prescient, as they pointed towards Apple's later dominance of lightweight computing through the iPad and iPhone, but they didn't see the light of day before Gassée's own departure from Apple.

His tenure ran from 1981 until the end of the decade, which was the point the focus on highly-priced premium products started to falter. IBM clones were getting cheaper, and with the uptake of Windows and inexpensive desktop publishing applications, even some of Apple's most loyal customers were tempted to jump ship.

What Gassée did after Apple

The fourth quarter of 1989 marked the first time Apple had seen a drop in sales. The stock market got edgy, Apple's shares lost a fifth of its value, and despite having once been tipped to one day head up the company, Gassée left the following year. Like Jobs, he went on to found another radical computer company - in this case, Be Incorporated, which developed the BeOS operating system.

As we'll see in a later episode, his work with BeOS would come close to bringing Gassée back to the company. For now, though, Apple was focused on trying to win back some of the less wealthy customers by introducing a range of lower-priced computers, including the Macintosh Classic (8MHz processor, integrated mono display, $999), Macintosh LC (16MHz processor, pizza box case, colour capable; the initials stood for LC, but it cost $999 without a display), and Macintosh IIsi (20MHz processor, large desktop case, $2999 without a display).

Today, amongst other things, Gassée writes a blog, here.

Unsurprisingly, after so many years of waiting, Apple customers lapped up these new, affordable machines, and the company enjoyed a revival. Indeed, by returning to basics, almost literally, Apple was back on the up, and about to wow the world with two of its most radical products ever, as we'll discover below.
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Apple's decline and IBM and Microsoft's rise

So Steve Jobs has gone, and so has Jean-Louis Gassée, his successor as head of product development. All in all, the future isn't looking so bright for Apple at this point in its story. Despite initially being quite successful in chasing high profits with wide margins, its market is starting to shrink and, with it, so did its retained income. For the first time in the company's history, its year-end results showed its cash balances to be rising more slowly than they had the year before.

That wasn't its only problem, though. IBM had been out-earning Apple since the mid-1980s, when it established itself as the dominant force in office computing. There was little indicating that this would change any time soon and, to make matters worse, Apple's key differentiator was about to be dealt a close-to-lethal blow: Microsoft was gearing up for Windows 3 - a direct competitor to the all-graphical OS, System.

Windows had been a slow burner until this point. Versions 1 and 2 came and went without bothering Apple to much, but Windows 3 was a different story entirely. The interface was more accomplished, which for the first time supported 256 colours, and it was more stable thanks to a new protected mode. The graphical design language had been implemented from end to end, with icons in place of program names in Windows Explorer, its equivalent of the Mac's Finder.

It could also run MS DOS applications in a Windows window, so it felt more like the unified graphical OS experience we know today - and which was already a hallmark of Apple's GUI underpinnings. In short, more people than ever before could happily spend their whole day in a Windows environment, which would have left them asking why they would buy a Mac when there were so many PCs to choose from.

Apple's Quadra and Performa

Apple needed to up its game, which it did by developing a whole new line of computers that we now might think of as classics of their time: chiefly the Quadra and Performa, but also the less well-known Centris (which, as its name suggested, sat at the 'centre' of the line-up).

The Performa line was, in effect, a case of Apple rebranding its existing stock, but bundling them with consumer-friendly software like ClarisWorks and Grolier Encyclopedia so they would appeal to the home user. The idea was to make them a viable stock item for department stores and other lifestyle outlets, as to date Apple's computers had only been available through authorised dealers and mail order (there was no such thing as the Apple Store back then).

It was a sound theory, and one that would have exposed the Apple brand to a whole new audience, but it didn't quite work as might have been expected. In part that was because the enormous range of slightly different models was confusing - so confusing that Apple went to the expense of producing a 30-minute infomercial showing a regular family choosing and buying a Performa. You can still find it online, in six linked parts.

It's unlike the kind of short and snappy advertising we're used to these days, devoid of catchphrases, and it spends a lot of time explaining not only why a Performa is the right choice, but also why Windows is difficult to use. It's hypnotic - and it's hard to argue with its message, too, if you can devote enough time to it.

Macintosh Performa 6300
You can see a full list of the various Performa machines, and the original Macintosh models from which each one was derived on Wikipedia, and its clear from the minor differentiations between them that some of the simplicity on which Apple was founded - and to which it has since returned - had by now been lost.

Having so many computers to market and ship also meant the company had to try and predict which machines would sell best and build enough of each one to satisfy demand. That didn't always happen, and with Windows-based computers approaching ubiquity, Apple realised it was going to have to team up with one of its long time rivals, IBM, if it was going to take a lead.
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The AIM Alliance: Apple teams up with IBM and Motorola

Together, Apple, IBM and Motorola founded the AIM Alliance in October 1991 (the name is their initials), to build a brand new hardware and software combo called PReP - the PowerPC Reference Platform. This ambitious project would go head to head against the existing Windows / Intel hegemony by running a next-generation operating system (from Apple) on top of brand new RISC-based processors (from IBM and Motorola).

Apple's nascent operating system was codenamed Pink, and not without good reason. Much of the code was rolled into Copland, the aborted OS that we've encountered once before in our tour of the archives, and it came about following an extraordinary meeting in which all of the company's future projects were written down on blue and pink card. Those that made it onto blue paper were comparatively easy and could be implemented in the short term.

Those written on pink would require more effort, and a longer timeframe. The next generation OS, was naturally noted on one of the latter.

AIM Alliance's plans never came to fruition on the software side, and there were problems on the hardware front, too. When you bring together three notable players like Apple, IBM and Motorola, it's to be expected that they'd each have their own ideas about the best way to do things so, perhaps it was inevitable that their differing views on the reference platform's make-up didn't always align.

If it had worked out, PReP might indeed have changed the face of computing. It didn't, of course, but it did result in a change of direction for Apple. PReP's legacy was the PowerPC processor, which went on to form the bedrock of its computer line-up for years to come.

The PowerPC years

If you bought a new Apple computer any time between 1994 and 2006, you'll have taken home a PowerPC-based device, the genesis of which we explored above. The fruit of a productive collaboration between Apple, IBM (yes IBM) and Motorola - the AIM Alliance - it was, for a while, one of the most advanced platforms on the planet. Indeed, it proved versatile enough to sit at the heart of everything from the lowly iBook, right up to the mightiest enterprise-focused Xserve.

PowerPC 601 Processor Prototype
The name is an acronym for Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC-Performance Computing, and its core technology was based on IBM's POWER instruction set, so even though it was an innovation of the early-1990s it wasn't an entirely alien platform for developers coding for the Mac.

This helped make PowerPC a viable alternative to the x86-based processors being shipped by Intel and AMD, which were then dominating the computing market. Even Microsoft shipped a version of Windows NT for PowerPC before scaling back to focus solely on x86 and, later, Freescale.

The first PowerPC-based Macintosh (pre-Mac) was 1994's Power Macintosh 6100 which, as its name suggests, was based on the 601 processor, running at 60MHz and developed using code that was already familiar to engineers from both Motorola and Apple. As the Quadra's successor, it was the first machine able to run Mac OS 9, which would likely have been a big enough sales point on its own.

However, perhaps hedging its bets (platform transitions are nerve-wracking projects, after all) it also released a DOS-compatible version, which instead used an Intel 486 processor and allowed Windows and Mac OS to be run simultaneously, effectively doing what VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop do today, and VirtualPC did in the PowerPC line's latter years.

Power Macintosh 6100
The 6100 was released in concert with the beefier Power Macintosh 7100, which had been developed under the internal codename 'Carl Sagan'. It was a convoluted choice, based on the belief that the computer was so brilliant it would make the company 'Billions and Billions', which just happened to be the name of a book written by astronomer Carl Sagan, who used to stress the letter 'B' when saying the word 'billions' so people wouldn't confuse it with millions.

Although it was never used to market the 7100, Sagan claimed that customers might have considered the codename, which was revealed in a magazine, to imply that he endorsed the product. He wrote to the magazine, asking them to make it clear that he did not, at which point Apple's development team re-named the computer BHA, for Butt-Head Astronomer. Sagan sued for libel and lost, with the court ruling that "one does not seriously attack the expertise of a scientist using the undefined phrase 'butt-head'".

Carl Sagan
Eventually the two parties settled out of court, at which point the 7100 was again renamed, this time to LAW, or Lawyers Are Wimps.

The PowerPC line enjoyed a good innings, but by the middle of this century's first decade (we're jumping ahead a bit here to tie-up the PowerPC story), fractures were starting to appear in the alliance and the platform wasn't evolving quickly enough to keep consumers happy. Apple's high-end notebook, the PowerBook, was starting to look a little underpowered, and in an effort to push the processor in the Power Mac G5 beyond its native rating, it produced three special editions that employed a sophisticated water cooling system that allowed it to overclock the processor without it overheating.

PowerPC 970FX processor, as used in one of the last Power Mac G5s
Those in the know began talking about parallel teams working inside Apple HQ on a version of OS X that would run on Intel processors. The gossip was never confirmed, but the fact it had even been mooted meant Jobs' 2005 announcement that the company would shift its entire line-up to Intel hardware was less of a shock than it might have been.

Jumping ship just four years after the introduction of OS X would have been too big a move for many CEOs, who might have been afraid that they'd frighten away their customers. As Macworld wrote, 'It was a big gamble for a company that had relied on PowerPC processors since 1994, but Jobs argued that it was a move Apple had to make to keep its computers ahead of the competition. "As we look ahead... we may have great products right now, and we've got some great PowerPC product[s] still yet to come," Jobs told the audience at the 2005 Worldwide Developers Conference. "[But] we can envision some amazing products we want to build for you and we don't know how to build them with the future PowerPC road map."'

You might have expected developers to be up in arms: after decades of honing their code to run smoothly on PowerPC architecture, they'd have to throw it away and start from scratch, but Apple gave them a crutch, at least in the interim. Rather than cut off support for legacy code from day one, it built a runtime layer into OS X Tiger (10.4), called Rosetta, a name inspired by the Rosetta Stone, the multi-lingual engravings on which were the key to understanding hieroglyphics.

This interim layer intercepted Power G3, G4 and AltiVec instructions and converted them, on the fly, to Intel-compatible code. There would have been a slight performance hit, naturally, but it was an impressive stopgap, and one that Apple maintained until it shipped Lion. (Although Snow Leopard, the last iteration to support it and the first for which there was no PowerPC release, didn't install it by default - you had to add it manually.)

PowerPC lives on, not only in the countless legacy Macs that are still putting in good service, but in consumer devices like the Wii U, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, as well as in faceless computing applications where it's a popular choice for embedded processing.

Of course, during the 12 years of PowerPC's dominance, many other things were going on behind the scenes. Apple was working on the Newton MessagePad, chipping away at a revolutionary operating system that never shipped and, as a result, bought Steve Jobs' company NeXT and, with it, Jobs himself, ensuring Apple's survival.
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Apple and Microsoft

If IT was a soap opera, Apple and Microsoft's on-off relationship would put EastEnders to shame. Today, you'd never guess there had ever been anything wrong, and that's probably down to the fact that their relationship has never been more symbiotic.

IDC figures released in summer 2015 showed Mac sales to have climbed by 16% over the previous quarter. At the same time, though, the overall PC market for machines running Windows had dipped by 11.8%. So, with ever more of Microsoft's revenue coming from Office 365, it needs to push its subscription-based productivity service onto as many platforms as it can - including Android, iOS and, of course, the Mac.

Apple, on the other hand, needs Office. It has its own productivity apps in the shape of Pages, Numbers and Keynote, but Word, Excel and Powerpoint remain more or less industry standards, so if it's going to be taken seriously in the business world, Apple needs Microsoft Office onboard.

So, a peace has broken out - and a long-lasting one at that, which despite some sniping from either side, stretches right back to Jobs' return to Apple after his time at NeXT. We'll come to that later, but suffice it to say at this point that it shouldn't really surprise us: the rivalry between the two camps often seems overblown.

Microsoft developed many of the Office apps for the Mac before porting them to the PC and, in the early days at least, Bill Gates had good things to say about the company. "To create a new standard, it takes something that's not just a little bit different," he said in 1984, "it takes something that's really new, and really captures people's imagination. And the Macintosh - of all the machines I've seen - is the only one that meets that standard."

That's pretty flattering, but there's a saying about flattery: imitation is its sincerest form. Apple apparently didn't see it that way when Microsoft, in Apple's eyes, went on to imitate its products a little too faithfully.

As we already know, Apple had been inspired by certain elements of an operating system it saw at Xerox PARC when it was developing the Macintosh and Lisa. Xerox's implementation used the desktop metaphor now familiar to OS X, Windows and many Linux users, and when Microsoft was developing Windows 1.0, Apple licensed some of its fundamentals to the company that Jobs latterly took to calling "our friends up north".

That was fine when Windows was just starting out, but when version 2 hit the shelves, with significant amendments, Apple was no longer so happy to share and share alike.

Microsoft Windows 1.0
Most significantly, Microsoft had implemented one of the features of which Apple was proudest: the ability to overlap live application windows. This is more complex as it sounds, as it requires some advanced calculations to determine which parts sit beneath others, not to mention how they should behave when repositioned.

However, Apple's primary argument was that, taken as a whole, the generic look and feel of a graphical operating system - such as its resizable, movable windows, title bars and so on - should be subject to copyright protection, rather than each of the specific parts. Looking back on it now, it's easy to see that this would be akin to Ford copyrighting the idea of a car, rather than a specific engine implementation or means of heating the windscreen, but back then, the GUI was such an innovation that you can understand why Apple would have wanted to protect it.

The court didn't buy into the idea of look and feel, and asked Apple to come back with a more specific complaint, highlighting the parts of its own operating system that it believed Microsoft had stolen. So, Apple made a list of 189 points, of which all but 10 were thrown out by the court as having been covered by the licensing agreement drawn up between the two parties with respect to Windows 1.0. That left Apple with just 10 points on which to build its case.

Microsoft Windows 2.0
However, over at PARC, Xerox could see that if Apple won it might be able to claim the rights to those elements itself, even though they'd been dreamed up following on from Jobs et al's tour of its labs. Xerox had no choice but to mount a claim itself, against Apple, stating that the operating environments on the Macintosh and Lisa infringed its own copyrights.

Ultimately, Xerox's act of self-defence was unnecessary as the court ruled against Apple, deciding that while their specific implementation was important, the general idea of using office-like elements, such as folders and a desktop, was too generic to protect.

Apple appealed, but to no avail. However, it did at least avoid losing to Xerox, as the Palo Alto company's claim was thrown out.

Of course, Apple and Microsoft patched things up eventually, and for that we should all be grateful. If they hadn't, it's possible there might be no Mac today. Why? Because when he came back to Apple and set about returning it to greatness, Jobs realised that he couldn't do it alone. He might have a streamlined hardware line-up waiting in the wings, headlined by the groundbreaking iMac, but he knew that without the software to back them up they'd never attain their full potential.

Business users wouldn't switch to a platform that didn't support industry standard document formats, like those produced by Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and that remains true today. While home users and small teams will be happy to use Pages, Numbers and Keynote, IT departments - particularly those in mixed-platform offices - often still rely on Microsoft Office formats.

So, Steve Jobs put in a personal call to Bill Gates, who was then Microsoft's CEO, and convinced him to keep developing Office for Mac for at least the next five years. Gates did just that, and at the same time Microsoft bought $150m worth of non-voting Apple stock, thereby securing its future.

In return, Apple unseated Netscape as the Mac's default browser and installed Internet Explorer in its place, which was actively developed right up until 2003, when in the face rumours that Apple was working on its own browser in house - Safari - Microsoft scaled back its work on IE for Mac to the point where, today, it no longer runs on OS X.

Apple in the 1990s

Apple was a very different company in the 1990s to the one we know today. It had a lot of products and a lot of stock, but not enough customers. There's only so long a company can survive like that.

Looking back on it now, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was losing its way. Alongside its computer range, it was producing digital cameras (where it was ahead of most of the big-name players that now dominate photography), video consoles, TV appliances and CD players. It had also invested heavily in the Newton platform to produce the MessagePad and eMate lines.

In many respects, to use a well-worn cliche, it was running before it could walk. Almost all of these products have equivalents in Apple's current line-up where they form the basis of the iPhone camera, Apple TV, iPad and so on, but in the 1990s there was no way to link them all together. They were, to all intents and purposes, disparate and largely disconnected products; there was no overarching storyline to what Apple was producing the way there is now, where the Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and iOS devices can all share data courtesy of iCloud.

To make matters worse, the decision to license a lot of its technologies was only making it harder for Apple to succeed in each marketplace, as it was enabling its rivals to produce cheaper cloned versions of its top-line products. Even the Newton platform wasn't immune, with Motorola, Siemens and Sharp, among others, using the operating system and hardware spec to build their own products.

Cloning remains a contentious issue in Apple history. Aside from being bad news from Apple's in-house hardware development, many consumers would say it was actually good for the end user, as it encouraged competition and, as a result, lowered prices. That brought more people to the platform than Apple would have managed to attract on its own, which in turn ensured continued support from application developers, including key names like Adobe and Microsoft, without whom the computer line-up may well have collapsed.

But something had to give - and a decision had to be made, which turned out to be one of the most momentous decisions in the company's history.

Jobs returns to Apple

Apple was still on the look out for a new operating system, as its in-house efforts weren't going as well as it had hoped. By 1996 it had shortlisted two possible suppliers: BeOS and NeXTSTEP, each of which had a historical connection to Apple itself.

BeOS was developed by Be Inc, a company founded by former Apple executive, Jean-Louis Gassée. He had been appointed as Apple's director of European operations in 1981 and, four years later, was responsible for informing Apple's board of Jobs' intention to oust CEO John Sculley - the act that led to Jobs' departure from the company.

NeXTSTEP, on the other hand, came from NeXT - the company that Jobs founded upon leaving Apple. Although NeXT's hardware didn't go on to sell in the quantities that Apple was shipping, it was highly thought of and is perhaps best known as the platform on which Tim Berners Lee developed the World Wide Web while working at Cern.

The stakes couldn't have been higher for either man - or either company - but in the end Apple chose NeXTSTEP.

If it had been a simple licensing deal that wouldn't have been so remarkable, but in truth it was far more than that. Apple purchased NeXT itself - not just its operating system - for $429m in cash, plus 1.5 million shares of Apple stock, effectively buying back Steve Jobs in the process.

The man who had co-founded the company was returning to it after 12 years away.

Making changes

Buying NeXT wasn't enough to fix Apple's ongoing woes on its own. Its share price was declining, and over the next six months it fell still further, to a 12-year low.

Jobs convinced the board of directors that the company's CEO, Gil Amelio, had to go and, when it agreed, it installed Jobs in his place as interim CEO. At that point, Apple began a remarkable period of restructuring that leads directly to the successful organisation it is today.

Jobs recognised that if Apple was going to survive it needed to concentrate on a narrower selection of products. He slimmed down the range of computers to just four - two for consumers and two for businesses - and closed down a lot of supplementary divisions, including the one working on the Newton.

At the same time, he saw that the licensing deals it had signed weren't doing it any favours, and he brought them to an end. The immediate effect wasn't good, as it saw the market share of new computers running Apple's operating system dropping from 10% to just 3% - but at least 100% of them were being built by Apple itself.

The strategy paid off in the long run, though, and Apple's computers and operating system are holding their own in a world where rivals are seeing year on year stagnation or - worse - decline.

Not everyone was convinced, though. When asked what he would do to fix the broken Apple Computer Inc, Michael Dell, who founded the Windows-based rival that carries his name, told a Gartner Symposium, 'What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.'

Dell was riding high at the time, but over the years the two companies' relative positions have changed, and in 2006 Jobs mocked his rival in an email he sent to Apple staff.

"Team," the email read. "It turned out that Michael Dell wasn't perfect at predicting the future. Based on today's stock market close, Apple is worth more than Dell. Stocks go up and down, and things may be different tomorrow, but I thought it was worth a moment of reflection today."

And were things "different tomorrow"?

Maybe not tomorrow, but certainly in the long run they were very different indeed. Apple grew to become the most valuable company in the world when measured by market capitalisation, while Dell went back to private ownership, as Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners bought out the existing shareholders.

If you'd like to reminisce more, visit our Apple History Zone, where you can find:
How the Mac changed, and continues to change, the world 30 Apple people from the history of the Mac 5 Macs that changed everything Apple timeline in pictures and video The 11 worst Apple products of all time 24 milestones in the Mac's 30-year history Apple quiz - The Mac

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Apple was 41 years old in April, here's some history

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In this feature we tell the story of Apple. We start with the early days, the tale of how Apple was founded, moving on through the Apple I, to the Apple II, the launch of the Macintosh and the revolution in the DTP industry... To the tech-industry behemoth that we know and love today.

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Lesson 3: Basic Parts of a Computer

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Introduction

The basic parts of a desktop computer are the computer case, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and power cord. Each part plays an important role whenever you use a computer.

Watch the video below to learn about the basic parts of a desktop computer. Note: New video coming soon!

Computer case

The computer case is the metal and plastic box that contains the main components of the computer, including the motherboard, central processing unit (CPU), and power supply. The front of the case usually has an On/Off button andone or more optical drives.

Computer cases come in different shapes and sizes. A desktop case lies flat on a desk, and the monitor usually sits on top of it. A tower case is tall and sits next to the monitor or on the floor. All-in-one computers come with the internal components built into the monitor, which eliminates the need for a separate case.

Monitor

The monitor works with a video card, located inside the computer case, to display images and text on the screen. Most monitors have control buttons that allow you to change your monitor's display settings, and some monitors also have built-in speakers.

Newer monitors usually have LCD (liquid crystal display) or LED (light-emitting diode) displays. These can be made very thin, and they are often called flat-panel displays. Older monitors use CRT (cathode ray tube) displays. CRT monitors are much larger and heavier, and they take up more desk space.

Keyboard

The keyboard is one of the main ways to communicate with a computer. There are many different types of keyboards, but most are very similar and allow you to accomplish the same basic tasks.

Click the buttons in the interactive below to learn about the different parts of the keyboard.

If you want to learn how to type or improve your touch-typing skills, check out our free Typing Tutorial.

Mouse

The mouse is another important tool for communicating with computers. Commonly known as a pointing device, it lets you point to objects on the screen, click on them, and move them.

There are two main mouse types: optical and mechanical. The optical mouse uses an electronic eye to detect movement and is easier to clean. The mechanical mouse uses a rolling ball to detect movement and requires regular cleaning to work properly.

To learn the basics of using a mouse, check out our interactive Mouse Tutorial.

Mouse alternatives

There are other devices that can do the same thing as a mouse. Many people find them easier to use, and they also require less desk space than a traditional mouse. The most common mouse alternatives are below.

Trackball: A trackball has a ball that can rotate freely. Instead of moving the device like a mouse, you can roll the ball with your thumb to move the pointer.

Touchpad: A touchpad-also called a trackpad-is a touch-sensitive pad that lets you control the pointer by making a drawing motion with your finger. Touchpads are common on laptop computers.

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Computer Basics: Basic Parts of a Computer

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Lesson 3: Basic Parts of a Computer /en/computerbasics/what-is-a-computer/content/ The basic parts of a desktop computer are the computer case, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and power cord. Each part plays an important role whenever you use a computer. Watch the video below to learn about the basic parts of a desktop computer.

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Major to Career: Computer Information Technology

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Major to Career: Computer Information Technology

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Laptops Vs. Tablets: Pros and Cons | Lenovo US

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Understand the pros and cons of laptops versus tablets. Find out which device best suits your needs. Visit Lenovo today!

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Build Your Own Laptop - Guide

When it comes to laptops, a good number of consumers choose to build their own laptops instead of purchasing a pre-assembled model. There are obvious benefits to this. For starters, you can pick the parts you need. This allows you to have a system that is perfectly designed for your individual use. Since you're not spending money on components you didn't really want, you'll also save a few dollars while you're at it.

It doesn't matter if you're a tech enthusiast who's up to date with the latest hardware, or a casual user trying to get a little more value for their money. Our simple guide will help you build your own laptop, and explain the process along the way.

Building a Laptop vs Building a Desktop

Before we begin, you should know that there are a few key differences between laptops and desktops. Each component in a desktop computer is designed to fit a common standard. Often, they are physically interchangeable.

Laptops aren't quite like that. Because of their compact size, manufacturers custom make many of the components for each individual model. So, you might not physically assemble every component of a laptop, but you do have the ability to pick and choose exactly which parts you want when you decide to build your own laptop. If you do want the experience of putting everything together yourself, you still have the option. But how much control depends on where you get your laptop, and what brand it is.

Typical "bare bones" kids have most of the components installed, leaving you to add a few extras. Generally, this will be your memory, , and wireless networking card. Other systems offer interchangeable graphics cards. Finally, in rare cases, you're even able to install the CPU on your own.

There are three main companies that manufacture bare bones computers. The two most popular are Sager and . These two companies are the only manufacturers that allow their systems to be interchangeable with common parts. Many companies that allow you to build your own laptop purchase these computers in bulk and keep an inventory of all compatible parts. When you order, you can pick and choose the components you like, and they'll assemble the complete system for you. There are also a few manufacturers who offer customizable laptops, although these vary from model to model.

Generally, this is only recommended for experts. Compact systems cannot be self-built, as they need to be assembled in a factory with precise tooling. But this doesn't mean that you can't customize them. This guide will help you choose the components, so you can build the exact laptop you want.

Selection Criteria When Building Your Own Laptop

When you're building your own laptop, the main focus will be on what components are used inside. All computers are made up of several different components, each of which have their own benefits in terms of price and performance. You can choose your processor, memory, storage device, graphics card, and network card. These parts are generally interchangeable between notebooks, so you can afford to be selective.

Then, there are a few non-component criteria that are not interchangeable. Screen size, design, and other elements that are embedded in the case only change model to model. When you're building your laptop, the first thing you're going to want to do is to pick the components you want. Then, you can choose a platform that suits these components. Let's start looking through the components one by one, so you can find the parts that best suit your needs.

Your Laptop's Processor

Also known as a CPU, the processor is essentially the brains of your computer. For the most part, your entire PC is built around this one little chip. It determines how power efficient your system will be, and what other parts you can choose. There are five different categories for mobile processors.

Low Power Laptop Processors

These tiny chips are the most power efficient processors on the market. They are used in systems that need long battery life, and only offer performance suitable for the casual user. From slowest to fastest, you've got the Intel Atom, Core m3, m5, and m7. Generally, these CPUs are soldered onto the board, and not found in custom built laptops.
Our Recommendation: Xiaomi Air 13 [Readers' Favorite]
The Intel Pentium, Celeron, and the AMD E-series processors are designed to be affordable above all else. These are found in low-end systems, but offer performance acceptable enough to complete basic office tasks. If you don't need much from your computer, many manufacturers will sub one of these in for a mainstream processor.

Our Recommendation: Acer Aspire One

Most laptops will have one of these processors installed. From intel, you can choose between the i3 and the i5 series processors. The i3 is quite basic, although it offers snappy performance for office use. The i5 is a little more multi-media centric and even lets you play some basic games. AMD also has the less-popular A series processor, which sits somewhere between the i3 and i5 in terms of performance.

Our Recommendation: Asus ZenBook UX330UA-AH54

Whether you're looking for a cutting-edge media machine or a polygon-crunching gaming system, the performance category is where you find the best systems. The Intel i7 is currently the best performance CPU on the market. In its 6 generation, the i7 is available in a dual-core 'prosumer' model for those who need a little extra power. Or, you can elect for one of the HQ or K model processors which are quad-core but use much more power.

Our Recommendation: Xotic Sager NP8156

Your Laptop's Memory

The RAM is where your laptop build stores all the data it's currently working with. You can think of it like the desk that an office employee sits at to do his work. Imagine trying to deal with hundreds of pages of paperwork on a small, cramped desk. This is what it's like to use a laptop with low memory. There are two ways you can measure the performance of your ram.

Size Of Memory

The most obvious measurement of memory is the size. Some laptops ship with as little as 2GB, while others have 32GB installed. For most people, you'll want at least 8GB for daily web browsing and computer use. Power users will likely want to step it up to 16GB of memory, the current sweet spot between price and value. Heavy gamers or multimedia users may consider 32GB, although there are limited applications that can use this much memory. Fortunately, most laptops allow you to configure the ram size.

Your memory is clocked to be in sync with your processor, so you often don't have a lot of control over this aspect. Laptops come with either DDR3 or DDR4 memory. If you're unsure of which one to get, check the specifications for your processor. It will give you the appropriate reading. The only exception to this rule is the few who wish to purchase a K-series i7 processor and overclock it. But overclocking is rare in laptops and certain to void your warranty.

Your Laptop's Storage

This is where your laptop keeps all of its files. There are a few different types of internal storage on the market to consider when you want to build your own laptop, and which one you can choose depends a little on the platform you're using. The three metrics you're going to use to measure your internal storage are type, interface, and size.

Storage Type

There are two types of local storage you can choose from for the laptop you're building, Solid state (SSD) or Hard Drive (HDD). These days, there are very few reasons to choose a hard drive. This old technology is very inexpensive and can hold a large amount of data. However, it is incredibly slow. These drives are only suitable as a secondary backup drive to a primary storage device. SSDs, on the other hand, are very fast and very reliable.

Both hard drives and solid state drives are commonly sold in a 2.5" SATA format. However, we are seeing more of these being sold as an M2/PCIe style. M2 is a small connector that gives access to the high-speed PCIe bus. When you want to build your own laptop, you'll want to use this format if you would prefer to keep your 2.5" space free for additional storage.

SSDs are available in sizes ranging from 128GB up to 1TB. Hard drives can be purchased in 500GB to 2TB sizes. We recommend a 256GB or 512GB SSD for most use. However, if you need additional storage and have space for an M2 SSD, you can supplement a 1TB HDD in quite inexpensively. While not fast enough for daily use, it's perfect for storing your media files.

Graphics

Depending on how you use your laptop, your graphics cards either do a lot or a little. This is one of the biggest areas you can increase your laptop's performance if you're doing demanding tasks. They can be broken into three main categories

Integrated Graphics

The latest Intel i-series CPUs actually have a graphics card built right in. This is known as onboard graphics, and it's actually quite impressive! For day to day use, and even a little light gaming, integrated graphics is enough for most people.

For Laptop Gamers, the only option is an Nvidia GTX series mobile graphics card. There are two generations on the market right now: Pascal, and Maxwell. Pascal is the latest, including the top of the line GTX 1080. These cards come at a price, so many gamers choose to sacrifice 10 to 20% of the performance and save 40 to 50% of the price with a Maxwell based GTX 980.

The Nvidia Quattro graphics cards are based on a similar architecture as their gaming cards, but they've been tweaked for professional use. These cards are used for video editing, 3D rendering, and mathematical simulations. Even though it's the most expensive on the list, there is no reason to buy it unless you really need it.

Although it's not a component you commonly think about, your display has a huge effect on how much you enjoy your computer. You spend most of your time looking at it, so picking the correct one is important. There are two main things you want to look for, size and resolution.

Display Size

Laptops are sold with displays ranging from 10" up to 17". Once you pick your laptop, you won't be able to change the screen size later. Often, if you're not happy with the display size in a particular model, the only option is to choose a different one. Right now, the sweet spot for displays is 13" for portability, or 15" for performance. 17" displays are very nice to use, but should only be selected if you're not going to be carting your laptop around with you all the time. Large displays also use more power to light, so you can expect a drop in battery life. On the other side of the equation, 10" and 11" laptops are often sold as ultraportable or convertible tablets. Generally, these systems are so compact that you won't have a lot of configuration options.

Resolution refers to the number of pixels in your display. When you see apple advertising their laptops as 'retina,' this just means that the pixels are so dense you cannot tell them apart. There are many laptops on the market that have 4K displays, which are equivalent to the retina models used in Apple's computers. Most computers, however, ship with 1080p displays. Not only are they affordable, but most software is designed to run on a 1080p display. If you're gaming, the lower resolution means that you'll see higher frame rates.

Most self-built laptops have a number of other features that you can pick and choose from. Things like fingerprint readers, large touchpads, and memory card readers are often included. For the most part, these components are not user installed. You need to ask the manufacturer for them if they are an option. The one thing you may need to install yourself is a network card. You're going to want to get one that supports 802.11ac. This is the latest networking technology and gives you the fastest performance on any wireless hotspot.

Laptop Build Recommendations

If you still haven't found a laptop system you like, we've got some recommendations. All of these systems come pre-configured but if you're only looking to building your own laptop, these systems are completely ready for you to customize. Remember, you have two options. Most consumers will want to choose all the components themselves and have assembly completed by the manufacturer. Alternately, you can do the assembly by ordering them without RAM, storage, or networking interfaces and installing these components separately. Not every manufacturer allows this, but it can be an option.

Affordable Custom Laptops [Readers' Favourite]

Generally, custom laptops are sold to people who want the highest performance possible. But that doesn't mean you'll have to pay top dollar. Our recommendation is the ENZ K36 Gaming Laptop .

What This Laptop Comes With

This system comes with a 15.6-inch FHD IPS display, an Intel Core i7-6700HQ processor, and Intel HD Graphics 530 + NVIDIA GeForce GTX-960M. It's a great gaming machine, and it's very well equipped to handle anything else you throw at it.
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Sager NP8177
This intel i7 based computer gives you a bigger display. You can choose a better graphics card and up to 16GB of memory.

MSI PE60
MSI designed this system for people who might want to do a little light gaming. It's got an Intel Core i7 processor and can be used with a high-speed M2 SSD.

Most Powerful Custom Laptops

If you want a top of the line computer, then you've come to the right place. Most custom build laptops cater to the high-end crowd. Our recommendation is the .

What it Comes With

This laptop build has a massive 17.3″ 4K QFHD screen. It takes the latest i7 processors and is recommended for the quad-core model.

What You Choose

It has interchangeable graphics cards and can be configured for SLI (dual cards) if you like. With four ram slots, you can install up to 64GB of 2400 MHz memory. There are two 2.5" slots, and one M2 slot, so you can have up to three storage devices.

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Asus G70
This laptop has a thinner profile but can support the latest Nvidia GTX 1080 graphics card. It has two M2 SSD slots, so you can have more SSD storage than any other computer on the market.

This laptop is designed for professionals. It comes pre-installed with a Quadro M5500 graphics card and can support up to 64GB of ram, Dual M2 SSDs, and a 1TB HDD.

If you're looking to build a laptop that meets your exact specifications, there are hundreds of options to choose from. To narrow it down, all you need to do is find out which components best suit your needs, and find a model that meets those requirements. We've made some recommendations throughout this guide, and hopefully, that will narrow down your choices.

Until next time!

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Build your own laptop computer: a guide for everyone

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When it comes to laptops, a good number of consumers choose to build their own laptops instead of purchasing a pre-assembled model. There are obvious benefits to this. For starters, you can pick the parts you need. This allows you to have a system that is perfectly designed for your individual use.

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I purchased Toshiba High End Laptop 2 years back. It was all working fine until one day it stopped working due to some heating issues. I went to the Toshiba cen...

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Which laptop should I get?

With so many laptops to choose from, selecting the best one to fit your budget can be like navigating a minefield. Even making sense of the ever-changing list of product specifications is no easy feat. Laptops vary greatly by CPU speed, graphics capability, size, drive storage, and RAM, among other things. What's more, your laptop needs may be completely different to someone else's, only adding to the confusion.

For some, a flashy 4K screen may be important. Others may want a high-performing CPU, like AMD's new Ryzen 6000 processors, to give them a competitive edge in games. Getting value for money can be tricky too, since newer technologies don't always mean better performance. For example, older-generation CPUs can sometimes outperform newer products in benchmark tests. For these reasons it pays to do your homework before you purchase a laptop.

To simplify the process for you we've put together a list of 12 criteria that you can use as a guide for what to look for. It may seem laborious delving into each category, but there are a lot of things to consider. At the end of the day, taking time to research your new device will mean you avoid making a costly mistake and get a laptop that's just right for you.

1. Size & form-factor

When it comes to laptops, size matters.

Depending on what you plan to be doing with your next laptop, you'll want to make sure you pick the size that's the right fit for you. Size isn't like the RAM or ROM of a laptop, you can't upgrade it later. You're locked into whatever form-factor you select up-front, so choose wisely.

Laptops sizes tend to start at 11.6-inches and go all the way up to 17.3 inches. Most brands and OEMS like HP, Dell, ASUS and Acer tend to offer three display sizes - 13.3-inch, 15.6-inch and 17.3-inches. However, some vendors do sell laptops that fall outside these sizes including 11.6-inches, 12.5-inches and 14-inches.

Obviously, if portability is your priority, you'll want to go for a smaller-sized Windows laptop. They tend to be thinner and lighter than their larger counterparts. Look for laptops that have a screen that is either 12.5-inches or 13.3-inches in size, and a weight between 1kg and 1.5kgs.

Credit: Razer

However, keep in mind that smaller-sized 13.3-inch machines often don't support the same high-end Intel Core CPUs or discrete graphics cards you'll be able to find in their 15.6-inch counterparts. Most of the time, they'll also feature a less-robust selection of ports. If the kind of work you intend to be using your new laptop for necessitates a larger display or standalone graphics, you'll probably need to look at a larger size.

Beyond specific sizings, there are several different classes of laptop to choose from. Ultrabooks tend to favor a slim and lightweight form-factor over high-end performance. Things like the Asus Vivobook Pro 15 OLED ( review here) and HP's Elite Dragonfly Max ( review here) devices fall into this category.

By contrast, Notebooks tend to offer a good mix of power and portability. If you're looking at notebooks, a good place to start is the Lenovo Yoga 9i and HP's Envy x360.

Convertibles (also known as 2-in-1 laptops or 2-in-1 PCs) expand on this by adding the ability to fold away (or remove) the keyboard and use your new laptop as you would a tablet. Products like Microsoft's Microsoft Surface Pro 7 and HP Chromebook x2 11 fall into this category.

Credit: Microsoft

Finally, traditional clamshell and gaming laptops tend to boast bulkier form-factors but significantly-beefier specs.

The most important thing to consider here when looking for the best laptop you can buy is what you're actually going to need that laptop to do. It's rarely ever a case of one size fits all. Some users need something lighter and more portable. Other users need discrete graphics for things like video editing or running high end games. If you need a PC with an optical drive or long battery life, you'll almost certainly have to look for something larger.

Once you've worked out the size and form-factor of laptop you're looking for, the search for the best one becomes that much easier - since you can begin to filter your search results by those parameters.

2. Display quality

Since you'll probably end up staring at your laptop display hours at a time, you'll probably want to make sure it's as painless as possible to do so. For this, you'll need a display that is comfortable to look at and feels natural to use.

To start with, you'll want to consider whether you want your next laptop to have a touchscreen at all. These days, touchscreens are very common and they can make some tasks easier than others. Some brands include this feature as standard. Others will demand a modest surcharge for its inclusion.

Unfortunately, opting for a touchscreen can sometimes add a glossiness to the display. Though not a universal trait among touch-sensitive displays, glossier screens are often a little more susceptible to glare. This can be a definite drawback if you're gaming, watching content or editing images and video content.

Modern touchscreens are much better than their predecessors but, some of the above details persist and if you're more of a natural typist, you might want to consider going for a laptop that doesn't have a touchscreen.

Next up, be sure to look at the resolution on any laptop you're thinking of buying. A 1920x1080-pixel resolution (Full HD) should be considered the minimum if you want plenty of space to line up windows and keep things in view. If you splurge on something a little sharper, you probably won't regret it though.

Select modern laptops also now offer 4K resolutions. However, these high-end display panels are generally a costly add-on to an already-expensive product. 4K is an extra that's only really going to be worth it for those who really need it such as content creation professionals.

Photographers and videographers will also want to go for laptops that offer better color accuracy and support wider color gamut and HDR standards over those that don't. The key things you're looking for here are Delta E < 1 color accuracy and 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut.
[Related Content: Everything You Need To Know About 4K]
If you're a gamer, it's also worth taking the time to check the refresh rate on the display of any potential laptop. A faster refresh rate can often provide a competitive advantage in online games, as it enables a smoother and more responsive play experience. Ideally, you want something with less than 5ms response time or a refresh rate greater than 144Hz. We're starting to see laptops now with 300Hz refresh rates - laptops like the MSI GS66 Stealth ( review here) and the super powerful Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition ( review here) and while this is considered exceptionally good right now, it might soon be the norm.

Lastly, viewing angles are extremely important. A laptop screen that touts IPS (in-plane switching) technology offers the widest viewing angles and the best user comfort. Chances are you're not always going to be using your laptop in its natural habitat, so a laptop with an IPS display is usually preferred over the opposite.

If possible, take the time to go into a store and try to feel out the differences between different displays for yourself. If your eyes can't see much of a difference between a laptop with a FHD display and one with a 4K one, it might not be worth paying the premium for the latter.

Just keep in mind that display models usually have the settings cranked to the maximum in order to catch your eyes. Otherwise, be sure to check out reviews like those on PC World to get a good overview of the product and whether or not its screen will be able to suit your needs. In 2022, most major laptop displays hit the mark but those that don't make themselves quickly known when subjected to the scrutiny of a professional reviewer.

3. Keyboard quality

For long typing sessions, you'll need to get a laptop that has a comfortable keyboard. You don't want to get a keyboard that packs in every key under the sun (think keyboards that have squished in number pads) because that can translate to a poor overall user experience when hunting for specifics like the arrow or delete keys.

Ideally, you want a keyboard that has a comfortable layout with full-sized keys and some space around the arrow keys. The keys should have adequate travel on the downstroke and snappy responsiveness when you let them go.

Make sure the keyboard is also backlit. At face value, that might seem like a superficial detail but backlit keys make it much easier to see what you're typing in dimly lit environments. Gaming laptops like the Asus ROG Zephyrus S17 ( review here) and MSI Katana GF76 ( review here) come with attractive RGB key backlighting to allow gaming at night or in dimly lit environments. Note: While backlit keys are useful, they will drain your battery sooner, so take that into consideration when choosing your laptop.
[Related Content: Four Alternatives To Cherry MX Switches]

As with the display, it helps to try before you buy - especially if your main task will be typing. Chances are, you're going to find the most comfort with what you know here. If you're used to typing on a laptop keyboard that stretches all the way to the edge of the chassis, you're probably going to find laptops that opt for the same or a similar layout to be easier to type on than the alternatives.

4. CPU

It's hard to go past any of Intel's Core-based CPUs when buying a new laptop. Even if you're not versed in the technical details, there's a good chance you've seen the stickers plastered on all new laptops for the silicon giant's Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 processors.

For many users, an Intel Core Processor offers the best performance when it comes to multitasking and multimedia tasks. Core i3-based notebooks are generally found in entry-level systems, while Core i5 and Core i7 make up the majority of mainstream computers.

Core i7-based systems are for those of you who want the best performance from your laptop. However, note that with a Core i7-based system, heat coming through the base of the laptop can be a cause for concern, especially if you plan to actually use the laptop on your lap a lot of the time.
[Related Content: How do I decide between a Core i3, i5, i7 or i9?]

Some larger laptops also now incorporate Intel's i9 Core processors. Laptops running on Core i9 processors are even more powerful than laptops running on Core i7 processors. They're able to rival desktops for performance, but they do come with a significantly-higher cost than a laptop with an i7, i5 or i3 Core Processor.

Vendors also offer laptops and notebooks that run on AMD's Ryzen Mobile CPUs. If you're a gamer, this can be a particularly compelling option worth considering. Ryzen Mobile CPUs tend to be paired with AMD's own Radeon graphics chipsets.

There are a few caveats here but since laptops powered by AMD's Ryzen Mobile chips tend to be slightly cheaper than their Intel counterparts, they can represent better value for money. Just be sure to read up on our breakdown of the differences first.

5. RAM

In the old days, you rarely needed more than 4GB of RAM to get the best out of your system.

These days, you'll probably want to think about 8GB as a minimum. If you're a power-user, 16GB is the way to go. Meanwhile, gamers should look at dialing things upwards all the way to 32GB (or beyond) if they want the best experience.

More RAM allows for more applications to be run at the same time and for more data to be quickly accessible by the system at any one time, which comes in handy for tasks such as editing photos or video content.

There are a few interesting terms that you might see when looking into RAM specs, here's what you essentially need to know about them. Alongside the brand and capacity of any RAM stick, you're gonna find the letters DDR. There's also usually a number attached. For example, the MSI GE76 Raider laptop ( review here) has two 16GB sticks of DDR5 RAM. This acronym stands for Double Data Rate and the number that comes after it refers to the generation of component design.

Credit: Gordon Mah Ung

The most recent generation of RAM hardware is DDR5. As a rule, higher numbers are better than lower numbers here and most motherboards can only support certain generations of RAM. Thankfully, since you're looking at buying a laptop, you don't have too much to worry about since no sane OEM is going to stick incompatible RAM into a prebuilt machine.

The number after DDR also denotes the transfer speed. Similar to the clock-speed on a CPU, this number measures the default theoretical maximum transfer speed. Again, higher is better here. Higher speeds means stuff happens faster.

Another detail to note is whether or not the RAM in your laptop is single or dual-channel. In most everyday use cases, this might not make a huge difference but if you're trying to weigh up your options, a laptop with dual-channel is generally more desirable than one with an equivalent amount of single-channel memory clocked at the same transfer speed. This is because dual-channel RAM is able to transfer a greater amount of data at once.

In conclusion, while having more RAM is always going to be better than having less RAM, most users aren't going to feel the difference between having 16GB or 32GB unless they're running RAM-heavy applications where that 16GB or a secondary channel is going to make a big difference. Since RAM is relatively cheap and often easy to upgrade in modern laptops, it's usually smarter and safer to buy a laptop with RAM that you know you will need rather than what you think you might need.

6. Storage

Hard drives used to be all the rage, but these days they're mostly out of favor, especially for thin and light laptops. This is because they can be slow, somewhat bulky, and produce noticeable heat and noise.

A solid state drive (SSD), on the other hand, offers a lot more speed than a hard drive, runs silently, and can be installed in a form factor that doesn't add too much to the weight and bulk of a laptop. As a result of these clear benefits, most OEMs have embraced SSD storage as the standard for laptops.

Stick to an SSD for your new laptop and you'll love the speed with which it can load programs, access your data, and also how quickly it can boot up your system.

Just a few years ago SSDs didn't offer as much raw capacity as hard drives. Additionally, this kind of storage was often more expensive in terms of dollars-to-gigabytes than traditional hard drives. In 2022 these problems are no longer. Laptops now have comparatively large SSD drives to hard drives and aren't astronomically expensive.

The newest, fastest laptops have NVMe solid-state drives which are faster than traditional SSDs. If you're buying a new laptop in 2022, you'll preferably want one with an NVMe SSD. However, that being said, don't feel overly pressured to spend extra on the latest model here. While it is true that more recent SSDs boast better speeds than older models, the biggest advantages you'll enjoy are tied more to the fundamental advances that SSDs offer over traditional hard drive storage.

When it comes to the SSD storage capacity you should look for we recommend at least 512GB as the very minimum. Games and programs are getting larger every year as they become more advanced and complex so you'll want to ensure you have a little left in your storage after you load on your must-have programs and personal files. It's also worth noting that your operating system will take up some of that 512GB right off the bat, so you won't have exactly that number to play.

If you install a lot of programs or have an extensive game or movie library, you'll probably want to opt for 1TB or more of SSD storage. You'd be surprised how fast it is to fill up even 1TB or 2TB, but with the extra GB on board, you will have a greater capacity to branch out and get a little more things you like on there. Trust us, you won't decry the extra space when you can download that game you really wanted from Steam.

Another thing worth mentioning here is cloud storage. Cloud storage is extremely popular since it allows users to store any number of files safely and remotely, without the need for your device's storage. Software developers are starting to build cloud storage into their software ecosystems. The best example of this is Microsoft's OneDrive application which comes bundled with Windows at purchase.

If you intend to store most of your files in the cloud or on an external drive, you may choose to save money on a laptop by buying one with a smaller 128GB or 256GB SSD. If you do this though you'd be advised to remember that you will need to be connected to the Internet to retrieve your files when you need them.

7. Battery life

Manufacturer-quoted battery life is almost never indicative of what the real-world experience of using a laptop is like.

There are simply too many variables that affect battery life. There is the screen brightness, the screen resolution, the number of applications you have running in the background plus whether or not you actively remain connected to Wi Fi networks or Bluetooth devices.

Credit: ASUS

The operating system a laptop runs on can also play a major role in determining battery life. It's for this reason that ultrabooks and convertibles running on Chrome OS tend to offer superior battery life than those running on Windows 11.

If you run programs that need lots of processing, stream lots of online video, play graphics-intensive games or if you transfer lots of files over a wireless network, then your battery will drain a lot sooner than what the vendor has quoted.

A good practice here is to look at the rating of the battery in Watt-hours (Wh) or milliamp-hours (mAh). The larger these figures are, the longer the battery can last. For a 13.3-inch Ultrabook, for example, a battery with a rating from 50Wh to 60Wh will give you the best results.

Another key thing to look for here is fast-charging. Much like modern smartphones, many new laptops also support fast-charging, which is always good in a pinch.

8. USB Type-C

These days, if a laptop has only one USB Type-C port on it, you probably ought to look at buying another laptop. Ideally, you should look for a laptop that has at least a couple of these ports. They're the most common connector port in the industry and, while you can find a dongle for anything on Amazon, it's usually a better bet to just make sure your next laptop has them.

In addition to the baseline utility you get from USB Type-C ports (which allow you to plug in an external hard or SSD drive and backup your data or use conventional mouse or a fancy keyboard with your laptop), USB Type-C ports are substantially faster than USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports. This means that data transfers over USB Type-C ports take significantly less time.

Many modern peripherals also tend to deliver the best performance on or require USB Type-C to function at all.

Credit: Intel

Among the Type-C ports Thunderbolt 4 ports are the best option. Thunderbolt 4 ports have a peak data transfer speed of 40 gigabits per-second. They also offer faster charging and allow you to connect multiple 4K displays or one 8K display to your laptop, which is compelling functionality.

9. Biometric security

Fingerprint readers are great for logging into mobile devices and the latest Windows 11 Operating System makes further use of them with its Windows Hello system. People can guess your password, but few can fake a fingerprint. In order to keep the contents of your laptop secure, a portable PC with a fingerprint reader is usually the best way forward.

Thankfully, this feature is a pretty common inclusion on many modern laptops from major OEMs like ASUS, Dell and HP. Some have even integrated the fingerprint sensor into the keyboard, making it feel like a more cohesive part of the package rather than a bolt-on.

What's more, some brands have even gone one step further and introduced FaceID-style facial recognition tech allowing you to unlock your laptop with a glance. As with Android phones, there's a distinction to be noted here between devices that rely on a 2D-model of face unlock versus those that offer full 3D biometrics.

It's cool to see the modern laptops continue to raise the bar on this particular front even if the degree to which it matters is largely personal preference. For most people, a standard fingerprint sensor is going to provide more than enough peace of mind.

10. Build quality

No matter how careful we are, most laptops are inevitably going to find themselves, dropped, thrown and knocked around by the rigors of everyday use. For that reason, it's worth checking out how much testing a laptop has undergone (the manufacturer usually crows about it) or whether there's any sort of certification that you can put your confidence behind.

Modern laptops are often ruggedized to withstand rain and dust. Some are built especially for the brutal educational environments - and come with military-grade protection certifications. The most common of these you're going to see is MIL-STD 810G.

MIL-STD-810G is a standard used by the US Military to indicate a guaranteed minimum level of durability. Compliant products have made it through a gauntlet of 29 separate tests that measure resistance to shock, heat, cold, humidity and more. Though originally developed as a way to win government contracts, MIL-STD-810G has become increasingly common in consumer tech in recent years.

On one hand, it's good for consumers that most major manufacturers have adopted the same language and standards for measuring durability at all. However, on the other, the reality is that having a product be MIL-STD-810G compliant doesn't always translate into the kind of ruggedness you'd hope it would.

Although the MIL-STD-810G standard was developed externally, there's no single independent party that's responsible for handing out certification to the standard nor any regulator that's able to call out bad actors for misusing or misrepresenting MIL-STD-810G.

Manufacturers can absolutely take their testing in-house, "ace" it and put the sticker on the box. There's no limit on how many attempts a product has to pass a certain test, nor even a limit on whether the same product sample needs to survive all 29 tests or whether they can replace it with a fresh model every step of the way. They don't even need to provide proof that the testing ever happened.

From the perspective of any everyday consumer, there's zero difference in how a product that was properly and independently tested to meet MIL-STD-810G looks and how a product that "fudged" their way into compliance with the standard looks. This is obviously problematic.

For those reasons, MIL-STD-810G is best used as starting place when it comes to thinking about durability and build quality in your next laptop. It shouldn't be your one and only consideration.

A better way to approach the problem is to look at the laptops design and what specific claims are being made around durability. Are the manufacturers talking up drop-tests or spill resistance that goes beyond the usual MIL-STD-810G spiel? That's probably a good sign.

11. LTE, Wi-Fi, or Ethernet?

When it comes to purchasing a laptop, a big question you should ask is: Should I buy a laptop with LTE? Unlike laptops with built-in network cards, laptops with LTE can connect to mobile data signals. That means instead of having to connect to a wireless network at home, in the office, or at Wi-Fi hotspots, your laptop can connect directly to a mobile ISP for internet access. The main benefit of this is you can use your laptop just about anywhere-when outdoors, traveling on the bus, or even on the beach. If that convenience sounds good, this option may be perfect for you. However, there are a few caveats.

LTE technology sits in the higher-end laptop category, so you will pay for the privilege. Also, just like with your phone, you'll need to either be on a data plan or buy prepaid data to use your LTE. And as such, your experience will be influenced by the speed of your laptop's network connection and by the amount of data in your plan.

Know what LTE network your laptop will connect to, since this will determine your internet speeds. The most common LTE technology in laptops in Australia today supports connection to the 4G networks. 4G is capable of maximum download speeds of 1Gbs, which is close to most home broadband speeds. But 5G laptops will soon be coming to Australia. These laptops, when available, will feature significantly faster speeds of between 10-30Gbs. If superfast internet is a priority, go for 5G.

If you are not fussed about having LTE or want to avoid the ongoing fees, a laptop with Wi-Fi-only functionality will do just fine. Most laptops come with built-in network cards so you won't need to fuss over installations or affix dongles. You can also use mobile Wi-Fi tethering as a source of Wi-Fi on the fly.

The last thing to consider with your internet connectivity, is whether you need an Ethernet (RJ-45) port. Most people don't use this functionality anymore, since Wi-Fi connectivity is so widespread. But, if you're plagued by a weak Wi-Fi signal, or lack Wi-Fi altogether, you should consider it. Otherwise, it's not necessary.

12. Wi-Fi speed

Wi-Fi speeds are determined by many different factors, such as signal strength and the level of interference between your laptop and your router, but the one factor that you should think about when purchasing a new laptop is the Wi-Fi speed of your laptop's network card.

The speed at which your laptop transfers data from an internet router to your laptop and back is called its link speed and it is measured in bits per second (bps). Even if your internet connection is fast, if your link speed is lousy, your Wi-Fi speed will struggle.

Most laptops with network cards connect to wireless hotspots on either the 2.4GHz or 5GHz frequency band, meaning they are capable of maximum link speeds of 1Gbs or 3.5Gbs. When it comes to Wi-Fi generations, Wi-Fi 5 is getting a bit old now but will still perform well for almost anything you'd need to do online, such as browsing webpages, watching videos, and running browser-based applications.

Most new laptops though will have network cards that support either Wi-Fi 6 or the newer Wi-Fi 6E. If you are a gamer who likes playing fast-paced multiplayer content, or if you stream high-quality video, we recommend you look for either of these options. The main benefit here is lower latency - Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E offer substantial speed benefits (up to 9.6Gbs). Wi-Fi speeds won't always be listed in the product descriptions online or in retail outlets, but they will be listed in the detailed product specifications, so check there if you're unsure.

Meet your needs and budget
This article was updated by Dominic Bayley in May 2022.

Of course, you need to balance these features with your budget and your needs, and you might have to make some compromises. Rarely does a laptop come along that ticks all the boxes, especially when it comes to price.

Let us know in the comments below if you consider other aspects of a laptop to be more important (maybe you want better gaming performance or a rugged build, maybe you want a laptop that can turn into a tablet), and especially let us know if you've already found the perfect laptop for your needs.

Tags notebooks laptops checklist laptop buying guide laptop features buying tips

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What laptop should I get? Top 12 things to consider

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What laptop should I get? How should I decide? With a plethora of options, including powerful new laptops featuring AMD's Ryzen 6000 and Intel's 12th-generation processors, choosing a laptop is harder than ever. But by taking a little time to do some research, you can find exactly what you need.

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Finding your next computer doesn't have to be a chore.

If you're looking for something you can easily carry to and from work, or bring with you on vacation, then a lightweight laptop could be in order. These weigh just a couple of pounds, have batteries that can now last several workdays before needing to be charged, and have more than enough power to tackle common productivity tasks like browsing the web and editing office documents. Some models, known as convertibles, can be used as a tablet of sorts by bending the keyboard backward and behind the screen using a 360-degree hinge.

A desktop may be a smarter and more ergonomic pick, however, if you're setting up a home office and aren't worried as much about mobility. Staring into a monitor puts less strain on your neck than staring down into a laptop. You also generally get more power per dollar spent with a desktop than you do with a laptop.

Some models come with a built-in display, while others require you to supply your own. Luckily, you can find good computer monitors for reasonable prices. In fact, while all-in-one models with a screen tend to be aesthetically pleasing and take up less desk space, they can cost a lot more than buying a desktop computer and monitor separately.

Mac or PC? It's really up to you. You'll find models on both platforms that score well in our labs. They'll support the most popular software options, too, from Adobe Photoshop to Chrome, Slack to Zoom. But there are benefits to pairing a Mac with an iPhone or an Android phone with a PC. You may be able to answer a text message with your keyboard, for example, or share copy-paste data between a computer and a smartphone.

For more, check out the full computer ratings based on our latest tests results, available to Consumer Reports members.

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Finding your next computer doesn't have to be a chore. If you're looking for something you can easily carry to and from work, or bring with you on vacation, then a lightweight laptop could be in order.

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Computers, computers everywhere. We've got them, want them, or need them, and sometimes all three at the same time. For many of us, computers have become an integral part of our daily lives. Without a computer, I'd be out of a job, and this article wouldn't exist to help anyone. Fortunately, computers are pretty easy to get our hands on. Unfortunately, they can be incredibly expensive, and will often be a major investment.

For the less tech-savvy, buying a computer is no easy task. There is a lot of tech jargon flying around, and all of it is vying to empty out your wallet. On top of that, mistakes are easy to make, and they can easily result in your money going to waste. When you're throwing around hundreds or thousands of dollars, you don't want to get a machine that's going to break down in a year, fail to work as expected, or cost a penny more than it ought to. Fortunately, here we'll take a look at a number of computer shopping mistakes so that you can avoid them and get a great computer without spending any more than you must.

1. Not buying based on your needs

If you think a computer seems awesome because you've heard media hype about it, it's the latest thing, or it just looks awesome, you're probably shopping for a computer wrong. Sure, if you want to prioritize a certain aesthetic or as much power as possible, you can, but most of us should just think about what we need from the computer and buy a machine that will enable us to do what we need to do. If you're going to just do light Internet browsing, some word processing, and watch a movie here and there, you can probably do without 32GB of RAM, that octa-core processor, or 25 USB 3.0 ports. Whatever you get with a computer, you pay for, so don't pay for something you know you don't need.

2. Believing a single number makes something better

When it comes to computer hardware, a lot - and I mean a whole lot - of numbers get thrown around, and an even greater amount of important numbers don't even get mentioned. If you focus on one number, you might be ignoring a bunch of others. For example, a lot of people will assume an Intel Core i7 chip is better than a Core i5 chip, because duh, right? But there's a lot more to the story - number of cores, number of threads, hyper-threading ability, cache size, and clock-speed. There are plenty of i5 chips that'll knock the pants off plenty of i7 CPUs. The same scenario can arise for a lot of components. If you don't know too much about computer components, we've got just the guide for you here. If you want to see how a specific component performs compared to another, check out the benchmarks over at PassMark. A final word of wisdom on this topic: Bigger doesn't mean better in computers.

3. Not knowing what you're getting with an operating system

There are plenty of different computer operating systems (OS) out there - Windows, OS X, Linux, Chrome OS, to name a few - and while at first glance they might seem only aesthetically different, that couldn't be further from the truth. Each functions differently, and most importantly for many users, handle software differently. If you have an old computer running one OS and want to bring software you purchased to a new computer, don't expect to succeed if you switch operating systems. On top of that, you might not even be able to find a version of the software that will work on the new OS. For example, Skype may have versions working for Mac and Windows, but you won't be able to video chat your friends and family if you switch over to Chrome OS. This calls back to the first point: you should decide what you need to do with the computer and ensure the OS will support it.

4. Assuming how a feature will work

Let's say you want Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on your new computer. Fine, that should be easy enough to find. Almost any laptop you find will have both, and both features aren't too shy about showing up on desktop computers nowadays, either. Once you've got the computer with said features, they should just work, right? Maybe. A Bluetooth module in one computer isn't always going to be the same the one found in another. They can be different generations, have different power requirements, have different effective ranges, and even behave differently simply because of the computer case they're in. Wi-Fi, similarly, has a number of different classes and speeds, and you can't assume they'll all work in every situation. We'll address how to avoid problems related to this in point No. 8.

5. Assuming a feature is even included

Computers come in all shapes, sizes, and configurations. You should never take anything for granted. If you want a computer with a CD/DVD drive, look and see if there is one, and if you're in the store, press the button to make the tray open so you know with 100% certainty it's there. Want audio? Make sure there are speakers and try playing something out of them. Hell, you should even take a peek around just to make sure there are USB ports. Whatever you know you want the computer to have, actually verify it's there and in working order. Never assume. Never ever.

6. Ignoring missing details

"Oh, man! That computer comes with a Intel Core i7 CPU, an NVIDIA GeForce video card, and 8GB of RAM. Awesome!"

Hold the phone. Just as mentioned in the No. 2 on this list, all of that is only half the story. Why don't we look at the rest of the story? That could be an i7 U 620 (a low-end dual-core processor), a GeForce 256 (a graphics processor from before Y2K), and the slowest clocked, lowest bandwidth, high-latency sticks of RAM anyone has ever heard of. You can't be sure unless you check. Not only should you always check out the details, but you should be wary any time they aren't presented front and center. Odds are, if the details aren't mentioned, it's because they're not favorable details. If a computer is actually running some blazing fast quad-core CPU or some high end GeForce GTX video card, the seller would be a fool to hide those details.

7. Thinking components can be upgraded willy-nilly

One great thing about most desktops, and some laptops, is that there's a lot of room to add or upgrade many components to improve your computer's performance or keep it running smoothly as software demands increase with time. But alas, there can be quite a bit of complexity to it. Hardware changes quickly, and compatibility issues arise just as fast. Some components simply won't work as upgrades; for instance, if you want to be able to upgrade your CPU eventually, you'll have to check what kind of CPU socket is on your motherboard and find a new CPU that matches. If you want to add more RAM for a better multitasking experience, you'll have to confirm you have free slots for the memory and that your OS supports as much RAM as you want to have.

Then there's also the matter of bottlenecks. Some of the components you want to upgrade to might be blazing fast, but your current hardware might not support that speed. This is especially crucial if you want to upgrade the RAM or GPU right away when you buy a computer. Find out what clock speeds and bandwidths your computer can support, and don't waste your money buying RAM or a GPU that runs any faster. That awesome 8GB stick of 3100MHz RAM is going to look like a whole lot of wasted money when your new computer throttles it down to 800MHz because you paired it with a second, much slower stick of RAM.

8. Not trying before buying

If you have the option to try out a machine a bit before you buy it, do it. If you're buying one off the Internet but can go to a local store and test out the very same computer, do it. Try out the keyboard, mouse, touchscreen, and other important features. Make sure they feel good to you, because you might be stuck with some of them. Going back to point No. 5, if you see a component or feature, actually try it out. If something's not readily available on the showroom floor (say you want to try out some desktop computer with an external touchscreen display), don't be afraid to ask a salesperson about trying it out. Sure, they might say they can't do that, but if they really want to sell the machine (and they probably do), there's a good chance they'll accommodate you. This is the point in the purchasing process that you want to make sure you don't hate the thing and that you'll probably be able to tolerate it, at the very least.

9. Not trying it out enough after buying

Just because you've traded your money for a new computer already doesn't mean the buying process is over. While you're still in the time window where you can return the device if it's not up to snuff, you had best throw on "Take It To The Limit" on your stereo, set up the new computer, and take it to the limit. Test everything. See how far the Bluetooth signal reaches before it starts breaking down. Ensure it can connect to your Wi-Fi network and maintain a consistent connection. Test out all of the drives. Stick something into every single USB port. Try out headphones and microphones. Install all of the programs you want to use and try them them out. Hard. Run the most demanding video game you can get your hands on at the highest settings and keep playing for hours on end. You basically want to make sure that the computer will easily meet or slightly exceed your needs. If it's falling short or not working how you expect, you want to find that out while you can still return it. (Personal war story: I once bought a desktop computer that seemed awesome, but when I gamed on it, it kept crashing, likely because the power supply was insufficient. I returned it quickly for a replacement. The new computer had a CD/DVD drive, but it wasn't actually set up and wouldn't open. So I returned that one. If I hadn't tested out those features early on, I would have learned the hard way what it felt like to waste $800.)

10. Always buying whatever's cheapest

If you have very minimal computer demands and hardly browse the Internet, you might be able to get away with only ever getting cheap computers. But not everyone will, and those that try can have it come back to bite them in the rear. Cheap and old hardware is going to more quickly wear out and fail to meet the ever increasing demands of new software. A $200 machine could last you a couple of years, but that time may be filled with headaches as it begins to struggle more and more on its way to the computer graveyard. A $400 computer bought at the same time could last a fair bit longer, and that whole time should be less filled with headaches. That said, it can be nearly impossible to be entirely sure what you're going to get for your money, but you'll probably have a good chance of finding a more reliable, longer-lasting PC if you spend a bit more. You don't need to buy any $2,000 computer, but just keep an eye out for good deals on brands and models that have proven to have a good lifespan, and you should be safe.

11. Not being aware of software trials

Plenty of computer will come with software advertised as pre-installed. And indeed that software may be present. But it might not be what you expect. Software trials are pretty common, and they can be for anything from a photo editor or virus scanner to the computer's OS. It might not be common for a computer to come with only a trial version of an operating system, but there are some out there, so be sure to find out the details before you buy. A license for Windows can cost around $100, and that'd be a large unexpected expense. Trials for other software are pretty common, though, and you should confirm what is and isn't a trial before you decide if a computer is worth the price. (Hint: You should think of trials as worth $0.)

12. Buying at the wrong time

There are a lot of factors to consider when figuring out when to buy a computer. The most important, of course, will be your need. If you need one right this minute, then your hands are tied. But if you can wait, or if you know your current computer is on its last leg, a bit of wiggle room can make a big difference in what you pay for your new computer. First off, there are tons of deals on computers all the time. Tech retailers and manufacturers have all sorts of deals, and if you stay vigilant, you might see the PC you're hoping to buy on sale. Product cycles can also come into play. Just like with smartphones, there are constantly newer versions in series of computers coming out, or newer hardware supplanting the ever-so-slightly older hardware. If you do your homework, you may be able to figure out when something new is going to come out. If you buy right before it does, you'll likely be wasting money. After that new device or hardware comes out, the older hardware should drop in price - leaving you with the option of buying the old hardware cheaper, or buying the new hardware at around the same price you'd have paid if you bought the old hardware too early.

13. Not shopping around enough

While there's no one place you need to shop at, you do need to shop at many places - that is, if you want to get the best deal. Don't just go into Best Buy and assume your options are limited to those devices at those prices. Shopping at a single retailers (especially a brick-and-mortar shop) will guarantee that you'll miss out. As mentioned in No. 11, there are lots of deals out there. Pretty much every big retailer is going to have some deal going at at any given time, so you've just got to hunt for the right one, which means checking way more than one place. Check Newegg. Check TigerDirect. Check Amazon. Check BestBuy. Check SuperBiiz. Check the manufacturers' websites. Check all the other retailers I can't list here. If you shop around regularly, and are patient, you'll probably get an excellent deal on a new computer.

14. Not asking for free stuff

Why wouldn't you want free stuff? If you're buying on the Internet, you might have a harder time getting free stuff, since there's no salesman to haggle with, but if you end up buying in a brick-and-mortar store, try to get something (or a few things) thrown into the bargain. If you're buying a desktop, you know you'll need a keyboard, mouse, and monitor, so try to get them thrown into the deal for free or for a discount. Frequently, computers come with free printers. If you're not offered one, ask for one. Whatever you're trying to get with the computer, be sure it's within reason (you're not going to convince them to give you a second computer for free if you purchase one), and act like you're not quite sold on the machine unless you can get the free thing thrown in. Even if you don't actually get anything, it can't hurt to ask, and you'll probably get offered some discounts at the very least.

15. Letting the security trial expire

Sure, I know, this comes a while after you buy the computer. But it's a mistake closely linked with your purchase. Why? Because letting the trial for your virus scanner expire puts that new purchase at a greater risk of going sour. A bad virus can turn a great computer into a great paper weight, so do keep yours machine protected. You can buy a subscription to the trial service that (likely) comes with your computer, or you can replace it with a free security system like Avira. Whatever you do, don't ignore the need for up-to-date security software.

Finally, there's the matter of expensive setup services and warranties. This isn't getting its own point, because we're not going to call either a mistake. Choosing to get a warranty is an extra cost, but adds some security. If you're concerned about potential damage to the computer, a warranty isn't a bad idea. As far as setup services, if you know your way around a computer all right, or know someone who does and is willing to help, you can likely pass on having a professional set it up - most of what's done is pretty simple. If everything about computers is like a foreign language to you and no one you know tolerates your technological limp, it may be worth the money to have a pro come set up your new computer and get you off the ground.

By avoiding the mistakes on this list, you can avoid a lot of headaches and spending more money than necessary on a new computer.

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15 Mistakes Too Many People Make When Buying a Computer

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Computers, computers everywhere. We've got them, want them, or need them, and sometimes all three at the same time. For many of us, computers have become an integral part of our daily lives. Without a computer, I'd be out of a job, and this article wouldn't exist to help anyone.