Apple is not only one of the best known, but also one of the most valuable companies in the world. Everyone knows the logo with the apple. But why does a tech giant have an apple as their logo – and a bitten one at that?
Apple’s history began with the so-called Macintosh computer (Mac) in the late 1970s. Hardly anyone remembers that in the 1980s Apple helped the omnipresent mouse to break through as an input device. In the 1990s, Apple got caught up in too many unsuccessful projects, ran into financial difficulties and even came close to bankruptcy. Today the company is back and successful like no other. And it likes to show it – with the Apple logo, which is emblazoned on almost all devices. But why a bitten apple?
The unique success story
Nearing the end in the 1990s, Apple was working its way back. One device in particular helped to make it a success. In the early noughties, Apple invented the iPod and iTunes, not only revolutionizing the music industry, which was plagued by online piracy at the time, but setting in motion an unprecedented success story. The iPod is now history, Apple’s success remained.
However, the biggest and most valuable Apple invention was neither the Mac computer nor the iPod, but the iPhone presented in 2007. It became the benchmark for the entire mobile phone industry and is considered the forefather of all smartphones today. Behind all the success was the visionary Steve Jobs, who founded Apple in Cupertino (California) in 1976 as a garage company together with Steve Wozniak and Ron Wayne.
From today’s perspective, the question of why Apple has a bitten apple in its logo is particularly interesting.
The fruity company name
The answer behind the company name is surprisingly banal. At that time, Steve Jobs was a vegetarian, and for a short time even a fruitarian, so he mainly ate fruit. He also pruned apple trees on a community farm in his spare time. That seems to have inspired him, because shortly before the company was founded he is said to have threatened to name the company Apple, i.e. apple, unless someone suggested a more interesting name. He hoped that this would stimulate the creativity of his fellow campaigners. But it didn’t help – and so it became Apple.
However, there were also a few good reasons for the decision: the name sounds friendly and takes the edge off the topic of computers, Jobs is said to have argued. And: In the future, you would be ahead of Atari, one of the competitors at the time, in the phone book.
Also read: New Apple devices will probably never have an “i” in front of the name
A bitten apple as the Apple logo
The original logo design for Apple initially looked completely different. The philosopher Isaac Newton sat under a tree with a radiant little apple above him. The whole thing is in black and white and looks more like a biblical drawing. But this tribute to the philosopher who discovered gravity when the apple fell on his head was too complex and detailed to reproduce well.
Graphic designer Rob Janoff designed the apple logo as we know it today in 1977. According to the Steve Jobs biography, he is said to have developed two versions: one with a whole apple and one with a bitten apple. In the end, the bitten apple was chosen so that it would not be confused with a cherry or a tomato.
In addition, the bite should be an ironic reference to a “byte” (digital unit of measure) be, which in English is pronounced the same way as “bite”. Over the years, the logo was first displayed in colour, later in three dimensions and is now finally greatly reduced, mostly in black or the respective color of the product on which it was applied.