Applemuseum

Did you know Apple once launched its own fashion collection?

In 1986, Apple released The Apple Collection, featuring a wide range of items: from polo shirts and windbreakers to baseball caps, sunglasses and even umbrellas. True to the era, most of the designs embraced bold colors inspired by Apple’s iconic rainbow logo.

The collection wasn’t created to become a fashion brand. It reflected Apple’s growing culture and identity beyond computers. But the collection was short-lived, and quietly disappeared after a few years. Since then, the merchandise has become highly collectible, with original pieces sought after by Apple enthousiasts around the world.

Have you ever seen a piece of The Apple Collection?

#1986

The Place Where It All Began

At the Apple Museum, we believe it's important to immerse you in Apple's story. What was the world like at the time? What did that era feel like?

That's why we take you back to 1976, where you step into Steve Jobs' garage, the place he often referred to as "the place where it all began." In Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, it becomes clear that the garage mainly served as storage and a logistics space. Yet it was here that a friendship between two men grew, and an idea was born that would go on to leave a lasting impact on the world.

We invite you to step inside, to experience the atmosphere and even smell the place where Apple's story began in 1976.

#1976

When Apple launched the Apple Watch in 2015, it wasn’t just introducing a new product. It was introducing a new category. And with that came a challenge: convincing consumers that a smartwatch could also be a luxury accessory.

That’s where Hermès came in. The collaboration between Apple and Hermès combined Apple’s technology with Hermès’ expertise in leather craftsmanship. Together, they created an Apple Watch that featured exclusive Hermès watch fases, handcrafted leather bands, and the unmistakable attention to detail associated with the French luxury house.

The partnership between Apple and Hermès was more than just aesthetics. It demonstrated how two different brands, with very different histories, could create something neither could have achieved alone. With the collaboration, Apple gained credibility in the luxury market, positioning the Apple Watch as a fashion statement rather than just another piece of technology. Hermès extended its craftsmanship into the digital era without compromising its heritage. And consumers received a product that blended innovation, craftsmanship, and timeless design.

More than a decade later, the collaboration remains a strong example of successful co-branding, showing how thoughtful collaboration can elevate both innovation and craftsmanship without either brand losing its identity.

On this day in 2010, Apple introduced the iPhone 4, one of the most successful product launches ever—but also one that didn’t go entirely according to plan.

The black iPhone 4 launched as scheduled, but the white version proved much more difficult to manufacture than expected. Apple postponed its release, then postponed it again, and again. In the end, the white model wasn’t introduced until nearly a year later, in late April 2011. The reason? Technical challenges with the white casing that no one had anticipated. It’s a reminder that even at Apple, the smallest details can sometimes create the biggest challenges.

Which version do you prefer: the black or the white? And what was your favorite iPhone?

When Apple was developing the original Macintosh in the early 1980s, the plan was to use an in-house floppy drive called ‘Twiggy’. On paper, it looked promising: higher capacity and complete control over the technology. In reality, it was a disaster. Twiggy was proving to be unreliable, with low manufacturing yields and frequent disk errors. For the Macintosh, which had no hard drive to fall back on, this wasn't just a technical issue. It threatened the entire product.

At the same time, Sony had developed a new 3.5-inch floppy disk. The disks were more durable, protected by a hard plastic shell, and compact enough to fit in a shirt pocket. There was only one problem: Steve Jobs hated it. He dismissed the drive as inelegant and ordered the Macintosh team to stop working with Sony. Instead, he wanted to partner with Alps Electronics to create its own version.

Some engineers disagreed with Jobs. Bob Belleville and George Crow were convinced Alps couldn’t deliver in time. So they quietly continued to working with Sony behind Jobs' back. It is even said they hid a visiting Sony manager in a broom closet when Jobs unexpectedly entered the lab!

A few weeks later, their concerns proved justified. Alps estimated it would take another 18 months before its drive could reach production, far too late for the Macintosh. When Belleville admitted to Jobs that the team had kept the Sony option alive behind his back, he didn’t get angry. Instead, he thanked them for putting the product ahead of politics and pride.

The Macintosh launched with Sony’s 3.5-inch floppy drive in 1984. What began as a controversial decision became the global standard for personal computing. It went on to replace the 5.25-inch floppy and became the way an entire generation stored and shared digital files. Not bad for a technology Steve Jobs initially rejected.

Did you know that we have a series of small period rooms inspired by the '70s, '80s, and '90s in our museum? While compact in size, these spaces help bring Apple's history to life by placing its iconic products in the context of the world they were introduced to. Think of them as a glimpse into the day before the launch of groundbreaking products such as the Apple II or the Macintosh.

To create these spaces, we carefully selected recognizable patterns, objects, and details that instantly evoke each era. Across all three rooms, you'll find familiar aspects of daily life that help place technology in context. How did people listen to music? What did they watch on television? How did they communicate, work, and interact with technology? And, of course, what kind of computer would you have found in the average home or office?

For younger visitors, the rooms offer a glimpse into a world that can feel surprisingly distant. For others, they provide a trip down memory lane. Because understanding the world these products entered helps us appreciate just how innovative they truly were.

#70's

In June 2020, Apple announced one of the most significant transitions in its history: moving the Mac away from Intel processors and onto its own custom-designed chips, known as Apple Silicon.

Up until then, Macs relied on Intel, which meant Apple had to align its product roadmap with another company’s technology cycle. By designing its own chips, Apple gained complete control over the hardware and software experience, allowing it to optimize performance, efficiency, and features in ways that were previously impossible.

The M1 chip combined exceptional performance, industry-leading energy efficiency, and tightly integrated hardware and software into a single system-on-a-chip, delivering desktop-class power with unprecedented battery life. It changed expectations for what a laptop could do and reshaped the industry by showing that a laptop could be both incredibly powerful and remarkably efficient.

The arrival of the M1 chip accelerated a broader industry shift toward more power-efficient, highly integrated chip designs. Since then, Apple has continued to advance the architecture through the M2, M3, and M4 generations, setting new benchmarks for performance and energy efficiency.

Last Monday, Apple hosted its WWDC 2026 keynote. Since 1983, WWDC has been the moment where Apple unveils new software and tools, giving developers early access to what’s next. What started as a small gathering for developers around the Apple Lisa and very first Macs has now grown into a global event with millions of viewers online. This year’s keynote was a little special, being the last keynote with Tim Cook as CEO, before John Ternus takes over later this year.

As expected, AI took center stage during the keynote. Apple announced Siri AI: an updated version of the assistent that can understand context, reason across multiple apps, and take action on a user’s behalf. Apple is also transforming Siri into its own chatbot app, allowing users to have ongoing conversations rather than issuing one-off commands. As for Apple Intelligence, Apple is embedding this throughout its ecosystem. New capabilities are integrated, making AI a built-in part of everyday workflows.

Further, Apple included various performance improvements, such as faster app launches, improved Mail performance, and significantly faster photo processing. The overall aim is to make devices feel faster and more responsive without requiring new hardware.

The final notable announcements was Apple's expansion of child safety tools. New controls for web access, communications, screen time, and harmful content give parents more visibility and control over their children's digital experiences.

Did you watch the keynote? What are your thoughts on the announcements?