iPhone. iPod. iPad.
With a near cult-like following, Apple is responsible for the design and development of some of the most iconic electronics devices in the history of the world. It is the world’s largest technology company and the second largest mobile phone manufacturer. The company employs 115,000 full-time employees and maintains 478 retail stores in seventeen different countries. The iTunes store is the world’s largest music retailer. There are over one billion Apple products currently being used worldwide.
Here are a few facts about the multinational technology giant that Forrest Gump referred to as “some kind of fruit company.”
Apple Facts
42. Shrimpin’ Pays
If Forrest Gump was real, his investment in Apple would currently be worth about US $7 billion which would have been quite a shrewd move by Lieutenant Dan. At least his investments have legs.
Forrest Gump, Paramount Pictures
41. Premature
Apple had a third co-founder named Ronald Wayne who left the company after 12 days, selling his 10% share for $800 and an additional payout of $1,500. Had he stayed, his shares would be worth US $60 billion. He claims he doesn’t regret the decision. Nobody believes him.
40. Even More Premature
A diehard Apple fan in Japan waited in line for an iPhone 6 for seven months before the launch.
39. It’s the Smell
Bizarrely, if you smoke while using an Apple computer, it voids the warranty. This is among one of the many clauses in Apple’s terms and conditions which nobody has ever read.
38. Unreasonable Request
One of the clauses in the iTunes terms and conditions is that you will agree not to use Apple products to create nuclear weapons so don’t expect to see iNukes anytime soon.
37. I Prefer Kevlar
The battery of an Apple MacBook is bulletproof. This seems an unnecessary design inclusion considering you’re not allowed to use Apple products to create nuclear weapons.
36. Bricked
On the original Apple iPod, if you went to the “About” menu and held down the center button for a few seconds, it would start a game called Breakout, a brick-breaking game developed by co-founders Wozniak and Jobs when they worked at Atari.
35. Your Momma
When Steve Jobs accused Bill Gates of stealing from Apple, Gates replied, “I think it’s more like we both had this rich neighbour named Xerox and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found out that you had already stolen it.” Um. Burn.
34. Like a Virgin
60% of the apps in the Apple App Store have never been downloaded which is just… so… sad.
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33. Double Down
Apple has twice the amount of money as the US Treasury and, one can argue, is using it more wisely.
32. Orange You Glad I Said Apple?
There have been many theories about why the name of the company is Apple, but the truth is, it’s simply Steve Job’s favorite fruit. He reportedly had an apple a day, which kept the doctors away… too soon?
31. No Logo
Apple’s first logo was a single rainbow-colored apple. There was a bite taken out of it to prevent it from looking like a rainbow cherry. Some people have speculated that this version of the Apple logo was an homage to Alan Turing, the father of modern computing who committed suicide using a cyanide-laced apple after being condemned for his homosexuality. Dark.
30. Whitewashing
In 1997, Steve Jobs replaced the rainbow color with just white which many consider to be an excellent design choice: helping the company save money on printing costs (one color versus many) while still leaving lots of room for unnecessary over-analysis from armchair design enthusiasts.
29. Copyright or Right to Copy?
In addition to Apple products, the stores themselves have been counterfeited, with lookalike retail shops popping up in places like, of course, China. Some of them are so realistic that even the employees were fooled.
28. I Can Be Your Hero Baby
Also in 1997, Apple was rescued by Microsoft when Bill Gates bailed out the struggling pre-iPod company with a cash infusion of US$150 million, which is essentially a rounding error in Microsoft’s bank accounts.
27. More Trashy than a TRS-80
In 1983, Apple launched a line of computers called Lisa. It failed miserably and the word is that around 2,700 of these computers are buried in a Utah landfill alongside whoever came up with the idea for Lisa in the first place.
26. An Expensive No
The creator of the iPod, Tony Fadell, originally offered the device to both Real Networks and Philips, who turned him down. Apple picked it up and the rest is history.
25. It Wasn’t Because of Satan
The list price on the Apple I was $666.66 because Steve Wozniak likes repeating numbers.
24. Sacrifices
To raise money for Apple, Steve Jobs sold his Volkswagen and co-founder Steve Wozniak sold his scientific calculator proving, once and for all, which one of the two was geekiest.
Wikimedia Commons, Seth Morabito
23. In with the New
The apple iPhone accounts for 40% of the company’s annual revenue. It’s estimated that over 75% of Apple’s income comes from products that were invented within the last decade.
22. But Can They Make Chocolate?
If Apple was a country, it would be the world’s 27th largest country, between Venezuela and Belgium. Way to go Apple. You beat Belgium.
21. It’s Complicated
Apple’s iPad retina display as well as 30% of the A8 chips that went into the iPhone 6 are actually manufactured by Samsung who clearly rigged the wrong phones to explode.
20. Just a Bit over Minimum Wage
Apple earns $300,000 per minute.
19. Power Up
If it’s fully charged once a day (and, if you want to use it, it pretty much has to be), the Apple iPhone will consume US$0.25 worth of electricity over the course of a year.
18. Good Listener
Everything you say to Siri is sent to Apple, analyzed, and stored. Just something to keep in mind if you’re thinking of asking Siri about the best place to bury those dead bodies.
17. Feel it Gates!
The Apple iPhone has higher sales than any product Microsoft has to offer.
16. Time of Birth
Every Apple iPhone ad displays the time as 9:41 a.m, which is exactly the time that Steve Jobs unveiled it in 2007.
15. A Hipster’s Dream
In 1991, the cost of buying an iPhone in individual parts would have been $3.56 million USD. But getting to brag about having an iPhone in 1991? Priceless.
14. Better than a Banana Split
In June 2014, a seven-for-one stock split took the trading price of Apple from $645 to $94 and caused more than one person to lose a dinner bet.
13. First They Came for the Quadrilaterals
Apple holds the US patent for rounded corners on rectangular devices. Yes. Apple is patenting geometry. They even have a patent for an apple shaped phone.
12. Waterproof
When the first prototype of Apple’s iPod was shown to Steve Jobs he dropped it into an aquarium and pointed at the air bubbles to prove that there was empty space and the device could be smaller. This is considered both a sign of genius and aggression.
11. Good Choice
The iPhone could have been named Mobi, Telepod, or Tripod. Most agree that iPhone was the better choice, despite the fact that almost nobody ever uses their iPhone as an actual phone.
10. Paranoid Android
Apple is paranoid about information leaks and is said to have created fake projects for employees and management to work on. If the news leaks, they’ll know who it was, and that person will be punished accordingly. Unlike other corporations, Apple creates seemingly pointless projects on purpose.
9. There's gold in them phones
An iPhone contains about 75 elements which accounts for two-thirds of the periodic table.
8. It Pays to Recycle
In 2015, Apple recovered 2,204 pounds of gold from recycled iPhones. That amount of gold was worth US$40 million. Nobody tell Apple about teeth fillings.
7. My Precious
An iPhone contains 0.0012 ounces of gold, 0.012 ounces of silver, and 0.000012 ounces of platinum, worth $1.52, $0.24, and $0.017 respectively. By contrast, the human body contains 8.11 x 10-6 ounces of gold which is worth about a penny. Although, to be honest, some people aren’t even worth that much thought.
6. Why?
There was an iPhone 5 made that was worth US $15 million. It contained 135 grams of 24-carat gold with a chassis inlaid with 600 white diamonds and a rare 26-carat black diamond. It is the most expensive game of Candy Crush ever.
5. Numbers Game
When Apple was handing out employee numbers, Steve Jobs was upset that Wozniak got #1 while he got #2. He changed his to #0 so that he would be second to nobody, a move considered by polite society to be real #2.
4. Does Not Compute
A rare Apple I computer that was built in Steve Jobs’ garage in 1976 sold at auction for an absurd US$905,000 in 2014.
3. The Clothes Make the Man
In 1986, Apple launched a clothing line which, then and now, can only be worn ironically.
Wikimedia Commons, Hannes Grobe
2. Good Argument for Tax Reform
If Apple didn’t hold US$181 billion in overseas accounts, it would owe the US about $59 billion in taxes.
1. Higher Education
You have a better chance of getting into Harvard than working at an Apple Store. In either case, you need to be a genius.
We hope you enjoyed these fun facts!
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