Apple was founded 50 years ago today, on April 1, 1976, by two scruffy twentysomethings named Steve—Steve Jobs and Steve “Woz” Wozniak—but not in a garage, as legend has it.
On that date, Ron Wayne, a 41-year-old senior designer whom Jobs met at Atari, took a two-page partnership agreement down to the Santa Clara County registrar’s office, and Apple was born. That agreement gave each of the Steves 45% of the company, and Wayne the final 10%, according to the new book, Apple: The First 50 Years, by reporter David Pogue, who has covered the company for 41 years.
“That year, they were thrilled to sell 150 of those Apple I boards,” Pogue writes. Five decades later, in 2026, “its annual revenue approached $400 billion a year—more than Meta, Netflix, and Intel combined.”
So, how did we get here? Fast Company spoke with Pogue, who says Jobs is a big part of the answer—but not for the reason you might think.
While the general consensus is that from 1985 to 1996, “Apple didn’t do anything during those dark years,” Pogue argues that those 11 years when Jobs was gone were crucial to creating the products that define Apple’s success today.
During this time, they came out with the PowerBook, and they released QuickTime, which is essentially the basis of video streaming today, Pogue says.
The author dispels more myths in his massive 548-page book, too. For example, this wasn’t the Steves’ first rodeo—in fact, Apple was Woz’s and Jobs’ fourth business venture. Also, the tablet came before the phone; John Sculley did not fire Jobs; and Jobs didn’t write the famous “Think Different” ad, nor did he name the Macintosh.
Apple and AI
“As we speak, there is a general perception that Apple missed the AI wave,” Pogue tells Fast Company. In June 2024, Apple promised a new version of Siri, as part of Apple Intelligence, “but coming up on two years later, Apple still hasn’t delivered.”
On Monday, Bloomberg reported Apple is shifting its AI focus to hardware and services. The news follows a previous report that the company plans to open Siri to outside artificial intelligence assistants; it is expected to use the Extensions feature in iOS 27 as a key part of its strategy.
What could that look like in the future? According to Pogue, it could be a new version of Siri that has access to all your texts, emails, and more—and can figure out from that, “what time do I need to pick up my mom?” in the blink of an eye, and then let you know, “you need to leave at 1:30 p.m.”
Perhaps Apple’s AI story will end up being: “We aren’t always first, but we are usually the best,” as Tim Cook told Pogue.
What’s in store for Apple in the next 50 years?
If we look at what is next for Apple, Pogue says the emphasis is on hands-free devices: smart glasses, smart AirPods, or possibly pendants that would have a camera.
