Apple Logo Meaning and History of Apple Emblem

Apple is among the largest corporations in the world. As the company behind the ubiquitous iPhone mobile handsets and iPad tablet computers, it has to reach a direct consumer connect in most of the global markets. Apple logo meaning has an interesting history and references to key personalities. Read on:

Apple Logo PNG

Apple Inc Information

Apple Logo History: Newton and his apple

Apple was set up as a business partnership in April 1976 by three friends. While Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak are widely known faces behind the company, not many people know that Ronald Wayne was a 10% partner in the venture. It is a different matter that his past business failures made him extremely risk averse and he ended up selling his share in the venture to Jobs and Wozniak in a mere 12 days.

It was Wayne – 41 at the time – who came up with the company’s partnership agreement as well as the manual for the Apple I – the company’s first product. Wayne also holds the distinction of creating the company’s original logo featuring Sir Isaac Newton sitting beneath a tree, with an apple about to fall on his head. A flowing ribbon contained the company’s name – Apple Computer Company. The text on the border included “Newton…A Mind Forever Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought…Alone.”

Apple Logo History: Move to a modern look

A year later, the partnership made way for the incorporation of the company, and the logo was changed with a lot simpler design created by Rob Janoff. What Janoff presented as a series of monochromatic apples, each with a bite taken out of it. Steve Jobs liked the idea but also insisted on making it colorful to “humanize the company” and it resulted in the “rainbow Apple” logo that served the company from 1977 to 1998. The rainbow scheme was also an allusion to the color processing capabilities of Apple II.

Apple Logo Meaning: Is the bite a reference to Alan Turing?

The internet is full of articles linking the Apple logo’s bite with Alan Turing – the famous mathematician who invented the codebreaking machine and played a key role in World War II. However, he was convicted of homosexuality which was a criminal offense in the UK at the time. This entire episode had a profound impact and left him disheartened. On 8 June 1954, Turing was found dead with a half-eaten apple beside his bed, and cyanide poisoning was established as the cause of his death.

While Turing’s conviction was in line with the prevalent law at the time, it was seen in a negative light in the subsequent years. Some theories suggest that the bite in Apple’s logo is a direct reference to Alan Turing. However, it is far from the truth as Jobs and Janoff clarified in subsequent years that the bite was simply there to ensure that the apple wasn’t confused with a cherry!

Apple Logo Evolution: Changes in subsequent years

Apple finally bid adieu to the rainbow scheme and started using the monochromatic color scheme in 1998, effectively moving back to the original design suggested by Janoff. The transition to a simpler design coincided with the launch of iMac computers. The logo has undergone several changes in the subsequent years. However, the changes have been largely related to colors while the logo has retained its original shape and broad identity. Most notable of these changes have been aqua-themed and glass-themed versions.