The Macintosh (/mknt/ MAK-in-tosh; branded as Mac since 1998) is a series of personal

computers (PCs) designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. Steve Jobs introduced the
original Macintosh computer on January 24, 1984. This was the first mass-market personal
computer featuring an integral graphical user interface and mouse.[1] This first model was later
renamed to "Macintosh 128k" for uniqueness amongst a populous family of subsequently
updated models which are also based on Apple's same proprietary architecture. Since 1998,
Apple has largely phased out the Macintosh name in favor of "Mac", though the product family
has been nicknamed "Mac" or "the Mac" since the development of the first model.
The Macintosh, however, was expensive, which hindered its ability to be competitive in a market
already dominated by the Commodore 64 for consumers, as well as the IBM Personal Computer
and its accompanying clone market for businesses.[2] Macintosh systems still found success in
education and desktop publishing and kept Apple as the second-largest PC manufacturer for the
next decade. In the 1990s, improvements in the rival Wintel platform, notably with the
introduction of Windows 3.0, then Windows 95, gradually took market share from the more
expensive Macintosh systems. The performance advantage of 68000-based Macintosh systems
was eroded by Intel's Pentium, and in 1994 Apple was relegated to third place as Compaq
became the top PC manufacturer. Even after a transition to the superior PowerPC-based Power
Macintosh line in 1994, the falling prices of commodity PC components and the release of
Windows 95 saw the Macintosh user base decline.
In 1998, after the return of Steve Jobs, Apple consolidated its multiple consumer-level desktop
models into the all-in-one iMac G3, which became a commercial success and revitalized the
brand. Since their transition to Intel processors in 2006, the complete lineup is entirely based on
said processors and associated systems. Its current lineup comprises three desktops (the all-inone iMac, entry-level Mac mini, and the Mac Pro tower graphics workstation), and four laptops
(the Macbook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Pro with Retina display). Its Xserve
server was discontinued in 2011 in favor of the Mac Mini and Mac Pro.
Contrary to popular perception, production of the Mac is not based on a complete vertical
integration model. While Apple designs its own hardware and creates its own operating system
that is pre-installed on all Mac computers, Apple sources components, such as microprocessors,
RAM and LCD panels from other vendors.[3] Apple also relies on contract manufacturers like
Foxconn and Flextronics to build most of its products.[4]
Apple also develops the operating system for the Mac, currently OS X version 10.11 "El
Capitan". Macs are currently capable of running non-Apple operating systems such as Linux,
OpenBSD, and Microsoft Windows with the aid of Boot Camp or third-party software. Apple
does not license OS X for use on non-Apple computers, though it did license previous versions
of Mac OS through their Macintosh clone program from 1995 to 1997