The public introduction of the Apple Macintosh on January 24, 1984, is one of the most theatrical product launches in computing history. Two days earlier, during the broadcast of Super Bowl XVIII, Apple had aired its “1984” television commercial, directed by Ridley Scott, depicting a runner hurling a hammer through a screen showing a Big Brother figure addressing rows of gray drones. The ad never showed the computer; it positioned the Macintosh as a liberating break from conformity, with the closing promise that 1984 would not be like Orwell’s “1984.”
The unveiling itself took place at Apple’s annual shareholder meeting in the Flint Center near Cupertino. In a firsthand folklore.org account titled “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” Macintosh team member Andy Hertzfeld describes the event. Steve Jobs opened by reciting a verse of Bob Dylan’s song of that name, then used it to set up Apple as the upstart against an IBM that he cast as bidding for control of the industry. The “1984” commercial was replayed for the audience before the machine was revealed.
Hertzfeld’s account captures the showmanship of the demo. The Macintosh was pulled from a bag, and a prerecorded sequence had the computer introduce itself, displaying screens and even speaking through synthesized speech to the assembled shareholders and employees. The auditorium, packed with Apple staff and supporters, responded with sustained cheering as the machine ran through its capabilities.
The “1984” ad had nearly not aired at all. Contemporary accounts record that Apple’s board of directors disliked the commercial intensely and pressed to have it dropped, with the agency Chiat/Day instructed to sell back the purchased airtime. It ran during the Super Bowl largely because that sale could not be completed in time, and it went on to be regarded as one of the most influential advertisements ever made.
The launch marked the moment the graphical, mouse-driven personal computer entered mainstream awareness. The technology, refined through the earlier Lisa and rooted in research at Xerox PARC, was now wrapped in an affordable consumer product and a cultural event. Inside Macintosh, including the promotional edition archived from bitsavers, carried Apple’s own framing of the machine to developers and the press in the months that followed.