Was Apple Really Inspired By The Fruit?

Founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976, Apple has long been synonymous with innovation and style (per Britannica). Pioneers of the smartphone and manufacturers of history's most cutting-edge technology, Apple is a leader in both software and hardware development.

According to Market Watch, The California-based company was worth a whopping 2.9 trillion dollars at the end of 2021 — that's more than Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet's combined net worth. In fact, Insider lists Apple as the most valuable brand on the face of planet Earth — sorry Android users.

It has been widely reported that Steve Jobs' experiments with psychedelic drugs may have contributed to the elegance and sophistication of Apple products. The late renaissance man once told his biography writer Walter Isaacson that his experience with LSD reinforced his "sense of what was important — creating great things instead of making money" (per Insider). Lucky for Jobs, he achieved both.

But what does any of this have to do with apples? It could be said that trying to find a common denominator between ground-breaking technology, psychedelic drugs, and the popular fruit that grows on trees is like comparing apples to oranges.

There has been widespread speculation regarding the logic behind the co-founders' decision to name their company Apple. According to Macworld, some people have theorized that Jobs and Wozniak selected the name as an ode to Alan Turing — a computer science wizard and cryptanalyst who died from consuming a cyanide-laced apple. Other theories speculate that the logo, an apple with a bite taken out of it, is inspired by the biblical story of Adam and Eve and doubles as an analogy for the enlightenment that technology has bestowed upon the world.

Among the tall tales and half-truths that make up the story of how Apple got its name, the verity of its origins is unembellished. Wozniak was picking Jobs up from the airport following a trip to Oregon where he had been visiting an apple orchard, and Jobs suggested Apple as a company name. Because they couldn't come up with anything better — it stuck.

Jobs told Walter Isaacson that "it sounded fun, spirited, and not intimidating. Apple took the edge off the word computer." Jobs also relished in the name because it listed them ahead of their early competitor Atari in the phonebook (per Macworld).

A simple company name that informs the ease and simplicity of its products, Apple was, in fact, inspired by an apple.