How Macworld helped set the stage for Apple’s most revolutionary products

Since the launch of the Macintosh 40 years ago, Macworld has been at the forefront of Apple’s most popular products. These are pivotal moments in the history of technology, from the launch of the original Mac to the introduction of the first iPhone in 2007, as well as countless key Apple products in between.

The original Macintosh computer wasn’t released at a Macworld event, but the first issue of Macworld magazine was there at the public launch during an Apple shareholder meeting in Cupertino on January 24, 1984.

After Steve Jobs premiered the first Mac, excited attendees emerged from the auditorium to be greeted by people handing out the inaugural issue of Macworld, the world’s newest computer magazine. The launch issue was packed with insider information about how the Mac was made, as well as reviews of the first Mac apps.

Our publisher, IDG, had to create the first issue of Macworld in secret after months of top-level access to Apple’s offices on Bandley Drive in Cupertino. Jobs, albeit reluctantly, even posed for the cover of the first issue. He stood beside a trio of Macintosh 128K machines, a now iconic image shot by photographer Will Mosgrove.

In a podcast commemorating the iconic photoshoot, Mosgrove told Macworld that he was initially fascinated by the Mac’s mouse, which he’d never seen before.

At the 1984 Mac photoshoot, Mosgrove was informed that “Steve’s not going to give you a lot of time.” The photographer knew this, as he mentioned in the podcast: “He’s famous—or infamous—for not really enjoying photo shoots and he doesn’t enjoy photographers very much anyway.”

“He has very little patience for, well, in my opinion, for having somebody else telling him what to do,” Mosgrove said.

When Jobs arrived for the shoot, he immediately disliked what he saw.

“The first thing he did was look at these screens,” recalled David Bunnell, the founder of Macworld, “and he didn’t like what was on the screens.” This set off a rush to change the Mac screens as quickly as possible.

Then when it came time to shoot, the Apple co-founder shouted to Mosgrove, “Look, take a picture of this!” and Jobs held up his middle finger.

After the shoot, Jobs even tried to stop Macworld from using the photo for its cover. But Bunnell lied about the magazine having already gone to press. The first Macworld issue was published and history was made.

Other than the Macintosh, Apple’s most ground-breaking revolutionary product was undoubtedly the iPhone, which was launched at Macworld San Francisco in January 2007. During his keynote speech at the show, Jobs referred back to the Macintosh launch in 1984.

“1984—we introduced the Macintosh. It didn’t just change Apple. It changed the whole computer industry. In 2001, we introduced the first iPod. And it didn’t just change the way we all listen to music, it changed the entire music industry,” Jobs said.

“Today we’re introducing three revolutionary products of this class. The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device,” Jobs said. “These are not three separate devices. This is one device, and we are calling it iPhone. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone, and here it is.”