Apple introduced the Macintosh computer in 1984 and trades under the ticker AAPL.
The Macintosh was unveiled during a famous Super Bowl XVIII television advertisement directed by Ridley Scott. Apple launched the computer on January 24, 1984, presenting it as a friendlier alternative to business-oriented machines that relied heavily on typed commands.
Apple was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. Its later products—including the iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch—helped turn the company from a personal-computer maker into a broad consumer-technology ecosystem.
A common mix-up is confusing Apple’s ticker with Alphabet’s GOOGL or Google’s earlier corporate identity. Apple’s legal corporate name is Apple Inc.; the company was previously called Apple Computer, Inc. until 2007, when its name changed to reflect its expanding product range.