Apple changed its corporate name from Apple Computer to Apple in 2007.
The name change reflected a major shift in the company’s business. Apple had originally become famous for personal computers, including the Apple II and Macintosh, but the iPod, iPhone, and related services were making consumer electronics central to its identity.
The change was announced at the Macworld Expo in January 2007, when Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone. Until then, the company’s legal name was Apple Computer, Inc. The shorter name acknowledged that Apple was no longer primarily a computer manufacturer.
A common mix-up is confusing the corporate-name change with the iPhone’s release date. The iPhone was announced in 2007 and released later that year, while Apple’s roots go back to its 1976 founding by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne.