Macintosh

The Macintosh is a line of personal computers designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed by Apple Computer that runs the Macintosh operating system, or Mac OS.

Named after the McIntosh apple, the original Macintosh was released on January 24, 1984. It was the first commercially successful personal computer to use a graphical user interface and mouse instead of the then-standard command line interface. Following the Macintosh's introduction, Apple continued production and development of its Apple II family, the company's original product line, until discontinuation in 1993 to focus on the Macintosh.

A significant difference between Macintosh computers and competitors' models for personal computers, which run Microsoft Windows, Unix or Linux operating systems is that Apple facilitates all aspects of its hardware, and creates its own operating system. This is unique in the industry.

However, beginning with the introduction of the iMac Core Duo and MacBook Pro in January 2006, Macintoshes have started using processors produced by Intel.