Logo - Feel The Words

Apple II Quotes

Recollections of the machine that launched home computing.

Years before IBM's PC or the Commodore and Tandy machines that followed it, the Apple II landed in 1977 and quietly redefined what a computer could be for ordinary people. This page gathers reflections from engineers and enthusiasts who trace their careers back to that single beige box, a story that pairs naturally with our Apple quotes collection.

There is no doubt that, since 1977 and the launch of Apple II - the first computer it produced for the mass market - many things which used to be done on paper, or on the telephone, have been done...

Quotes by A. N. Wilson

Though many people mistakenly credit IBM with the first PC in 1981, the Apple II came out four years earlier, in 1977.

Quotes by Walt Mossberg

After the Apple II was introduced, then came the Commodore and the Tandy TRS-80.

Quotes by Steve Wozniak

My favorite computer of all time? The Apple II that got me started, of course.

Quotes by Robert Scoble

Ability Quotes

I grew up loving computers and math, actually. I also loved English literature and French, but I became obsessed with computers when the Apple II was coming out.

Quotes by Parker Harris

The launch of iPhone is very possibly bigger than the launch of the first Apple II or the first Mac. Steve Jobs's genius is his ability to use technology to create products that define fundamental cultural shifts.

Quotes by John Sculley

With the greatest of respect, I have watched Apple from the day it started. I was publishing magazines about the Apple II before most people had ever heard what a personal computer was.

Quotes by Felix Dennis

We are proposing that there is value in a totally new product category and a totally new set of questions. Just like the Apple II proposed, 'Would you reasonably want a computer in your home if you weren't an accountant...

Quotes by Astro Teller

I was a grad student at UC Berkeley when I bought my Apple II and it suddenly because a lot more interesting than school.

Quotes by Andy Hertzfeld

After Quotes

The Apple II was not designed like an ordinary product. It used crazy tricks everywhere.

Quotes by Andy Hertzfeld

I knew the Apple II was great when I bought it, but as I dug into the details it just completely blew me away the creative artistic approach that the designers had taken.

Quotes by Andy Hertzfeld

In fact when I first got my Apple II the first thing I did was turn it on and off, on and off, just because I had the power to do so, which I'd never had on a computer before.

Quotes by Andy Hertzfeld

Think of the first Apple II being shipped in 1977. It took almost a decade for it to land in my school where I could see it.

You may also like

Frequently Asked Questions

When did the Apple II actually launch, according to these quotes?
One quote corrects a common misconception, noting the Apple II arrived in 1977, four years before IBM's first PC in 1981. That timeline is central to why the Apple II gets credited as an early personal computer pioneer.
What other computers are compared to the Apple II here?
The Commodore and Tandy TRS-80 are both mentioned as machines that followed the Apple II into the market. The quotes frame the Apple II as having opened the door those competitors later walked through.
Do any quotes compare the Apple II to later Apple products?
Yes, one quote argues the iPhone's launch may have been even bigger than the first Apple II or the original Mac, while still crediting Steve Jobs's broader talent for shaping culture through technology.
Is the Apple II remembered mainly for nostalgia in these quotes?
Partly. One speaker calls it their favorite computer of all time simply because it is the machine that got them started, which reflects genuine nostalgia alongside historical recognition.
Why is the Apple II considered historically significant?
It is often cited as one of the first mass-market personal computers, predating IBM's entry and influencing the machines that followed. That head start is what these quotes keep returning to.

Some quotes here treat the Apple II as nostalgia, others as the true starting point that made the iPhone launch possible decades later. Explore more on that lineage through our Ability quotes and After quotes pages.