Apple to Host 50th Anniversary Celebrations Around the World

[MacRumors]

Apple today announced that it will be celebrating its upcoming 50th anniversary by hosting gatherings "around the world" throughout the month of March.

Apple's 50th anniversary is on April 1, 2026. The company has yet to reveal exactly where and when it will be hosting additional celebrations, but possibilities include major cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tokyo.

"Each gathering highlights human creativity and ingenuity in action, and showcases the remarkable things people can do when they have the right Apple products in their hands," said Apple, in a press release.

"Stay tuned for more updates," said Apple.

17-time Grammy Award-winning music artist and producer Alicia Keys kicked off the celebrations today with a surprise performance at Apple's Grand Central store in New York. Apple invited selected content creators to the impromptu concert, which was also open to the public for anyone who happened to be in the area at the time.

Apple's CEO Tim Cook, hardware engineering chief John Ternus, marketing chief Greg Joswiak, retail chief Deirdre O'Brien, and others were in attendance at Grand Central.

"Thinking different has always been at the heart of Apple," said Cook. "It's what has driven us to create products that empower people to express themselves, to connect, and to create something wonderful. As we celebrate 50 years, we are deeply grateful to everyone who has been part of this journey and who continues to inspire what comes next."

Cook previously shared a "50 Years of Thinking Different" letter.

The letter touches on the upcoming 50th anniversary and says that "the world is moved forward by people who think different." For those unaware, "Think Different" was a famous advertising slogan used by Apple in the late 1990s to early 2000s.

"At Apple, we're more focused on building tomorrow than remembering yesterday," said Cook, in the letter. "But we couldn't let this milestone pass without thanking the millions of people who make Apple what it is today."

Article Link: Apple to Host 50th Anniversary Celebrations Around the World

 

[Reason077]

It's just too bad the new OLED MacBook won't be ready in time for the 50th birthday celebrations. They could have released a special edition and called it the 50th Anniversary Mac ("FAM")!

 

[Reason077]

... or even better, they could have released the first foldable iPhone as a special 50th Anniversary Phone ("FAP").

 

[peterjames.org]

It's just too bad the new OLED MacBook won't be ready in time for the 50th birthday celebrations. They could have released a special edition and called it the 50th Anniversary Mac ("FAM")!

We can still hold out hope on a FAM, FAP, or FAX...The TAM was released on 3/20/1997....almost a year after the 20th anniversary of Apple

 

[Nyx1]

No product announcement in 50th anniversary?

 

[Hogswarts]

No product announcement in 50th anniversary?

The anniversary date is April 1st. I'm anticipating M5 Mac mini.

 

[neomorpheus]

Would be nice if they remember to invite The Woz.

 

[jcvaughters]

We can still hold out hope on a FAM, FAP, or FAX...The TAM was released on 3/20/1997....almost a year after the 20th anniversary of Apple

I seem to recall that Steve absolutely hated it though. He viewed it at the time as a symbol of a dying Apple. He also despised the Newton, and wanted it killed off. Mainly for the image it held - e.g. - The Simpsons joke where "beat up Martin" was translated to "eat up Martha" due to the Newton's poor handwriting recognition. Amazing how they reinvented the market with the iPhone, then iPad.

 

[rbbloom99]

The foldable iPhone would have been the perfect device to show Apple still has innovation after 50 years.

 

[krell100]

They should do some limited edition accessories with a retro theme, like a beige Magic Keyboard with the rainbow apple logo or something.

 

[ThomasJL]

Would be nice if they remember to invite The Woz.

And Ronald Wayne. Apple was founded by Jobs, Woz, and Wayne.

The 50th anniversary marks the anniversary of the founding of Apple, so therefore the two living founders, Woz and Wayne, should be invited. This is their day, so they should be the central focus of the celebration.

But considering how clueless and mediocre Tim Cook is, it wouldn’t be surprising if Wayne was neither invited nor even mentioned.

 

[neomorpheus]

And Ronald Wayne. Apple was founded by Jobs, Woz, and Wayne.

The 50th anniversary marks the anniversary of the founding of Apple, so therefore the two living founders, Woz and Wayne, should be invited. This is their day, so they should be the central focus of the celebration.

But considering how clueless and mediocre Tim Cook is, it wouldn’t be surprising if Wayne was neither invited nor even mentioned.

Not only Cooks, I would add the insane amount of people that call themselves apple fans that are getting triggered online, especially at r/Apple, when anyone mentions The Woz and the fact that yes, as a celebration of its creation, the company founders should be there and celebrated.

 

[Reason077]

I seem to recall that Steve absolutely hated it though. He viewed it at the time as a symbol of a dying Apple. He also despised the Newton, and wanted it killed off. Mainly for the image it held - e.g. - The Simpsons joke where "beat up Martin" was translated to "eat up Martha" due to the Newton's poor handwriting recognition. Amazing how they reinvented the market with the iPhone, then iPad.

View attachment 2613332

It was a great joke, but it's a little unfair to call it bad handwriting recognition when it was the only such device with handwriting recognition at the time. It was extremely impressive technology for its time, years before the Palm Pilot came out with Graffiti (which worked very well, but was a system of simplified gestures rather than true handwriting recognition).

And of course, Apple's work on the Newton led to them investing in a little startup called ARM. Which went on to become the foundation of the chip architecture which underpins all of Apple's devices today.

 

[MaaK]

The foldable iPhone would have been the perfect device to show Apple still has innovation after 50 years.

Yes, because they are the first company launching a foldable 😂
Their device will be nothing different than the others - only difference will it be running iOS. Peak Innovation!

 

[Leon Ze Professional]

Waiting for Apple to award each of its execs a gold apple watch to mark the occasion😜.

 

[tyranne201]

They should do some limited edition accessories with a retro theme, like a beige Magic Keyboard with the rainbow apple logo or something.

so all the YouTube and influencers can show off? no thanks.

 

[svish]

Good to know about this. Hopefully exact locations and time are announced in advance.

 

[klasma]

... or even better, they could have released the first foldable iPhone as a special 50th Anniversary Phone ("FAP").

There was the suggestion that the foldable could be called iPhone L, which would make it “FAiL”.

 

[hagar]

I seem to recall that Steve absolutely hated it though. He viewed it at the time as a symbol of a dying Apple. He also despised the Newton, and wanted it killed off. Mainly for the image it held - e.g. - The Simpsons joke where "beat up Martin" was translated to "eat up Martha" due to the Newton's poor handwriting recognition. Amazing how they reinvented the market with the iPhone, then iPad.

View attachment 2613332

Yet here we are with Siri making those exact errors.

 

[ChamomileTea]

I'm guessing Apple will use the opportunity to change CEOs.

 

[klasma]

Yet here we are with Siri making those exact errors.

I just tested this:
“Hey Siri, beat up Martin.”
“I found seven matches. Which one do you want?”
Seems to be working fine, as I have seven Martins in my contacts and no Marthas.

 

[darthbane2k]

Pretty weird that a 50 year celebration of Apple only seems to involve inviting influencers-of-the-day who are all under the age of 25.

 

[vanishing]

I'm guessing Apple will use the opportunity to change CEOs.

This is the only thing that can justify it.

Everything about these ‘celebrations’ is backwards looking, it’s actually quite grotesque to see Apple like this.

All the founders & ex-CEO’s standing together handing the baton to the new person can bring some dignity to this sideshow.

 

[robertosh]

The foldable iPhone would have been the perfect device to show Apple still has innovation after 50 years.

Would have been indeed, if it was released 7 years ago...
See what others do and try to do it better is what is called innovation in Apple nowadays. And they even fail on that.

 

[darngooddesign]

There was the suggestion that the foldable could be called iPhone L, which would make it “FAiL”.

You’re the only one suggesting iPhoneL should be pronounced incorrectly.