I’ve spent the past few weeks working on a fun long-form feature: a list of 50 people who helped to make Apple the company it is today. This is, of course, in honor of Apple’s 50th anniversary, which it celebrates on Wednesday, April 1. My list will be published in five instalments across this week, starting today, and I hope you enjoy it. I certainly enjoyed writing it.
One thing that surprised me was how many names there were to choose from: not just people who’ve worked at or in connection with Apple, but people whose contributions have made a tangible difference to the company’s story. It seemed like the challenge would be finding 50 really worthwhile names in order to match the birthday number; in fact, the hard part was narrowing it down that far. Even after my list was set, colleagues kept suggesting extra people that I would then realise had to be included. It was infuriating.
Of course, the line had to be drawn somewhere; the list of Apple’s 60 greatest people will have to wait until 2036, and who knows what we’ll be doing by then. The cut-off point was 50, and this meant that some amazingly talented people didn’t make it in. I don’t want to give too much away—I certainly won’t be revealing any of the rankings, you’ll have to read the article to find those out—but I thought it might be nice to mention a few deserving but lesser-known names I considered. Half of them made the cut, and half did not.
There are 10 names in this list, presented alphabetically. Call yourself an Apple fan? See how many you recognize.
Paul Brainerd: Coined the term “desktop publishing” and released the first consumer DTP application: PageMaker, which was, critically for Apple’s development among the creative market, a Mac exclusive.
Douglas Engelbart: Invented the mouse, hyperlinks, word processors, and untold other foundational computing concepts back in the 60s. These would wind their way, via Xerox PARC, to the groundbreaking interface elements of the Lisa and original Macintosh.
Rob Janoff: Designed the second Apple logo, which, other than a few color changes, is the one Apple still uses today. The first Apple logo was pretty but also absolutely bonkers.
John Knoll: Co-creator of Adobe Photoshop. Like PageMaker, this started life as a Mac exclusive.
Jerry Manock: Worked on the designs of the Apple II, Apple III, Lisa, and Macintosh. Apple’s first designer, he is widely considered to be the father of the company’s Industrial Design Group.
Tim Mott: A member of the Xerox PARC team whose breakthrough interface concepts would inspire the Macintosh. He is specifically known for inventing the double-click.
Joy Mountford: Influential leader, from 1986 to 1996, of Apple’s Human Interface Group. This team of scientists and visual artists helped make the company’s products more user-friendly, and codified usability guidelines for Mac app developers.
Marc Newson: Star designer who worked on the Apple Watch and Apple retail stores. Big buddies with Jony Ive, and they now have a company together.
Burrell Smith: Engineer who designed the Mac’s motherboard. Was described by a colleague as the closest Apple ever came to having another Steve Wozniak.
Bud Tribble: Software manager for the original Mac, and later a “policy czar” with a focus on privacy.
Be honest. How many did you know? And while you’re at it, try to guess which ones made it into the article. Drop us a message on Bluesky or Threads. The answers to that will be revealed this week.
Foundry
Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too.
Apple turns 50: Anniversary special
Apple at 50: 7 iconic products that proved everyone wrong.
7 Apple inventions that reinvented Apple.
Apple turns the Sydney Opera House into an iPad canvas with stunning results.
Trending: Top stories
Even PC users have caught MacBook Neo fever, discovers the Macalope.
The Mac Pro died so Apple silicon could live.
Mahmoud Itani lists 12 hidden iMessage features every iPhone user should try.
Put it in your calendar! Apple announces AI-fueled WWDC26 to kick off June 8.
The most shocking finding in Ookla’s C1X report? People are buying the iPhone Air.
This Mac mini dock looks like a classic Macintosh and has a working display.
Podcast of the week
Apple has announced the dates for its Worldwide Developers Conference. In the latest episode of the Macworld Podcast we also talk about Apple TV rumors, ads in Apple Maps, and more.
You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our own site.
Reviews corner
Slay The Spire 2: The best deck-builder just got better.
The rumor mill
iOS 27 rumored to bring a totally new Siri interface, ‘Ask’ button, and more.
Software updates, bugs, and problems
No new Siri, but iOS 26.4 is here with a ton of must-have new features.
Apple urges iPhone users to update as new DarkSword hacking tool lands online.
The OS 26.4 updates are loaded with security fixes, so grab them now!
And with that, we’re done for this week’s Apple Breakfast. If you’d like to get regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters, including our new email from The Macalope–an irreverent, humorous take on the latest news and rumors from a half-man, half-mythical Mac beast. You can also follow us on Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, or X for discussion of breaking Apple news stories. See you next Monday, and stay Appley.
