Mac

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<div style="font: bold 2em/1.2 -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'SF Pro Display', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: var(--wiki-color); margin-bottom: 0.8em;">Mac</div>
<span style="color: #555; font-weight: bold;" darkstyle="color: var(--wiki-muted);">If you can dream it, Mac can do it.</span>
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| style="background-color: #333; padding: 8px;" | [https://www.apple.com/mac/ <span style="color: #fff;">Official Mac site — Apple</span>]
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{{Apple Navbox}}
{{Mac lineup Navbox}}

The Mac is [[Apple]]'s line of personal computers, begun in 1984 with the Macintosh — the machine that carried the graphical user interface, the mouse, and desktop publishing into the mainstream. Four processor architectures, three operating-system eras, and forty-plus years later, every Mac runs [[macOS]] on [[Apple silicon]], and the line spans laptops and desktops from the $599 [[MacBook Neo]] to the Mac Studio.

The Mac is where Apple's hardware-software integration began and where it is now most complete: the [[Apple M5|M-series]] chips, macOS, and the industry's longest-lived personal-computer design language all belong to one company — an arrangement the 1984 original promised and the 2020 silicon transition finally delivered.

= History =

== 1984–1997: Macintosh ==

The original Macintosh popularized the GUI but spent a decade fighting cheaper DOS and Windows PCs. The era produced desktop publishing, the PowerBook's modern laptop layout, and the PowerPC transition — and nearly killed the company by 1996.

== 1998–2005: The iMac turnaround ==

[[Steve Jobs]]'s return produced the 1998 iMac — translucent, all-in-one, internet-first — which saved Apple and set the design-led pattern. Mac OS X (2001) rebuilt the platform on Unix, and the iBook, Power Mac, and PowerBook filled out the consumer/pro grid the lineup still echoes.

== 2006–2019: Intel ==

The Intel transition (2006) let Macs run Windows and doubled performance overnight; the MacBook Air (2008) defined the thin laptop; Retina displays (2012) reset screen expectations. The late Intel years strained — the butterfly keyboard, the 2013 Mac Pro dead end, thermal ceilings — while Apple's phone chips quietly outpaced the Macs' processors, and the [[Apple T1|T1]] and [[Apple T2|T2]] security chips put Apple silicon inside Intel Macs ahead of the main event.

== 2020–present: Apple silicon ==

The [[Apple M1]] (2020) began the two-year architecture transition — fanless MacBook Airs outrunning Intel Pros — completed by the [[Apple M2]]-era Mac Pro in 2023. The [[Apple M3|M3]] brought 3-nanometer chips and hardware ray tracing, the [[Apple M4|M4]] swept the line in a year, and the [[Apple M5|M5]] generation's Pro laptops arrived in March 2026 on the two-die Fusion Architecture. macOS Tahoe (26) unified the platform's design with [[iOS]]'s [[Liquid Glass]] era.

March 2026 redrew the lineup at both ends: the $599 [[MacBook Neo]] — a 13-inch laptop running the [[iPhone 16 Pro]]'s [[Apple A18|A18 Pro]] chip — became the cheapest Mac ever and an immediate best-seller, while the Mac Pro was discontinued after twenty years with no successor planned, leaving the Mac Studio as the flagship desktop.

= Current lineup =

{| style="width: 100%; border: 2px solid #555; text-align: left;" darkstyle="border-color: #48484a;"
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! style="background-color: #555; color: #fff; padding: 6px;" | Model
! style="background-color: #555; color: #fff; padding: 6px;" | Chip
! style="background-color: #555; color: #fff; padding: 6px;" | Role
|-
| '''[[MacBook Neo]]''' || [[Apple A18|A18 Pro]] (2026) || The $599 entry Mac
|-
| '''MacBook Air''' || [[Apple M5|M5]] (2026) || The volume laptop
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| '''MacBook Pro 14"/16"''' || [[Apple M5|M5 · M5 Pro · M5 Max]] (2025–26) || Pro laptops
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| '''iMac 24"''' || [[Apple M4|M4]] (2024) || The all-in-one
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| '''Mac mini''' || [[Apple M4|M4 · M4 Pro]] (2024) || Smallest desktop
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| '''Mac Studio''' || [[Apple M4|M4 Max]] · [[Apple M3|M3 Ultra]] (2025) || The flagship desktop
|}

The Mac Pro — the expandable tower — was discontinued in March 2026; [[Discontinued Apple products]] tells that story.

= Position =

The Mac is Apple's oldest product and its proof of patience: forty years of keeping a minority-share computer alive paid off when the company's own silicon made it the performance-per-watt benchmark of the PC industry. It anchors the pro side of the ecosystem — the machine [[iOS]], [[iPadOS]], and [[visionOS]] apps are built on.

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{| style="width: 100%; border: 2px solid #333; text-align: center;" darkstyle="border-color: #48484a;" |- | style="padding: 28px 20px 42px;" | <div style="font: bold 2em/1.2 -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'SF Pro Display', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: var(--wiki-color); margin-bottom: 0.8em;">Mac</div> <span style="color: #555; font-weight: bold;" darkstyle="color: var(--wiki-muted);">If you can dream it, Mac can do it.</span> |- | style="padding: 0;" | ![[hw_mac.webp]] |- | style="background-color: #333; padding: 8px;" | [https://www.apple.com/mac/ <span style="color: #fff;">Official Mac site — Apple</span>] |} {{Apple Navbox}} {{Mac lineup Navbox}} The Mac is [[Apple]]'s line of personal computers, begun in 1984 with the Macintosh — the machine that carried the graphical user interface, the mouse, and desktop publishing into the mainstream. Four processor architectures, three operating-system eras, and forty-plus years later, every Mac runs [[macOS]] on [[Apple silicon]], and the line spans laptops and desktops from the $599 [[MacBook Neo]] to the Mac Studio. The Mac is where Apple's hardware-software integration began and where it is now most complete: the [[Apple M5|M-series]] chips, macOS, and the industry's longest-lived personal-computer design language all belong to one company — an arrangement the 1984 original promised and the 2020 silicon transition finally delivered. = History = == 1984–1997: Macintosh == The original Macintosh popularized the GUI but spent a decade fighting cheaper DOS and Windows PCs. The era produced desktop publishing, the PowerBook's modern laptop layout, and the PowerPC transition — and nearly killed the company by 1996. == 1998–2005: The iMac turnaround == [[Steve Jobs]]'s return produced the 1998 iMac — translucent, all-in-one, internet-first — which saved Apple and set the design-led pattern. Mac OS X (2001) rebuilt the platform on Unix, and the iBook, Power Mac, and PowerBook filled out the consumer/pro grid the lineup still echoes. == 2006–2019: Intel == The Intel transition (2006) let Macs run Windows and doubled performance overnight; the MacBook Air (2008) defined the thin laptop; Retina displays (2012) reset screen expectations. The late Intel years strained — the butterfly keyboard, the 2013 Mac Pro dead end, thermal ceilings — while Apple's phone chips quietly outpaced the Macs' processors, and the [[Apple T1|T1]] and [[Apple T2|T2]] security chips put Apple silicon inside Intel Macs ahead of the main event. == 2020–present: Apple silicon == The [[Apple M1]] (2020) began the two-year architecture transition — fanless MacBook Airs outrunning Intel Pros — completed by the [[Apple M2]]-era Mac Pro in 2023. The [[Apple M3|M3]] brought 3-nanometer chips and hardware ray tracing, the [[Apple M4|M4]] swept the line in a year, and the [[Apple M5|M5]] generation's Pro laptops arrived in March 2026 on the two-die Fusion Architecture. macOS Tahoe (26) unified the platform's design with [[iOS]]'s [[Liquid Glass]] era. March 2026 redrew the lineup at both ends: the $599 [[MacBook Neo]] — a 13-inch laptop running the [[iPhone 16 Pro]]'s [[Apple A18|A18 Pro]] chip — became the cheapest Mac ever and an immediate best-seller, while the Mac Pro was discontinued after twenty years with no successor planned, leaving the Mac Studio as the flagship desktop. = Current lineup = {| style="width: 100%; border: 2px solid #555; text-align: left;" darkstyle="border-color: #48484a;" |- ! style="background-color: #555; color: #fff; padding: 6px;" | Model ! style="background-color: #555; color: #fff; padding: 6px;" | Chip ! style="background-color: #555; color: #fff; padding: 6px;" | Role |- | '''[[MacBook Neo]]''' || [[Apple A18|A18 Pro]] (2026) || The $599 entry Mac |- | '''MacBook Air''' || [[Apple M5|M5]] (2026) || The volume laptop |- | '''MacBook Pro 14"/16"''' || [[Apple M5|M5 · M5 Pro · M5 Max]] (2025–26) || Pro laptops |- | '''iMac 24"''' || [[Apple M4|M4]] (2024) || The all-in-one |- | '''Mac mini''' || [[Apple M4|M4 · M4 Pro]] (2024) || Smallest desktop |- | '''Mac Studio''' || [[Apple M4|M4 Max]] · [[Apple M3|M3 Ultra]] (2025) || The flagship desktop |} The Mac Pro — the expandable tower — was discontinued in March 2026; [[Discontinued Apple products]] tells that story. = Position = The Mac is Apple's oldest product and its proof of patience: forty years of keeping a minority-share computer alive paid off when the company's own silicon made it the performance-per-watt benchmark of the PC industry. It anchors the pro side of the ecosystem — the machine [[iOS]], [[iPadOS]], and [[visionOS]] apps are built on.