Top Apple Products From The 90s

Apple products of the 90s didn’t have the power of “1984” or the groundbreaking allure of the 00s iPhone. It was the era of the “Power” product range, Frutiger Aero vibes, weird MessagePads, and awkward experiments. In other words, it wasn’t peak Apple.

Steve Jobs wasn’t there vision-wise for most of the time too. He was fired from Apple in 1985 and the company had John Sculley as a CEO until 1997 when Jobs came back 1997. During the bigger part of the 90s, Apple had fierce competition with Microsoft, tried new products, and found itself on the edge of bankruptcy. 

Maybe it was the price to pay for the grand successes that followed in the aughts with the launch of some of the most iconic brand creations such as the iPhone, iPad, and Macbook.

Let’s take a closer look at the top Apple products of the 90s.

1. Macintosh Portable

Why: a short-lived Macintosh Portable is quite a symbolic summary of the 90s Apple products. It came with a noble idea of the first battery-powered Macintosh and revolutionary design choices for its time.

The presentation was held by Jean Louis Gasseé, the chief Apple designer at the time. However, it was the design and extremely high price (US$7,300 at the moment of release (equivalent to $18,000 in 2024) that tanked it down. 

Customers simply weren’t ready to pay so much for a device that basically was a cooler version of cheaper priced Atari STacy. LA Times summarized the sentiment saying that the Macintosh Portable was “too big, too heavy and too expensive.” in its review. Still, we think it looked pretty impressive for its era that’s why we’re placing the Macintosh Portable among the top Apple products of the 90s.

2. iMac G3 

Why: a product from 1998 that saved Apple from going down, the iMac G3 was also the first device that the company released with Steve Jobs as the newly reinstated CEO.

Launched with a memorable ad campaign promoting the simplicity of connecting to the internet, it found commercial success. The all-in-one iMacs enjoyed a successful run with more than 5 million devices sold and became one of the best Apple products from the 90s. 

A long-running Apple’s head designer Jony Ive did the design for the iMac. Also, one of the main ingredients of the device’s success was the attractive price ($1,200) and a focus on pleasing a wider audience.

3. PowerBook 190

Why: “a powerful, yet inexpensive, portable computing solution,” said the vintage review from 1996 on mymac.com about PowerBook 190. Apple PowerBooks were a staple of the 90s and the predecessors of laptops in the way we know them today.

It was priced from US$1,650 to US$2,200, had a passive matrix LCD, and ran on a Motorola 68LC040 processor. It wasn’t particularly impressive, but it surely was a sign of its time. PowerBook was all about portability and it was portability that would propel Apple to the success it has in the 21st century.

4. Macintosh TV

Why: yes, Macintosh TV was among the most intriguing Apple products of the 90s. The idea behind the product was to combine the power of personal computers with the visual capabilities of the television. In reality, the device came out as a technological Frankenstein. In that nostalgically good way. 

It used Performa 520 as the “computer” part and 14″ Sony Trinitron CRT as the “TV” tying them together in the form of a big black box. The device was a shape-shifter. When you needed a computer, it could be a Macintosh. When you wanted to watch some cable TV, it did exactly that.

The price was a hefty $2,097. Sadly for Apple, the concept didn’t fly. Only 10,000 units were sold and the idea of an integrated computer-TV was buried forever. 

Basically, Apple TVs of today are incarnations of that vision adapted to the 21st-century streaming and digital signage environment.

5. The Last of The TOP Apple Products of The 90s – Apple Bandai Pippin

Why: there was a time in the mid-nineties when Apple tried to win the gaming console market. The brand envisioned a device that would become an important part of the customer’s “audiovisual, stereo, and television environment.”

Essentially, the company designed its open multimedia technology platform. It was called Pippin (stylized as PiPP!N) after the Newtown Pippin apples. Then, they partnered with Japanese game technology company Bandai Company to produce ATMARK and @WORLD consoles. 

While the idea was undeniably cool, the product didn’t catch up with the consumers. It cost US$599, sold only 42,000 units, and was discontinued in 1997. 

Still, we think that Apple Bandai Pippin consoles have a superb design (especially the half-moon-shaped joystick) and that’s the reason why we’re playing the ill-fated device on our list of the top Apple products of the 90s.