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The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. According to Alexa, Apple.com is one of the top 100 ranked pages (69th, at the time of writing). Considering the change and evolution undergone by Apple as a company, their website has retained a similar style for almost a decade.
This post will take a look at six-monthly snapshots (with a few other notable events) of Apple.com, providing an overview of how the website has evolved over the past 10 years. Prepare for a trip down memory lane!
July 1997
January 1999
February 2000
October 2000
February 2001
October 2001
November 2001
February 2002
October 2002
February 2003
November 2003
February 2004
October 2004
February 2005
August 2005
February 2006
October 2006
January 2007
February 2007
October 2007
March 2008
May 2009
Consistent Reinvention
The most remarkable thing to note is that right from 1999, Apple has been focused upon the design of products. From the good iMacs in January 1999, right through to the iPhone announcement in January 2007. Ten years later, their homepage still retains the iconic tabbed navigation and a featured image of their latest trend-setting product.
The Apple website is a clear sign that good design can be timeless, even in the fast-paced web medium. If you’re interested in viewing more archived screenshots of Apple.com, take a look at their Internet Archive page.
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The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
The Apple website is somewhat iconic, and over the past few years has become one of the most frequented sites on the internet. ...
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Great ;) Really cool to see how the website goes on in evolution. Thanks for this Post.
Interesting to see how this website evolved. To be honest I can’t even remember that they still had the glossy tabbed look when the iPhone has been announced back in 2007. For some reason I thought the new look has been established a little earlier already – However, the design itself is definitely timeless. :)
Just what I thought about that tabbed nav.
Yes, the new site layout has been out longer. I think this article has used an inaccurate source. Of course…I may be wrong.
I thought exactly the same thing when I was on archive.org and looked at Apple’s site. However, according to other sites (including the Google cache at the time), archive.org is correct.
Surprising though.
I love seeing things like this. Just shows how far the web has come in a relatively short time.
I compiled a similar list for my alma mater’s website, “Evolution of the UMass Amherst website.” Check it out!
http://www.tjkwebdesign.com/2009/05/evolution-of-umass-amherst-website/
Shows clearly how apple have had their sights set on their minimalist design goals from a very early stage.
Awesome post, congrats!
It’s always nice to see an evolution of a brand, website or a product.
Since 1999 they’ve had the same layout – Top nav with a large “billboard” type area for hot, new products – and it still works and looks great.
Great History…. pls try to add, how they design apple sites…. and about their team…. they are really rocking…..!!!
Goodness. I’m so glad 1997 is WAY back! That was awful.
Sadly, many websites in 2009 look just like that :(
July 1997, is like use PHP Nuke hehe
i love Apple evolution
Awesome post :).
Awesome post, and a fun ride to see how things have changed over the years. Remember when the huge bulky colored mac desktops were such big hits!
is 1999 when i started to fall in love….and i was amazed by the color full imac…. then in 2004.. I have my first mac….then i have my ipod touch…
Faced-paced?
Is that a euphemism for bukkake?
Wow.. There early web designs were absolutely terrible! I’m glad they’ve got the site they have now!
Oh no man, back in those days web used to be like this.. freaking ugly! hehe
I believe the tabbed navigation was scrapped when Leopard was introduced — I remember everyone going crazy about the new design and the huge vortex thing on the new homepage. It’s still awesome how they’ve had the same basic layout for a decade now!
gewd :)
Interesting look back in time. I’m surprised you don’t have a shot of the homepage when 1 billion apps were hit.
Ahhh… 2000, my first PowerMac. Bought it with a single core 1.0GHz PowerPC G4 and 1GB of SDRAM and a brand new GeForce 5200 FX running Mac OS 9. Was $12,000 when leaving the store. I’m currently still typing on it using Leopard. It doesn’t run the fastest, but this thing has been a workhorse over the past decade I’ve had it.
Nice post, but…
Well, I’ve seen it before somwhere, pretty much word for word copied (wish I could rememeber just where I saw it before, though… it may well be from this site, for all I know…)
Mind you, that answers “France Hopper”s query… I saw this about a month or two before the billionth app target was hit.
Sorry to piss on the bonfire…
The iPhone on the website NEVER looked like that.
There were multiple iPhones shown (doing multiple things, like inet, maps etc) and the slogan was “Say hello to iPhone”.
Apple is a trend. It’s nice to look at and has interesting features but really If I want a computer I need windows to actually accomplish something. Anyways linux looks nicer then anything apple has ever made I think.
Apple.com did not evolve. It was created.
wow we have come a long way