The Evolution of Apple.com
Graphics

The Evolution of Apple.com

on May 15th 2009

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

july19971

January 1999

jan1999

February 2000

feb2000

October 2000

october2000

February 2001

feb2001

October 2001

october2001

November 2001

nov2001

February 2002

feb2002

October 2002

oct2002

February 2003

feb2003

November 2003

nov2003

February 2004

feb2004

October 2004

oct2004

February 2005

feb2005

August 2005

august2005

February 2006

feb2006

October 2006

oct2006

January 2007

jan2007

February 2007

feb2007

October 2007

oct2007

March 2008

march2008

May 2009

may2009

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.


  • http://www.eyemade.ch Nachtmeister

    Great ;) Really cool to see how the website goes on in evolution. Thanks for this Post.

  • http://indiqo.eu Max

    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. :)

    • Martijn

      Just what I thought about that tabbed nav.

    • http://Mil-an.co.uk Milan

      Yes, the new site layout has been out longer. I think this article has used an inaccurate source. Of course…I may be wrong.

      • Tristan

        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.

  • http://iamoneman.com Paul Davis

    I love seeing things like this. Just shows how far the web has come in a relatively short time.

  • http://www.oliodesign.co.uk/ Rich

    Shows clearly how apple have had their sights set on their minimalist design goals from a very early stage.

  • http://enstyled.com/ Emil Nikov

    Awesome post, congrats!

    It’s always nice to see an evolution of a brand, website or a product.

  • Pingback: Twitted by samuelviani

  • http://www.MplsWebGuy.com Tony

    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.

  • Pingback: Twitted by gianni_fontana

  • Vigneshwar Raj

    Great History…. pls try to add, how they design apple sites…. and about their team…. they are really rocking…..!!!

  • http://appbeacon.com Justin

    Goodness. I’m so glad 1997 is WAY back! That was awful.

    • http://twitter.com/PienaZupa kristaps

      Sadly, many websites in 2009 look just like that :(

  • http://cahcepu.com Tukang Nggame

    July 1997, is like use PHP Nuke hehe
    i love Apple evolution

  • Pingback: Twitted by suberapps

  • http://www.uxbooth.com Matthew

    Awesome post :).

  • http://www.zacjohnson.com Zac Johnson

    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!

  • K3vin

    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…

  • Torin

    Faced-paced?

    Is that a euphemism for bukkake?

  • http://blog.callumchapman.com/ Callum Chapman

    Wow.. There early web designs were absolutely terrible! I’m glad they’ve got the site they have now!

    • http://lumixmedia.net Marcos Cerutti

      Oh no man, back in those days web used to be like this.. freaking ugly! hehe

  • http://wpcandy.com Dan Philibin

    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!

  • L0st

    gewd :)

  • Pingback: Monday Morning News | MacTalk

  • Pingback: 1997'den bu yana "Apple.com"un gelişimi | Net Sihirbazı

  • Pingback: Evolution of Apple.com | When Will Apple?

  • http://twitter.com/francehopper France Hopper

    Interesting look back in time. I’m surprised you don’t have a shot of the homepage when 1 billion apps were hit.

  • Pingback: Apple.com im Wandel der Zeit | krueps.de

  • Pingback: L’evoluzione del sito Apple.com |

  • Pingback: Twitted by thuramg

  • Matt

    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.

  • Pingback: L’evoluzione di Apple.com | Alessandro Carraretto | Blog

  • Pingback: » give us this day our daily kool-aid i drank the kool-aid: clutching my dixie cup of apple goodness

  • Pingback: » give us this day our daily kool-aid (image only version!) i drank the kool-aid: clutching my dixie cup of apple goodness

  • Pingback: » give us this day our daily kool-aid i drank the kool-aid: clutching my dixie cup of apple goodness

  • dynamitejet

    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…

  • SK

    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”.

  • http://visionwidget.com Ryan.J

    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.

  • http://visionwidget.com Ryan.J

    Apple.com did not evolve. It was created.

  • Pingback: Hissar bra hemsida samt iPhone-tips: « kalleponkens blogg

  • Pingback: kalleponken » Blog Archive » Hissar bra hemsida samt iPhone-tips:

  • http://www.m65jacket.com m65

    wow we have come a long way

  • Pingback: The iPad: It’s here. So What? » Think.ingCreative

  • Pingback: Apple.com Over the Years (1997-Present) « Kaled Ali: New York City

  • Pingback: [o] Off Camera » Marketing is Milk

  • Brian

    Looks like they’re reverting back to the glossy style probably influence from iOS. They’ve changed the design of the main menu bar.

  • http://www.pandora-jewelry.ws pandora jewelry

    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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.

  • Nick

    I like it!

  • Pingback: La historia del diseño web | Sebastián Thüer Blog

  • http://chachacha.com chi luvr

    wow, this was so moving to seee the progression. thanks for posting!!!!

theatre-aglow
theatre-aglow
theatre-aglow
theatre-aglow