“Apple Mac” refers to computers manufactured and sold by Apple Inc., which run the macOS operating system and have become ubiquitous within books and publishing due to their capabilities, design, and software offerings, making them ideal for running graphic applications. They have proven especially popular due to these reasons.
Apple Inc. designed, developed, and sold the Macintosh personal computer, the first mass-produced personal computer with a graphical user interface (GUI) and mouse. Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computer Inc., first introduced the Macintosh on January 24, 1984.
The Macintosh was the first commercially successful personal computer with a graphical user interface (GUI). It made it more straightforward for users to interact with than earlier computers that required typing commands. Because of this, the Macintosh computer line has become one of the best-selling computer lines ever, selling over 130 million machines and boasting over 500,000 applications. Graphic designers, musicians, and creative professionals also find Macs highly popular.
Mac computers are popular choices among authors and publishers for publishing needs due to the extensive software programs available for content creation and editing on macOS; such applications as Pages (word processing), Numbers (spreadsheet), and Keynote (presentation) can all help authors and publishers create book manuscripts, design layouts, or prepare visual elements quickly and efficiently.
Mac computers boast robust design and graphics capabilities that make them suitable for graphic design, book cover creation, and formatting tasks. Adobe Creative Suite – an industry staple for book layout design and graphics creation – is even available on macOS!
Moreover, Mac computers are widely renowned for being compatible with industry-standard software and hardware peripherals used in publishing workflows, including prepress software for file preparation before printing, color management tools, and high-resolution displays that provide accurate visual representations.
Apple Mac computers have become the go-to solution for book publishers and authors due to their user-friendly software and design capabilities, compatibility with industry tools and workflows, and intuitive workflow features.