People are convinced they have found a 'hidden meaning' behind Apple logo: "Why does the..."
It is easy to imagine that a billion-dollar global franchise at the helm of modern technology would have curated its logo with much thought and emphasis. When you think of Apple, you think of the creator of the iPhone! But what makes the smartphone so distinguishable? The apple with a bite out gives it away. A curious TikTok creator, The Real Oshow (@therealoshow) claimed he had deciphered the “hidden” meaning behind the iconic logo, and the internet is convinced.
Anyone acquainted with the Apple logo might have noticed that the logo is in fact a bitten apple rather than whole. The TikTok user explained in his video that the ‘bite’ symbolizes a ‘byte.’ In the technology world, a byte is considered a unit of data or memory size. His theory about the apparent meaning of the logo raked up thousands of views on the internet. The theory resonated with many others, who took the discussion to other social media platforms. A Reddit user (u/pavlito88) shared a similar post writing “Why does the Apple logo feature a bite?” They claimed that it was meant to avoid confusion with tomato and also “incorporate the words bite and byte.
A full-fledged debate ensued in the comments. One person (u/Red_icnivad) wrote, “Supposedly it was to avoid confusion with a cherry, not a tomato. I think the byte pun was added later as puns weren't invented until the 80s, long after Apple was established.” Another fellow Reddit user (u/Webee103) debated that Steve Jobs, former CEO and co-founder of Apple, was a “huge fan” of the Beatles and hence, was inspired by their Apple Records. He was also sued by the band eventually. “There are several theories about the bite. The bitten apples was actually the second logo chosen,” the comment added.
There are additional theories about the logo insinuating the apple from the Garden of Eden, the forbidden fruit that Eve took a bite out of to gain knowledge of good and evil, per Apple Community Discussions. While the discussion could continue, the internet found it better to consult the logo creator himself and solve the mystery. Designer Rob Janoff created the iconic logo in 1977 while Apple was still a start-up. Then working at an agency named Regis McKenna, Janoff told Forbes that Steve Jobs did not set out specific instructions about it except one. “His only direction was "Don't make it cute,” the designer recalled. In another interview with Creative Bits, Janoff finally set the record straight about its potential bite-byte reference.
The interviewer asked if the bite actually signified a unit of data and also addressed the several other theories that have spurred on since Apple’s success, Janoff commended the creative theories but dismissed all of them. Interestingly, he had a rather clueless point of view when designing the logo decades ago. "They are really interesting, but I’m afraid it didn’t have a thing to do with it. From a designer’s point of view and you probably experienced this, one of the big phenomena is having the experience of designing a logo for whatever reasons you design it, and years later you find out supposedly why you did certain things. And, they are all BS,” Janoff explained. However, he appreciated the urban legend that the ‘real’ meaning of the Apple logo has become.
You can follow @therealoshow on TikTok for more secret logo meanings.