Apple Beige
Apple’s second computer — its first to have a case — launched in 1977, and that boxy beige Apple II was soon everywhere: in classrooms, living rooms and offices. At the vanguard of a generation of personal computers to come, it featured a particular and carefully-chosen beige. But what did that look like? Those first machines — the ones that have escaped landfills anyway — have shifted in color over 40 years. The documented public record is sketchy and confused. But I stumbled upon a way to investigate what Apple Beige was like.
Jerry Manock, the original designer of the iconic cases and the person most closely associated with Apple Beige, was kind enough to respond in detail to my inquiries following the article. There’s more to this story than just a color swatch.
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I shared my earlier story about Apple Beige with Chris Espinosa, the only current Apple employee who was around back when the Apple II was being developed (!). He was “surprised at the focus on Pantone because my work with Jerry [Manock] was always in Munsell.”
