---
title: "Which came first, Apple or McDonald's?"
description: "Apple vs McDonald's: McDonald's came first, by 36 years — 1940 against 1976. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/apple-vs-mcdonalds/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Apple or McDonald's?

**Which came first, Apple or McDonald's?: McDonald's**

1940 — 36 years before Apple

McDonald's came first, by 36 years. Richard and Maurice McDonald opened a restaurant in San Bernardino.

## Side by side

|  | Apple | McDonald's |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1976 | 1940 |
| Date | 1976-04-01 | — |
| Category | company | company |
| What happened | Jobs, Wozniak and Wayne founded Apple Computer Company. | Richard and Maurice McDonald opened a restaurant in San Bernardino. |

## Apple

Apple was founded on 1 April 1976, a year and a day after Microsoft. Ronald Wayne, the third founder, sold his 10% stake back for $800 twelve days later. The Apple I was a bare circuit board sold for $666.66; the Apple II of 1977 was the machine that made the company.

## McDonald's

The brothers opened in 1940 as a barbecue drive-in and reinvented it in 1948 with the Speedee Service System — a tiny menu, no waiters, food assembled on a production line. The company itself dates its founding to 15 April 1955, when Ray Kroc opened his franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois. Both dates are defensible and the corporate one is not the restaurant one.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Apple or McDonald's?

McDonald's, by 36 years — 1940 against 1976.

### When did Apple start?

1976. Jobs, Wozniak and Wayne founded Apple Computer Company.

### When did McDonald's start?

1940. Richard and Maurice McDonald opened a restaurant in San Bernardino.

## Related pages

- [India or McDonald's?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/india-vs-mcdonalds/)
- [Fanta or McDonald's?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/fanta-vs-mcdonalds/)
- [the Ford Motor Company or McDonald's?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/ford-vs-mcdonalds/)
- [Coca-Cola or McDonald's?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/coca-cola-vs-mcdonalds/)
- [LEGO or McDonald's?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/lego-vs-mcdonalds/)
- [McDonald's or Pakistan?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/mcdonalds-vs-pakistan/)
- [McDonald's or television?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/mcdonalds-vs-television/)
- [McDonald's or Nintendo?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/mcdonalds-vs-nintendo/)
- [McDonald's or Samsung?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/mcdonalds-vs-samsung/)
- [McDonald's or Microsoft?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/mcdonalds-vs-microsoft/)
- [Apple or Nintendo?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/apple-vs-nintendo/)
- [Apple or the Ford Motor Company?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/apple-vs-ford/)

## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]
- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place (/about/)