Apple Lisa
An expensive 1983 business computer that was the first mass-market machine run with a graphical interface and a mouse, and a sales failure.
Apple announced the Lisa on January 19, 1983, and began shipping it in June 1983. It cost $9,995. It had a Motorola 68000 processor at 5 megahertz, 1 megabyte of memory and a 12-inch black and white screen of 720 by 364 pixels.
People operated the Lisa by pointing at pictures and menus instead of typing commands. Steve Jobs later said it was named for his daughter. Apple's marketing team made up the phrase "Local Integrated Software Architecture" afterward.
Why it matters
The Lisa sold poorly. Estimates range from 10,000 to 60,000 units, and it earned about $100 million against about $150 million in development costs. It lacked outside software, its floppy disks were unreliable and it cost far more than the Macintosh that followed. In 1989 Apple sent about 2,700 unsold units to a landfill in Logan, Utah. Its interface ideas lived on in the Macintosh.
Key facts
- Announced January 19, 1983, for $9,995.
- Motorola 68000 processor at 5 megahertz with 1 megabyte of memory.
- The first mass-market computer run through a graphical interface.
- Sales estimates run from 10,000 to 60,000 units.
- About 2,700 unsold units were buried in a Utah landfill in 1989.
Sources
- Wikipedia, "Apple Lisa", en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lisa, accessed October 14, 2026.
- Wikipedia, "Macintosh", en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh, accessed October 14, 2026.
- Mimms Museum of Technology and Art, "Past Exhibits", mimmsmuseum.org/past-exhibits/, accessed October 14, 2026.