Legends and Myths About the Bite in Apple's Logo

Did You Know?

Steve Jobs came up with the name 'Apple' for his organization, when he was on a fruitarian diet and visiting an apple farm. Jobs felt that this name was, quote, "fun, spirited, and not intimidating".

It is simplicity, more often than not, that tends to catch the eye of the beholder. This is probably why, while other brands opted for more complex logos in the hopes of garnering public appeal, the founders of Apple Computers decided to settle for a plain apple. The result - Apple's logo has become one of the most iconic and widely known symbols of modern times. But is this seemingly plain logo really all that simple?

Look at it again, and you will notice that the apple in the logo has a bite on the top right side. Why was it put there? What exactly does the bite in the Apple logo represent?

Since it was first displayed to the public, this peculiarity of the logo has left numerous people scratching their heads. Over the years, there have been many speculations over the bite, which have given rise to many myths and urban legends regarding its origins and importance. Let's look at some of the most common urban legends about the bite in the Apple logo.

The Apple Logo

This is the Apple store on 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica near Los Angeles in California (21 March, 2015). The Apple logo in white is clearly visible.

Common Myths
The 'a' in the Bite

If you observe carefully, you will notice that the bite in the Apple logo is perfectly curved, which is unlike the asymmetric pattern that the act of biting into a real apple would produce. While one can argue that this is simply the result of the abstract art used for the design, some speculate that it might hold some significance after all.

The symmetrically curved bite is believed to represent the contour of the letter 'a', which at the time the logo was designed, was the name of the new computer - the Apple II.

The Byte in the Bite

Binary is the universal language in the world of digital electronics. A byte is a group of binary digits (bits) that are operated on together by computers. As such, the terms kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), gigabytes(GB) etc., are synonymous with computers.

According to one urban legend, the designer of the Apple logo introduced the bite in it to symbolize 'byte', in order to express that Apple was a company that designed computers, thus giving the logo a unique personality.

The Knowledge in the Bite
There is another myth surrounding the bite, which is likely to appeal more to those who are religiously inclined. According to it, the apple in the logo represents the apple of knowledge, similar to the one that is believed to have grown on the Tree on Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. The bite, therefore, is believed to mean that a user can 'bite' into an Apple computer―a source of infinite knowledge―and acquire wisdom through using it. If this is true, let's hope that using Apple, the computer, doesn't anger God!

Most Popular Urban Legend
The Homage in the Bite
Alan Turing (1912 - 1954) was a British computer scientist, mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, mathematical biologist, and marathon runner. He is widely regarded as the father of computer science. Apart from being all of these, Turing was also gay.

Back in Turing's time, homosexuality was a crime in the United Kingdom, and so he was tried before a court of law and was found guilty. He was convicted and given a choice between imprisonment and probation, which included undergoing hormonal treatment comprising injections of synthetic estrogen. Turing chose the latter, which ultimately rendered him impotent.

Turing's conviction also caused him to be barred from continuing his work with the British Signals Intelligence Agency. He was denied entry into the United States, and was deemed by many as a security risk.

All of this took a grave toll on Turing, and on June 8, 1954, he committed suicide, allegedly by biting into an apple laced with cyanide. Turing's conviction and treatment was a major blow to the justice system of the U.K., and his suicide a great loss for the world of science.

Many believe that the bitten apple in Apple's Logo is a tribute to Alan Turing. This belief is further strengthened by the fact that, the original logo had multicolored stripes on it, similar to the rainbow pattern on the LGBT flag.

The True Story Behind the Bite in the Apple Logo
Apple's logo was designed by graphics designer Rob Janoff. He first created the symbol of a bitten apple, and presented it to Steve Jobs with several monochromatic design themes. Jobs, however, wanted the logo to be colorized in order to add a human element to it. Also, the multicolored pattern that was chosen was to represent the fact that the Apple II could generate colored graphics.

According to Janoff, the apple with a bite was chosen purely for scaling purposes. In smaller versions of the logo, the apple was prone to being confused for a cherry, and therefore, the designer decided to add a bite into it to reinforce its identity as an apple.

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