June 11, 2026
Shockingly unoriginal?
Apple didn't revolutionize power supplies; new transistors did
Turns out Apple didn’t invent the magic box—and commenters came ready to dunk
TLDR: The article says Apple’s Apple II power supply wasn’t the invention that changed computers; earlier advances in transistors did the heavy lifting. Commenters turned it into a Steve Jobs truth-vs-hype brawl, with jokes about recycled drama and debate over whether Apple still deserves credit for making the idea mainstream.
This story hit the internet like a myth-busting grenade: the article argues that Apple’s famous Apple II power supply was not the grand invention Steve Jobs later made it out to be. Instead, the real breakthrough happened earlier, thanks to better transistors and chips that made smaller, cooler, more efficient power systems possible across the industry. In plain English: the article says Apple didn’t create the modern power brick revolution—it showed up after the party had already started.
And wow, the comment section was absolutely not in a forgiving mood. One of the loudest reactions was basically: here we go again with another Jobs reality-distortion story. A top commenter dropped Brandolini’s law—aka the internet’s favorite way of saying it takes way more effort to debunk nonsense than to spread it—and that set the tone fast. Others piled on with dry, very-online humor, noting this article has been resurfacing for years, like a zombie debate that refuses to die. One person even snarked that the title should include "(2012)" so nobody mistakes it for fresh drama.
Still, not everyone was there just to throw tomatoes. One commenter floated the classic Apple defense: maybe Apple didn’t invent it, but did they make it cheap enough and popular enough to matter? Another cut through the legend with a blunt review from the real world: the Apple II power supply was great... until it died after a couple of years. So the vibe was part history lesson, part Jobs fact-check, and part community roast session with receipts.
Key Points
- •The article disputes Steve Jobs’ claim that the Apple II power supply was a revolutionary design copied by later computer manufacturers.
- •According to the article, switching power supplies were already becoming established in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s, before the Apple II appeared in 1977.
- •The article credits advances in semiconductor technology, especially switching transistors and later control ICs, for the broader power-supply revolution.
- •It explains that linear power supplies are simpler but inefficient, often wasting 50% to 65% of power as heat and requiring bulky components.
- •It explains that switching power supplies achieve roughly 80% to 90% efficiency and are smaller and lighter, but are more complex and harder to design.