• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechGlobal 500

What You’d Be Worth If You Bought Apple Stock Instead of This Mac

By
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 25, 2016, 11:51 AM ET
APPLE MACINTOSH
Thousands of Apple Macintosh computers sit on double decked manufacturing lines for their 48 hour "burn in" in Freemont, Calif., on March 28, 1984. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)Paul Sukuma — AP

Apple’s hardware might be innovative and appealing, but its stock is really what you should buy, a new calculator shows.

If customers had invested in Apple stock instead of the Macintosh the company released in 1984, the stock value would have soared 287 times over, according to data from a new online calculator called InvestInstead. Thus, if instead of paying $2,495 for a Macintosh in 1984 and customers put that money into Apple stock, their shares would now be worth $715,943, or more than $710,000 after fees.

While that’s the biggest jump in InvestInstead’s Apple calculator, its data also reveals that customers who could have invested the $499 it took to buy an iPhone in 2007 would now own nearly $3,700 in Apple Stock. Those who bought an iPad for $499 on its launch date in 2010 would now have $1,882 in Apple stock value.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter

The InvestInstead calculator, which was earlier discovered by The Next Web, comes from the creators of WhatIfIBoughtAppleInstead, another calculator that focuses solely on what Apple shares would be worth today if investors put their cash into the company’s stock instead of raising a child. Now, the calculator’s developers are questioning how wealthy investors would be if they didn’t buy that latest gadget.

In addition to Apple (AAPL), the calculator lets users see how much stock value they’d have in Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), Tesla (TSLA), and countless other technology companies if they’d invested in their shares instead of buying their products.

In the case of Microsoft, for instance, InvestInstead reveal that investors who would’ve put $299 into the company’s stock on November 15, 2001 instead of buying the Xbox gaming console on launch day would now have $807 in share value. Instead of buying a Tesla Model S for $57,400 on June 22, 2012, folks should have bought Tesla’s stock for the same amount: it’d now be worth more than $344,000.

However, there are some sobering findings in the calculator. If you bought a BlackBerry Peal 8100 for $199 in 2006, for instance, you paid $199. Had you put the same amount into BlackBerry stock, it’d now be worth $53, or $48 after fees. Buying $199 in Nokia stock on September 1, 2000 when the Nokia 3310 mobile phone was released would translate to $36 in stock value today.

For more about Apple’s iPhone 7, watch:

InvestInstead says it will add more products and companies to its service as time goes on.

About the Author
By Don Reisinger
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.


Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
America's $38 trillion national debt 'exacerbates generational imbalances' with Gen Z and millennials paying the price, warns think tank
By Eleanor PringleDecember 16, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
As millions of Gen Zers face unemployment, McDonald's CEO dishes out some tough love career advice for navigating the market: ‘You've got to make things happen for yourself’
By Preston ForeDecember 16, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
The $38 trillion national debt is to blame for over $1 trillion in annual interest payments from here on out, CRFB says
By Nick LichtenbergDecember 17, 2025
14 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Innovation
An MIT roboticist who cofounded bankrupt Roomba maker iRobot says Elon Musk's vision of humanoid robot assistants is 'pure fantasy thinking'
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezDecember 16, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
AI
IBM, AWS veteran says 90% of your employees are stuck in first gear with AI, just asking it to ‘write their mean email in a slightly more polite way’
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezDecember 16, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
AI
'Robots are going to be amongst us': Qualcomm exec says buckle up for the next 5 years. Your car is going to be the first shoe to drop
By Nino PaoliDecember 17, 2025
20 hours ago

Latest in Tech

DOJ
Bankingfraud
$1 billion fraud revealed with guilty pleas from subprime auto lender Tricolor
By Larry Neumeister and The Associated PressDecember 17, 2025
7 hours ago
A statue of the Oscars statuette
Arts & EntertainmentYouTube
YouTube is giving the Oscars the lifeline it desperately needs
By Dave SmithDecember 17, 2025
9 hours ago
Ray Dalio attends the Fortune Global Forum Riyadh 2025 on October 27, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (
Personal FinanceRay Dalio
Ray Dalio donates $75 million to ‘Trump Accounts’ as Scott Bessent leads ‘50 State Challenge’ to invest in America’s kids
By Thalia Beaty and The Associated PressDecember 17, 2025
9 hours ago
AIAmazon
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announces departure of AI exec Rohit Prasad in leadership shake-up
By Sharon GoldmanDecember 17, 2025
10 hours ago
Jeff Bezos attends the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 02, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California.
AIAmazon
Experts say Amazon is playing the long game with its potential $10 billion OpenAI deal: ‘ChatGPT is still seen as the Kleenex of AI’
By Eva RoytburgDecember 17, 2025
11 hours ago
Trump points his finger into the crowd from behind the presidential podium
Big TechSilicon Valley
The Trump administration says it could go after Spotify if Europe doesn’t back off American tech companies
By Dave SmithDecember 17, 2025
13 hours ago