1996

The following Apple-related events occurred in 1996:
===January 1996===
*January 3: The Power Macintosh 7100 is discontinued.
*January 9: The AppleVision 1710 Display is released.
*January 15: The Universal Serial Bus (USB) 1.0 specification is released.
*January 27: The PowerBook Duo 280c is discontinued.
*January 31: Chairman Mike Markkula calls an emergency meeting of the Apple Board of Directors, in which Michael Spindler is replaced as CEO by Gil Amelio.
===February 1996===
*February 1: The Macintosh Performa 580CD and 5200CD are discontinued.
*February 2: Gil Amelio resigns from National Semiconductor to become CEO of Apple Computer.
*February 14: The Macintosh Performa 6310CD is released in Asia and Europe.
===March 1996===
*March 11: Mac OS 7.5.3 is released.
*March 14: The Newton MessagePad 130 is announced. The Color StyleWriter 1500 and 2500 are released.
*March 25: The MessagePad 130 is released.
*March 28: The Pippin Atmark game console, based on Apple Computer's Pippin platform, is released in Japan.
*March 29: Apple Computer announces its Game Sprockets API for game development.
*March 31: Apple Computer shuts down its eWorld service at 12:01 am.
===April 1996===
*April 1: The Macintosh Performa 475, 550, 575, Power Macintosh 5300 LC, and Macintosh Performa 6116CD are discontinued.
*April 13: The Power Macintosh 5200/75 LC is discontinued.
*April 15: The Power Macintosh 5260 is released.
*April 22: The Macintosh Performa 5400CD, 5420CD, and 6320CD are released. The 120 MHz version of the Power Macintosh 7600, and the 132 and 150 MHz versions of the Power Macintosh 8500 are released. The Power Macintosh 8200 is released in Europe. The LaserWriter Select 360 is discontinued.
===May 1996===
*May 13-17: The 1996 Worldwide Developers Conference is held at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in California, where OpenDoc is discussed. Cyberdog 1.0 is released as OpenDoc's "killer app".
===June 1996===
*June 15: The LaserWriter 16/600 PS is discontinued.
*June 27: The Power Macintosh 6300/120 is released.
===July 1996===
*July 1: The Pioneer MPC-LX200 series of Macintosh clones is released. The Macintosh Performa 6200 is discontinued.
*July 15: The Macintosh LC 475 is discontinued.
*July 22: QuickTime 2.5 is released.
===August 1996===
*August 3: The 132 MHz version of the Power Macintosh 7600 is released.
*August 5: Mac OS 7.5.3 Revision 2.1 is released for the Macintosh Performa 6400. Mac OS 7.5.3 Revision 2.2 is released with the Power Macintosh 8500/180 and 9500/200. The BeBox Dual603-133 is released with upgraded dual processors as a competitor to the Power Macintosh line.
*August 24: Windows NT 4.0 is released by Microsoft.
===September 1996===
*September 1: The Macintosh Performa 6320 is discontinued.
*September 10: PostScript Level 3 is introduced by Adobe Systems.
*September 18: Mac OS 7.5.5 is released.
*September 19: The Power Macintosh 8200 is discontinued.
===October 1996===
*October 1: The Macintosh Performa 5260/120 is released, while the Macintosh Performa 6300CD and 6310CD are discontinued.
*October 17: The Macintosh Performa 6360 is released. Claris Emailer for classic Mac OS is updated to version 1.1v3.
*October 19: The Avid Cinema Kit is released for some Power Macintosh models.
*October 21: The Color LaserWriter 12/660 PS is released, replacing the Color LaserWriter 12/600 PS.
*October 28: Apple Computer announces the eMate 300 and MessagePad 2000.
===November 1996===
*November: Apple Computer considers purchasing Be, Inc.; Steve Jobs calls Apple CTO Ellen Hancock to advise against the purchase. 
*November 7: The Power Macintosh 4400/160 is released in Europe.
*November 14: KanjiTalk 7.5.5 is announced in Japan.
*November 16: Windows CE 1.0 is released by Microsoft for handheld PCs.
*November 18: The LaserWriter 12/640 PS Plus is announced at COMDEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
===December 1996===
*December 18: Macromedia Flash 1.0 is released.
*December 20: Apple Computer announces that it would acquire NeXT, bringing Steve Jobs back to Apple as a consultant.
==External links==
*Press Release Library at Apple (archived 2001-01-24)