If you own a Macyou know well that distinctive sound that accompanies system startup in computers made by Apple: a C major chord which seems to welcome you in a warm and reassuring way. This sound, more than a simple beep, has become a symbol of Apple’s philosophy. Born from the vision of Jim Reekeshired at Apple by Steve Jobs in the 1980s as a sound designer, this “sonic logo” made by Reekes on his keyboard Korg contributed to make the computers produced by the Cupertino giant easily distinctive. In addition to signaling the correct functioning of the system, that sound has in fact become a somewhat emotional element that connects the brand to its audience. Let’s retrace its history.
The birth of the Mac startup sound
Jim Reekes He began his career at Apple at a delicate time for the company. During the ’80s and ’90s, early Macs crashed frequently, and their startup sound only made it worse. It was a tritone, a musical interval known for its dissonance, so much so that in the eighteenth century it was nicknamed “the Devil’s interval”. This disturbing sound evoked anxiety in customers, making every reboot an unpleasant experience. Reekes, who couldn’t stand the cacophony, decided to intervene.
Without official approval from his superiors, Reekes recorded a new sound in his living room, inspired by the song “A Day in the Life” by the Beatles. He used a Korg Wavestation EX electronic keyboard (the one you see in the photo below) to create a C major chordchosen for its simplicity and universality. This calm and harmonious arrangement was intended to work on every Mac model, from budget to professional, ensuring a positive impact regardless of the quality of the speakers. Reekes wanted that sound to act as «ear cleaner», transmitting a feeling of serenity to users, who would thus feel “welcomed” by their computer.
To get the new sound into the computers, Reekes worked covertly. With the help of some colleagues who were in charge of the ROMs, he made sure that the new sound came integrated into Quadra models before their official release in 1991 (For the record, Quadra was a series of Macintosh computers based on the Motorola 68040 processor). Despite the resistance of some Apple executives, the sound eventually reached end customers and was also positively received by “critics”. A magazine reviewer Byte regarding the sound in question, he wrote:
I knew something great was waiting for me when I felt it turn on.
In the following years, the sound remained almost unchanged, becoming a symbol of Apple’s “Think Different” philosophy. Like a clearly recognizable logo, this “earcon” – a term used to describe a sonic icon – embodies the brand’s identity. Regarding this aspect, Reekes himself has in fact declared that the Mac startup sound «It’s like a logo, you don’t change it all the time». It is not surprising that in 2012 Apple decided to register the trademark. As an article by CNBC dedicated precisely to the matter in question, that of starting Macs «it is one of the few sounds recorded, along with NBC chimes and Intel’s signature sound».
Attempts to change the Mac startup sound
Although no one has definitive proof of this, Reekes claims that over time various people within the Cupertino giant have tried to replace its startup sound and, unbelievably, the matter was resolved by Steve Jobs when he returned to Apple in 1997 (after being removed from the board of directors in 1985).
For the record, In 2016, Apple removed the startup sound from its Macs restoring it a few years later, in 2020with the release of macOS Big Sur. From then on you can decide to activate/deactivate the startup sound from the section System Settings > Sound > Play startup sound.
By the way, if you are curious to hear with your own ears how the startup sound of Apple computers has changed over time, we are sure that you will appreciate the following video on YouTube: it reproduces the startup and error sounds of Mac starting from 1984 with the Macintosh 128k to today’s Macs, equipped with proprietary Apple Silicon chips.
