In early 1976 in California, Steve Wozniak had just completed the design of a computer circuit board he intended to share with fellow hobbyists at a prominent local club. His friend Steve Jobs also saw a business opportunity to manufacture and sell the boards, and thus Apple was born.

The company turns 50 on Wednesday. Its rise has shaped both the technology industry and popular culture by making first desktop computers and then smartphones mainstream, popularizing mobile apps and showing how tightly integrated devices and software can work.

But the iPhone maker is now under pressure to show it can remain a technology powerhouse in the age of artificial intelligence as software rivals Alphabet and Microsoft spend tens of billions of dollars to seize a lead.