People are just realizing there's a 'hidden meaning' on every iPhone (2025)

Could Apple's iconic logo be hiding a subtle, geeky secret in plain sight?

Since being founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne with the vision of revolutionizing personal computing, Apple has skyrocketed to become the world's largest company, boasting a market capitalization of roughly $3.74 trillion.

The technology corporation's logo is instantly recognizable across nations, which is remarkable given its simplicity - just a plain apple with a bite taken out of the side.

But is there more to the design?

Internet sleuths have sparked a new theory behind the minimalistic logo, leaving tons of Apple users wondering if the company hid a deeper meaning within the piece of fruit.

In a TikTok shared by @therealoshow, the creator zeroed in on the missing piece of the apple - suggesting that the iconic bite might not just be for visual appeal, but rather a purposeful, tech-themed message.

The user theorized the bitten-out chunk could be a subtly creative nod to a digital 'byte' - as in the unit of data storage - cleverly tying the logo back to Apple's deep-seeded roots in the tech industry.

Apple fanatics across the internet were stunned, as some wondered how they'd never made the connection while others praised the company for weaving in a bit of hidden lore into such a simple design.

'Did you know that bitten Apple logo was indeed a smart punning on words "bite" and "byte" (to lend a geeky flavor to the fruit?)' one post on X read.

One user responded: 'Interesting! That's some good tech info. Thanks bro.'

While the connection is certainly intriguing, the man behind the original logo has responded directly to the fast-spreading speculation, and according to him, the bite/byte theory is simply not true.

'It's a wonderful urban legend,' designer Rob Janoff told Creative Bits in a 2020 interview.

'Somebody starts it and then people go, "oh yeah, that must be it."'

Plenty of theories have emerged throughout the years about how the iconic logo came to be, with some suggesting it was a nod to Sir Isaac Newton, who famously formulated gravitational theory when the apple fell on his head.

Others have speculated that the design subtly referenced the biblical story of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit, interpreting the bite as a symbol of humanity's pursuit of forbidden knowledge - and the consequences that follow in its wake.

Some have even theorized the apple to be a link to British mathematician Alan Turing, who cracked the German enigma code during World WarII.

The codebreaker was convicted for having a homosexual relationship, and was later found dead from cyanide poisoning, with his body famously lying next to a half eaten apple.

'They are really interesting, but I'm afraid it didn't have a thing to do with it,' Janoff told Creative Bits.

'From a designer's point of view and you probably experienced this, one of the big phenomena is having the experience of designing a logo for whatever reasons you design it, and years later you find out supposedly why you did certain things,' he added.

'And, they're all BS.'

The initial Apple logo was in fact inspired by Newton, with Apple co-founder Ron Wayne depicting the scientist sitting under a tree.

However, the more complex design was soon changed into the Apple logo we all know today - the simple and sleek design that has held up for decades.

When Janoff designed the logo back in 1977, he worked for the agency Regis McKenna, who handled the Apple 'start-up'.

At the time, Janoff's only direction was 'don't make it cute'.

While speaking to Forbes in 2018, Janoff admitted that the apple shape didn't actually have anything to do with computers at the time.

Yet he was adamant to use the fruit, as he was concerned the company would lose a lot of 'fun-ness' without it.

Luckily, Janoff wasn't given a brief for the interview and joked: 'This logo we all know today would never have happened if I listened to everybody.'

He explained: 'It's to get people to notice that an Apple computer was not some piece of hard-edged metal that has no place in your home and that your kid wouldn't want to be near.'

'Lots of different fruits have a stem, are sort of round with a leaf dangling off of it,' he added. 'So the bite in the apple was initially meant to indicate that it was an apple, and not something else.'

The designer revealed that the bite in the apple is to distinguish the fruit from a cherry at a distance, admitting in the interview with Creative Bits that the truth is 'kind of a let down'.

Janoff also revealed that he was aware of the bite/byte connection in the interview, explaining that he 'wasn't computer literate enough to see that initially', but was made aware of the clever pun from his creative director, Chip.

Either way, the Apple logo has remained roughly the same since - aside from a few color changes throughout the years - and has helped the tech giant to become a billion-dollar enterprise.