Apple Introduces Newton MessagePad, the first PDA

The MessagePad was the first series of personal digital assistant devices developed by Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) for the Newton platform in 1993.

Some electronic engineering and the manufacture of Apple's MessagePad devices was done in Japan by the Sharp Corporation. The devices were based on the ARM 610 RISC processor and all featured handwriting recognition software and were developed and marketed by Apple. The devices ran the Newton OS.

The Apple Newton, or simply Newton, is an early line of personal digital assistants developed and marketed by Apple (now Apple Inc.) from 1993 to 1998. Some electronic engineering and the manufacture of the Newton was done in Japan by Sharp. The original Newtons were based on the ARM 610 RISC processor and featured handwriting recognition software. Apple's official name for the device was "MessagePad"; the term "Newton" was Apple's name for the operating system it used (Newton OS), but popular usage of the word Newton has grown to include the device and its software together. The name is an allusion to Isaac Newton's apple.