McIntosh (apple)

Malus domestica (McIntosh)
McIntosh apples on a tree
Cultivar	McIntosh
Origin	Dundela, Upper Canada, 1811

The McIntosh ( /ˈmækɪnˌtɒʃ/ MAK-in-tosh), McIntosh Red, or colloquially the Mac, is an apple cultivar, the national apple of Canada. The fruit has red and green skin, a tart flavour, and tender white flesh, which ripens in late September. It is considered an all-purpose apple, suitable both for cooking and eating raw.

In the 20th century, the McIntosh was the most popular cultivar in Eastern Canada and New England and was widely sold in the UK. However, after holding 40% of the Canadian market share in the 1960s through to 1996, its market share declined to 28% in 2014^[1] and is expected to continue to do so, in part due to production cost and in part due to consumers favoring sweeter, crisper, and less tart apple varieties.^[2]

John McIntosh discovered the original McIntosh sapling on his Dundela farm in Upper Canada in 1811. He and his wife cultivated it, and the family started grafting the tree and selling the fruit in 1835. In 1870, it entered commercial production, and became common in northeastern North America after 1900. While still important in production, the fruit's popularity fell in the early 21st century in the face of competition from varieties such as the Gala. According to the US Apple Association website, it is one of the fifteen most popular apple cultivars in the United States.^[3]

Jef Raskin, an employee at Apple Computer, named the Macintosh computer line—later abbreviated to "Mac" in 1999—after the cultivar.