Audio design in technology often receives less coverage than visual or physical design, yet sounds can be equally memorable and important for brand identity. Companies and individual designers craft audio cues to shape user emotion and recognition. The Mac startup chime was created by Jim Reekes in response to earlier crash sounds and was inspired by The Beatles, becoming a calming, optimistic cue introduced in 1998 and restored in 2020 after fan uproar. Microsoft's Windows 95 sound was purposefully commissioned from ambient pioneer Brian Eno to define the operating system's audio identity.
For understandable reasons, most technology coverage tends to focus more on the physical or visual elements of new devices than their audio signature. It's much easier to show and tell audiences how great a new screen is or how thin a new phone is than to explain the experience they'll get from its sound effects. But that doesn't mean audio can't be just as memorable, or as important to the companies that design it. Here are ten of the most impactful, unforgettable sounds and effects from the past few decades in tech.
Mac startup chime Frustrated by the previous tri-tone sound that accompanied the frequent Mac crashes of the 90s, Apple sound designer Jim Reekes took it upon himself to create an iconic chime that remains an indelible part of the Mac experience-although we don't need to reboot our computers so often these days. The current chime, introduced in 1998 on the iMac G3, was inspired by The Beatles' "A Day in the Life" and makes for a much more calming, optimistic way to start your work.
It says a lot that of all the issues introduced alongside the controversial 2016 MacBook Pro lineup-including the unpopular USB-C-only port setup and the fragile "butterfly" keyboard-the lack of a startup chime managed to cause a similar level of uproar online among Mac diehards. The chime was restored in 2020 and has remained on Mac computers ever since.
Windows 95 startup sound While the Mac startup chime came from a single employee's personal inspiration, Microsoft's equally iconic counterpart came about through sheer corporate willpower. To create a sound that would define the Windows 95 experience, the company's marketing agency decided to leverage the talents of legendary record producer and ambient music pioneer Brian Eno.
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