He named the company after his favourite fruit which, either by chance or design ensured it appeared in phone book listings ahead of rival Atari.
The profit from the first Apple was ploughed back into an improved version, the Apple II, which appeared at a Californian computer fair in 1977.
Development of the new machine was expensive and Jobs persuaded Mike Markkula, a local investor, to guarantee a $250,000 loan and, together with Wozniak, the three formed the company Apple Computer.
The Apple II, unlike many other computers of the time, came complete and worked straight out of the box rather than the purchaser having to assemble the various parts.
The new model became an instant success, kick starting the personal computer boom, achieving sales in excess of six million before production ended in 1993.
In 2005 Disney paid $7 billion worth of stock to buy Pixar from Jobs who, as a result, became the Walt Disney Company's biggest shareholder.
Two years later, at yet another much hyped launch, Jobs introduced the iPhone to a legion of customers, many of whom had queued for hours at their local Apple store.
In 2008 the ultra thin Macbook Air was launched with Jobs doing his usual stage presentation dressed in his habitual black turtle neck jumper and faded jeans.
His thin and somewhat gaunt appearance fuelled speculation that his illness had returned and it was announced, in early 2009, that he was taking a six month break to cope with what was described as a "hormonal imbalance."
In April of that year he underwent a liver transplant, with his doctors announcing that the prognosis was "excellent."
However, in Jan 2011, Apple announced that Jobs would taking a leave of absence for health reasons.
Unlike his contemporary, Microsoft's Bill Gates, Steve Jobs showed little inclination to use his personal wealth for philanthropic purposes.
And, strangely for a self-professed Buddhist, he did not embrace environmental concerns, with Apple coming under fire from Greenpeace for its reluctance to produce easily recyclable products.
Steve Jobs was a one off; a man who had total belief in his own abilities and a shortage of patience for anyone who failed to agree with him.
His great gifts were an ability to second guess the market and an eye for well designed and innovative products that everyone would buy.
"You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them," he once said. "By the time you get it built, they'll want something new."