Chicago Typeface.

Not only was Chicago inextricably linked with Apple’s brand identity in its early years, but it was groundbreaking in the world of digital typography.

When Susan Kare, Chicago’s designer, joined the Macintosh software group in 1982, computer typefaces were primarily monospaced, meaning each character had the same width. An ‘i’ and an ‘m’ occupied the same horizontal space, unlike typeset or handwritten letters. The Macintosh was novel in that it allowed for proportionally spaced type, so fonts on the computer could more closely resemble traditional letterforms. It was one of the earliest signals that Mac computers were not only for the people, but designed by them too.

Chicago was used in the Macintosh operating system user interface between 1984 and 1997. It was also used in early versions of the iPod user interface. Before it was known as Chicago, the typeface was christened “Elefont” because it was a “heavy” typeface.

Source: chicagomag.com