TRUE

Apple acquired NeXT in 1996 for $428 million specifically to acquire its operating system after Apple’s own internal projects failed 49. This technology, including NeXTSTEP and OpenStep, became the foundation of macOS and was instrumental to Apple's subsequent era of innovation in technology and user experience 59. High-credibility sources state that early hardware like the iMac was essentially a smaller and cheaper NeXT machine 26. Furthermore, NeXT's development of object-oriented application technology and its use of the Mach kernel provided the technical architecture that powered Apple’s later renaissance 78. This deal also facilitated the return of Steve Jobs, who leveraged these technologies to launch the iPod, iPhone, and iPad 110.