Which was the better investment since 2010, Apple or Microsoft?

Apple was the better investment. $1,000 invested in Apple in 2010 would be worth $50,329 today, compared to $17,791 for Microsoft.

What would $1,000 in Apple vs Microsoft be worth today?

$1,000 invested in Apple in 2010 would be worth $50,329 today (+4932.9%). The same $1,000 in Microsoft would be worth $17,791 (+1679.1%).

How do Apple and Microsoft compare to the S&P 500 since 2010?

The same $1,000 invested in the S&P 500 in 2010 would be worth $9,294 today (+829.4%). Apple returned $50,329 and Microsoft returned $17,791 over the same period.

Apple vs Microsoft: $1,000 invested since 2010

AAPL vs MSFT · Data through 2026-06-01

Investment amount

$1,000 invested in 2010 would be worth

AppleWinner

$50,323

+4932.3%

Microsoft

$17,788

+1678.8%

The same $1,000 in the S&P 500 would be worth $9,294(+829.4%)

Growth of $1,000

Apple vs. Microsoft vs. S&P 500, 2010 to present

Year-by-year comparison

Apple vs. Microsoft, 2010 to present

Year	Apple	Return	Microsoft	Return	S&P 500
2010	$1,000	-	$1,000	-	$1,000
2011	$1,767	+76.7%	$1,005	+0.5%	$1,222
2012	$2,377	+34.5%	$1,098	+9.3%	$1,273
2013	$2,393	+0.7%	$1,050	-4.4%	$1,483
2014	$2,696	+12.7%	$1,491	+42.0%	$1,801
2015	$4,509	+67.3%	$1,635	+9.7%	$2,056
2016	$3,810	-15.5%	$2,290	+40.1%	$2,038
2017	$4,856	+27.4%	$2,762	+20.6%	$2,445
2018	$6,807	+40.2%	$4,149	+50.2%	$3,088
2019	$6,869	+0.9%	$4,640	+11.8%	$3,013
2020	$12,965	+88.8%	$7,675	+65.4%	$3,659
2021	$22,301	+72.0%	$10,569	+37.7%	$4,288
2022	$29,720	+33.3%	$14,288	+35.2%	$5,282
2023	$24,678	-17.0%	$11,492	-19.6%	$4,850
2024	$31,714	+28.5%	$18,601	+61.9%	$5,849
2025	$40,787	+28.6%	$19,564	+5.2%	$7,383
2026	$45,048	+10.4%	$20,432	+4.4%	$8,588

Which came out ahead

Starting in 2010, Apple (AAPL) was the better of the two against Microsoft (MSFT). That $1,000 grew to $50,329 in AAPL versus $17,791 in MSFT as of 2026-06-01, roughly $32,538 more in the end.

Stacked side by side, the totals tell the same story. Apple returned +4932.9% against Microsoft at +1679.1%, a gap of about 3253.8 percentage points over the 16.6-year window. Compounded, that is about 26.7% a year for AAPL against 19% for MSFT.

Both holdings beat a plain S&P 500 fund over the same span, which would have turned that $1,000 into about $9,294 at roughly 14.4% a year. All figures use split-adjusted closing prices and exclude dividends, taxes, fees, and inflation, so a real after-tax result would differ.

This is a record of what already happened, not financial advice or a recommendation of either name. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Other start years

Apple vs Microsoft from a different starting point

Since 2000 Since 2005 Since 2015 Since 2020 Since 2023

Individual stock pages

Apple since 2010+4932.9%Microsoft since 2010+1679.1%

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For informational and educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All calculations are based on split-adjusted closing prices from Yahoo Finance and do not account for dividends, taxes, or trading fees. See our methodology and full disclaimer.