Apple vs Microsoft: $1,000 invested since 2023
AAPL vs MSFT · Data through 2026-07-01
$1,000 invested in 2023 would be worth
AppleWinner
$2,177+117.7%
Microsoft
$1,929+92.9%
The same $1,000 in the S&P 500 would be worth $1,922(+92.2%)
Growth of $1,000
Apple vs. Microsoft vs. S&P 500, 2023 to present
Year-by-year comparison
Apple vs. Microsoft, 2023 to present
| Year | Apple | Microsoft |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| 2024 | $1,285 | $1,619 |
| 2025 | $1,653 | $1,702 |
| 2026 | $1,825 | $1,778 |
Which came out ahead
Starting in 2023, Apple (AAPL) was the better of the two against Microsoft (MSFT). That $1,000 grew to $2,177 in AAPL versus $1,929 in MSFT as of 2026-07-01, roughly $249 more in the end.
The headline returns line up with the dollar figures. Apple returned +117.7% against Microsoft at +92.9%, a gap of about 24.8 percentage points over the 3.7-year window. Compounded, that is about 23.6% a year for AAPL against 19.6% for MSFT.
Both holdings beat a plain S&P 500 fund over the same span, which would have turned that $1,000 into about $1,922 at roughly 19.5% a year. The ride was not equally smooth. Microsoft moved across a far wider band of yearly returns than Apple did. All figures use split-adjusted closing prices and exclude dividends, taxes, fees, and inflation, so a real after-tax result would differ.
None of this recommends one holding over the other. It is historical math, and past performance does not guarantee future results.
Other start years
Apple vs Microsoft from a different starting point
Individual stock pages
Numbers worth sharing
Occasional data drops when something interesting surfaces. No schedule, just signal.
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.