The fruit has red and green skin, a tart flavour, and tender white flesh, which ripens in late September.

In the 20th century, the McIntosh was the most popular cultivar in Eastern Canada and New England and was widely sold in the UK.

While still important in production, the fruit's popularity fell in the early 21st century in the face of competition from varieties such as the Gala.

[5] The fruit grows best in cool areas where nights are cold and autumn days are clear; otherwise, it suffers from poor colour and soft flesh, and tends to fall from the tree before harvest.

It stores for two to three months in air, but is prone to scald, flesh softening, chilling sensitivity,[5] and coprinus rot.

[9] The fruit is optimally stored in a controlled atmosphere in which temperatures are between 1.7 and 3.0 °C (35.1 and 37.4 °F), and air content is 1.5–4.5% oxygen and 1–5% carbon dioxide; under such conditions, the McIntosh will keep for five to eight months.

[10] Offspring of the McIntosh include: the Jersey Black hybrid the Macoun, the Newtown Pippin hybrid the Spartan, the Cortland; the Empire; the Jonamac, the Jersey Mac,[11] the Lobo, the Melba, the Summered, the Tydeman's Red,[8] and possibly the Paula Red.

The Snow Apple (or Fameuse) had been popular in Lower Canada before that time; the seedlings may have sprouted from discarded fruit.

[4] The McIntosh grandchildren dubbed the fruit it produced "Granny's apple", as they often saw their grandmother taking care of the tree in the orchard.

[4][16] Horticulturist William Tyrrell Macoun of the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa is credited with popularizing the McIntosh in Canada.

The Macoun, a hybrid of the McIntosh and Jersey Black grown by the Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY, was named for him in 1923.

[5] In the late 1940s, Canadian ambassador to the United Nations Andrew McNaughton told the Soviet Minister for Foreign Affairs Andrei Gromyko that the McIntosh Red was Canada's best apple.

[12] Horticulturalists from the Upper Canada Village heritage park saved cuttings from the last known first-generation McIntosh graft before it died in 2011 for producing clones.

[4] Apple Inc. employee Jef Raskin named the Macintosh line of personal computers after the McIntosh.

[23] In 1995, the Royal Canadian Mint commissioned Toronto artist Roger Hill to design a commemorative silver dollar for release in 1996.