Yes you can grow a apple tree from a seed of a macintosh apple BUT THE FRUIT WILL NOT BE OR TAST OR LOOK LIKE OR COOK LIKE A MACINTOSH APPLE.

I winter sowed seeds from Cameo and Gala apples last winter and all of them sprouted and grew like crazy. I plan to start more this winter from another variety. I have no expectation that they will come true from seed but I look forward to seeing how they turn out. I was surprised how different the seedlings looked that were grown from the same apple. Some had wide leaves and some narrow leaves. If the seedlings are any indication the apples themselves will probably vary widely but I like the idea of genetic diversity.

The one characteristic they will probably all share is a lengthy juvenile period assuring many years before the first apples are available for your tasting. Al

Al,
I'm interested in your comment about a lengthy juvenile period. Is this something you have observed? Do you think it would be due to own roots vs. grafting or the fact that commercial varieties are developed to fruit earlier? I have grown apple trees in the past from commercial nurseries that were purchased as small trees and bore fruit in a few seasons. Judging from the growth rate of my seedlings in their first year and the lack of transplant shock from being container grown I would expect them to bear fruit in a few years also.

When you graft onto a seedling the seedling is juvenile but the scion is from a mature tree and has the maturity needed to produce flowering/fruiting buds. The number of years a tree remains juvenile depends both on the species and how well it is grown. A tree grown without root competition or compaction problems will fruit earlier. Many university tests have been made as well as those from fruit grower societies. Al

Thanks for the explanation. Good info.