So many apples are regional only that I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of many of them.
A SoCal girl who moved to the Twin Cities 25 years ago for college was astounded when, at our job, everyone started arguing about favorite apples. She thought there were two. Red Delicious and Golden Delicious. She’s been here ever since and I know her favorites are Fameuse and Honeycrisp.
Grew up working on an apple orchard in Yakima, WA. Granny Smith.
You simply have not lived a full, complete life until you’ve eaten a Black Arkansas apple.
You won’t find them in grocery stores.
~VOW
The Red Delicious cultivar has been around long enough that it has developed mutant sports that are very dark red (why they get used) and more bitter than delicious (why they shouldn’t be).
Around here we get a fair bit of Fuji, which are OK, and something called Michigan apples, which appear to be some sort of offspring or sport of Red Delicious. Meh.
I like Gala, and its red sport Royal Gala. It’s actually related to Golden Delicious (which isn’t really the same thing as Red Delicious despite the name).
Braeburns are OK.
I grew up on Jonathans, which are technically a mildly tart pie apple, but OK raw.
I like Pink Lady.
I haven’t had Winesaps in 20 years, I wondered if they were extinct. Quite good, as I recall.
When I lived in Virginia, Winesaps were one of the more common upick orchard/roadside stand apples. I just learned they are a native apple of Virginia. Whereas I’ve only rarely seen Winesaps here in New York, where the New York-bred Empires and Cortlandts are much more common.
Where are all the New Yorkers at?
If it’s not an Empire, it’s not an apple.
I know there were a few, but around here, Empire = Apple. I was expecting a lot more Empire responses.
Me, too. I’m a New York Stater and Empires were king.
Whups, excuse me.
It’s “Arkansas Black.”
Incredible.
~VOW
I don’t eat any apples “out of hand” since moving to western TN. The apples I’ve tried here are crap. Red Delicious apples are an abomination before God.
I have experimented with a few different apples, but all the apples available locally are like wood. I tried a Honeycrisp, as I’d heard good things. Like wood. My go-to apple when I lived in PA was a McIntosh. Again, the ones around here are like wood - hard, dry, and tasteless. One time, when I brought some McIntoshes home in PA, my girlfriend and I had three eaten before we had the groceries put away: No candy had anything on these incredibly tart-sweet-juicy marvels.
Wal-Mart used to have a store-brand McIntosh apple sauce that was fantastic. They haven’t had it in years.
I found some in my grocery store in South Texas last week. 
Pacific Rose.
It’s pretty rare that I buy anything else these days…
I came in to mention Cox’s Orange Pippin, though I agree with your other choices… I haven’t had the Cox’s for years, since they don’t travel well, but I found out just a week or two too late that a local supermarket had them as one of the 50+ varieties they get every year. Next year I’ll be lining up in August.
Yup. Funny enough, I get mine at a farmer’s market in Los Angeles. It’s delicious. A little tart, but has a nice crisp sweetness to it as well.
Just had a Pacific Rose yesterday and have 3 more for the rest of the week. I think this is replacing the Honeycrisps as my second favorite apple.
Macintosh was always my favorite. Quite a few years ago, I tried Mutsu and love the citrusy flavor of it. Since then I’ve grown to really like Jonagold and for the last few years, Honeycrisp which is number one to me. Next year I’ll be sure to try Pink Lady from the recommendations here.
I live and work in an excellent apple growing region, and am in farm areas about twice a week during growing season. I never buy supermarket apples. One of the five local orchards I patronize has a good storage system and this thread has inspired me to see what they might still have very soon…
Not trying to be snarky, but to add to your post: there are more apples in a single cold-storage building in Yakima or Wenatchee than in the rest of the country combined.
Back atcha: there’s more taste in one Empire than in a whole warehouse full of Red Delicious in Yakima 
I was just pointing out apple production is highly regionalized, with varieties that are ubiquitous in one place, virtually unknown in relatively nearby states. If you’re from NY you’re going to assume that Empire is an incredibly common, popular apple, but it’s not in that much cultivation outside NY
New York is the second largest apple-producing state at 29 million bushels (third is Michigan) but it trails Washington by a large margin. In quantity at least.
I fell in love with Empires when I lived in New York. I’m not a huge apple fan, but Empires totally changed my mind. Sadly, now that I’m back in Georgia, Empires are nearly impossible to find.