Alphabetical List of American Apple Varieties and Characteristics 

Arkansas Black

• A medium to large apple
• dark purple to almost black
• Very, very hard texture and an excellent keeper.
• Almost too hard-textured at harvest. Best after some storage time.
• Great for baking; and terrible for applesauce
• A Winesap type.
• Late season

Baldwin

• good quality large red apple
• An old variety, subject to cold injury in the winter
• late mid-season
• medium sweet

Blushing Golden

• Medium-sized waxy coated modern yellow apple with a pink blush
• Jonathan/Golden Delicious cross.
• Firm flesh with flavor like Golden Delicious, but tarter.
• Keeps well
• Late season

Brae Burn

• Rich red color with white flesh
• Sweet
• Best for eating
• Late season

Cameo

• A large, round sub-acid apple with red blush stripe over yellow.
• Late ripening

Cortland

• A Ben Davis/McIntosh cross
• large flat, dull red apple with a purple hue and soft, white flesh
• Less aromatic than McIntosh
• Good keeper.
• Very good in salads.
• Mid season

Cox's Orange Pippin

• Popular in English markets. 
• Medium sized, golden yellow skin, with brownish orange
• often russeted. 
• Flesh tender, crisp, semi-tart
• early

Crispin/Mutsu *

• Light green to yellowish white
• Sweet, rich, full flavor
• Firm, dense texture
• Best for: eating fresh
• Mid - late season

Empire*

• A McIntosh type apple
• Long shelf life
• Aromatic and crisp with creamy white juicy flesh.
• Best for: eating fresh
• Early - Mid season

Fuji 

• Very sweet, aromatic flavor
• Yellow-green with red highlights 
• Originated in Japan.
• Best for: eating, salads, best applesauce apple
• Late season

Gala 

• Developed in New Zealand.  
• Sweet, aromatic flavor
• Best for: eating, salad, best applesauce apple
• medium to smaller in size with a distinctive red and yellow striped heart-shaped appearance. 
• Early to mid season

Ginger Gold 

• Very slow to turn brown, so it's a great choice for apple slices.
• Best for: eating, sauce, salad

Golden Delicious

• Firm white flesh which retains its shape
• Rich mild flavor when baked or cooked. 
• Tender skin
• Stays white longer when cut; 
• Best for: salads, blend in applesauce
• Early season

Grimes Golden

• Firm white flesh which retains its shape
• Rich mild flavor when baked or cooked. 
• Tender skin, with a "grimy mottled surface; hence the name (there's no "Mr. Grimes")
• Stays white longer when cut; 
• Best for: salads, blend in applesauce
• Early season

Granny Smith

• Very tart
• Bright green appearance, crisp bite and sour apple flavor. 
• Best for: people who like bitter sour apples rather than sweet ones :-)
• Mid to late season
• Not good for applesauce unless you add sugar (or like a very tart applesauce)

Gravenstein

• Greenish-yellow with a lumpy appearance
• A good, all-purpose apple,
• Good for applesauce and pies.

Hokuto

• A Mutsu/Fuji cross
• crisp texture of Fuji,
• large size and shape of Mutsu,
• sweet flavors
• late mid-season

Honeycrisp

• Introduced in Minnesota
• Very sweet and aromatic
• Great for juice, as it is a very juicy apple
• Best for: Eating, pies, baking  
• Mid season

Jonathan

• One of the first red apples of the fall
• Sweet-tart taste with firm texture
• Light red stripes over yellow or deep red
• Best for: eating and cooking 
• Early season

Jonalicious

• Flavor like Jonathan but a little less tart and darker red skin. 
• Larger, crisper, and juicier than Jonathan, and a better keeper.
• Slightly sour/acid balance.
• early midseason

Jonamac

• A medium-sized Jonathan/McIntosh cross
• Sour flavored, aromatic and tender fleshed like McIntosh.
• Early season, a few days prior to McIntosh.
• Poor keeper.

Jonagold *

• A cross of Jonathan and Golden Delicious.
• Best for: eating, sauce, pies, salad, baking  
• Mid season

Liberty

• A highly disease-resistant introduction from Geneva New York. 
• Liberty has superior dessert quality, similar to one of its parents, Macoun
• Best for: eating, sauce, salad
• flavor improves in storage
• late season

Macoun

• Named after a famous fruit grower in Canada
• Best for: eating, sauce, salad
• Very good, sweet, all-around apple

McIntosh *

• Popular in America since 1811
• Best for: eating, sauce, salad , good as part of a blend for applesauce
• Sweet, mild flavor

Melrose

• The official apple of Ohio
• Similar to a Jonathan but sweeter.
• Good for pies: the slices hold together in pies
• Keeps well

Mutsu

• Lousy name, but a great apple
• It is sweet and crisp
• A lot like a Golden Delicious
• Best for eating fresh and it makes a great applesauce

Northern Spy

• Large, high quality fruit
• Good for storage 
• Mid-late season

PaulaRed

• A tart apple with light to creamy flesh.
• Good for eating, in pies and sauces.

Pink Lady

• Rich red/pink color with white flesh
• Very sweet and crisp
• Best for eating and makes a naturally sweet, smooth applesauce and it is good in salads and pies.
• A cross between a Golden Delicious and a Lady William. 
• Late season

Red Delicious  

• WAS the most popular apple variety in the world! for December ades (now being replaced by Fuji and Gala)
• Best for: eating, salad, very good  as a base apple for applesauce
• Thin bright red skin with a mildly flavored fine-grained white flesh. 
• Bruises easily and does not keep well.
• Early to mid season
• There are many, many varieties of red delicious, so there is a range of properties.  Not all red delicious are the same!

Rome

• Best for:  baking and cooking - but not applesauce - not sweet enough, and it has a fairly bland flavor
• Very smooth red apple with a slightly juicy flesh. 
• Very hard flesh
• Mid to late season

Spartan

• A cross between the McIntosh and Pippin apples. 
• Good all-purpose apple.

Stayman or Stayman-Winesap

• Juicy, cream-colored to yellowish flesh with a tart wine-like flavor. (often also called winesap)
• Good storing apple, bruise resistant, dull red coat. 
• Best for: Cooking, pies and cider

Suncrisp

• A hard tart, long keeping apple.
• Red over orange color; Golden Delicious-type
• Ripens late in the season
• Best for: Baking, storing

Winesap

• Rich red color with white flesh
• Crisp texture and juicy
• Best for cooking
• Mid to late season

Yates

• Rich red color with white flesh
• Sweet
• Best for eating
• Late season

York

• Crisp and flavorful
• "lop-sided" shape
• Deep red with green streaks
• Best for eating. holds texture during cooking and freezing

Images from the U.S. Apple Association (mostly)!