A Magnes-Taylor φ 8 mm apple firmness test was carried out, i.e.: 33 cultivars were cold-stored and natural differentiation in ripeness and firmness was retained for a period of several months from the fruit harvest. A statistical firmness distribution of the cold-stored sample showed a strong right-handed asymmetry and frequently also a positive excess. It means that both testing and firmness comparisons require a careful preparation of the cold-storage test as well as a specific statistical analysis of the results. Mean values of the firmness parameter do not characterize stored apples sufficiently well. Hence medians and quartiles should be used for their characteri-zation. The present study showed a possibility for the apple ripeness determination in a cold-storage test by means of firmness variation measurements carried out on five fruit colouration classes determined during fruit harvest. Factor analysis simplified the storage description of firmness changes in many apple cultivars. It introduced three factors and indicated cultivar groups in which similar changes in firmness took in the process of storage.