<PAGE>   1
                                                   Registration No._____________

                UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM S-8

                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      UNDER
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                               GENERAL MAGIC, INC.
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

                  Delaware                              77-0250147
      (State or other jurisdiction        (I.R.S. employer identification no.)
      of incorporation or organization)

                              420 North Mary Avenue
                               Sunnyvale, CA 94086
               (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

                               GENERAL MAGIC, INC.
                 INDIVIDUAL NONQUALIFIED STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT
                 INDIVIDUAL RESTRICTED STOCK PURCHASE AGREEMENT
                   AMENDED AND RESTATED 1990 STOCK OPTION PLAN
                    1994 OUTSIDE DIRECTORS STOCK OPTION PLAN
                            (Full title of the plan)

                                John C. Zimmerman
                            Senior Vice President and
                             Chief Financial Officer
                               General Magic, Inc.
                              420 North Mary Avenue
                               Sunnyvale, CA 94086
                     (Name and address of agent for service)

Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service:  408/774-4000.

This registration statement, including all exhibits and attachments, contains 11
pages. The exhibit index may be found on page 7 of the consecutively numbered
pages of the registration statement.

This registration statement shall hereafter become effective in accordance with
Rule 462 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.


                                        1
<PAGE>   2
                         CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Proposed       Proposed
Title of                                                        maximum        maximum
securities                                        Amount        offering       aggregate     Amount of
to be                                             to be         price per      offering      registration
registered                                        registered    share(1)       price         fee
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<S>                                                 <C>           <C>      <C>               <C>      
Individual Stock Option Agreement
Common Stock                                        500,000       $3.75    $ 1,875,000.00    $  646.56
Par Value $.001
(including the option to
acquire such Common Stock)
Individual Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement
Common Stock                                        135,000       $0.10    $    13,500.00    $    4.66
Par Value $.001
(including the right to
acquire such Common Stock)
Amended and Restated 1990 Stock Option Plan
Common Stock                                      2,500,000       $3.81    $ 9,525,000.00    $3,284.51
Par Value $.001
(including options to
acquire such Common Stock)
1994 Outside Directors Stock Option Plan
Common Stock                                        150,000       $3.81    $   571,500.00    $  197.07
Par Value $.001
(including options to
acquire such Common Stock)

TOTAL                                             3,285,000                $11,985,000.00    $4,132.80
</TABLE>

- --------

      (1) Estimated pursuant to Rule 457 solely for purposes of calculating the
registration fee. As to outstanding options to purchase the Common Stock and the
agreement to purchase restricted Common Stock, the price is based on the
exercise price. As to the remaining shares, the price is based upon the average
of the high and low prices of the Common Stock on September 18, 1996 as reported
on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations System.


                                       2
<PAGE>   3
                                     PART II

               INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.     Incorporation of Documents by Reference

       General Magic, Inc. (the "Company") hereby incorporates by reference in
this registration statement the following documents:

       (a) The Company's latest annual report on Form 10-K filed pursuant to
Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the
"Exchange Act"), containing audited financial statements for the Company's
latest fiscal year as filed with the Commission.

       (b) All other reports filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the
Exchange Act since the end of the fiscal year covered by the registrant document
referred to in (a) above.

       (c) The description of the Company's Common Stock contained in the
Company's Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed under the Exchange Act,
including any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such
description.

       All documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections 
13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment to this registration statement which indicates that all
securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all securities
remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this
registration statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such
documents.

Item 4.     Description of Securities

       The class of securities to be offered is registered under Section 12 of
the Exchange Act.

Item 5.     Interests of Named Experts and Counsel

       Not applicable.

Item 6.     Indemnification of Directors and Officers

       Delaware law authorizes corporations to eliminate the personal liability
of directors to corporations and their stockholders for monetary damages for
breach or alleged breach of the directors' "duty of care." While the relevant
statute does not change directors' duty of care, it enables corporations to
limit available relief to equitable remedies such as injunction or rescission.
The statute has no effect on directors' duty of loyalty, acts or omissions not
in good faith or involving intentional misconduct or knowing violations of law,
illegal payment of dividends and approval of any transaction from which a
director derives an improper personal benefit. The Company has adopted
provisions in its Certificate of Incorporation


                                       3
<PAGE>   4
which eliminate the personal liability of its directors to the Company and its
stockholders for monetary damages for breach or alleged breach of their duty of
care. The Bylaws of the Company provide for indemnification of its directors,
officers, employees and agents to the full extent permitted by the General
Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, the Company's state of incorporation,
including those circumstances in which indemnification would otherwise be
discretionary under Delaware Law. Section 145 of the General Corporation Law of
the State of Delaware provides for indemnification in terms sufficiently broad
to indemnify such individuals, under certain circumstances, for liabilities
(including reimbursement of expenses incurred) arising under the Securities Act.

Item 7.     Exemption From Registration Claimed

       Inapplicable.

Item 8.     Exhibits

       See Exhibit Index.

Item 9.     Undertakings

       (a)  Rule 415 Offering

            The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

            (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being
made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

                    (i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3)
of the Securities Act;

                    (ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events
arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most
recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the
aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the
registration statement;

                    (iii) To include any material information with respect to
the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement
or any material change to such information in the registration statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(l)(ii) do not apply if the
registration statement is on Form S-3 or Form S-8, and the information required
to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in
periodic reports filed by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d)
of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the registration
statement.

            (2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new
registration statement 


                                       4
<PAGE>   5
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities
at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

            (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
termination of the offering.

       (b)  Filing incorporating subsequent Exchange Act documents by
reference

            The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the
registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the
Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's
annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is
incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a
new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

       (h)  Request for acceleration of effective date or filing of
            registration statement on Form S-8

            Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the
registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange
Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act
and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification
against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses
incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant
in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such
director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of
such issue.

                                    SIGNATURE

       Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets
all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this
registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto
duly authorized, in the City of Sunnyvale, State of California, on September 23,
1996.

                                     GENERAL MAGIC, INC.

                                          /s/ John C. Zimmerman
                                     By:
                                        ------------------------------------
                                           John C. Zimmerman, Senior Vice
                                           President and Chief Financial Officer


                                        5
<PAGE>   6
                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

      The officers and directors of General Magic, Inc. whose signatures appear
below, hereby constitute and appoint John C. Zimmerman and Mary Doyle, and each
of them, their true and lawful attorneys and agents, with full power of
substitution, each with power to act alone, to sign and execute on behalf of the
undersigned any amendment or amendments to this registration statement on Form
S-8, and each of the undersigned does hereby ratify and confirm all that each of
said attorney and agent, or their, his or her substitutes, shall do or cause to
be done by virtue hereof.

      Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities indicated on September 23, 1996.


Signature                              Title
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

/s/ Steve Markman
- ------------------------------
Steve Markman                          President, Chief Executive Officer and
                                       Chairman of the Board of Directors
                                       (Principal Executive Officer)

/s/ John C. Zimmermann
- ------------------------------
John C. Zimmermann                     Senior Vice President and Chief
                                       Financial Officer (Principal Financial
                                       and Accounting Officer)

/s/ Mary Doyle, Esq.
- ------------------------------
Mary Doyle, Esq.                       General Counsel and Secretary


/s/ Jerry Baker
- ------------------------------
Jerry Baker                            Director


/s/ Carl F. Pascarella
- ------------------------------
Carl F. Pascarella                     Director


/s/ Roel Pieper
- ------------------------------
Roel Pieper                            Director


                                        6
<PAGE>   7
                                  EXHIBIT INDEX

      4.1   Certificate of Incorporation of the Company is incorporated by
            reference to Exhibit 3.2 to the Company's Registration Statement on
            Form S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on
            February 9, 1995 (File No. 33-87164)

      4.2   Certificate of Amendment of Certificate Incorporation of the Company
            is incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.3 to the Company's
            Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities and
            Exchange Commission on February 9, 1995 (File No. 33-87164)

      4.3   Certificate of Correction of Certificate of Amendment of the
            Company

      4.4   Bylaws of the Company are incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.5
            to the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the
            Securities and Exchange Commission on February 9, 1995 (File No.
            33-87164)

      5     Opinion re legality

      23.1  Consent of Counsel (included in Exhibit 5)

      23.2  Consent of Independent Auditors

      24    Power of Attorney (included in signature pages to this
            registration statement)


                                        7
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "description": "FORM S-8", "secsgml_size_bytes": 15900}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "GENERAL MAGIC INC", "cik": "0000933524", "assigned-sic": "7372", "irs-number": "770250147", "state-of-incorporation": "DE", "fiscal-year-end": "1231"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-12667", "film-number": "96634409"}, "business-address": {"street1": "420 N MARY AVE", "city": "SUNNYVALE", "state": "CA", "zip": "94086", "phone": "4087744000"}, "mail-address": {"street1": "420 N MARY AVENUE", "city": "SUNNYVALE", "state": "CA", "zip": "94086"}}
1
                                                   Registration No._____________

                UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM S-8

                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      UNDER
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                               GENERAL MAGIC, INC.
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

                  Delaware                              77-0250147
      (State or other jurisdiction        (I.R.S. employer identification no.)
      of incorporation or organization)

                              420 North Mary Avenue
                               Sunnyvale, CA 94086
               (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

                               GENERAL MAGIC, INC.
                 INDIVIDUAL NONQUALIFIED STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT
                 INDIVIDUAL RESTRICTED STOCK PURCHASE AGREEMENT
                   AMENDED AND RESTATED 1990 STOCK OPTION PLAN
                    1994 OUTSIDE DIRECTORS STOCK OPTION PLAN
                            (Full title of the plan)

                                John C. Zimmerman
                            Senior Vice President and
                             Chief Financial Officer
                               General Magic, Inc.
                              420 North Mary Avenue
                               Sunnyvale, CA 94086
                     (Name and address of agent for service)

Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service:  408/774-4000.

This registration statement, including all exhibits and attachments, contains 11
pages. The exhibit index may be found on page 7 of the consecutively numbered
pages of the registration statement.

This registration statement shall hereafter become effective in accordance with
Rule 462 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

                                        1
2
                         CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Proposed       Proposed
Title of                                                        maximum        maximum
securities                                        Amount        offering       aggregate     Amount of
to be                                             to be         price per      offering      registration
registered                                        registered    share(1)       price         fee
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Individual Stock Option Agreement
Common Stock                                        500,000       $3.75    $ 1,875,000.00    $  646.56
Par Value $.001
(including the option to
acquire such Common Stock)
Individual Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement
Common Stock                                        135,000       $0.10    $    13,500.00    $    4.66
Par Value $.001
(including the right to
acquire such Common Stock)
Amended and Restated 1990 Stock Option Plan
Common Stock                                      2,500,000       $3.81    $ 9,525,000.00    $3,284.51
Par Value $.001
(including options to
acquire such Common Stock)
1994 Outside Directors Stock Option Plan
Common Stock                                        150,000       $3.81    $   571,500.00    $  197.07
Par Value $.001
(including options to
acquire such Common Stock)

TOTAL                                             3,285,000                $11,985,000.00    $4,132.80
- --------

      (1) Estimated pursuant to Rule 457 solely for purposes of calculating the
registration fee. As to outstanding options to purchase the Common Stock and the
agreement to purchase restricted Common Stock, the price is based on the
exercise price. As to the remaining shares, the price is based upon the average
of the high and low prices of the Common Stock on September 18, 1996 as reported
on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations System.

                                       2
3
                                     PART II

               INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.     Incorporation of Documents by Reference

       General Magic, Inc. (the "Company") hereby incorporates by reference in
this registration statement the following documents:

       (a) The Company's latest annual report on Form 10-K filed pursuant to
Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the
"Exchange Act"), containing audited financial statements for the Company's
latest fiscal year as filed with the Commission.

       (b) All other reports filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the
Exchange Act since the end of the fiscal year covered by the registrant document
referred to in (a) above.

       (c) The description of the Company's Common Stock contained in the
Company's Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed under the Exchange Act,
including any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such
description.

       All documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections 
13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment to this registration statement which indicates that all
securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all securities
remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this
registration statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such
documents.

Item 4.     Description of Securities

       The class of securities to be offered is registered under Section 12 of
the Exchange Act.

Item 5.     Interests of Named Experts and Counsel

       Not applicable.

Item 6.     Indemnification of Directors and Officers

       Delaware law authorizes corporations to eliminate the personal liability
of directors to corporations and their stockholders for monetary damages for
breach or alleged breach of the directors' "duty of care." While the relevant
statute does not change directors' duty of care, it enables corporations to
limit available relief to equitable remedies such as injunction or rescission.
The statute has no effect on directors' duty of loyalty, acts or omissions not
in good faith or involving intentional misconduct or knowing violations of law,
illegal payment of dividends and approval of any transaction from which a
director derives an improper personal benefit. The Company has adopted
provisions in its Certificate of Incorporation

                                       3
4
which eliminate the personal liability of its directors to the Company and its
stockholders for monetary damages for breach or alleged breach of their duty of
care. The Bylaws of the Company provide for indemnification of its directors,
officers, employees and agents to the full extent permitted by the General
Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, the Company's state of incorporation,
including those circumstances in which indemnification would otherwise be
discretionary under Delaware Law. Section 145 of the General Corporation Law of
the State of Delaware provides for indemnification in terms sufficiently broad
to indemnify such individuals, under certain circumstances, for liabilities
(including reimbursement of expenses incurred) arising under the Securities Act.

Item 7.     Exemption From Registration Claimed

       Inapplicable.

Item 8.     Exhibits

       See Exhibit Index.

Item 9.     Undertakings

       (a)  Rule 415 Offering

            The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

            (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being
made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

                    (i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3)
of the Securities Act;

                    (ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events
arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most
recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the
aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the
registration statement;

                    (iii) To include any material information with respect to
the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement
or any material change to such information in the registration statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(l)(ii) do not apply if the
registration statement is on Form S-3 or Form S-8, and the information required
to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in
periodic reports filed by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d)
of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the registration
statement.

            (2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new
registration statement 

                                       4
5
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities
at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

            (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
termination of the offering.

       (b)  Filing incorporating subsequent Exchange Act documents by
reference

            The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the
registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the
Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's
annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is
incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a
new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

       (h)  Request for acceleration of effective date or filing of
            registration statement on Form S-8

            Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the
registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange
Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act
and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification
against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses
incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant
in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such
director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being
registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter
has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public
policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of
such issue.

                                    SIGNATURE

       Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets
all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this
registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto
duly authorized, in the City of Sunnyvale, State of California, on September 23,
1996.

                                     GENERAL MAGIC, INC.

                                          /s/ John C. Zimmerman
                                     By:
                                        ------------------------------------
                                           John C. Zimmerman, Senior Vice
                                           President and Chief Financial Officer

                                        5
6
                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

      The officers and directors of General Magic, Inc. whose signatures appear
below, hereby constitute and appoint John C. Zimmerman and Mary Doyle, and each
of them, their true and lawful attorneys and agents, with full power of
substitution, each with power to act alone, to sign and execute on behalf of the
undersigned any amendment or amendments to this registration statement on Form
S-8, and each of the undersigned does hereby ratify and confirm all that each of
said attorney and agent, or their, his or her substitutes, shall do or cause to
be done by virtue hereof.

      Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities indicated on September 23, 1996.

Signature                              Title
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

/s/ Steve Markman
- ------------------------------
Steve Markman                          President, Chief Executive Officer and
                                       Chairman of the Board of Directors
                                       (Principal Executive Officer)

/s/ John C. Zimmermann
- ------------------------------
John C. Zimmermann                     Senior Vice President and Chief
                                       Financial Officer (Principal Financial
                                       and Accounting Officer)

/s/ Mary Doyle, Esq.
- ------------------------------
Mary Doyle, Esq.                       General Counsel and Secretary

/s/ Jerry Baker
- ------------------------------
Jerry Baker                            Director

/s/ Carl F. Pascarella
- ------------------------------
Carl F. Pascarella                     Director

/s/ Roel Pieper
- ------------------------------
Roel Pieper                            Director

                                        6
7
                                  EXHIBIT INDEX

      4.1   Certificate of Incorporation of the Company is incorporated by
            reference to Exhibit 3.2 to the Company's Registration Statement on
            Form S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on
            February 9, 1995 (File No. 33-87164)

      4.2   Certificate of Amendment of Certificate Incorporation of the Company
            is incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.3 to the Company's
            Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities and
            Exchange Commission on February 9, 1995 (File No. 33-87164)

      4.3   Certificate of Correction of Certificate of Amendment of the
            Company

      4.4   Bylaws of the Company are incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.5
            to the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the
            Securities and Exchange Commission on February 9, 1995 (File No.
            33-87164)

      5     Opinion re legality

      23.1  Consent of Counsel (included in Exhibit 5)

      23.2  Consent of Independent Auditors

      24    Power of Attorney (included in signature pages to this
            registration statement)

                                        7