apple ii series

The text mode and low-res graphics mode use the same memory region and the same circuitry is used for both. List of publications and periodicals devoted to the Apple II, "Total share: 30 years of personal computer market share figures", "June 10, 1978 - Apple II Released Today", "4-The Apple II, cont. The video controller displayed 40 columns by 24 lines of monochrome, upper-case-only (the original character set matches ASCII characters 0x20 to 0x5F) text on the screen, with NTSC composite video output suitable for display on a TV monitor, or on a regular TV set by way of a separate RF modulator. [citation needed] Most planetariums used Apple IIs to control their projectors and other equipment. Today, emulators for various Apple II models are available to run Apple II software on macOS, Linux, Microsoft Windows, homebrew enabled Nintendo DS and other operating systems. The Z80 card also allowed the connection to a modem, and thereby to any networks that a user might have access to. The office, the home and the 'office-in-the-home' were implicated in these changing spheres of gender stereotypes and technological development. Through 1988, a number of models were introduced, with the most popular, the Apple IIe, remaining relatively unchanged into the 1990s. This, combined with the 65816's ability to execute 65C02 code directly, provided full support for legacy software, while also supporting 16-bit software running under a new OS. Between September 1977 and September 1980, annual sales grew from $775,000 to $118 million. The pioneering spreadsheet Visicalc gave the machine an early advantage that it never relinquished to any other 8-bit machine. There was also a third-party 6809 card that allowed OS-9 Level One to be run. The first 1,000 or so Apple IIs shipped in 1977 with a 68-page mimeographed "Apple II Mini Manual", hand-bound with brass paper fasteners. The reason for such activity was so that users could obtain a fully Apple-compatible clone for usually around US$600, as opposed to US$2500 from Apple. Retail price:$1195. Approximately 380,000 II Pluses were sold during its four years in production before being replaced by the IIe in 1983. Later, double-sided drives, with heads to read both sides of the disk, became available from third-party companies. SEKON avoided shipments being confiscated by US Customs, by shipping their computers without ROMS, leaving it to the dealers to populate the boards upon arrival to their private stores. Agats were not direct clones of Apple II, but rather uniquely designed computers based on 6502 CPU and emulated Apple II architecture. [2][3] By the end of production in 1993, somewhere between five and six million Apple II series computers (including about 1.25 million Apple IIGS models) had been produced. The Laser 128 proved popular and remained on the market for many years, both in its original form and in accelerated versions that ran faster than 1 MHz. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Steve Jobs oversaw the development of Apple II's foam-molded plastic case and Rod Holt developed the switching power supply. But I always enjoy learning more about the era of the Apple II and its competition and getting new information or new points of view. Pearcom initially used a pear shaped rainbow logo, but stopped after Apple threatened to take legal action. - Product Introduction", "Blisters And Frustration: Joysticks, Paddles, Buttons and Game Port Extenders for Apple, Atari and VIC", "The origins of sub-pixel font rendering", http://www.computer-museum.ru/histsoft/informatika_sorucom_2011.htm, Additional documentation in Bitsavers PDF Document archive, Apple IIGS with limited edition signed case, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Apple_II&oldid=1006331722, Articles needing additional references from September 2020, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 4KiB, 8KiB, 12KiB, 16KiB, 20KiB, 24KiB, 32KiB, 36KiB, 48KiB, or 64KiB. [55][56] Another company, Diamond Computer Systems, produced a similar card called the Trackstar, that had a dual pair of 6502 CPUs, and ran Apple II software using an Apple licensed ROM. [54] Because it had a dedicated processor, rather than any form of software emulation, this system ran at nearly the same speed as an equivalent Apple machine. Many of the LC's built-in Macintosh peripherals could be "borrowed" by the card when in Apple II mode (i.e. "Kunkel, Paul, AppleDesign: The work of the Apple Industrial Design Group, with photographs by Rick English, New York: Graphis, 1997, p.30. According to some sources (see below), more than 190 different models of Apple II clones were manufactured. An "extended 80-column card" with more memory increased the machine's RAM to 128 KB. [citation needed], Until 1992 in Brazil, it was illegal to import microcomputers. [25] During this period the sole products of the company were Apple II and its peripherals, accessories, and software. Apple Watch SE promotional pricing is after trade‑in of Apple Watch Series 2 in good condition. The new OS eventually included a Macintosh-like graphical Finder for managing disks and files and opening documents and applications, along with desk accessories. "The Making of the Apple IIGS", Learn how and when to remove this template message. The first production Apple II computers had hand-molded cases; these had visible bubbles and other lumps in them from the imperfect plastic molding process, which was soon switched to machine molding. The Apple II Plus, introduced in June 1979,[26][27][28][29] included the Applesoft BASIC programming language in ROM. DOS 3.3 did not support these drives natively; third-party software was required, and disks larger than about 400 KB had to be split up into multiple "virtual disk volumes.". Unlike most machines, all integrated circuits on the Apple II PCB were socketed; although this cost more to manufacture and created the possibility of loose chips causing a system malfunction, it was considered preferable to make servicing and replacement of bad chips easier. IRIS 8 machines looked like early IBM PCs, with a separate central unit accompanied by a cooling system and two 5.25-inch disks, monitor, and keyboard. Its price was within the reach of many middle-class families, and a partnership with MECC helped make the Apple II popular in schools. [citation needed]. Early Apple II games from the 1977–79 period often ran only in text or low-resolution mode in order to support users with small memory configurations; HGR not being near universally supported by games until 1980. This also allowed for subpixel font rendering, since orange and blue pixels appear half a pixel-width farther to the right on the screen than green and purple pixels. "Apple 2" redirects here. Written by Wozniak, the interpreter enabled users to write software applications without needing to purchase additional development utilities. Apple II - 1977 The Apple II, or Apple ] [, became one of the most popular computers ever. Most drives, even Disk IIs, could write 36 tracks; a two byte modification to DOS to format the extra track was common. The Apple II series (trademarked with square brackets as "Apple ][" and rendered on later models as "Apple //") is a family of home computers, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products,[1] designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.), and launched in 1977 with the original Apple II. Save $96.01. On a DOS 3.x disk, tracks 0, 1, and most of track 2 were reserved to store the operating system. The original Apple II provided an operating system in ROM along with a BASIC variant called Integer BASIC. [citation needed], Another European Apple II clone was the Pearcom Pear II, which was larger as the original as it sported not eight but fourteen expansion slots. Subdirectories were not supported. Models in this Series: Apple II: basic system, came with 4-64k RAM, and ran Integer BASIC. The Apple II introduction ad was later run in the September 1977 issue of Scientific American. The three smallest memory configurations used 4kx1 DRAMs, with larger ones using 16kx1 DRAMs, or mix of 4-kilobyte and 16-kilobyte banks (the chips in any one bank have to be the same size). [47], A Bosnian company named IRIS Computers (subsidiary of an electric company in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Yugoslavia ENERGOINVEST) produced Apple II clones starting in the early 1980s. The magazine praised the sophisticated monitor software, user expandability, and comprehensive documentation. Bob Bishop's "Music Kaleidoscope" was a simple program that monitored the cassette input port and based on zero-crossings created color patterns on the screen, a predecessor to current audio visualization plug-ins for media players. He employed a switched-mode power supply design, which was far smaller and generated less unwanted heat than the linear power supply some other home computers used. [15] The final and most popular version of this software was Apple DOS 3.3. The uses of common consumer cassette recorders and a standard video monitor or television set (with a third party R-F modulator) made the total cost of owning an Apple II less expensive and helped contribute to the Apple II's success. That helped developers to port Apple II software titles to Agat. These patterns are stored in the character generator ROM, and replace the text character bit patterns when the computer is switched to low-res graphics mode. When Apple II initially shipped in June 1977, no expansion cards were available for the slots. The Macintosh II was the first series of Macs to be easily customizable and expandable, and likewise, appealed to business and graphic design customers who had specific and demanding needs. The original offered 64K of usable Apple II RAM, while the other models 128K RAM (192K is on board, with the additional memory reserved for the Trackstar itself). Unlike the IIe IIc and IIGS, the IIc Plus came only in one version (American) and was not officially sold anywhere outside the US. A Franklin model, the Ace 1000, sported a numeric keypad and lower-case long before these features were added to the Apple II line. User rating, 4.9 out of 5 stars with 14 reviews. The player controls a gun turret at the bottom of the screen by either keyboard, paddle control, or a single axis of a joystick. The aircraft can record the original satellite observation data, camera exposure parameters and various other data. This was the basis for the Apple II Reference Manual, which was published in January 1978. The coarse, low-resolution graphics display mode works differently, as it can output a pattern of dots per pixel to offer more color options. [citation needed], The Ace clones from Franklin Computer Corporation were the best known Apple II clones and had the most lasting impact, as Franklin copied Apple's ROMs and software and freely admitted to doing so. It was sold from June 1979 to December 1982. Revision 0 Apple IIs could display only four colors in hi-res mode, but Wozniak was able to increase this to six hi-res colors on later board revisions. [5] The earliest Apple II computers were assembled in Silicon Valley and later in Texas;[8] printed circuit boards were manufactured in Ireland and Singapore. Its success drove IBM in part to create the IBM PC, which many businesses purchased to run spreadsheet and word processing software, at first ported from Apple II versions. Unlike previous Apple II models, the IIc had no internal expansion slots at all. The first computers went on sale on June 10, 1977[9][10] with an MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor running at 1.022,727 MHz (​2⁄7 of the NTSC color carrier), two game paddles[11] (bundled until 1980, when they were found to violate FCC regulations),[12] 4 KiB of RAM, an audio cassette interface for loading programs and storing data, and the Integer BASIC programming language built into ROMs. SKU: 6392443. The Apple II (stylized as apple ][) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. [citation needed], Syscom 2 Inc (from Carson City, NV) created the Syscom 2 Apple II+ clone. The Soviet Union electronics industry designed the mostly Apple II-compatible computer Agat 7, producing a similar computer known as the Agat. In 1981, Chiat-Day acquired Regis McKenna's advertising operations and Apple used Chiat-Day. [citation needed], An Australian-produced clone of the Apple II was the Medfly, named after the Mediterranean fruit fly that attacks apples. Essentially a miniaturized Apple IIe computer on a card (using the Mega II chip from the Apple IIGS), it allowed the Macintosh to run 8-bit Apple IIe software through hardware emulation (although video was emulated in software and was slower at times than a IIe). "[6] Apple II had the defining feature of being able to display color graphics, and this was why the Apple logo was redesigned to have a spectrum of colors. Geek Squad Certified Refurbished Apple Watch Series 5 (GPS) 44mm Space Gray Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - Space Gray Aluminum. This Microsoft-authored dialect of BASIC, which was previously available as an upgrade, supported floating-point arithmetic, and became the standard BASIC dialect on the Apple II series (though it ran at a noticeably slower speed than Steve Wozniak's Integer BASIC). For the nuclear test during Operation Teapot, see, This article is about the first mass-produced Apple computer. [17], Apple II at first used data cassette storage, like most other microcomputers of the time. Although it was not fully compatible with the Apple II, it was close, and its popularity ensured that most major developers tested their software on a Laser as well as on genuine Apple machines. Wozniak's open-architecture design and Apple II's multiple expansion slots permitted a wide variety of third-party devices, including peripheral cards, such as serial controllers, display controllers, memory boards, hard disks, networking components, and real-time clocks. The IIe RAM was configured as if it were a 48 KB Apple II Plus with a language card. The Apple II's lack of a disk drive was "a glaring weakness" in what was otherwise intended to be a polished, professional product. The directory was fixed in size and could hold a maximum of 105 files. [citation needed] Unlike preceding home microcomputers, it was sold as a finished consumer appliance rather than as a kit (unassembled or preassembled). ", "June 10, 1977 - Apple II Released Today", "4-The Apple II, cont. In addition, the Laser IIc was manufactured by Milmar and, despite the name, was a clone of the Apple II Plus, not of the Apple IIc, although it had a design similar to that of the Apple IIc, with an integrated floppy controller and 80-column card, but without an integrated floppy disk drive. Taking advantage of the way the 6502 processor accesses memory: it occurs only on alternate phases of the clock cycle; video generation circuitry memory access on the otherwise unused phase avoids memory contention issues and interruptions of the video stream. [37] For several years up until the late 1980s, Apple used the Motter Tektura font for packaging, until changing to the Apple Garamond font. It added support for subdirectories and volumes up to 32 MB in size. Music Kaleidoscope was especially popular on projection TV sets in dance halls. The first peripheral card was a blank prototyping card intended for electronics enthusiasts who wanted to design their own peripherals for the Apple II. [50], The SEKON, made in Taiwan, had the same color plastic case as an Apple ][, sported 48 KB of RAM standard, and a lower-uppercase switch, located where the power light indicator was typically situated on Apple II's. Some commercial Apple II software booted directly and did not use standard DOS disk formats. This also served to discourage "crackers" from snooping around in the game's copy-protection code, since the data on the disk was not in files that could be accessed easily. [citation needed]. Because of that, the illegal cloning industry of Apple II-based computers was strong there. VisiCalc is credited as the defining killer app in the microcomputer industry. Apple eventually released Applesoft BASIC, a more advanced variant of the language which users could run instead of Integer BASIC for more capabilities. Apple Watch Series 6 promotional pricing is after trade‑in of Apple Watch Series 4 in good condition. Although it sold well from the launch, the initial market was to hobbyists and computer enthusiasts. Color on the Apple II series uses a quirk of the NTSC television signal standard, which made color display relatively easy and inexpensive to implement. [23] The magazine published a favorable review of the computer in March 1978, concluding: "For the user that wants color graphics, the Apple II is the only practical choice available in the 'appliance' computer class. All existing customers who sent in their warranty cards, were sent free copies of the Red Book. The Apple II (stylized as Apple ] [ and later as Apple //) was one of the first highly successful mass produced microcomputer series, manufactured by Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) and introduced in 1977. With an optional third-party Z80-based expansion card,[16] the Apple II could boot into the CP/M operating system and run WordStar, dBase II, and other CP/M software. With the release of MousePaint in 1984 and the Apple IIGS in 1986, the platform took on the look of the Macintosh user interface, including a mouse. The result was a futuristic-looking molded white plastic case. Original Apple IIs had jumper switches to adjust RAM size, and RAM configurations could be 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 32, 36, or 48 KiB. The Apple Disk II stored 140 KB on single-sided, "single-density" floppy disks, but it was very common for Apple II users to extend the capacity of a single-sided floppy disk to 280 KB by cutting out a second write-protect notch on the side of the disk using a "disk notcher" or hole puncher and inserting the disk flipped over. While compatible with earlier Apple II systems, the IIGS had significantly different hardware, more in league with the Atari ST and Amiga. HARP).[62]. Double-sided disks, with notches on both sides, were available at a higher price, but in practice the magnetic coating on the reverse of nominally single-sided disks was usually of good enough quality to be used (both sides were coated in the same way to prevent warping, although only one side was certified for use). The final Apple II model was the Apple IIc Plus introduced in 1988. Because it was frequently sold via mail order and mass-market retailers such as Sears, the Laser 128 cut into the sales of low-cost competitors such as Commodore Business Machines as much as it did Apple's. By 1984, over six million machines had been sold.[25]. [14] To reflect the computer's color graphics capability, the Apple logo on the casing had rainbow stripes,[15] which remained a part of Apple's corporate logo until early 1998. Some of the feature of the IIe were carried over from the less successful Apple III, among them the ProDOS operating system. The Disk II interface, created by Wozniak, is regarded as an engineering masterpiece for its economy of electronic components.[18][19]. For the original model, see. After about two years, DOS 3.3 was introduced, storing 140 KB thanks to a minor firmware change on the disk controller that allowed it to store 16 sectors per track. [40], The Apple II was frequently cloned, both in the United States and abroad, in a similar way to the IBM PC. The first spreadsheet application, VisiCalc,[61] was initially released for the Apple II, and many businesses bought them just to run VisiCalc. This logo was developed simultaneously with an advertisement and a brochure; the latter being produced for distribution initially at the first West Coast Computer Faire. ProDOS became the Apple II DOS of choice; AppleWorks and other newer programs required it. Sabotage is a 1981 computer game for the Apple II family of computers, written by Mark Allen and published by On-Line Systems. It was among the first home computers on the market, and became one of the most recognizable and successful.

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