While compatible with earlier Apple II systems, the IIGS had significantly different hardware, more in league with the Atari ST and Amiga. The Apple II was first sold on June 10, 1977.
This discouraged the copying or modifying of the software on the disks, and improved loading speed. ==Models== ===Apple II=== The first Apple II computers went on sale on June 10, 1977 with a MOS Technology 6502 (later Synertek) microprocessor running at 1.023 MHz, 4 KB of RAM, an audio cassette interface for loading programs and storing data, and the Integer BASIC programming language built into the ROMs.
From 1977 to 1981, Apple used the Regis McKenna agency for its advertisements and marketing.
For several years up until the late 1980s, Apple used the Motter Tektura font for packaging, until changing to the Apple Garamond font. Apple ran the first advertisement for the Apple II, a two-page spread ad titled "Introducing Apple II", in BYTE in July 1977.
Wozniak spent the 1977 Christmas holidays designing a disk controller that reduced the number of chips used by a factor of 10 compared to existing controllers.
The only form of storage available was cassette tape. When the Disk II floppy disk drive was released in 1978, a new operating system, Apple DOS, was commissioned from Shepardson Microsystems and developed by Paul Laughton, adding support for the disk drive.
On April 10, 1978 Apple signed a contract for $13,000 with Sheperdson to develop the DOS. Even after disk drives made the cassette tape interfaces obsolete they were still used by enthusiasts as simple one-bit audio input-output ports.
Music Kaleidoscope was especially popular on projection TV sets in dance halls. ===Disk=== Apple and many third-party developers made software available on tape at first, but after the Disk II became available in 1978, tape-based Apple II software essentially disappeared from the market.
The effort to develop educational and business software for the Apple II, including the 1979 release of the popular VisiCalc spreadsheet, made the computer especially popular with business users and families. Despite the introduction of the Motorola 68000-based Macintosh in 1984, the Apple II series still reportedly accounted for 85% of the company's hardware sales in the first quarter of fiscal 1985.
By 1984, over six million machines had been sold. ===Apple II Plus=== The Apple II Plus, introduced in June 1979, included the Applesoft BASIC programming language in ROM.
====Apple II Europlus and J-Plus==== After the success of the first Apple II in the United States, Apple expanded its market to include Europe, Australia and the Far East in 1979, with the Apple II Europlus (Europe, Australia) and the Apple II J-Plus (Japan).
The Apple II was one of the longest running mass-produced home computer series, with models in production for just under 17 years. The Apple II became one of several recognizable and successful computers during the 1980s and early 1990s, although this was mainly limited to the US.
RAM prices fell during 1980–81 and all II+ machines came from the factory with a full 48k of memory already installed.
For several years up until the late 1980s, Apple used the Motter Tektura font for packaging, until changing to the Apple Garamond font. Apple ran the first advertisement for the Apple II, a two-page spread ad titled "Introducing Apple II", in BYTE in July 1977.
Pearcom initially used a pear shaped rainbow logo, but stopped after Apple threatened to take legal action. 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.
In the early 1980s, there were around 20 different clones of Apple II Plus computers in that country, all of them using illegally copied software and hardware (since the Apple II and II Plus used commonly available TTL integrated circuits).
By the end of 1980 Apple had already sold over 100,000 Apple IIs.
The Apple II series eventually supported over 1,500 software programs. Apple marketed the machine as a durable product, including a 1981 ad in which an Apple II survived a fire started when a cat belonging to one early user knocked over a lamp. == Software == The original Apple II provided an operating system in ROM along with a BASIC variant called Integer BASIC.
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. The original Apple II was discontinued at the start of 1981, having been superseded by the Apple II+.
From 1977 to 1981, Apple used the Regis McKenna agency for its advertisements and marketing.
In 1981, Chiat-Day acquired Regis McKenna's advertising operations and Apple used Chiat-Day.
The total Apple II sales of all of its models during its 16-year production run were about 6 million units, with the peak occurring in 1983 when 1 million were sold. ==Hardware== All the machines in the series, except the //c, shared similar overall design elements.
In these models, Apple made the necessary hardware, software and firmware changes in order to comply to standards outside of the US. ===Apple IIe=== The Apple II Plus was followed in 1983 by the Apple IIe, a cost-reduced yet more powerful machine that used newer chips to reduce the component count and add new features, such as the display of upper and lowercase letters and a standard 64 KB of RAM. The IIe RAM was configured as if it were a 48 KB Apple II Plus with a language card.
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." DOS 3.3 was succeeded by ProDOS, a 1983 descendant of the Apple ///'s SOS.
The effort to develop educational and business software for the Apple II, including the 1979 release of the popular VisiCalc spreadsheet, made the computer especially popular with business users and families. Despite the introduction of the Motorola 68000-based Macintosh in 1984, the Apple II series still reportedly accounted for 85% of the company's hardware sales in the first quarter of fiscal 1985.
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. Apple eventually released Applesoft BASIC, a more advanced variant of the language which users could run instead of Integer BASIC for more capabilities. Some commercial Apple II software booted directly and did not use standard DOS disk formats.
By 1984, over six million machines had been sold. ===Apple II Plus=== The Apple II Plus, introduced in June 1979, included the Applesoft BASIC programming language in ROM.
Apple successfully forced the "Pineapple," for instance, to change its name to "Pinecom". Agat was a series of Apple II compatible computers produced in the Soviet Union between 1984 and 1993, widely used in schools in the 80's.
Franklin Computer Corp.) Franklin later released non-infringing but less-compatible clones; these could run ProDOS and AppleWorks and had an Applesoft-like BASIC, but compatibility with other software was hit-or-miss. Apple also challenged VTech's Laser 128, an enhanced clone of the Apple IIc first released in 1984, in court.
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. Norwegian company West Computer AS introduced an Apple II clone West PC-800 in 1984.
The effort to develop educational and business software for the Apple II, including the 1979 release of the popular VisiCalc spreadsheet, made the computer especially popular with business users and families. Despite the introduction of the Motorola 68000-based Macintosh in 1984, the Apple II series still reportedly accounted for 85% of the company's hardware sales in the first quarter of fiscal 1985.
Through 1988, a number of models were introduced, with the most popular, the Apple IIe, remaining relatively unchanged into the 1990s. A 16-bit model with much more advanced graphics and sound, the Apple IIGS, was added in 1986.
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. Apple eventually released Applesoft BASIC, a more advanced variant of the language which users could run instead of Integer BASIC for more capabilities. Some commercial Apple II software booted directly and did not use standard DOS disk formats.
The IIc had an external power supply that converted AC power to 12 V DC, allowing third parties to offer battery packs and automobile power adapters that connected in place of the supplied AC adapter. ===Apple IIGS=== The Apple IIGS, released on September 15, 1986, was the last model in the Apple II series, and a radical departure from the prior computers in the line.
Through 1988, a number of models were introduced, with the most popular, the Apple IIe, remaining relatively unchanged into the 1990s. A 16-bit model with much more advanced graphics and sound, the Apple IIGS, was added in 1986.
Through 1988, a number of models were introduced, with the most popular, the Apple IIe, remaining relatively unchanged into the 1990s. A 16-bit model with much more advanced graphics and sound, the Apple IIGS, was added in 1986.
The Apple II was one of the longest running mass-produced home computer series, with models in production for just under 17 years. The Apple II became one of several recognizable and successful computers during the 1980s and early 1990s, although this was mainly limited to the US.
The Apple IIc Plus ceased production in 1990, with its two-year production run being the shortest of all the Apple II computers. ===Apple IIe Card=== Although not an extension of the Apple II line, in 1990 the Apple IIe Card, an expansion card for the LC line of Macintosh computers, was released.
Well into the 1990s every clean-room (the super-clean facility where spacecraft are prepared for flight) at the Kennedy Space Center used an Apple II to monitor the environment and air quality.
Apple continued to sell Apple II systems alongside the Macintosh until terminating the IIGS in December 1992 and the IIe in November 1993.
The Medfly computer featured a faster processor, more memory, detached keyboard, lower and upper case characters, and a built-in disk controller. Until 1992 in Brazil, it was illegal to import microcomputers.
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.
Apple continued to sell Apple II systems alongside the Macintosh until terminating the IIGS in December 1992 and the IIe in November 1993.
The last II-series Apple in production, the IIe card for Macintoshes, was discontinued on October 15, 1993.
Apple successfully forced the "Pineapple," for instance, to change its name to "Pinecom". Agat was a series of Apple II compatible computers produced in the Soviet Union between 1984 and 1993, widely used in schools in the 80's.
To reflect the computer's color graphics capability, the Apple logo on the casing was represented using rainbow stripes, which remained a part of Apple's corporate logo until early 1998.
Many schools had a few of these Black Apples in their labs. ITT made the ITT 2020, a licensed Apple II Plus clone, in the UK.
Software using the BIOS worked correctly on both the Apple and ITT, but software written to access the Apple's display hardware directly, bypassing the BIOS, displayed with vertical stripes on the ITT 2020.
The Apple II itself was later introduced in the UK, and both the Apple II and ITT 2020 were sold for a time, the ITT at a lower price. Syscom 2 Inc (from Carson City, NV) created the Syscom 2 Apple II+ clone.
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