Apple II
First computer model in the Apple II series / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Apple II (stylized as apple ][) is an early personal computer that was created by Apple Inc. It was one of the first successful mass-produced microcomputer products, and it played a significant role in the early development of the personal computer industry.[3] It has an 8-bit microprocessor.
Developer | Steve Wozniak (lead designer) |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Apple Computer, Inc. |
Product family | Apple II series |
Release date | June 1977; 46 years ago (1977-06)[1] |
Introductory price | US$1,298 (equivalent to $6,530 in 2023) |
Discontinued | May 1979; 44 years ago (1979-05) |
Operating system | Integer BASIC / Apple DOS |
CPU | MOS Technology 6502 @ 1.023 MHz |
Memory | 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 32, 36, 48, or 64 KiB |
Storage | Audio cassette, Disk II (5.25-inch, 140 KB, Apple) |
Display | NTSC video out (built-in RCA connector) |
Graphics | Lo-res: 40×48, 16-color Hi-res: 280×192, 8-color[2] |
Sound | 1-bit speaker (built-in) 1-bit cassette input (built-in microphone jack) 1-bit cassette output (built-in headphone jack) |
Input | Upper-case keyboard, 52 keys |
Controller input | Paddles |
Connectivity | Parallel port card (Apple and third party); Serial port card (Apple and third party); SCSI |
Predecessor | Apple I |
Successor | Apple II Plus |
The Apple II was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-molded plastic case,[4] Rod Holt developed the switching power supply,[5] while Steve Jobs was not involved in the design or development of the computer.[6] It was introduced by Jobs and Wozniak at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire, and marks Apple's first launch of a personal computer aimed at a consumer market—branded toward American households rather than businessmen or computer hobbyists.[7]
Byte magazine referred to the Apple II, Commodore PET 2001, and TRS-80 as the "1977 Trinity".[8] As the Apple II had the defining feature of being able to display color graphics, the Apple logo was redesigned to have a spectrum of colors.[9][10]
The Apple II is the first model in the Apple II series, followed by Apple II+, Apple IIe, Apple IIc, Apple IIc Plus, and the 16-bit Apple IIGS—all of which remained compatible. Production of the last available model, Apple IIe, ceased in November 1993.[11]
The Apple II is widely regarded as one of the most important personal computers of all time due to its role in popularizing home computing and influencing later software development.[12][13][14][15]