This article is about the computer hardware company. For the engineering field, see Applied engineering (field).
Applied Engineering, headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, was a leading third-party hardware vendor for the Apple II series of computers from the early 1980s until the mid-1990s.
In its day, Applied Engineering built a solid reputation among Apple II owners for their innovation, excellent build quality, and generous warranty support. AE was quick to fill in gaps in the market for Apple II add-on boards and expansion options, often developing products for the Apple II line that neither Apple Computer nor other third-party vendors offered.
By the early 1990s, as Apple Computer, Inc., began to withdraw support for the Apple II series and focus on the Macintosh line, the market for Apple II hardware and software began to wane. Many Apple II users began to migrate to other platforms, such as the Macintosh and IBM PC-compatibles. In an attempt to capitalize on its well-known brand name among previous Apple II owners, Applied Engineering began to market products for the Macintosh and CommodoreAmiga lines. However, because of stiff competition in already active markets, and AE's late entries, Applied Engineering could not duplicate the success it had experienced with the Apple II. Around the same time, cost-cutting measures were implemented, such as shortening warranty periods, charging for technical support (via a 1-900 number) and a using inferior parts, turning off loyal and long-time customers. Eventually dwindling Apple II sales and a failure to shift into other markets caused Applied Engineering to go out of business by 1994.
Product offerings
Some of Applied Engineering's best-known products for the Apple II included:
PC Transporter—NEC V30 (Intel 8086-compatible) card that allowed Apple IIs to run MS-DOS programs
The TransWarp family of Apple II accelerators consisted of multiple products. The original TransWarp took over from the standard 1-MHz 6502 or 65C02 used in the Apple IIe with a 3.6 MHz version of the 65C02 (which could also be run at 1.8 MHz, selectable through hardware) and turned on and off completely through software. The TransWarp was later followed by a TransWarp II and TransWarp III, the latter of which was announced but never actually went into production. With Apple Computer's release of the Apple IIGS, Applied Engineering followed with a TransWarp GS, which provided an accelerated version of the 65C816 processor on which the IIGS was based.
Multi-function cards were a mainstay of AE's product offerings, of which the Serial Pro serial interface card was a typical example. Besides offering a standard RS-232 serial port, the card included a ProDOS-compatible real-time clock, thus combining two cards into one and freeing up an extra slot. When used with a dot-matrix printer, the Serial Pro offered several screen-dump print options, such as printing either of the two Apple II high-resolution pages alone, both in a single dump, or the first high-res page rotated or inverted.
Z-RAM, Z-RAM Ultra, Z-RAM Ultra II, Z-RAM Ultra III — Memory expansion card
RAM Express, RAM Express II — Memory expansion card (the RAM Express is an Apple-branded IIc RAM card with Applied Engineering stickers applied to cover the Apple logo)
Z-80c — CP/M card
Apple IIGS
TransWarp GS — Apple IIGS accelerator card
GS-RAM, GS-RAM Ultra, GS-RAM Plus — Apple IIGS memory expansion cards. The cards hold 1.5MB, 4MB, and 6MB respectively.
RamKeeper — Battery backed RAM drive for the Apple IIGS
Sonic Blaster — Apple IIGS sound card
Audio Animator — Apple IIGS sound card with external audio mixer and MIDI I/O
Conserver — Integrated disk drive organizer, surge protector, and cooling fan
Miscellaneous
AE 1.6-MB Drive — 1.6-MB, 3.5-inch floppy drive for IIGS (Apple's 3.5-inch drives for the Apple II stopped at 800 kB; GS/OS driver needed for 1.6-MB utilization)
AE 1.44-MB Drive — 1.44-MB, 3.5-inch floppy drive for Commodore-Amiga 500, 2000 beat Commodore's own high density drive to market. Not compatible with the 1.76 mb Amiga Chinon high density floppy.
AE 800-KB Drive — 800-KB, 3.5-inch floppy drive for IIe, IIc/IIc Plus, and IIGS
TransWarp — 16 and 40 MHz accelerator boards for Macintosh SE
ReactiveMicro.com AE hardware supplier for TransWarp GS 32KB Cache Board, other TransWarp GS upgrades and GS RAM Plus PAL for ROM0/1 and ROM3 compatibility.
16Sector.com Apple II Hardware supplier & Support site for AE Hardware / Software and other Apple II hardware.
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