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Manufacturer | Apple Computer |
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Product family | Apple II |
Release date | June 1979 [1] |
Introductory price | US$1,195(equivalent to $5,020 in 2023) |
Discontinued | December 1982 [1] |
Operating system | Apple DOS (originally optional; later stock) Apple Pascal (optional) Apple ProDOS (optional) |
CPU | MOS Technology 6502 @ 1.023 MHz |
Memory | 16 KB, 32 KB, 48 KB, or 64 KB |
Storage | Disk II (5.25", 140 KB, Apple, later stock) ProFile (5 or 10 MB, Apple) UniDisk 3.5 (3.5", 800 KB, Apple) |
Display | NTSC video out (built-in RCA connector) |
Graphics | Lo-Res (40×48, 16 color) Hi-Res (280×192, 6 color) |
Sound | 1-bit speaker (built-in) 1-bit cassette input (built-in microphone jack) 1-bit cassette output (built-in headphone jack) |
Input | Uppercase keyboard, 52 keys |
Controller input | Paddles (Apple and third party) Joystick (Apple and third party) Apple Mouse (Apple) |
Touchpad | KoalaPad graphics pad/touchpad (third party) |
Connectivity | Parallel port card (Apple and third party) Serial port card (Apple and third party) |
Backward compatibility | Apple II (if Language Card installed) |
Predecessor | Apple II |
Successor | Apple III (intended), Apple IIe |
Related | Applesoft BASIC |
The Apple II Plus (stylized as Apple ][+ or apple ][ plus) is the second model of the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. It was sold from June 1979 to December 1982. [1] Approximately 380,000 II Pluses were sold during its four years in production before being replaced by the Apple IIe in January 1983.
The Apple II Plus shipped with 16 KB, 32 KB or 48 KB of main RAM, expandable to 64 KB by means of the Language Card, an expansion card that could be installed in the computer's slot 0. The Apple's 6502 microprocessor could support a maximum of 64 KB of address space, and a machine with 48 KB RAM reached this limit because of the additional 12 KB of read-only memory and 4 KB of I/O addresses. For this reason, the extra RAM in the language card was bank-switched over the machine's built-in ROM, allowing code loaded into the additional memory to be used as if it actually were ROM. Users could thus load Integer BASIC into the language card from disk and switch between the Integer and Applesoft dialects of BASIC with DOS 3.3's INT and FP commands just as if they had the BASIC ROM expansion card. The Language Card was also required to use LOGO, Apple Pascal, and FORTRAN 77. Apple Pascal and FORTRAN ran under a non-DOS operating system based on UCSD P-System, which had its own disk format and included a "virtual machine" that allowed it to run on many different types of hardware.
The first-year Apple II Plus retained the original Apple II's jumper blocks to select the RAM size, but a drop in memory prices during 1980 resulted in all machines being shipped with 48K and the blocks being removed.
Shortly after the introduction of the II Plus in 1979, Microsoft came out with the Z-80 SoftCard, an expansion card for the Apple II line that allowed the use of CP/M and contained its own Z80 CPU and logic to adapt the Z80 CPU to the Apple bus. The SoftCard was extremely popular and Microsoft's single most successful product for two years, although on the downside, it was limited to using the Apple II's GCR disk format and thus CP/M software either had to be obtained on Apple format disks or transferred via serial link from a different machine running CP/M. The SoftCard shipped with CP/M 2.2 and a special version of MBASIC that supported a subset of Applesoft BASIC's graphics commands. Other third party CP/M cards for the Apple II offered additional memory, CP/M 3.0, and CPU speeds up to 8 MHz.
The II Plus had the so-called "Autostart ROMs", meaning that it will attempt to boot from disk on power-up. If no system disk is present, Drive 0 will spin endlessly until the user presses Reset (or Ctrl+Reset on machines with the Ctrl+Reset safety switch enabled) to enter Applesoft BASIC. If DOS has not been booted up, the user will only be able to load and save files to cassette from BASIC. The II Plus had a revised version of BASIC known as Applesoft II which incorporated most of the functionality from Integer BASIC, including HGR graphics commands.
Most II Pluses came with a "language card". This was completely different from the language card sold for the original II, which contained Applesoft BASIC in ROM. Since the II Plus already had Applesoft present in the ROMs on the system board, its language card contained RAM rather than ROM and if installed will boost the system to 64K. While on the original II, Integer BASIC resided in ROM at memory address $E000, this area contains RAM on the II Plus if a language card is present. Integer BASIC is not in ROM on the II Plus and is instead loaded by DOS 3.x during boot up into the RAM at $D000 (if a language card is present, otherwise this step is skipped--II Pluses without a language card cannot run Integer BASIC). Normally, the RAM containing Integer BASIC is banked out and the Applesoft ROM is present at $D000. If the user types "INT", Integer BASIC is activated by swapping out the Applesoft ROM and switching in the RAM with Integer BASIC. By typing "FP", Integer BASIC is switched out and Applesoft switched back in. The machine language monitor at $F800 may also be banked out for RAM.
Like the Apple II, the Apple II Plus has no lowercase functionality. All letters from the keyboard are upper-case, there is no caps lock key, and there are no lowercase letters in the text-mode font stored in the computer's ROM. To display lowercase letters, some applications run in the slower hi-res graphics mode and use a custom font, rather than running in the fast text mode using the font in ROM. Other programs, primarily those where both capitalization and text movement were important, such as word processors, use inverse text mode to represent text that would be uppercase when printed. Alternatively, users can install a custom ROM chip that contained lowercase letters in the font, or purchase one of several third-party 80-column cards that enable a text mode that can display 80-column, upper- and lower-case text. The Videx Videoterm and its many clones were especially popular.
For lowercase input, since it is not possible to detect whether the keyboard's Shift keys are in use, the common "shift-key mod" connects the Shift key to one of the pins on the motherboard's paddle connector. Compatible applications, including nearly all word processors, can then detect whether the shift key was being pressed. This modification involves adding wires inside the Apple II; Apple distributed literature on how to build it, however, assuring readers that it was "the most simple and least expensive addition anyone could do". [2] Most applications that support lower-case letters can also use the ESC key as a substitute lowercase toggle if the modification is not installed.
The Apple II Plus, like its predecessor the Apple II, features a repeat key on its keyboard. The key is labeled "REPT" and is located just to the left of the "RETURN" key. [3] [4] The II Plus is the last Apple Computer to have this key, as later Apple computers would incorporate the ability to hold down a key for a period of time to repeat the key.
The II Plus has a plastic case with a brass mesh running along the inside of the case. This mesh helped reduce the electromagnetic interference emitted from the computer, keeping the machine in compliance with newly implemented FCC regulations covering microcomputers. Small grids of plastic pins, and sometimes Velcro, were used to hold the case's top onto the computer. In comparison, the original Apple II lacked RF shielding and was often unusable with certain TVs and monitors (Apple recommended Sony TVs as they had better RF insulation than other brands).
After the success of the first Apple II in the United States, Apple expanded its market to include Europe and the Far East in 1978, with the Apple II Europlus (Europe) and the Apple II J-Plus (Japan). In these models, Apple made the necessary hardware, software and firmware changes in order to comply with standards outside of the US and Canada. The power supply was modified to accept the local voltage, and in the European model the video output signal was changed from color NTSC to monochrome PAL by changing some jumpers on the motherboard and using a slightly different frequency crystal oscillator — an extra video card (which only worked in slot 7) was needed for color PAL graphics, since the simple tricks designer Steve Wozniak had used to generate a pseudo-NTSC signal with minimal hardware did not carry over to the more complex PAL system. In the Japanese version of the international Apple, the character ROM and the keyboard layout were changed to allow for Katakana writing (full Kanji support was clearly beyond the capabilities of the machine), but in most other countries the international Apple was sold with an unmodified American keyboard; thus the German model still lacked the umlauts, for example, and had a QWERTY layout instead of the standard German QWERTZ. For the most part, the Apple II Europlus and J-Plus were identical to the Apple II Plus and software compatibility was near 100%. Production of the Europlus ended in 1983.
The ITT 2020 was an Apple II clone manufactured by ITT under license from Apple Computer (the first licensed clone), specifically for the European market. In contrast to the Apple II Europlus, the ITT 2020 supported full PAL color graphics
The Apple II Plus was also sold by Bell & Howell specifically to educational markets under special license from Apple. The standard Apple II Plus was not UL-listed because the top could be opened; the B&H model was the same as the consumer version sold by Apple except that it came in a black case, which could not be opened as easily, and a special A/V package allowing it to be sold as audio/visual equipment. Bell & Howell packaged the unit with optional "back packs" that offered various inputs and outputs for A/V equipment to easily interface with the II Plus. [5] This was the only black computer Apple would manufacture until the Macintosh TV in 1993.
A TEMPEST-approved version of the Apple II Plus was created in 1980 by the Georgia Tech Research Institute for U.S. Army FORSCOM, and used as a component in the earliest versions of the Microfix system. Fielded in 1982, the Microfix system was the first tactical system using video disc (LaserDisc) map technology providing zoom and scroll over map imagery coupled with a point database of intelligence data such as order of battle, airfields, roadways, and bridges. [6] [7] [8]
Timeline of Apple II family |
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Applesoft BASIC is a dialect of Microsoft BASIC, developed by Marc McDonald and Ric Weiland, supplied with Apple II computers. It supersedes Integer BASIC and is the BASIC in ROM in all Apple II series computers after the original Apple II model. It is also referred to as FP BASIC because of the Apple DOS command FP
used to invoke it, instead of INT
for Integer BASIC.
The Apple II series of microcomputers was initially designed by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer, and launched in 1977 with the Apple II model that gave the series its name. It was followed by the Apple II Plus, Apple IIe, Apple IIc, and Apple IIc Plus, with the 1983 IIe being the most popular. The name is trademarked with square brackets as Apple ][, then, beginning with the IIe, as Apple //. The Apple II was a major advancement over its predecessor, the Apple I, in terms of ease of use, features, and expandability.
The Apple III is a business-oriented personal computer produced by Apple Computer and released in 1980. Running the Apple SOS operating system, it was intended as the successor to the Apple II, but was largely considered a failure in the market. It was designed to provide key features business users wanted in a personal computer: a true typewriter-style upper/lowercase keyboard and an 80-column display.
The Apple II is a personal computer released by Apple Inc. in June 1977. It was one of the first successful mass-produced microcomputer products and 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.
The Commodore 128, also known as the C128, C-128, or C= 128, is the last 8-bit home computer that was commercially released by Commodore Business Machines (CBM). Introduced in January 1985 at the CES in Las Vegas, it appeared three years after its predecessor, the Commodore 64, the bestselling computer of the 1980s. Approximately 2.5 million C128s were sold during its four year production run.
The Apple IIe is the third model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. It was released in January 1983 as the successor to the Apple II Plus. The e in the name stands for enhanced. It is the first Apple II with built-in lowercase and 80-column text support, as well as 64K RAM, while reducing the total chip count from previous models by approximately 75%.
The Commodore PET is a line of personal computers produced starting in 1977 by Commodore International. A single all-in-one case combines a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, Commodore BASIC in read-only memory, keyboard, monochrome monitor, and, in early models, a cassette deck.
The Datamax UV-1 is a pioneering computer designed by a group of computer graphics artists working at the University of Illinois Chicago, known as the Circle Graphics Habitat. It was primarily the brainchild of Tom DeFanti, who was trying to build a machine capable of running his GRASS programming language at a personal computer price point, a project they referred to as the Z-Box. As time went on the project evolved into a machine intended to be used to make high-quality color graphics for output to videotape, and later as a titling system for use by cable television companies. It represents what seems to be the first dedicated graphics workstation.
The Apple IIGS is a 16-bit personal computer produced by Apple Computer. It is the fifth and most powerful of the Apple II family. It is compatible with earlier Apple II models, but has a Macintosh look and feel, and resolution and color similar to the Amiga and Atari ST. The "GS" in the name stands for "Graphics and Sound", referring to its enhanced multimedia hardware, especially its state-of-the-art audio.
ProDOS is the name of two similar operating systems for the Apple II of personal computer. The original ProDOS, renamed ProDOS 8 in version 1.2, is the last official operating system usable by all 8-bit Apple II computers, and was distributed from 1983 to 1993. The other, ProDOS 16, was a stop-gap solution for the 16-bit Apple IIGS that was replaced by GS/OS within two years.
Apple DOS is the disk operating system for the Apple II computers from late 1978 through early 1983. It was superseded by ProDOS in 1983. Apple DOS has three major releases: DOS 3.1, DOS 3.2, and DOS 3.3; each one of these three releases was followed by a second, minor "bug-fix" release, but only in the case of Apple DOS 3.2 did that minor release receive its own version number, Apple DOS 3.2.1. The best-known and most-used version is Apple DOS 3.3 in the 1980 and 1983 releases. Prior to the release of Apple DOS 3.1, Apple users had to rely on audio cassette tapes for data storage and retrieval.
The Apple IIc is a personal computer introduced by Apple Inc. shortly after the launch of the original Macintosh in 1984. It is essentially a compact and portable version of the Apple IIe. The IIc has a built-in floppy disk drive and a keyboard, and was often sold with its matching monitor. The c in the name stands for compact, referring to the fact it is a complete Apple II setup in a smaller notebook-sized housing. It is compatible with a wide range of Apple II software and peripherals.
Micro-Professor II (MPF-II) is an Apple II clone introduced in 1982 by Multitech. It is Multitech second branded computer product and also one of the earliest Apple II clones. The MPF II doesn't look like most other computers, with its case being a slab with a small chiclet keyboard on the lower part.
Microprofessor III, introduced in 1983, was Multitech's third branded computer product and also (arguably) one of the first Apple IIe clones. Unlike the two earlier computers, its design was influenced by the IBM personal computer. Because of some additional functions in the ROM and different graphics routines, the MPF III was not totally compatible with the original Apple IIe computer.
Pravetz is a brand of personal computers produced in Bulgaria from 1979. They were widely used in scientific organizations and schools until the 1990s.
The TRS-80 Model II is a computer system launched by Tandy in October 1979, and targeted at the small-business market. It is not an upgrade of the original TRS-80 Model I, but a new system.
The ITT 2020 was an Apple II computer clone manufactured by ITT under license from Apple Computer, specifically for the European market. In the Benelux, it was distributed by International Bell Telephone Company. It was distributed in the United Kingdom by Microsense Computer Limited.
The West PC-800 was a home computer introduced by Norwegian company West Computer AS in 1984. The computer was designed as an alarm center allowing use of several CPUs and operating systems. The company introduced an IBM PC compatible in early 1986 and the West PC-800 line was phased out.
The Dimension 68000 is a microcomputer introduced by the Micro Craft Corporation in 1983 that sought to emulate the Apple II, the IBM PC, and various CP/M-centric computers through a family of coprocessor expansion cards and emulation software. The Dimension 68000 can also run as a standalone computer based on the Motorola 68000 from which it gets its namesake. The computer is mostly the brainchild of Mike Carpenter, a former executive of a scientific instrument manufacturer who incorporated Micro Craft in Dallas, Texas, to develop the Dimension 68000. It had a market lifespan of three years and received mixed, mostly positive, reception from the technology press. Criticism was leveled at the $6,250 price tag for the computer with the full deck of coprocessor cards, as well as the extent of the emulation power of those cards.
The Pravetz 82 Bulgarian:, previously IMKO-2 was the first serially manufactured personal computer in Bulgaria and first in the Pravetz series 8 range of computers. It was produced in the eponymous town of Pravetz. As the other computers in the series, it is an Apple II clone.