Apple Ii

The Apple II (also known as the Apple ][ and the Apple //) was Apple's first big seller, and the first computer of many a geek. Introduced in 1977, it would accept from 4K to 48K of RAM and used a MOS Technology 6502 processor running at a blistering 1 MHz. It even had color video, and could be hooked up to a color TV. For more than you ever wanted to know about it, visit http://apple2history.org/.

The first personal computer to be mass-produced and sold to the general public, as opposed to kits sold to hobbyists and engineers.

Designed by SteveWozniak, SteveJobs, and other various friends of theirs. But not in a garage; that was the AppleOne?, which was built to order.

Some information about the CPU used in the Apple II, the 6502

The statement "the 6502 was produced by Motorola" is incorrect. While the person who designed it did once work for Motorola, and while later Apple products did use Motorola processors, ...

"In 1974, a group of former Motorola engineers formed a new company called MOS Technology. ... in the spring of 1975 MOS Technology released the 6502." -- http://6502group.org/HIST6502.HTM

"... William D. Mensch, Jr. ... In August 1974, a group of eight engineers and marketers, including Bill Mensch and Chuck Peddle, left Motorola to work for MOS Technology. ... In 1977, Bill Mensch left MOS Technology (then a division of Commodore). ... Working alone and without outside funding, Mensch designed the 65C02, adding a few new instructions while he created the low-power CMOS design." -- http://apple2history.org/museum/articles/microreport/microreport.html

Apparently people are still using the 6502 http://6502.org/ and several manufacturers are still producing 6502 (and the 65816) CPUs under license from WesternDesignCenter? (Does Bill Mensch still work there?) http://westerndesigncenter.com/ .

The 6502 has address capability for 64K, and Apple II has up to 48Kb of RAM and 16K of ROM. Additional 16K of RAM could be added as expansion slot and can be addressed with memory bank switching trick.

THE reason I became a programmer was because the Apple ][ had a neat feature: you could just start typing in AppleSoft BASIC code any time at the command line, execute what was in memory, save it and load it. From the ages of about 8 to 14 I used this capability quite a lot and it inspired me to continue programming. --BrianRobinson

There is an Apple ][ computer as a museum exhibit in Framlingham Castle, Suffolk, England. This is not a computer museum, a museum of Twentieth Century culture. The exhibit also has a SlideRule. -- JohnFletcher, 20121117

CategoryHardware