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Apple IIc
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Apple IIc
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. The computer is compatible with a wide range of Apple II software and peripherals.
The Apple IIc has rear peripheral expansion ports integrated onto the main logic board instead of the expansion slots and direct motherboard access of earlier Apple II models. Apple intended the Apple IIc to require less technical expertise to use. The Apple IIc weighs 7.5 lb (3.4 kg). It was succeeded by the Apple IIc Plus in 1988.
The Apple IIc was released on April 24, 1984, during an Apple-held event called Apple II Forever. With that motto, Apple proclaimed the new machine was proof of the company's long-term commitment to the Apple II and its users, despite the recent introduction of the Macintosh. The IIc was also seen as the company's response to the new IBM PCjr, and Apple hoped to sell 400,000 by the end of 1984. The company described it as a portable computer despite lacking a display or battery. While essentially an Apple IIe computer in a smaller case, it was not a successor, but rather a complement. One Apple II machine would be sold for users who required the expandability of slots, and another for those wanting the simplicity of a plug and play machine with portability in mind.
The machine introduced Apple's Snow White design language, notable for its case styling and a modern look designed by Hartmut Esslinger which became the standard for Apple equipment and computers for nearly a decade. The Apple IIc introduced a unique off-white coloring known as "Fog", chosen to enhance the Snow White design style. The IIc and some peripherals are the only Apple products to use the "Fog" coloring.
Codenames for the machine while under development included Lollie, ET, Yoda, Teddy, VLC, IIb, IIp.
The Apple IIc is an Apple IIe in a smaller case, more portable and easier to use but also less expandable. The IIc uses the CMOS-based 65C02 microprocessor which added 27 new instructions to the 6502, but is incompatible with programs that use illegal opcodes of the 6502. (Apple stated that the Apple IIc was compatible with 90–95% of the 10,000 software packages available for the Apple II.) The new ROM firmware allows Applesoft BASIC to recognize lowercase characters and work better with an 80-column display, and fixes several bugs from the IIe ROM. In terms of video, the text display adds 32 unique character symbols called "MouseText" which, when placed side by side, can display simple icons, windows and menus to create a graphical user interface completely out of text, similar in concept to IBM code page 437 or PETSCII's box-drawing characters. A year later, the Apple IIe would benefit from these improvements in the form of a four-chip upgrade called the Enhanced IIe.
The equivalent of five expansion cards are built-in and integrated into the Apple IIc motherboard: An Extended 80-Column Text Card, two Super Serial Cards, a Mouse Card, and a Disk II floppy drive controller card. The Apple IIc has 128 KB RAM, 80-column text, and Double-Hi-Resolution graphics built-in and available right out of the box, unlike the IIe. The built-in cards are mapped to virtual slots so software from slot-based Apple II models know where to find them (i.e. mouse to virtual slot 4, serial cards to slot 1 and 2, floppy to slot 6, and so on). The entire Apple Disk II Card, used for controlling floppy drives, is part of the single chip called the "IWM" (Integrated Woz Machine).
In the rear of the machine are connection ports. The standard DE-9 joystick connector doubles as a mouse interface, compatible with the same mice used by the Lisa and early Macintoshes. Two serial ports are primarily for a printer and modem, and a floppy port connector supports a single external 5.25-inch drive (and later "intelligent" devices such as 3.5-inch drives and hard disks). A Video Expansion port provides rudimentary signals for add-on adapters but, alone, cannot directly generate a video signal (Apple produced an LCD and an RF-modulator for this port; the latter shipped with early IIc computers). A port connector ties into an internal 12 V power converter for attaching batteries; this is where the large external power supply (dubbed "brick on a leash" by users) plugs in. The same composite video port found on earlier Apple II models is present, but not the cassette ports or internal DIP-16 game port.
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Apple IIc
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. The computer is compatible with a wide range of Apple II software and peripherals.
The Apple IIc has rear peripheral expansion ports integrated onto the main logic board instead of the expansion slots and direct motherboard access of earlier Apple II models. Apple intended the Apple IIc to require less technical expertise to use. The Apple IIc weighs 7.5 lb (3.4 kg). It was succeeded by the Apple IIc Plus in 1988.
The Apple IIc was released on April 24, 1984, during an Apple-held event called Apple II Forever. With that motto, Apple proclaimed the new machine was proof of the company's long-term commitment to the Apple II and its users, despite the recent introduction of the Macintosh. The IIc was also seen as the company's response to the new IBM PCjr, and Apple hoped to sell 400,000 by the end of 1984. The company described it as a portable computer despite lacking a display or battery. While essentially an Apple IIe computer in a smaller case, it was not a successor, but rather a complement. One Apple II machine would be sold for users who required the expandability of slots, and another for those wanting the simplicity of a plug and play machine with portability in mind.
The machine introduced Apple's Snow White design language, notable for its case styling and a modern look designed by Hartmut Esslinger which became the standard for Apple equipment and computers for nearly a decade. The Apple IIc introduced a unique off-white coloring known as "Fog", chosen to enhance the Snow White design style. The IIc and some peripherals are the only Apple products to use the "Fog" coloring.
Codenames for the machine while under development included Lollie, ET, Yoda, Teddy, VLC, IIb, IIp.
The Apple IIc is an Apple IIe in a smaller case, more portable and easier to use but also less expandable. The IIc uses the CMOS-based 65C02 microprocessor which added 27 new instructions to the 6502, but is incompatible with programs that use illegal opcodes of the 6502. (Apple stated that the Apple IIc was compatible with 90–95% of the 10,000 software packages available for the Apple II.) The new ROM firmware allows Applesoft BASIC to recognize lowercase characters and work better with an 80-column display, and fixes several bugs from the IIe ROM. In terms of video, the text display adds 32 unique character symbols called "MouseText" which, when placed side by side, can display simple icons, windows and menus to create a graphical user interface completely out of text, similar in concept to IBM code page 437 or PETSCII's box-drawing characters. A year later, the Apple IIe would benefit from these improvements in the form of a four-chip upgrade called the Enhanced IIe.
The equivalent of five expansion cards are built-in and integrated into the Apple IIc motherboard: An Extended 80-Column Text Card, two Super Serial Cards, a Mouse Card, and a Disk II floppy drive controller card. The Apple IIc has 128 KB RAM, 80-column text, and Double-Hi-Resolution graphics built-in and available right out of the box, unlike the IIe. The built-in cards are mapped to virtual slots so software from slot-based Apple II models know where to find them (i.e. mouse to virtual slot 4, serial cards to slot 1 and 2, floppy to slot 6, and so on). The entire Apple Disk II Card, used for controlling floppy drives, is part of the single chip called the "IWM" (Integrated Woz Machine).
In the rear of the machine are connection ports. The standard DE-9 joystick connector doubles as a mouse interface, compatible with the same mice used by the Lisa and early Macintoshes. Two serial ports are primarily for a printer and modem, and a floppy port connector supports a single external 5.25-inch drive (and later "intelligent" devices such as 3.5-inch drives and hard disks). A Video Expansion port provides rudimentary signals for add-on adapters but, alone, cannot directly generate a video signal (Apple produced an LCD and an RF-modulator for this port; the latter shipped with early IIc computers). A port connector ties into an internal 12 V power converter for attaching batteries; this is where the large external power supply (dubbed "brick on a leash" by users) plugs in. The same composite video port found on earlier Apple II models is present, but not the cassette ports or internal DIP-16 game port.
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