Apple IIc
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Developer | Apple Computer, Inc. |
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Release date | April 24, 1984 |
Introductory price | US$1,295 (equivalent to $3,800 in 2023) |
Discontinued | August 1988 |
Units sold | 380,000 - 420,000 |
Units shipped | 385,000 - 430,000 |
Operating system | ProDOS DOS 3.3 Pascal |
CPU | 65C02 @ 1.023 MHz |
Memory | 128 KB of RAM (up to 1.125 MB) |
Controller input | Joystick/mouse port |
Connectivity | Two RS-232 ports |
Mass | 7.5 lb (3.4 kg) |
Successor | Apple IIc Plus |
Related | Apple IIe |
The Apple IIc is a personal computer that was introduced by Apple Inc. shortly after the launch of the original Macintosh (Macintosh 128K). It was a compact and portable version of the Apple II series of computers. The IIc featured a built-in floppy disk drive and a keyboard, and was often sold with its matching monitor. The c in the name stood for compact, referring to the fact it was a complete Apple II computer setup with a floppy drive that was squeezed into a smaller notebook-sized housing. It was compatible with a wide range of software and peripherals.
The Apple IIc featured new rear peripheral expansion ports integrated onto the main
Technically, the Apple IIc was mostly an Apple IIe in a smaller case. The Apple IIc weighed only 7.5 lb (3.4 kg). It was succeeded by the Apple IIc Plus.
History
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 series 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,[1][2][3] and Apple hoped to sell 400,000 by the end of 1984.[4] While essentially an Apple IIe computer in a smaller case, it was not a successor, but rather a portable version to complement it. 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.[1] The IIc and some peripherals were the only Apple products to use the "Fog" coloring.[5] While relatively light-weight and compact in design, the Apple IIc was not a true portable in design as it lacked a built-in battery and display.
Codenames for the machine while under development included Lollie, ET, Yoda, Teddy, VLC, IIb, IIp.[6]
Overview of features
Improving the IIe
Technically the Apple IIc was an Apple IIe in a smaller case, more portable and easier to use but also less expandable. The IIc used the CMOS-based
Built-in cards and ports
The equivalent of five
In the rear of the machine were its expansion ports, mostly for providing access to its built-in cards. The standard
Built-in accessories and keyboard
The Apple IIc had a built-in 5.25-inch floppy drive (140 KB) along the right side of the case—the first Apple II model to include such a feature. Along the left side of the case was a dial to control the volume of the internal speaker, along with a 1⁄8-inch monaural audio jack for headphones or an external speaker. A fold-out carrying handle was also used to prop up the back end of the machine when in use. This was required to provide good air circulation and make typing comfortable.[7]
The keyboard layout mirrored that of the Apple IIe; however, the "Reset" key had been moved above the "Esc" key. Two toggle switches were also located in the same area: an "80/40"-column switch for (specially written) software to detect which text video mode to start up in, and a "Keyboard" switch to select between QWERTY and Dvorak layout—or between US and national layout on non-American machines.[8] The keyboard itself was built into the front half of the case, much like a notebook computer, and early models[9] had a rubber mat placed beneath the keycaps which acted as a liquid spill guard.
Reception
Although Apple predicted that it would sell 100,000 IIc computers per month, it sold an average of 100,000 per year over four years; even the unsuccessful PCjr outsold it during each computer's first year on the market.[10] The IIe was much more popular than the IIc because of its greater expandability,[11][12] but Apple almost stopped production of the IIe because of the IIc's expected popularity, causing a shortage of the former and glut of the latter.[10] However, according to Paul Kunkel in AppleDesign, Apple sold more than 400,000 Apple IIc computers in the first year, most of the sales including the matching monitor.[13]
While noting its lack of an internal modem and inability to use expansion cards such as the popular
Specifications
- Microprocessor
- 65C02 running at 1.023 MHz
- 8-bit data bus
- Memory
- 128 KB RAM built-in
- 32 KB ROM built-in (16 KB ROM in original)
- Expandable from 128 KB to 1 MB (only through non-conventional methods in original)
- Video
- Audio
- Built-in speaker; 1-bit toggling
- User-adjustable volume (manual dial control)
- Built-in storage
- Slim-line internal 5.25-inch floppy drive (140 KB, single-sided)
- Internal connectors
- Memory Expansion Card connector (34-pin)*
* Only available on ROM 3 motherboard and higher; original IIc: NONE
- Specialized chip controllers
- IWM (Integrated Woz Machine) for floppy drives
- Dual 6551 ACIA chips for serial I/O
- External connectors
- Joystick/Mouse (DE-9)
- Printer, serial-1 (DIN-5)
- Modem, serial-2 (DIN-5)
- Video Expansion Port (D-15)
- Floppy drive SmartPort (D-19)
- 15-Volt DC connector input (DIN-7, male)
- NTSC composite video output (RCA connector)
- Audio-out (1⁄8-inch mono phone jack)
Revisions
The Apple IIc was in production from April 1984 to August 1988, and during this time accrued some minor changes. These modifications included three new ROM updates, a bug-fix correction to the original motherboard, a newly revised motherboard, and a slight cosmetic change to the external appearance of the machine. The ROM revision for a specific Apple IIc is determined by entering the Applesoft BASIC programming language and typing in the command PRINT PEEK (64447)
which returns the value indicating the particular ROM version.[17]
Original IIc (ROM version '255')
The initial ROM, installed in machines produced during the first year and a half of production, was 16 KB in size. The only device which could be connected to the disk port was (one) external 5.25-inch floppy drive; software could be booted from this external drive by typing the command PR#7
. The serial port did not mask incoming linefeed characters or support the XON/XOFF protocol, unlike all later firmware revisions to come. There was no self-test diagnostic present in this ROM; holding down the solid-Apple key during cold boot merely cycled unusual patterns on screen which served no useful purpose or indication of the machine's health.
Serial port timing fix
The original Apple IIc motherboard (manufactured between April and November 1984) derived the timing for its two serial ports through a 74LS161
UniDisk 3.5 support (ROM version '0')
This update, introduced in November 1985, came in the form of an upgrade to the ROM firmware which doubled in size from 16 KB to 32 KB. The new ROM supported "intelligent" devices such as the Apple UniDisk 3.5-inch (800 KB) floppy drive and Smartport-based hardisks, in addition to an external 5.25-inch floppy drive. A new self-test diagnostic was provided for testing built-in RAM and other signs of logic faults. The Mini-Assembler, absent since the days of the Apple II Plus, made a return, and new Monitor "Step" and "Trace" commands were added as well. The upgraded ROM added rudimentary support for an external AppleTalk networking device which was yet to be developed. When attempting to boot virtual slot 7, users would encounter the message "APPLETALK OFFLINE". The IIc, however, had no built-in networking capabilities, and no external device was ever released. The upgrade consisted of a single chip swap (and a trivial motherboard modification), which Apple provided free only to persons who purchased a UniDisk 3.5 drive. A small sticker with an icon of a 3.5-inch floppy diskette was placed next to the existing 5.25-inch diskette icon above the floppy drive port indicating the machine had been upgraded.
Memory Expansion IIc (ROM version '3')
Introduced in September 1986 simultaneously with the Apple IIGS, this model introduced a new motherboard, new keyboard and new color scheme.[18] The original Apple IIc had no expansion options and required third-party cards (e. Legend Industries) to perform various hardware tricks. This could be done by removing the CPU and MMU chips and inserting a special board into these sockets, which then used bank switching to expand memory up to 1 Megabyte (RAM). This was similar to the function of the slots in the original Apple II, II+ as well as the auxiliary slot in the Apple IIe. The new motherboard added a 34-pin socket for plugging in memory cards directly, which allowed for the addressing of up to 1 megabyte (MB) of memory using Slinky-type memory cards. The onboard chip count was reduced from 16 memory chips (64K×1) to four (64K×4). The new firmware removed the code for the cancelled AppleTalk networking device and replaced it with support for memory cards. Bumping out the non-supported AppleTalk functionality, memory now lived in virtual slot 4, and mouse support moved to slot 7. The new keyboard no longer had the rubber anti-spill mat and offered generally more tactile and responsive keys that felt more "clicky". At the same time, the color of the keyboard, floppy drive latch, and power supply cords changed from beige to light grey, which matched the new Platinum color scheme of the Apple IIGS. The case style, however, remained Snow White. Owners of the previous IIc model were entitled to a free motherboard upgrade if they purchased one of Apple's IIc memory expansion boards (they did not receive the new keyboard or the cosmetic changes).
Memory Expansion fix (ROM version '4')
In January 1988, a new ROM firmware update was issued to address bugs in the new memory-expandable IIc. Changes included better detection of installed RAM chips, correction of a problem when using the serial modem port in terminal mode, and a bug fix for keyboard buffering. The ROM upgrade was available free of charge only to owners of the memory expansion IIc. This was the final change to the Apple IIc; it would be superseded that September by the Apple IIc Plus (identified as ROM version '5').
International versions
Like the Apple IIe before it, the Apple IIc keyboard differed depending on what region of the world it was sold in. Sometimes the differences were very minor, such as extra local language characters and symbols printed on certain keycaps (e.g. French accented characters on the Canadian IIc such as "à", "é", "ç", etc., or the British Pound "£" symbol on the UK IIc) while other times the layout and shape of keys greatly differed (e.g. European IIcs).[19] In order to access the local character set, the "Keyboard" switch above the keyboard was depressed, which would instantly switch text video from the US character set to the local set. The DVORAK keyboard layout was not available on international IIcs—the feature had been intended to switch between international keyboards; the DVORAK layout was merely added to give the switch a function on US IIcs. In some countries these localized IIcs also supported 50 Hz PAL video and the different 220/240-volt power of that region by means of a different external power supply — this was a very simple change, since the IIc had an internal 12-volt power converter. The international versions replaced any English legends printed on the case (specifically the "keyboard" toggle switch, "Power" and "Disk Use" drive-activity labels) with graphical icons that could be universally understood.
Add-on accessories
Portability enhancements
At the time of the Apple IIc's release, Apple announced an optional black and white (1-bit) LCD screen designed specifically for the machine called the Apple Flat Panel Display. While it was welcomed as a means of making the IIc more portable, it did not integrate well as a portable solution, not attaching in a secure or permanent manner and not able to fold-over face down. Instead, it sat atop the machine and connected via ribbon cable to a somewhat bulky rear port connector. Its main shortcoming was that it suffered from a very poor contrast and no backlighting, making it very difficult to view without a strong external light source. The display itself had an odd aspect ratio as well, making graphics look vertically squashed. A third-party company would later introduce a work-alike LCD screen called the C-Vue, which looked and functioned very much like Apple's product, albeit with a reportedly slight improvement in viewability. Consequently, both sold poorly and had a very short market life span, making these displays fairly uncommon (and as a result, extremely rare today).
Third parties also offered external rechargeable battery units for the Apple IIc (e.g. Prairie Power Portable System available from Roger Coats)[20][21] with up to eight hours per charge or longer. Although they aided in making the machine more of a true portable, they were nonetheless bulky and heavy, and added more pieces that would have to be carried. Adapter cables were sold as well that allowed the Apple IIc to plug into an automobile's DC power cigarette lighter.
To help transport the Apple IIc and its accessory pieces around, Apple sold a nylon carrying case with shoulder strap that had a compartment for the computer, its external power supply, and the cables. It had enough room to squeeze in one of the above-mentioned LCD display units. The case was grey in color with a stitched-on Apple logo in the upper right corner.
Expansion capabilities
While the Apple IIc had many built-in features to offer, many users wanted to extend the machine's capabilities beyond what Apple provided. It proved difficult since the IIc was a closed system that initially was designed with no expansion capabilities in mind; however, many companies figured out ingenious ways of squeezing enhancements inside the tiny case. Real-time clocks, memory expansion, and coprocessors were popular, and some companies even managed to combine all three into a single add-on board. Typically, in order to add these options, key chips on the motherboard were pulled and moved onto the expansion board offering the new features, and the board was then placed into the empty sockets. While sometimes a tight squeeze, this trickery worked quite well, and most importantly of all offered users a way to expand memory—something Apple did not themselves support until the Memory Expansion IIc model was introduced.
Some companies devised a method for squeezing in an entire CPU accelerator product, by means of placing all the specialized circuitry (i.e. cache and logic) into one tall chip that outright replaced the 40-pin 65C02 microprocessor, speeding up the machine from 4–10 MHz. Notable examples are the Zip Chip and Rocket Chip.
Although the IIc lacked a SCSI or IDE interface, external hard drives were produced by third parties that connected through the floppy SmartPort as an innovative alternative connection method (e.g. ProApp, Chinook). While these specialized hard drives were relatively slow due to the nature of how data was transferred through this interface (designed primarily for floppy drives) they did allow for true mass storage. The CDrive however did mount internally and was very fast due to its direct connection to the CPU. Other innovations that used existing expansion ports led to add-on speech and music synthesis products by means of external devices that plugged into the IIc's serial ports. Three popular such devices were the Mockingboard-D, Cricket and Echo IIc. Applied Engineering offered an ever increasing and improved line of "Z-Ram" internal memory expansion boards, which also included a Z-80 CPU for Apple CP/M software capability.[22]
General accessories
For those wishing to use the Apple IIc as a standard desktop machine, Apple sold the Monitor IIc, a 9 in (23 cm) monochrome CRT display with an elevated stand.
Timeline of Apple II family |
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See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d Markoff, John (May 1984). "The Apple IIc Personal Computer". BYTE. p. 282. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
- ^ a b c Miller, George A. (July 1984). "Apple announces the IIc". Creative Computing. p. 116. Archived from the original on November 29, 2011. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
- ^ a b Ryan, Bob (July 1984). "The newest member of the family goes head to head with the PCjr". InCider. pp. 60–63.
- ^ Hayes, Thomas C. (April 24, 1984). "Apple is Banking on New Portable: The IIc Computer". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 29, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
- ^ Kunkel, Paul, "AppleDesign: The work of the Apple Industrial Design Group", with photographs by Rick English, New York: Graphis, 1997, p. 30
- ISBN 978-1-59327-010-0. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
- ^ Apple IIc Owner's Manuel. Apple Computer, Inc. 1984. p. 2. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- ^ Bateman, Selby (July 1984). "Evolutionary To The Core: The Apple IIc Heads For Home". No. 50. Compute! magazine – via www.atarimagazines.com.
- ^ Spector, Mitchell (January 8, 1998). "a2c - sticky keys?". comp.sys.apple2 via groups.google.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
- ^ a b Maher, Jimmy (July 28, 2013). "A Computer for Every Home?". The Digital Antiquarian. Archived from the original on July 11, 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
- ^ Webster, Bruce (September 1985). "West Coast Faire, Mac Stuff, and the Amiga". BYTE. p. 401. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
- ^ Williams, Gregg; Grehan, Richard (October 1986). "The Apple II GS". BYTE. p. 84. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-888001-25-9.
- ^ Ahl, David H. (December 1984). "Top 12 computers of 1984". Creative Computing. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
- ^ Text can be mixed with graphic modes, replacing either bottom 8 or 32 lines, depending on video mode
- ^ a b effectively 140×192 in color, due to pixel placement restrictions
- OCLC 17806974.
- ^ "Apple IIc (Platinum): Mouse Moved from Slot 4 to Slot 7". Archived from the original on February 8, 2008. Retrieved February 2, 2008.
- ^ Apple IIc Technical Reference Manual, 2nd Edition. Apple Computer. January 1, 1989. p. 478.
- ^ "Roger Coats" (PDF). Washington Apple Pie (advertising). Vol. 9, no. 5. May 1987. p. 21. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ^ "Roger Coats" (PDF). Washington Apple Pie (advertising). Vol. 9, no. 2. February 1987. p. 11. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ^ "Applied Engineering Repository - Apple IIc". Applied Engineering. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ^ Weyhrich, Steven (June 23, 2010). "The Apple IIc". Apple II History. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
References
- Apple IIC Technical Reference Manual. New York: Addison-Wesley. 1987. p. xxiii-xxv. OCLC 17806974.
- Blechman, Fred. Apple IIc: an intelligent guide, New York : Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1985 (ISBN 0-03-001749-1)
- DeWitt, William H. HiRes/Double HiRes graphics for the Apple IIc and Apple II family, New York: Wiley, c1986 (ISBN 0-471-83183-2)
- Gilder, Jules H. Apple IIc and IIe assembly language, New York : Chapman and Hall, 1986 (ISBN 0-412-01121-2)
External links
- A2Central.com Archived June 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine — Apple II news and downloads
- Apple II at Curlie
- Applefritter has an Apple II forum
- Big Mess o' Wires - modern hardware for vintage Apple IIs
- PCB pictures of the Apple II
- ReactiveMicro.com — An Apple II hardware production company (cloned items)
- Vintage IIc unboxing at Flickr.com — Photo series of a virgin IIc being unboxed
- Apple2Online - A Free Public-Access Library of Apple II Software, Games, Photos, Documentation & more