The Apple II (named Apple ][) is a series of small computers made by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The first Apple II model, which started the series, was created by Steve Wozniak and sold on June 10, 1977. Its success led to later models, including the Apple II Plus, Apple IIe, Apple IIc, and Apple IIc Plus. The Apple IIe, released in 1983, was the most popular model. The name is written with square brackets as Apple ][, and later models used double brackets as Apple //.
The Apple II improved on its earlier version, the Apple I, by being easier to use, having more features, and allowing more expansion. It became one of the most well-known and successful computers in the 1980s, especially in the United States. Apple sold many of these computers to schools at lower prices, making it the first widely used computer in American high schools. It replaced the earlier leader, the Commodore PET. The development of educational and business software, like the 1979 spreadsheet program VisiCalc, helped the Apple II become popular with families and businesses.
The Apple II computers use the 6502 8-bit processor and can show text and two levels of color graphics. A speaker controlled by software provides basic sound. In 1986, a more advanced model called the Apple II GS was added. It used a 65C816 16-bit processor and had better graphics and sound. The II GS remained compatible with older Apple II models but shared features with other computers from the mid-1980s, such as the Atari ST, Amiga, and Acorn Archimedes.
Even after Apple introduced the Macintosh in 1984, the Apple II series still made up about 85% of the company’s computer sales in early 1985. Apple sold Apple II systems alongside the Macintosh until stopping the II GS in December 1992 and the IIe in November 1993. The last Apple II product, a card for Macintosh computers, was no longer sold on October 15, 1993. Over 16 years, Apple sold about 6 million Apple II computers, with the highest sales in 1983, when 1 million units were sold.
Hardware
The Apple II was sold as a complete product ready for use, unlike earlier home computers that were sold as kits requiring assembly. Apple promoted the Apple II as a strong and lasting product. In 1981, an advertisement showed an Apple II surviving a fire caused when a cat from one of the first users knocked over a lamp.
All models in the Apple II series, except the IIc, have similar designs. The plastic case was made to look like a household appliance rather than electronic equipment. The case can be opened without tools. Every model in the Apple II series has a built-in keyboard, except the II GS, which uses a separate keyboard.
The Apple II includes color and high-resolution graphics, sound features, and a built-in BASIC programming language. The motherboard has eight expansion slots and memory sockets that can hold up to 48 kilobytes of random access memory (RAM). Over time, many hardware options were created to expand the Apple II's abilities. The IIc was designed as a small, portable computer. It was not meant to be taken apart and could not use most of the expansion hardware made for other Apple II models.
Software
The original Apple II computer had its operating system stored in ROM, along with a version of the BASIC programming language called Integer BASIC. Later, Apple introduced Applesoft BASIC, a more advanced version of BASIC that users could choose to use instead of Integer BASIC. Over time, the Apple II series supported more than 1,500 software programs.
In 1978, when the Disk II floppy disk drive was released, Apple created a new operating system called Apple DOS. This system was developed by Shepardson Microsystems and designed by Paul Laughton to work with the new disk drive. The most widely used version of this software was Apple DOS 3.3.
Apple DOS was later replaced by ProDOS, which allowed for a more organized way to store and manage files and supported larger storage devices. With an optional expansion card based on the Z80 processor, the Apple II could run the CP/M operating system and use software such as WordStar and dBase II. In 1984, the release of MousePaint and the Apple II GS in 1986 gave the Apple II a user interface similar to the Macintosh, including the use of a mouse.
Many commercial Apple II programs were stored on self-booting disks, which did not rely on standard DOS formats. This design made it harder to copy or change the software on the disks and also helped programs load faster.
Models
The first Apple II computers were sold on June 10, 1977. They used a MOS Technology 6502 (later Synertek) microprocessor that ran at 1.023 MHz. Each computer had 4 KB of RAM, an audio cassette interface for loading programs and storing data, and the Integer BASIC programming language stored in the ROMs. The video controller displayed 40 columns by 24 lines of monochrome, uppercase-only text (the original character set matched ASCII characters 0x20 to 0x5F). The computer had NTSC composite video output, which could be used with a TV monitor or a regular TV set with an RF modulator. The original price was US$1,298 (about $6,900 in 2025) with 4 KB of RAM, and US$2,638 (about $14,000 in 2025) with the maximum 48 KB of RAM. The Apple logo on the casing had rainbow stripes to show the computer’s color graphics capability. These stripes were part of Apple’s logo until early 1998. Early Apple IIs were built in Silicon Valley and later in Texas. Printed circuit boards were made in Ireland and Singapore.
An external 5 + 1⁄4-inch floppy disk drive called the Disk II was connected to the computer through a controller card in one of its expansion slots (usually slot 6). This replaced the use of cassette tapes for storing data. The Disk II interface, designed by Steve Wozniak, was praised for using few electronic components.
The Apple II did not have a dedicated sound-synthesis chip. Instead, it used a toggle circuit that could only make a clicking sound through a built-in speaker. All other sounds, such as music and speech, were created by software that controlled the speaker at precise times.
The Apple II had multiple expansion slots, allowing many third-party devices to be added, such as serial controllers, display controllers, memory boards, hard disks, networking components, and real-time clocks. Some expansion cards, like the Z-80 SoftCard, let the Apple II use the Z80 processor to run programs designed for the CP/M operating system. Other cards, such as a 6809 card, allowed the Apple II to run OS-9 Level One. Third-party sound cards improved audio capabilities, enabling music and text-to-speech functions. Later, accelerator cards increased the computer’s speed.
Rod Holt designed the Apple II’s power supply. He used a switched-mode power supply, which was smaller and produced less heat than the linear power supplies used in other home computers.
The original Apple II was discontinued in early 1981 and replaced by the Apple II+.
The Apple II Plus, released in June 1979, included Applesoft BASIC in its ROMs. This version of BASIC, developed by Microsoft, supported floating-point arithmetic and became the standard for the Apple II series. It was slower than the Integer BASIC used in the original Apple II.
The II+ was otherwise similar to the original Apple II in terms of electronic features. It had minor physical differences and a keyboard upgrade. All II+ models came with 48 KB of RAM installed from the factory, as RAM prices dropped during 1980–81.
After the Apple II’s success in the United States, Apple expanded to Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and the Far East in 1979. These models, the Apple II Europlus and Apple II J-Plus, included hardware, software, and firmware changes to meet international standards.
The Apple II Plus was followed in 1983 by the Apple IIe, a more powerful and cost-effective machine. It used newer chips to reduce parts and add features, such as the ability to display uppercase and lowercase letters and a standard 64 KB of RAM.
The IIe’s RAM was set up like a 48 KB Apple II Plus with a language card. It had no slot 0 but included an auxiliary slot for a 1 KB memory card to enable an 80-column display. This card only had RAM, while the 80-column display hardware and firmware were built into the IIe. An "extended 80-column card" added more memory, increasing the IIe’s RAM to 128 KB.
The Apple IIe was the most popular model in the Apple II series. It was produced with only minor changes for nearly 11 years and was the last Apple II model sold, discontinued in November 1993. Two variations were introduced: the Apple IIe Enhanced (with four updated chips) and the Apple IIe Platinum (with a modernized case color and a numeric keypad).
Some features of the IIe, like the ProDOS operating system, were also used in the less successful Apple III.
The Apple IIc was released in April 1984 and called a portable Apple II because of its size and carrying handle. Unlike modern laptops, it had no built-in screen or battery. It was the first Apple II model made with the Snow White design language and used a unique creamy off-white color.
The IIc used the 65C02 low-power version of the 6502 processor and had a built-in 5.25-inch floppy drive, 128 KB of RAM, and a disk controller for external drives. It included composite video (NTSC or PAL), serial ports for modems and printers, and a port for joysticks or mice. Unlike earlier models, the IIc had no internal expansion slots.
Two monochrome LC displays were sold for the IIc’s video port, but they were short-lived due to high costs and poor readability. The IIc used an external power supply that converted AC power to 15 V DC. It could also use third-party battery packs or car adapters.
The Apple II GS, released on September 15, 1986, was the most advanced Apple II model. It used a 16-bit 65C816 microprocessor running at 2.8 MHz with 24-bit addressing, allowing up to 8 MB of RAM. It had improved graphics with 4096 colors and resolutions of 320×200 and 640×400. It also had a built-in music synthesizer, far better than other home computers.
The II GS kept backward compatibility with older Apple II software. Its Mega II chip included the equivalent of an Apple IIe (without the processor), and the 65816 processor could run 65C02 code directly. This allowed support for legacy software and new 16-bit programs.
The operating system included a graphical Finder similar to the Macintosh, for managing files and opening documents. Later, the II GS could read and write Macintosh disks and, with third-party software, support multitasking Unix-like features.
Advertising, marketing, and packaging
Mike Markkula, who once worked as a marketing manager at Intel, gave Apple Computer important financial support early on. From 1977 to 1981, Apple worked with the Regis McKenna agency for its advertisements and marketing. In 1981, Chiat-Day bought Regis McKenna's advertising business, and Apple started working with Chiat-Day. The team at Regis McKenna Advertising that worked on launching the Apple II included Rob Janoff as the art director, Chip Schafer as the copywriter, and Bill Kelley as the account executive. Janoff created the Apple logo with a bite out of it. The logo was first created in olive green with the company name written in lowercase letters. Steve Jobs wanted to highlight the Apple II's color features by adding rainbow stripes to the logo. On Apple's letterhead and business cards, the rounded "a" in the logo's text matched the shape of the bite in the logo. This logo was created at the same time as an advertisement and a brochure. The brochure was first given out at the first West Coast Computer Faire.
Since the original Apple II, Apple has focused on high-quality packaging, partly because of Steve Jobs' personal preferences about how products look. Apple's packaging for the Apple II series had a similar look, with lots of white space and the rainbow Apple logo clearly visible. For many years until the late 1980s, Apple used the Motter Tektura font for packaging. Later, they switched to the Apple Garamond font.
Apple ran the first advertisement for the Apple II, a two-page spread ad titled "Introducing Apple II," in BYTE in July 1977. The first brochure was called "Simplicity." The text in both the ad and brochure used simple language to make the idea of a home computer more personal. The Apple II introduction ad was later run in the September 1977 issue of Scientific American.
Apple later aired eight TV commercials for the Apple II GS, highlighting its benefits for education and students, as well as some print ads.
Clones
The Apple II was copied many times, both in the United States and other countries, just like the IBM PC. Some sources say that more than 190 different models of Apple II copies were made. Most of these copies could not be legally brought into the United States. Apple tried to get legal action against copy makers in more than a dozen countries.
Data storage
The Apple II computer originally used Compact Cassette tapes to store programs and data. Apple did not create a special tape recorder for the Apple II, but they suggested using the Panasonic RQ309 in some early guides. Using common cassette recorders and a standard television with a third-party RF modulator made the Apple II more affordable and helped it become popular.
Cassette storage was inexpensive but had problems. It was slow and not very reliable. The Apple II did not have a disk drive at first, which was a big weakness for a product meant to be professional. Apple realized it needed a disk drive to be taken seriously and began developing one along with a disk operating system (DOS). Wozniak designed a disk controller during the 1977 Christmas holidays that used far fewer chips than other controllers. However, Apple still needed a DOS, so they hired Shepardson Microsystems. On April 10, 1978, Apple signed a contract with Shepardson for $13,000 to create the DOS.
Even after disk drives became available, cassette interfaces were still used for simple audio input-output tasks. Some people used them for receiving slow scan TV images or for a speech recognition Blackjack game. A program called "Music Kaleidoscope" used the cassette input to create color patterns on the screen based on sound, similar to modern audio visualization tools. This program was especially popular in dance halls with projection TVs.
At first, Apple and third-party developers released software on cassette tapes. After the Disk II drive became available in 1978, software on tapes was no longer common. The Disk II drive and controller initially cost $595, but Apple offered a $100 discount through its newsletter. The controller could manage two drives, and a second drive alone cost $495.
The Disk II used single-sided 5.25-inch floppy disks. Double-sided disks could be used by flipping them and notching a hole for the write-protect sensor. Early versions of the Apple II's DOS (3.1 and 3.2) stored 113.75 KB per disk, organized into 35 tracks with 13 sectors each. In 1979, DOS 3.3 was released, increasing storage to 140 KB by allowing 16 sectors per track. A program called MUFFIN helped users transfer files between DOS 3.2 and DOS 3.3 disks.
Later, third-party companies made double-sided drives for the Apple II, but Apple only produced double-sided disks for the Lisa 1 computer. On DOS 3.x disks, tracks 0, 1, and most of track 2 were reserved for the operating system. The disk controller used a short program to read and execute code from sector 0, which then loaded the rest of the operating system. The directory was stored on track 17 to reduce seek time, and it could hold up to 105 files. Subdirectories were not supported.
Many game publishers avoided using DOS on their floppy disks to save memory, instead creating their own boot loaders and file systems. This also made it harder for people to bypass copy-protection features. Some third-party drives could write 40 tracks to 5.25-inch disks, offering 160 KB of storage, but this format was not widely used. Most Disk II drives could write 36 tracks, and a small change to DOS allowed this.
Apple II users often used a "disk notcher" to cut a second write-protect notch on single-sided disks, allowing them to store twice as much data by flipping the disk. Double-sided disks were more expensive, but both sides of single-sided disks were usually coated well enough to work. Early warnings about damaging drives or disks were common, but the method was widely used for storing more data at no extra cost.
Later Apple IIs could use 3.5-inch disks with 800 KB of storage and hard drives. DOS 3.3 did not support these drives directly, requiring third-party software. Disks larger than 400 KB had to be split into multiple "virtual disk volumes."
DOS 3.3 was eventually replaced by ProDOS in 1983, which was based on the Apple ///'s SOS system. ProDOS added support for subdirectories and volumes up to 32 MB in size. It became the preferred DOS for Apple II computers, as newer software like AppleWorks required it.
Legacy
The Apple II series of computers had a significant impact on the technology industry and increased the use of microcomputers in society. The Apple II was the first personal computer that many people saw. Its cost was affordable for many middle-class families, and a partnership with MECC helped make the Apple II widely used in schools. By the end of 1980, Apple had sold over 100,000 Apple IIs, and by the time the II GS was introduced, more than 3 million Apple II models had been sold. However, in other markets, the Apple II was used less often, with only 120,000 units sold in the UK over nine years.
The popularity of the Apple II helped start the computer game and educational software markets and led to growth in the word processor and printer markets. The first spreadsheet program, VisiCalc, was first released for the Apple II, and many businesses bought Apple IIs just to use VisiCalc. Its success encouraged IBM to create the IBM PC, which many businesses later purchased to run spreadsheet and word processing software, originally adapted from Apple II versions.
The Apple II had slots that allowed any peripheral card to control the computer’s bus and access memory directly. This feature led to the development of an independent industry of card makers who created many hardware products. These products let users build systems that were more powerful and useful at a lower cost than competing systems, which were often not as expandable or exclusive in design. The first peripheral card was a blank prototyping card for electronics enthusiasts who wanted to create their own peripherals for the Apple II.
Specialty peripherals helped keep the Apple II in use in industry and education for many years after Apple stopped supporting it. Throughout the 1990s, clean rooms at the Kennedy Space Center used Apple IIs to monitor air quality and environmental conditions. Many planetariums used Apple IIs to control projectors and other equipment.
The Apple II’s game port was very powerful and could handle both digital and analog input and output. Early manuals included instructions for building a circuit using only four common components (one transistor and three resistors) and a software routine to operate a Teletype Model 33 machine. Don Lancaster used the game port’s input/output to operate a LaserWriter printer.
Today, emulators for various Apple II models are available to run Apple II software on macOS, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, and other systems. Many Apple II software disk images are freely available online for use with these emulators. AppleWin and MESS are among the best emulators that work with most Apple II images. The MESS emulator allows users to record and play back Apple II emulation sessions, as does the Home Action Replay Page (HARP).
A small annual convention called KansasFest is still held to celebrate the Apple II platform.
In 2017, the band 8 Bit Weapon released the world’s first music album entirely based on the Apple II, titled "Class Apples." The album included dance-style versions of classical music by Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart, recorded directly from the Apple II motherboard.