Apple II

Apple ][

Processor: MOS 6502 @ 1.023 MHz

Manufacturer: Apple Computer, Inc.

Year: 1977

Donor: Private

Of the three major systems to come out in 1977 was the Apple II. It followed Steve Wozniak’s Apple I computer kit, which achieved massive popularity among tech wizzes for its integrated text output display. Steve’s vision for the Apple II was a system that could play a game. Although games of the era were primitive (like Pong), this requirement necessitated a graphics output (not just text). Through Steve’s brilliant logic design, the system's RAM memory seamlessly served double duty, servicing the processor on half of the clock cycle and then video for the other half. This brought bitmap video to life on the machine without compromise.

The Apple II enjoyed massively popularity, remaining in production from its release in 1977 through to its eventual retirement in 1993 -- a whopping 16 year run for a computer system. In part due to Apple’s marketing choice to provide Apple II computers to educators at reduced cost, this machine became a fixture in the computer labs of a generation of students. It also had a rich family throughout its life, including the enhanced IIe, the slender IIc and the graphics and sound powerhouse IIgs. Even after its time, add-on cards were developed for the Macintosh with the Apple II chipset to allow original Apple II software to run on more modern machines. This was to support the enormous software ecosystem that had grown around the Apple II.

Do you remember Donkey Kong, Frogger or Oregon Trail? We have them all here.

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