Table of Contents History of Apple: The Apple II – more than just the basis of success Woz ‘Tricks Apple’s DOS All about Apple Microsoft helps Article in c’t 27 / 2019 read Already in August 1976 the Apple founder Steve Wozniak finished the heart of the Apple II: the mainboard. Like the first Apple computer, he single-handedly developed it and made it work. 1977 came the Apple II on the market and was until the end of 1993 sold as a product. There are no official sales figures, current estimates speak of up to six million copies manufactured by Apple.

At the same time Commodores PET appeared 2001 and Tandys TRS – 80. The technical data were similar: 8-bit processor, 4 KByte main memory and a BASIC interpreter in the ROM, so that you could start programming immediately after switching on. A cassette recorder served as data storage. The entry prices were beyond 3000 D-Mark. The prices for the PET and the TRS – 80 fell quite quickly, the Apple price stayed at a higher level for a long time.

Wozniak’s design had a lot ahead of the competition: With eight slots, the Apple II offered plenty of space for expansion. The Apple was able to produce high-resolution graphics with 280 × 192 dots of two colors or 15 Colors at 40 × 48 represent points. The PET and the TRS – 80 offered no color and only block graphics, i.e. an alternative character set to achieve graphic-like representations. Only the PET mastered lower case letters. At TRS – 80 and Apple II you had to retrofit them.

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