Apple III
The Apple III ( proper spelling Apple /// ) was the first Apple computer that was developed without Steve Wozniak (he designed the Apple II in 1976 ). Work on the Apple III began in 1978 and was presented in May 1980.
The Apple III became an expensive flop for several reasons. This included the high price and the incomplete compatibility in practice with the popular Apple II and its already quite large software library - only a maximum of 48 kB RAM was supported for Apple II programs , while most programs at that time already required 64 kB. Perhaps even more significant were technical problems, such as frequent crashes due to overheating and the tendency for the chips to slip out of their (cheap) sockets.
The technical problems were fixed with the Apple III Plus, introduced in 1983, but the bad reputation of the device could not be changed. The resulting market niche above the Apple II was filled by the IBM PC in 1981 .
Since the Apple II, unlike the III, continued to sell well, Apple called its next 8- bit computer in 1982 not Apple IV, but Apple IIe , this time ensuring full compatibility with the Apple II.
Technical specification
| processor | 8-bit Synertek 6502 A, 2 MHz |
| R.A.M. | 128 kB III, 256 kB III +, max. 512 kB |
| ROME | 4 kB |
| graphic | integrated, text 80 × 24 × 2, graphics 140 × 192 × 16, 280 × 192 × 6 and 520 × 192 × 2 colors |
| Sound | one channel in 6-bit resolution, over seven octaves |
| Floppy disk drive | 5¼ "140 kB integrated, optionally up to three more externally |
| hard disk | external 5 MB ST506 hard drive (so-called ProFile) |
| Hard drive interface | ST506 interface |
| keyboard | integrated in the system , for the first time with apple buttons |
| RS-232 | 1 |
| slot | 4 Apple II expansion slots |
| joystick | 2 |
| operating system | Apple SOS , Apple DOS |
| software | Business basic |
