Apple IIe

I have four main units, four Apple disk II drives, two Apple DuoDisk, three
Apple monitor II A2M201P, Apple Silentype Printer A2M0032,
two Apple 80 column card, Apple Centronics card, two Apple Disk II
Interface Card, Apple Mamory Card, Ati parallel interface, Epson Parallel
interface card, Apple Serial Interface card (CIB) and Graphic Mouse (CIB).

type computer
country USA
year 1983
os ProDOS
cpu MOS 65C02
speed 1.0 MHz
ram 64KB
rom 16 KB
graphic 40/80 x 24 (text),   140 x 192 (6 col)
colors 6
sound build in speaker, 1 channel
ports monitor, tape, joystick, memory slot, internal slot (6)

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The Apple IIe — The Definitive Apple II

Released in January 1983, the Apple IIe (”e” for enhanced) was the most successful and longest-lived model in the Apple II family. Combining the original II’s openness and expandability with significant hardware improvements, lower manufacturing costs, and a far better keyboard, the IIe became the standard Apple II for homes, schools, and small businesses throughout the 1980s. It remained in production until 1993 — a remarkable ten-year lifespan — making it one of the longest-lived personal computer models in history.

Key Improvements Over Earlier Models

The IIe addressed most of the original Apple II’s shortcomings. The keyboard was vastly improved, adding lowercase letters (absent from the original II), a Delete key, and arrow keys. The 65C02 processor added new instructions, and the architecture was refined to reduce the chip count from over 100 to around 30, dramatically reducing manufacturing costs. Memory was expanded to 64 KB standard (expandable to 128 KB with the Extended 80-Column Card), and the video system gained an 80-column text mode crucial for business software.

The Education Market

The Apple IIe dominated American school computing throughout the 1980s. Apple’s aggressive educational pricing and a vast library of educational software made it the standard classroom computer, introducing an entire generation of American students to computing. The IIe’s influence on technology education cannot be overstated — it shaped the computing skills of millions of people who went on to build the modern technology industry.

The Computer Museum Ata Collection

The collection holds four Apple IIe units — a testament to the machine’s ubiquity and the enthusiasm with which collectors seek it out today.