Apple III

Apple III. The Apple III was a business-oriented personal computer developed and released by Apple Computer in 1980 as a successor to the highly successful Apple II. Intended to compete directly with machines like the IBM Personal Computer in the corporate market, it featured advanced hardware and a new operating system. Despite its ambitions, the computer was plagued by technical problems and poor sales, leading to its discontinuation in 1984 and its replacement by the enhanced Apple IIe.

Development and release

The development of the Apple III was led by Apple Computer under the direction of co-founder Steve Jobs, who envisioned a machine that would appeal to business users and professionals. The project, known internally as "Sara," was driven by a desire to move beyond the hobbyist market dominated by the Apple II and to challenge emerging competitors like IBM and Tandy Corporation. Key engineers, including Wendell Sander, worked to design a system that maintained some compatibility with its predecessor while introducing more robust features. After significant delays partly due to Steve Jobs's exacting design demands, which included the omission of a cooling fan, the Apple III was officially announced in May 1980 and began shipping later that year, with a starting price of $4,340.

Technical specifications

At its core, the Apple III utilized a Synertek 6502A microprocessor clocked at 2 MHz, which was a faster version of the CPU used in the Apple II. The system came standard with 128 KB of RAM, expandable to 512 KB, a significant amount for the era. It featured a built-in 140 KB floppy disk drive and offered support for an external 5 MB hard disk drive from Profile, a first for an Apple computer. The machine could display 80 columns of text and high-resolution graphics at 560×192 pixels, and it included an integrated real-time clock and support for upper and lower case characters. Its physical design was a sleek, beige case that contrasted with the more utilitarian look of the IBM Personal Computer.

Software and operating system

The Apple III ran a sophisticated new operating system called Apple SOS, which stood for Sophisticated Operating System. Apple SOS introduced a hierarchical file system, advanced memory management, and support for device drivers, offering a more modern environment than the Apple DOS used on the Apple II. Key business software included AppleWriter, ApplePlot, and Visicalc, the latter being the pioneering spreadsheet application that had driven sales of the Apple II. To aid transition, the system featured an "emulation mode" that allowed it to run many popular programs from the Apple II, though this mode operated at a slower speed and with limited memory access.

Reception and legacy

Upon its release, the Apple III received a mixed reception from the press and the market. Publications like InfoWorld and Byte noted its advanced specifications and potential for business use. However, it failed to achieve significant commercial success, with estimates suggesting only about 120,000 units were ever sold. Its legacy is largely defined by its role as a cautionary tale in the history of Apple Computer, highlighting the risks of rushed development and over-ambition. The machine's failure solidified the Apple II family's continued dominance for the company and influenced the development philosophy behind future projects like the Macintosh. Today, it is a collectible item among enthusiasts of vintage computing.

Technical issues and reliability

The Apple III was notoriously plagued by serious technical issues and reliability problems, primarily stemming from its rushed production and design compromises. A major flaw was the lack of a cooling fan, as mandated by Steve Jobs for quiet operation, which led to critical overheating that caused integrated circuit chips to disconnect from the motherboard. This was exacerbated by the initial use of a poorly designed main logic board and faulty DRAM chips. Furthermore, the proprietary Shugart Associates floppy disk drives were often misaligned, leading to read/write errors. In response to widespread failures, Apple Computer initiated a massive recall and repair program in 1981, but the damage to the model's reputation was severe and lasting.

Category:Apple hardware Category:Personal computers Category:1980s computers