Apple IIc Plus · Lablypedia

History

By 1988 the Laser 128 series of Apple II clones was popular enough that it had, inCider wrote, "won a place in the Apple market, and irritated Apple in the process". The 128 sold for about $300 less than the Apple IIc. The Apple IIc Plus was introduced on September 16, 1988, at the AppleFest conference in San Francisco, with less fanfare than the IIc had received four years earlier. Described as little more than a "turbocharged version of the IIc with a high-capacity 3½ disk drive" by one magazine review of the time, some users were disappointed. Many IIc users already had add-ons giving them something rather close to what the new model offered.

Before the official release of the machine, it had been rumored to be a slotless version of the Apple IIGS squeezed into the portable case of the Apple IIc. Apple employee John Arkley, one of the engineers working on the Apple IIc Plus project, had devised rudimentary plans for an enhanced Apple IIGS motherboard that would fit in the IIc case, and petitioned management for the go-ahead with such a project; the idea was rejected.

Apple priced the IIc Plus much more aggressively than it had the IIc; it was only $126 more expensive than the Laser 128EX/2. When the project started the original plan was to just replace the 5.25-inch floppy drive with a 3.5-inch, without modifying the IIc design. Other features, consequently, were added as the project progressed. It is believed the Apple IIc Plus design, and its existence at all, was influenced by the Laser 128. The Apple IIc Plus is very similar in design to the Laser 128EX/2 model, released shortly before the Apple IIc Plus. As it was fully backwards-compatible, the Apple IIc Plus replaced the Apple IIc.

Codenames for the machine while under development included: Raisin, Pizza, and Adam Ant.

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Overview

Three major new features

The Apple IIc Plus adds three key features to the IIc. The most noticeable feature is the replacement of the 5.25-inch floppy drive with a 3.5-inch drive. Besides offering nearly six times the storage capacity (800 KB), the new drive has a much faster seek time (three times faster) and button-activated motorized ejection. To accommodate the increased data flow of the new drive, specialized chip circuitry called the MIG, an acronym for "Magic Interface Glue", was designed and added to the motherboard along with a dedicated 2 KB static RAM buffer.

The second most important feature is a faster 65C02 processor. Running at 4 MHz, it made the computer faster than any other Apple II, including the IIGS. Apple licensed the Zip Chip Apple II accelerator, from third-party developer Zip Technologies, for the IIc Plus. Instead of the all-in-one tall chip design, Apple engineers broke out the design into its core components and integrated them into the motherboard (a 4 MHz CPU, 8 KB of combined static RAM cache, and logic). Apple stated its performance as three times faster (3.3 times according to benchmarks) than any other 8-bit Apple II. The CPU acceleration was a last-minute feature addition, which in turn made the specialized circuitry for the use of a 3.5-inch drive unnecessary at full CPU speed as the machine was now fast enough to handle the data flow; that circuitry was left in place and put into operation nonetheless to support 1 MHz mode. By default the machine rus at 4 MHz, but holding down the 'ESC' key during a cold or warm boot disables the acceleration so it can run at a standard 1 MHz. This is necessary for older software that depends on timing, especially games.

The third major change is the internalization of the power supply into the Apple IIc Plus's case, using a new miniature design from Sony and replacing the previous external power brick.

A new look and minor changes

There are cosmetic changes as well. The keyboard layout and style now mirror that of the Apple IIGS and Macintosh, including an enlarged "Return" key and updated modifier keys (Open and Solid Apple being replaced by "Command" and "Option"). Above the keyboard, the rarely used "40/80" switch is replaced by a sliding volume control (gone was the left side volume-control dial, and as a cost-cutting measure, the audio headphone jack disappeared with it). The case housing and keyboard are the light-grey Apple platinum color, creating a seamless blend between keyboard and case, making them appear almost as one. At 7 pounds (3.2 kg), the machine is a half pound lighter than the original IIc.

In the rear of the machine, there is a three-prong AC plug connector and power switch where the voltage converter had once been, a Kensington security slot at the top left corner, and the standardization of the serial port connectors (changed from DIN-5 to mini DIN-8, but still providing an identical signal). All the same built-in Apple II peripheral equivalents and port functionality of the IIc remains, with the exception being the floppy port. The previous IIc could only support one external 5.25-inch floppy drive and (in later models) "intelligent" storage devices such as the UniDisk 3.5; the Apple IIc Plus has backward port compatibility. Support for the external Apple 3.5 Drive used by the Apple IIGS and Macintosh is now present, and up to two external 5.25-inch floppy drives can be added as well.

Internally, the new motherboard has a pin connector for an internal modem; however no products use it. The memory expansion socket introduced on late-model IIc's is present, although not compatible with memory cards for the previous system. The ROM firmware (labeled revision "5", following in the sequence from the original IIc) is the same size, as is the RAM; the machine continued to ship with 128 KB of memory.

Reception

inCider in November 1988 found that the Apple IIc Plus was faster than a IIGS, Laser 128EX/2, or Apple IIe with a Zip Chip. It favorably cited the improved keyboard, internal power supply, and Macintosh/IIGS-compatible serial port, but said that the computer "isn't everything it could be", criticizing the lack of change from the IIc's memory capacity ("128K doesn't quite cut it") and difficulty in adding more. The magazine concluded, "It's disappointing that a company as technologically sophisticated as Apple couldn't have gone a step further ... The IIc Plus is a nice system, but it's too little, too late". A separate editorial in the issue began "What if you announced a new computer and nobody cared? Apple Computer could be facing such a dilemma". Even with an accompanying price increase for the IIGS, the magazine stated that "unless you really want a small, easily transportable computer, there's little reason to buy the IIc Plus over the IIGS ... the improvements over the IIc simply aren't that significant". Regarding the 3.5-inch drive the magazine stated, "there are thousands of good, affordable programs that won't be released in 3 1/2-inch format ... bargain hunters will want access to classic educational and entertainment programs that are available only on 5 1/4-inch disks". While praising Apple for continuing to support Apple II owners the editorial criticized the company for announcing "a new product that uses old technology" at a price higher than that of the Laser 128 EX/2 or an inexpensive PC clone, comparing the IIc Plus to the unsuccessful IBM PCjr. It concluded that "the IIc Plus simply clouds the Apple II picture".

Technical specifications

Microprocessor

65C02 running at either 1 MHz or 4 MHz (user-selectable)
8 KB SRAM cache (16 KB physical installed; 8 KB for TAG/DATA)
8-bit data bus

Memory

128 KB RAM built-in
- Expandable from 128 KB to 1.125 MB RAM
32 KB ROM built-in

Video

40 and 80 columns text, with 24 lines¹
Low-Resolution: 40×48 (16 colors)
High-Resolution: 280×192 (6 colors) *
Double-Low-Resolution: 80×48 (16 colors)
Double-High-Resolution: 560×192 (16 colors) *

*effectively 140×192 in color, due to pixel placement restrictions

¹Text can be mixed with graphic modes, replacing either bottom 8 or 32 lines, depending on video mode

Audio

Built-in speaker; 1-bit toggling
User-adjustable volume (manual sliding switch)

Built-in storage

Internal 3.5-inch floppy drive
- 800 KB, double-sided
- Motorized ejection/auto-injection

Internal connectors

IIc Plus Memory Expansion Card connector (34-pin)
Internal modem connector (7-pin)

Specialized chip controllers

IWM (Integrated Woz Machine) for floppy drives
MIG (Magic Interface Glue) with 2 KB SRAM, for "dumb" 3.5-inch drive support
Dual 6551 ACIA chips for serial I/O

External connectors

Joystick/Mouse (DE-9)
Printer, serial-1 (mini DIN-8)
Modem, serial-2 (mini DIN-8)
Video Expansion Port (D-15)
Floppy drive SmartPort (D-19)
NTSC composite video output (RCA connector)

Notes of interest

Revisions

The Apple IIc Plus had a relatively short product lifespan, produced for only two years (it was officially discontinued in November 1990). Though for many years it was believed that there had been no changes or revisions made to the machine, in 2008 hobbyists discovered the existence of two versions of the motherboard. While the revised board contained several minor differences (mainly different ASIC manufacturers and markings), there were no updates or bug fixes seen in the firmware (which was still identified as ROM version '5').

No international versions

There were also no international versions of the Apple IIc Plus produced, so the keyboard, unlike the original IIc, was only manufactured with American English printed keycaps and the 'Keyboard' switch was utilized solely for changing between QWERTY and Dvorak layout (rather than localized keyboard layouts). Consequently, the Apple IIc Plus was only sold in the U.S. — not even Canadian Apple dealers were authorized to distribute or sell it.

End of the line

Although it wasn't intended to be, the Apple IIc Plus would be the last new Apple II model. But even back in 1988, before this was known, the Apple IIc Plus could be seen as signaling the beginning of the end for the Apple II series, or at the very least, a hint at the direction Apple Computer was taking with the line. In releasing the IIc Plus, Apple management essentially made a statement that the Apple IIGS was no longer considered a top priority, and if anything, gave it a back seat when it was the only possible future for the evolution and continued success of the Apple II line. That, in turn, signified that the Apple II line as a whole, despite its promise and potential, was no longer considered important at Apple headquarters. Consequently, from this point forward, the Apple II was milked for financial gain as much as possible, while at the same time a cap was placed on its evolution and advancement so it wouldn't overshadow and compete with the Macintosh, the company's then-new focus and chosen future.

Further proof of this was that, a year after the release of the oddly out-of-place and retro-designed Apple IIc Plus, only a minor maintenance release of the Apple IIGS was introduced (mainly boasting more RAM and improved firmware) rather than any of the desperately needed hardware changes required to keep the machine viable. Prototypes of more advanced Apple II models (namely in the form of a new IIGS) were delayed and eventually cancelled as the company decided what to do with its Apple II product line. The result was to allow it to slowly fade out into obscurity due to a lack of development or support. The Apple II line carried on until October 1993, when the IIe was discontinued.