Apple III line: Difference between revisions

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HUGE change to fix issues such as professionalism and clarifying a lot. Further also clarified on the exact flaws of the Apple /// that led to each revision/model.
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The '''[[wikipedia:Apple III|Apple III]]''' is mostly a souped-up [[Apple II line|Apple II]] that melted its own guts and made the FCC mad.
The '''[[wikipedia:Apple III|Apple III]]''' (stylized as '''apple ///''') was a failed successor of the [[Apple II]] line that was originally released in 1980 and discontinued in early 1984. Early revisions had major flaws that required a second revision and later a model known as the Apple III Plus to rectify interference issues.




==Models==
==Models==
===[[wikipedia:Apple_III|Apple III]]===
===[[wikipedia:Apple_III|Apple III]]===
The Apple III was released in May of '80 and retailed for {{Inflation|USD|4340|1980}} and had a 6502A CPU at 1.8 MHz, 128K of RAM, a 80-column, 24-line display, 6-bit audio, built-in 140KB 5.25-inch floppy drive, two graphics modes 560x192 in black and white and 280x192 with 16 colors or shades of gray. It had 4 expansion slots.
The Apple III was released in May of 1980 and retailed for {{Inflation|USD|4340|1980}} and had a 6502A CPU at 1.8 MHz, 128K of RAM, a 80-column, 24-line display, 6-bit audio, built-in 140KB 5.25-inch floppy drive, two graphics modes 560x192 in black and white and 280x192 with 16 colors or shades of gray. It had 4 expansion slots. The original revision used a serial number beginning with A3S1, but it is also known as the 12v model as it used 12v power for memory.  


===[[wikipedia:Apple_III#Revisions|Apple III Revised]]===
To keep the noise of the Apple III down, a fan was not included, but it utilized the metal casing as heat dissipation. The high voltage, along with the poor heat dissipation qualities of the device and low quality connectors used on the PCB, caused the chips to raise out of their sockets causing "chip creep" and the resulting failure of the Apple III which required a small drop to re-seat the chips.
The Apple III was released in the second half of '81 and retailed for {{Inflation|USD|3495|1981}}. The reason for this is that the public had found a flaw in the logic board design so Apple had to pull the III off shelves and re-release it. This re-release had 256KB of RAM as standard. The FCC made Apple discontinue the apple III Revised because Apple didn't change the name.
 
===[[wikipedia:Apple_III#Revisions|Apple III A3S2]]===
The Apple III A3S2 was released in the second half of 1981 and retailed for {{Inflation|USD|3495|1981}} in response to the A3S1's failures. It utilized 5v power for the memory and utilized slightly higher quality connectors which was able to soothe the heat failures significantly. It was discontinued as the interference issues were not rectified and the FCC required Apple to change the model name when they had fixed it.


===[[wikipedia:Apple_III#Apple_III_Plus|Apple III Plus]]===
===[[wikipedia:Apple_III#Apple_III_Plus|Apple III Plus]]===
The Apple III Plus was released in December of 1983 and it retailed for {{Inflation|USD|2995|1983}}, after Apple had to discontinue the apple III Revised because they did not change the computer's name after they modified it, they re-re-released it with a built-in clock, 55-watt power supply, and a //e-like keyboard.
The Apple III Plus was released in December of 1983 and it retailed for {{Inflation|USD|2995|1983}}. After the FCC had ensured that the new model followed regulations, they discontinued the Apple III A3S2 and began selling the Apple III Plus at the very end of the Apple III's life (as the previous issues had effectively destroyed its reputation). It included a built-in clock, 55-watt power supply, and a //e-like keyboard. It utilized the same A3S2 serial code as the non-Plus second revision.


==Emulators==
==Emulators==
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! scope="col"|Latest version
! scope="col"|Latest version
! scope="col"|III
! scope="col"|III
! scope="col"|III Revised
! scope="col"|III A3S2
! scope="col"|III Plus
! scope="col"|III Plus
! scope="col"|[[Licensing|License]]
! scope="col"|[[Licensing|License]]
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This computer doesn't have too many emulators because of how bad it flopped. The first one that fully works is [[MAME]].
The Apple III was not a significant hit and was complex to reverse engineer, therefore the Apple III does not have a lot of emulators. The one that is almost always recommended is [[MAME]].


== Sources ==
[https://apple3.org] apple3.org, incredibly solid resource on the Apple III.


{{Apple}}
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_III] en.wikipedia.org, provides good layman information on the Apple III{{Apple}}


[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Apple computers]]
[[Category:Apple computers]]

Revision as of 08:16, 20 June 2026

Apple III
Developer Apple Computer, Inc.
Type Computers
Release date 1980
Discontinued 1984
Predecessor Apple II
Emulated ✓

The Apple III (stylized as apple ///) was a failed successor of the Apple II line that was originally released in 1980 and discontinued in early 1984. Early revisions had major flaws that required a second revision and later a model known as the Apple III Plus to rectify interference issues.


Models

Apple III

The Apple III was released in May of 1980 and retailed for $4340 ($16966 in 2026) and had a 6502A CPU at 1.8 MHz, 128K of RAM, a 80-column, 24-line display, 6-bit audio, built-in 140KB 5.25-inch floppy drive, two graphics modes 560x192 in black and white and 280x192 with 16 colors or shades of gray. It had 4 expansion slots. The original revision used a serial number beginning with A3S1, but it is also known as the 12v model as it used 12v power for memory.

To keep the noise of the Apple III down, a fan was not included, but it utilized the metal casing as heat dissipation. The high voltage, along with the poor heat dissipation qualities of the device and low quality connectors used on the PCB, caused the chips to raise out of their sockets causing "chip creep" and the resulting failure of the Apple III which required a small drop to re-seat the chips.

Apple III A3S2

The Apple III A3S2 was released in the second half of 1981 and retailed for $3495 ($12383 in 2026) in response to the A3S1's failures. It utilized 5v power for the memory and utilized slightly higher quality connectors which was able to soothe the heat failures significantly. It was discontinued as the interference issues were not rectified and the FCC required Apple to change the model name when they had fixed it.

Apple III Plus

The Apple III Plus was released in December of 1983 and it retailed for $2995 ($9687 in 2026). After the FCC had ensured that the new model followed regulations, they discontinued the Apple III A3S2 and began selling the Apple III Plus at the very end of the Apple III's life (as the previous issues had effectively destroyed its reputation). It included a built-in clock, 55-watt power supply, and a //e-like keyboard. It utilized the same A3S2 serial code as the non-Plus second revision.

Emulators

Name Platform(s) Latest version III III A3S2 III Plus License Active Recommended
PC / x86
MAME Windows Linux macOS FreeBSD 0.289 ✓ ✓ ✓ GPLv2
BSD-3-Clause 		✓ ✓
Sara macOS 0.5.1 ✓ ? ? Proprietary ✗ ✗

The Apple III was not a significant hit and was complex to reverse engineer, therefore the Apple III does not have a lot of emulators. The one that is almost always recommended is MAME.

Sources

[1] apple3.org, incredibly solid resource on the Apple III.

[2] en.wikipedia.org, provides good layman information on the Apple III

Apple(edit)

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