The Apple III

The Apple III was announced in June 1980. It contained a Synertek 8-bit 6502A processor which could run at speeds up to 2 MHz. It contained 128K of RAM and a 4K ROM. It could run most Apple II programs through emulation, and came with a sophisticated new operating system. It was the first Apple to include a built-in 5.25" disk drive, and graphics built-in to the motherboard. It was designed to be Apple's business offering, but sold very poorly. It sold initially for between $4,340 and $7,800, depending on the configuration. The original Apple III had many problems, and was replaced by a revised model in mid 1981, which featured 256K RAM, updated system software, and a lower price. A 5 MB external hard disk was also made available. The Apple III sold very poorly and was replaced by the Apple III plus in Late 1983. The Apple III plus was discontinued in 1985.


Date: Wed, 5 Mar 1997 14:35:37 -0800 (PST)
From: john.huber@etak.com (John Huber)
To: opinions@apple-history.pair.com
Subject: Apple History

Here's another tidbit you might add: Rupert Lissner wrote a program for the Apple III, called 3-EZ Pieces (I might be spelling it wrong). It combined spreadsheet, database, and word processing -- and was probably the first "works" program. Of course, like the Apple III, it didn't sell well. However, when the Apple IIe was introduced, so was a new version of Lissner's (come to think of it, I might be spelling his name wrong, too) software, as AppleWorks. It became the biggest-selling software package of all time, and Rupert became rich. He bought a red Ferrari and a vanity licence plate reading "MIO POMO" (my apple). - John Huber, Apple employee 1982-1994

Thanks to Matt Garrison for this picture

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