Apple I

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This article is about the early microcomputer. For the streaming service, see Apple One. For Apple's use of the Template:Noitalic prefix, see Internet-related prefixes § "i-". For other uses, see Apple 1 (disambiguation).

Template:Use mdy dates

Template:Infobox information appliance The Apple Computer 1 (Apple-1[lower-alpha 1]), later known predominantly as the Apple ITemplate:Sronly,[lower-alpha 2] is an 8-bit motherboard-only personal computer designed by Steve Wozniak[3][4] and released by the Apple Computer Company (now Apple Inc.) in 1976. The company was initially formed to sell the Apple I – its first product – and would later become the world's largest technology company.[5] The idea of starting a company and selling the computer came from Wozniak's friend and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.[6][7] A differentiator of the Apple I was that it included video display terminal circuitry on its circuit board, allowing it to connect to a low-cost composite video monitor or television, whereas others avoided this and used more expensive monitors because business was used to more characters per displayed/typewritten line. It and the Sol-20 were some of the first home computers to have this capability.

To finance the Apple I's development, Wozniak and Jobs sold some of their possessions for a few hundred dollars.[8] Wozniak demonstrated the first prototype in July 1976 at the Homebrew Computer Club in Palo Alto, California, impressing the Byte Shop, an early computer retailer.[9] After securing an order for 50 computers, Jobs was able to order the parts on credit and deliver the first Apple products after ten days.[10]

The Apple I was one of the first computers available that used the inexpensive MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor. An expansion included a BASIC interpreter, allowing users to utilize BASIC at home instead of at institutions with mainframe computers, greatly lowering the entry cost for computing with BASIC.

Production was discontinued on September 30, 1977, after the June 10, 1977 introduction of its successor, the Apple II, which Byte magazine referred to as part of the "1977 Trinity" of personal computing (along with the PET 2001 from Commodore Business Machines and the TRS-80 Model I from Tandy Corporation).[11] As relatively few computers were made before they were discontinued, coupled with their status as Apple's first product, surviving Apple I units are now displayed in computer museums.[12]

History[edit | edit source]

Development[edit | edit source]

Steve Wozniak alone designed the circuit and operating system for the Apple I.[13]

In 1974, while visiting famous phone phreak John Draper in California, Steve Wozniak watched him connect a modem to the ARPANET – the precursor to the internet – and use a teleprinter to play chess with someone from Boston; this inspired him to make a cheap terminal that used an inexpensive keyboard from Sears and a standard TV.[14] Later in March 1975, Wozniak started attending meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club, which was a major source of inspiration for him.[15][16][17] New microcomputers such as the Altair 8800 inspired Wozniak to build a microprocessor into his video terminal circuit to make a complete computer.[18] At the time the only appropriate CPUs available were the Intel 8080, and the Motorola 6800. Of these options, Wozniak preferred the 6800, though he was financially unable to obtain either. Instead, he began designing computers on paper until he could afford a CPU.[19]

When the $25 MOS Technology 6502 was released in late 1975,[lower-alpha 3] Wozniak wrote a version of BASIC for it, then began to design a computer for it to run on. The 6502 was developed by many of the same engineers that designed the 6800, as many in Silicon Valley left employers to form their own companies. Wozniak's earlier 6800 computer design needed only minor changes to run on the new processor.

By March 1, 1976, Wozniak completed the basic design of his computer.[20][21] Wozniak originally offered the design to HP while working there, but it was rejected by the company on five occasions.[22] When he demonstrated his computer at the Homebrew Computer Club, his friend and fellow club regular Steve Jobs was immediately interested in its commercial potential.[23] Wozniak intended to share schematics of the machine for free; however, Jobs advised him to start a business together and sell bare printed circuit boards for the computer.[24][25][26] Wozniak, at first skeptical, was later convinced by Jobs that even if they were not successful they could at least say to their grandchildren that they had had their own company. To raise the money they needed to build the first batch of the circuit boards, Wozniak sold his HP-65 scientific calculator while Jobs sold his Volkswagen van.[24][25]

Template:External media After the company was formed a month later, Jobs and Wozniak gave a presentation of the fully assembled "Apple Computer A" at the Homebrew Computer Club.[27][28][29] Paul Terrell, who was starting a new computer shop in Mountain View, California, called the Byte Shop,[30] saw the presentation and was impressed by the machine.[31][32] Terrell told Jobs that he would order 50 units of the Apple I and pay $500 each[lower-alpha 4] on delivery, but only if they came fully assembled – he was not interested in buying bare printed circuit boards with no components.[33][31][34][33][32]

Jobs took the purchase order from the Byte Shop to national electronic parts distributor Cramer Electronics, and ordered the components needed. When asked by the credit manager how he would pay for the parts, Jobs replied, "I have this purchase order from the Byte Shop chain of computer stores for 50 of my computers and the payment terms are COD. If you give me the parts on net 30-day terms I can build and deliver the computers in that time frame, collect my money from Terrell at the Byte Shop and pay you."[10][35]

To verify the purchase order, the credit manager called Paul Terrell, who assured him if the computers showed up, Jobs would have more than enough money for the parts order. The two Steves and their small crew spent day and night building and testing the computers, and delivered to Terrell on time. Terrell was surprised to receive a batch of assembled circuit boards, as he had expected complete computers with a case, monitor and keyboard.[36][37] Nonetheless, he kept his word and paid the two Steves the money promised.[38][36][37][39]

Announcement and sales[edit | edit source]

Introductory advertisement for the Apple I computer

The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 at a price of Template:USD.[lower-alpha 5] Wozniak later said he had no idea about the relation between the number and the number of the beast, and that he came up with the price because he liked "repeating digits"[38][40] and because it was a one-third markup on the Template:US$ wholesale price.[41] Jobs had managed to get the inventory into the nation's first four storefront microcomputer retailers: Byte Shop (Palo Alto, California), itty bitty machine company (Evanston, Illinois), Data Domain (Bloomington, Indiana), and Computer Mart (New York City).[42]

The first unit produced was used in a high school math class, and donated to Liza Loop's public-access computer center.[43] About 200 units were produced, and all but 25 were sold within nine or ten months.[35]

In April 1977, the price was dropped to $475.[lower-alpha 6][2] It continued to be sold through August 1977, despite the introduction of the Apple II in April 1977, which began shipping in June of that year.[44] In October 1977, the Apple I was officially discontinued and removed from Apple's price list.[45] As Wozniak was the only person who could answer most customer support questions about the computer, the company offered Apple I owners discounts and trade-ins for Apple IIs to persuade them to return their computers.[46] These recovered boards were then destroyed by Apple, contributing to their later rarity.[47]

Both Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak have stated that Apple did not assign serial numbers to the Apple l. Several boards have been found with numbered stickers affixed to them, which appear to be inspection stickers from the PCB manufacturer/assembler. A batch of boards is known to have numbers hand-written in black permanent marker on the back; these usually appear as "01-00##". As of January 2022, 29 Apple-1s with a serial number are known. The highest known number is 01–0079. Two original Apple-1s have been analyzed by Professional Sports Authenticator in Los Angeles, concluding that the serial numbers had been hand-written by Steve Jobs.[48]

Hardware[edit | edit source]

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Because the Apple I did not include a case, customers needed to supply their own.

The Apple I used a MOS Technologies 6502 microprocessor running at Template:Val, and its design was based largely on Wozniak's previous work centered around a Motorola 6800.[49] The unconventional clock speed was chosen to be a fraction (<templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />2⁄7) of the NTSC color carrier, which simplified video circuitry. Template:Val of memory was included on the base machine, which was expandable to Template:Val on-board and up to Template:Val by using an add-on card. On-board memory utilized newly available 4Kbit DRAM chips, and was designed to be upgradeable to the next generation of 16Kbit chips for a maximum of Template:Val on-board memory.[50] An optional $75 plug-in cassette interface card allowed users to store programs on ordinary audio cassette tapes. A BASIC interpreter, originally written by Wozniak, was provided with the cassette interface that let users easily write programs and play simple games. An onboard AC power supply was included.

The Apple I did not come with a case. It could be used bare, though some users chose to build custom (typically wooden) enclosures.[51]

Video and Input[edit | edit source]

The Apple I included built-in computer terminal circuitry with composite video output. To use the computer, a user-supplied composite monitor and ASCII-encoded keyboard needed to be connected. If a monitor was not available, a standard television set could be used along with an RF modulator. In comparison, competing machines generally required an expensive dedicated video display terminal or teletypewriter. This, combined with its single-board construction, made the Apple I an elegant and inexpensive machine for its day, though competitors such as the Sol-20 and Sphere 1 offered similar feature sets.

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A close-up of the top-left portion of the Apple I motherboard. The chips are arranged in a grid. One chip is larger than the rest and is placed horizontally rather than vertically.
The large, horizontal chip on the top-left of the main board is the Signetics 2513 character generator.
A table with four rows of 16 pixelated characters. There is no room for lowercase letters. The square bracket characters are noticeably thicker than the other symbols.
The Apple I character set

The computer generated its video output using a shift register memory and a Signetics 2513 64×8×5 Character Generator.[52] It was capable of displaying uppercase characters, numbers and basic punctuation and math symbols with a 5x8 pixel font:[53]

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Apple Cassette Interface expansion[edit | edit source]

Template:Listen image A cassette interface was available in the form of an optional add-on for the Apple I's expansion slot. A cassette deck plugged in to the expansion's phone connector ports could be written to and read from as a form of removable storage. The only alternative to the interface for loading programs was typing machine code by hand, making the add-on "ubiquitous".[54]

The expansion came with a free cassette tape containing Steve Wozniak's Integer BASIC interpreter. Other software tapes were supplied "at minimal cost"[50] including ported video games such as Hamurabi, Lunar Lander and Star Trek.[2]

Conservation[edit | edit source]

A running Apple I, with a keyboard and monitor connected, on display at LCM+L where guests were allowed to use it

Only about 200 Apple I boards were produced,[35] and as of Template:MONTHNAME 2022[[Category:Articles containing potentially dated statements from Expression error: Unexpected < operator.]] the whereabouts of 62 to 82 are known.[55] After the success of the Apple II, and of Apple broadly, the Apple I was recognized as an important historical computer.[56][57] According to the 1986 Apple IIe Owner's Guide, an Apple I was then worth "between $10,000 and $15,000"[lower-alpha 7][58] and a board was reportedly sold for $50,000 in 1999.[lower-alpha 8][citation needed]

In November 2010, an Apple I with a cache of original documents and packaging sold for £133,250 ($Template:To USD round)[lower-alpha 9] at Christie's auction house in London. The documents included the return label showing Steve Jobs's parents' address, a personally typed and signed letter from Jobs (answering technical questions about the computer), and the invoice (listing "Steven" as the salesman). The computer was brought to Polytechnic University of Turin for restoration.[59][60][61]

In October 2014 the Henry Ford Museum purchased an Apple I at a Bonhams auction for Template:US$.[lower-alpha 10] The sale included the keyboard, monitor, cassette decks and a manual.[12] In 2017, an Apple I removed from Steve Jobs's office in 1985 by Apple quality control engineer Don Hutmacher was placed on display at Living Computers: Museum + Labs.[62]

On May 30, 2015, an elderly woman reportedly dropped off boxes of electronics for disposal at an electronics recycling center in the Silicon Valley of Northern California. Included in the electronics (removed from her garage after the death of her husband) was an original Apple I computer, which the recycling firm sold for Template:US$. When a discarded item is sold, it is the company's practice to give 50% of the proceeds to the original owner,[63][64] but the woman has not been identified.[65]

Apple I computers with original documents and memorabilia have frequently been auctioned for over $300,000 throughout the 2010s[66][67][68][69] and 2020s.[70][71] The production prototype for the Apple I survives in a badly damaged state and was itself auctioned in 2022 for $677,196.[72][28][73][74]

Replicas[edit | edit source]

Several Apple I clones and replicas have been released in recent years. These are created by hobbyists and marketed to the hobbyist/collector community. Availability is usually limited to small runs in response to demand.[75][76][77][78][79][80]

Emulation[edit | edit source]

Emulation software for the Apple I has been written for modern home computers[81][82][83] and for web browsers.[84] It has also been emulated on 1980s era computers including the SAM Coupé[85] and Commodore 64.[86]

See also[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]


References[edit | edit source]

Citations[edit | edit source]


Sources[edit | edit source]

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External links[edit | edit source]

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Apple I.Template:Preview warning

 Inside the Apple-1's unusual MOS clock driver chip.
  Ken Shirriff.
  (March 2022)
 
  Retrieved  from link

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  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named applefritter.com
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 April 1977 Price List - Applefritter.  Retrieved March 27, 2018 from www.applefritter.com
  3. ↑
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ The World's Largest Tech Companies: Apple Beats Samsung, Microsoft, Google.  Liyan Chen.  (May 11, 2015)  Retrieved May 24, 2017 from Forbes
  6. ↑
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ Ventura County Star.  Retrieved March 27, 2018 from Ventura County Star
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1
  11. ↑ Most Important Companies.  (September 1995)  Retrieved June 10, 2008 from link
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Apple-1 computer sold at auction for Template:US$.  Fox News.  Retrieved October 22, 2014 from link
  13. ↑ Apple-1 prototype hand-soldered by Woz under the hammer.  Jude Karabus.  Retrieved 2024-06-01 from www.theregister.com
  14. ↑ Template:Cite video
  15. ↑
  16. ↑ Linzmayer 2004, pp. 4–5.
  17. ↑ Template:Cite video
  18. ↑ Computer Technologies and Cyberterrorism.  Retrieved 1 June 2024 from link
  19. ↑ History of AppleBefore Apple Computer, Inc. - History of Apple.  Retrieved 2024-06-01 from historyofapple.com
  20. ↑
  21. ↑ Linzmayer 2004, pp. 5–6.
  22. ↑ Apple co-founder offered first computer design to HP 5 times.  (December 7, 2010)  AppleInsider.  Retrieved April 17, 2020 from link
  23. ↑
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Linzmayer 2004, pp. 4–6.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Schlender & Tetzeli 2016, pp. 35–38.
  26. ↑ Isaacson 2011, p. 62.
  27. ↑ Schlender & Tetzeli 2016, pp. 39–40.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Lost" Apple computer prototype goes on the auction block.  David Szondy.  (July 24, 2022)  Retrieved from link
  29. ↑ Template:Cite video
  30. ↑
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Isaacson 2011, pp. 66–67.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Swaine 2014, pp. 336–338.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Linzmayer 2004, p. 7.
  34. ↑
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Isaacson 2015, pp. 67–68.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Linzmayer 2004, pp. 8–10.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1
  39. ↑
  40. ↑ Video: Wozniak: Template:US$ seemed like a good idea.  (November 7, 2005)  CNET News.  Retrieved February 19, 2009 from link
  41. ↑ Wozniak 2006, p. 180.
  42. ↑ Chapter 1: Apple History (Ray Borrill interview).   Dr. Webster.  (27 August 2012)  Retrieved 22 September 2022 from applefritter
  43. ↑
  44. ↑ Bill of Sale - Applefritter.  Retrieved March 27, 2018 from www.applefritter.com
  45. ↑ October 1977 Price List - Applefritter.  Retrieved March 27, 2018 from www.applefritter.com
  46. ↑ The Apple II, cont..  (December 2008)  Retrieved February 27, 2011 from link
  47. ↑ The Huston brothers' Apple-1 Back Story.  Retrieved June 25, 2013 from link
  48. ↑ The Apple 1 Registry - THE SOLVED RIDDLE OF THE SERIAL NUMBER.  Retrieved February 10, 2022 from link
  49. ↑
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 Apple I advertisement Oct 1978
  51. ↑ The Apple 1 Case.  (September 16, 2021)  Retrieved September 18, 2021 from The Geek Pub
  52. ↑ Inside the Apple-1's shift-register memory.  Ken Shirriff.  Retrieved 2023-08-04 from Ken Shirriff's blog
  53. ↑ Datasheet Archive 2513 datasheet download.  Retrieved April 22, 2022 from link
  54. ↑ Owad 2005, p. 3.
  55. ↑ The Apple 1 Registry.  Retrieved February 16, 2022 from link
  56. ↑ 10 facts about the Apple-1, the machine that made computing history.  Michelle Starr.  (June 29, 2016)  Retrieved 2024-06-02 from CNET
  57. ↑ Steve Wozniak's Apple I Booted Up a Tech Revolution.  Clive Thompson.  (March 2016)  Retrieved 2024-06-02 from Smithsonian Magazine
  58. ↑ Apple IIe Owner's Guide.  Apple Computer.  Retrieved from link
  59. ↑
  60. ↑ Christie's Sale 7882 / Lot 65.  Christie's.  Retrieved June 16, 2012 from link
  61. ↑ $211,000 Apple-1 up and running, wants to know what this 'cloud' thing is all about.  Brian Heater.  (May 10, 2011)  engadget.com.  Retrieved June 16, 2012 from link
  62. ↑ Rare Apple I exhibit in the heart of Microsoft country.  (April 13, 2017)  Retrieved March 27, 2018 from seattlepi.com
  63. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Cbs2015-05-30
  64. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Cbc2015-05-31
  65. ↑ Global search for mysterious Apple I woman ropes in company co-founder Steve Wozniak.  Joe Rodriguez.  (June 2, 2015)  Retrieved October 23, 2023 from Mercury News
  66. ↑
  67. ↑ How much?! Working Apple-1 sells at auction for record-breaking Template:US$.  (May 27, 2013)  Retrieved March 27, 2018 from digitaltrends.com
  68. ↑ Vintage Apple computer auctioned off for Template:US$.  Yahoo News.  Retrieved May 25, 2013 from link
  69. ↑
  70. ↑ Rare functional Apple-1 computer sold at auction for Template:US$.  (March 13, 2020)  Retrieved March 13, 2020 from link
  71. ↑
  72. ↑ Jobs' Apple-1 computer prototype auctioned for nearly $700K.   Associated Press.  (August 19, 2022)  Gray Television, Inc..  Retrieved August 24, 2022 from link
  73. ↑ 'Production prototype Computer A' Apple-1 - number 2 in the Registry.  (July 2022)  Retrieved from link
  74. ↑ Steve Jobs' original Apple computer prototype up for auction.   Staff writer.  (July 23, 2022)  Gray Television, Inc..  Retrieved from link
  75. ↑ replica I – the apple I(c) clone Archived May 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved August 15, 2009
  76. ↑ replica I Archived January 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine at official Briel computers web site, retrieved August 15, 2008
  77. ↑ Image gallery: Building an Apple-1 replica from scratch.  Ken Gagne.  (2009-08-14)  Retrieved August 15, 2009 from link story with pictures for assembling a Briel replica I from a kit
  78. ↑ Owad 2005.
  79. ↑ Apple I (реплика).  Retrieved March 8, 2019 from mdesk.ru
  80. ↑ Apple1clone Spartan.  Justin McDermid.  Retrieved December 6, 2022 from Apple1clone Retrieved December 1, 2022
  81. ↑ Pom1 Apple 1 Emulator Archived August 26, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved July 17, 2013
  82. ↑ CocoaPom Apple 1 Emulator Archived June 4, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved July 17, 2013
  83. ↑ Sim6502 Apple I emulator Archived November 14, 2013, at the Wayback Machine retrieved July 17, 2013
  84. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ScullInSteel
  85. ↑ Apple 1 Emulator - SAM Coupé Archived November 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved July 17, 2013
  86. ↑ Green Delicious Apple-1 Emulator.  Retrieved February 28, 2018 from link


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