The first retro computer I ever used (and it's smaller sibling)
What's not to love about the Apple II? It's got a lot of neat jank inside it. It's got a lot of cool history behind it. I guess someone could complain that it's a bit of a primitive mess but I personally find that to be part of the charm.
My first Apple II was a II+, the same II+ that my dad played with when he was a kid. It belonged to an aunt and uncle, they bought it alongside two drives/a monitor/a printer/a modem so they could dial into their college timeshare system for their coursework. The uncle eventually became a history teacher, the computer helped him make quizzes with TestMaster. The Apple II eventually quit being enough of a platform, it went into their basement while IBMs became the cool thing.
I got my hands on a IIc in 2024, specifically one of those A2S4100s. I've never had an Apple II with a 65C02 and the IIe graphics modes, some amount of software has always been locked out to me because of that. This finally changes things!
I had my II+ full of funny expansion cards a while back. Right now it's pretty much "reverted" to where it was when I first got the thing, the slots go as-follows:
Slot 0: Microsoft 16K Language Card
Slot 1: CCS 7720 Parallel Interface
Slot 2: CCS 7710 Serial Interface
Slot 3: Videx VideoTerm
Slot 4: Hayes MicroModem
Slot 5: Empty
Slot 6: Disk II Interface
Slot 7: Empty
The only "modernization" currently in that II+ is the power supply, I got frankly tired of the original Astec since it seemed to be the reason 4116s kept dying on my language card. A PicoPSU replacement lives in the system these days, I'm a little annoyed at how flimsy the thing honestly is (thin PCBs do not feel durable when the barrel jack is tight and the switch takes some force to flip) but I'll take popping the top cover off to brace a PCB and turn things on over dying RAM any day.
The IIc just got "finished up" on September 1st, 2024. As-mentioned it's one of those A2S4100 models so it's got an Alps keyboard. Said keyboard has a few keys that are fairly unresponsive until ya mash 'em a bunch, if I was smart I would desolder the few problem switches to clean their contacts but I'm not too worried at the moment. I will be buying a few extra keyswitches just in case one or two die out, I'm a fan of having five laying around. All 128K of the RAM in the thing just works, something I appreciate, and it's alraedy on ROM3.
I put a Mockingboard 4c, a Mockingboard in the form factor of a CPU interposer, in the system because it just seemed like the right thing to do. This is going to be my "gaming system", it's the compact one with the 65C02 and the extra graphics modes and more RAM anyways. A little quirk of the 4c is that you need to "open up" Slot 4 for the card any time you do a cold start on the system. It's not hard to do, POKE 50179,255:POKE 50180,255 followed by a PR#6 or CALL -151, *C403:FF FF, and a *C600G gets the job done, I just suck at remembering to do it.
I don't see myself doing much more in terms of aftermarket bits or even extended work to the system beyond this point. Sure the case is a little yellowed and I could do with some retrobrite but ah hell, that's usual for old Apple products in my eyes. I ordered up a copy of Attack of the PETSCII Robots for the thing (partially because good friend Speedy/Amelie Doree did the soundtrack, partially because why not support new homebrew titles?) and I plan on enjoying it alongside some Ultima titles in the near future.
Last Update: 09024-0055
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