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---
title: APPLE IIgs
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Professional Computer
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1986'
cpus:
- Western Design Center 65C816
params:
name: APPLE IIgs
company: /companies/apple
company_name: Apple
specs:
- label: NAME
value: APPLE IIgs
- label: MANUFACTURER
value: Apple
- label: TYPE
value: Professional Computer
- label: ORIGIN
value: U.S.A.
- label: YEAR
value: '1986'
- label: KEYBOARD
value: Detached 80-key full stroke with 10-key numeric pad and mouse connector
- label: CPU
value: Western Design Center 65C816 (16 bit)
- label: SPEED
value: 2.8 MHz, switchable to 1 MHz
- label: RAM
value: 128 KB expandable to 8 MB
- label: ROM
value: 128 KB expandable to 1 MB
- label: TEXT MODES
value: 40 or 80 chars x 25 lines
- label: GRAPHIC MODES
value: 320 x 200 / 640 x 200 + Apple II graphic modes (see below)
- label: COLORS
value: '4096'
- label: SOUND
value: Ensoniq 32 with 16 stereo voices (+ 64 KB on chip RAM to store sound data), one voice is reserved for the system beep
- label: SIZE / WEIGHT
value: 28.5 (W) x 34.3 (D) x 10.1 (H) cm.
- label: I/O PORTS
value: 7 slots, ram card, RS422c (2), analogue RGB, Apple Desktop Bus (mouse & keyboard), Composite video, joystick, audio, disk port, AppleTalk
- label: BUILT IN MEDIA
value: Built-in 3.5'' 800 KB floppy drive
- label: OS
value: GS / OS, ProDOS 8 & 16, DOS 3.3, Pascal UCSD, CP/M (with Z80 card)
- label: POWER SUPPLY
value: Built-in switching power supply unit
- label: PRICE
value: $999 when launched. RGB monitor $499, Monochrome monitor $129, 3.5'' FDD unit $399, 5.25'' FDD unit $299, 256 KB RAM card $129, 20 MB HDD $1299, SCSI controller card $129
tabs:
- photos
- adverts
- hardware
- emulators
- links
- docs
photos:
- title: MONO AND COLOUR SYSTEMS
subtitle: ''
text: The major external difference between the monochrome **(1)** and colour **(2)** monitors is in the display adjustments on the side of both monitors. One adjustment (bright) for the mono version, two (bright, contrast) for the colour one.
image: null
- title: BACK SIDES
subtitle: ''
text: |-
**(1)** Monochrome version\
**(2)** Colour version
image: null
- title: KEYBOARD
subtitle: ''
text: The keyboard design was quite close to that of the future Macintosh series.
image: null
- title: MOTHERBOARD
subtitle: ''
text: |-
**(1)** Standard 128 KB RAM - 4 x 41464 chips (64K x 4)\
**(2)** 64 KB Sound RAM - 2 x 41464 chips\
**(3)** Ensoniq sound synthesizer chip\
**(4)** Western Digital 16-bit 65816 microprocessor\
**(5)** 128 KB system ROM chip\
**(6)** Clock chip and back-up battery\
**(7)** Joystick connector\
**(8)** 7 x Apple II compatible expansion slots\
**(9)** Expansion slot management chip\
**(10)** 128 KB Fast RAM - 4 x 41464 chips\
**(11)** Memory expansion connector (up to 8 MB)
image: null
- title: INSIDE
subtitle: ''
text: |-
**(1)** Hard-disk controller card\
**(2)** Memory expansion card\
**(3)** Apple II floppy-disk controller card\
**(4)** Stereo sound card\
**(5)** Switching power supply
image: null
- title: REAR CONNECTORS
subtitle: ''
text: |-
**(1)** Headphone jack\
**(2)** Apple II F.D. unit (cable path)\
**(3)** Serial port #1 (Modem)\
**(4)** Serial port #2 (Printer)\
**(5)** Hard-disk unit DB25 connector\
**(6)** Joystick DB9 connector\
**(7)** Sound card output jack and switch\
**(8)** 3.5" and/or 5.25 F.D. unit DB19 connector\
**(9)** Video RGB out (DB15 connector)\
**(10)** Monochrome video composite cinch plug\
**(11)** Keyboard mini-din plug\
**(12)** Mains plug and On/Off switch\
**(13)** Security cable plug
image: null
- title: WOZ EDITION
subtitle: ''
text: |-
The first 10,000 Apple IIGS computers had the signature of "Woz" in honor of Steve Wozniak, the creator of the Apple II line of computers.
Special thanks to **Bozhidar Stefanov** who donated us this computer.
image: null
- title: WOZ LETTER
subtitle: ''
text: |-
Letter and certificate of othenticity sent by Steve Wozniak to all the Apple IIGS limited edition owners.
Thanks to **[Computers Forever](http://perso.wanadoo.fr/fabrice.montupet/)** for this picture
image: null
- title: WOZ CERTIFICATE
subtitle: ''
text: Thanks to **[Computers Forever](http://perso.wanadoo.fr/fabrice.montupet/)** for this picture
image: null
adverts:
- title: FRENCH ADVERT (1987)
subtitle: ''
text: '"Before being told about it, come hear it yourself."'
image: null
hardware:
- title: HARRIS MEMORY CARD
subtitle: ''
text: 4 MB memory card, here fitted with 2 x 1 MB SIMM modules
image: null
emulators:
- title: Free Tools Association
url: http://www.freetoolsassociation.com/
platform: Windows
text: IIGS emulator, with a few Apple II games and gs/os for the apple IIGS
- title: KEGS32
url: http://www.geocities.com/akilgard/kegs32/
platform: Windows
text: Windows emulator based on the Kent Dickey's KEGS for UNIX
- title: Bernie II the rescue
url: http://www.bernie.gs/Bernie/
platform: Apple
text: The most fully featured IIGS emulator, available only on the MacOS for PowerPCs
- title: iGS-Mac Information
url: http://www.openprojects.rarcoa.com/~justmike/XGS-Mac/
platform: Apple
text: 'Based on XGS: An Apple IIgs emulator originally written for X11 which has now been ported to MacOS'
- title: Virtual Apple
url: http://www.virtualapple.com/
platform: Other platform
text: This web site uses an ActiveX application and Apple IIgs emulator to automatically download and play most Apple 2 disk images online.
- title: Sweet16
url: http://www.sheppyware.net/products/beos/sweet16/
platform: BEOS
text: The smaller alternative to Bernie.
- title: Original KEGS emulator
url: HTTP://KEGS.SOURCEFORGE.NET/
platform: Multiplatform
text: For Mac OS X, Win32, Linux, and Unix/X11
- title: XGS
url: http://www.inwards.com/xgs/
platform: Multiplatform
text: Multiplatform emulator (Windows, DOS, Mac, NeXT)
links:
- title: A2central.com
url: http://WWW.A2CENTRAL.COM
text: Very useful Apple II web site
- title: Apple2.org
url: http://www.apple2.org/
text: A website with lots of Apple II photos and some Apple IIGS info.
- title: Computers Forever 1970..80..90
url: http://PERSO.WANADOO.FR/fabrice.montupet/
text: Good information about Apple and the IIgs (french)
- title: CSA2 Usenet Apple II FAQs and Links
url: http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/A2FAQs1START.html
text: A very complete FAQ for the Apple II and Apple II links.
- title: GS WorldView
url: http://www.grin.net/~cturley/gsezine/
text: The on-line journal of Apple II computing
- title: Marinetti
url: http://www.apple2.org/marinetti/
text: Marinetti is the only TCP/IP stack available for the Apple IIGS
- title: Ninjaforce
url: http://www.ninjaforce.com/
text: Makers of demos for the Apple IIGS, including the Ninjaforce Mega Demo
- title: What is the Apple IIgs?
url: http://www.whatisthe2gs.apple2.org.za/
text: Great resource of IIgs specific games, applications, utilities, and educational software along with screen shots and reviews.
docs:
- title: APPLE IIGS QUICK START GUIDE
url: http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/dociigs.htm
cover: null
text: |-
[**APPLE IIGS QUICK START GUIDE**](http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/dociigs.htm)written by Apple
 compiled/archived by Arnaud Brossard\
 type of document : PDF\
 source : [www.apple-iigs.info](http://www.apple-iigs.info/)
- title: SETTING UP YOUR APPLE IIGS
url: http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/dociigs.htm
cover: null
text: |-
[**SETTING UP YOUR APPLE IIGS**](http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/dociigs.htm)written by Apple
 compiled/archived by Arnaud Brossard\
 type of document : PDF\
 source : [www.apple-iigs.info](http://www.apple-iigs.info/home.htm)
- title: APPLE IIGS OWNER'S GUIDE
url: http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/dociigs.htm
cover: null
text: |-
[**APPLE IIGS OWNER'S GUIDE**](http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/dociigs.htm)written by Apple
 compiled/archived by Arnaud Brossard\
 type of document : PDF\
 source : [www.apple-iigs.info](http://www.apple-iigs.info/home.htm)
- title: EXPLORING THE APPLE IIGS
url: http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/dociigs.htm
cover: null
text: |-
[**EXPLORING THE APPLE IIGS**](http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/dociigs.htm)written by Apple
 compiled/archived by Arnaud Brossard\
 type of document : PDF\
 source : [www.apple-iigs.info](http://www.apple-iigs.info/home.htm)
- title: FROM APPLE IIE TO APPLE IIGS - PERFORMANCE UPGRADE
url: http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/dociigs.htm
cover: null
text: |-
[**FROM APPLE IIE TO APPLE IIGS - PERFORMANCE UPGRADE**](http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/dociigs.htm)written by Apple
 compiled/archived by Arnaud Brossard\
 type of document : PDF\
 source : [www.apple-iigs.info/](http://www.apple-iigs.info/home.htm)
- title: PROGRAMMER'S INTRODUCTION TO THE APPLE IIGS
url: http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/docprog.htm
cover: null
text: |-
[**PROGRAMMER'S INTRODUCTION TO THE APPLE IIGS**](http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/docprog.htm)written by Apple
 compiled/archived by Arnaud Brossard\
 type of document : PDF\
 source : [www.apple-iigs.info/](http://www.apple-iigs.info/home.htm)
- title: APPLE IIGS SYSTEM DISK USER'S GUIDE
url: http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/docos.htm
cover: null
text: |-
[**APPLE IIGS SYSTEM DISK USER'S GUIDE**](http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/docos.htm)written by Apple
 compiled/archived by Arnaud Brossard\
 type of document : PDF\
 source : [www.apple-iigs.info](http://www.apple-iigs.info/home.htm)
- title: APPLE IIGS SYSTEM 6 USER'S REFERENCE
url: http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/docos.htm
cover: null
text: |-
[**APPLE IIGS SYSTEM 6 USER'S REFERENCE**](http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/docos.htm)written by Apple
 compiled/archived by Arnaud Brossard\
 type of document : PDF\
 source : [www.apple-iigs.info](http://www.apple-iigs.info/home.htm)
- title: APPLE IIGS - MEMORY EXPANSION CARD OWNER'S GUIDE
url: http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/docacc.htm
cover: null
text: |-
[**APPLE IIGS - MEMORY EXPANSION CARD OWNER'S GUIDE**](http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/docacc.htm)written by Apple
 compiled/archived by Arnaud Brossard\
 type of document : PDF\
 source : [www.apple-iigs.info/](http://www.apple-iigs.info/home.htm)
- title: GS-RAM III - USER'S MANUAL
url: http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/docacc.htm
cover: null
text: |-
[**GS-RAM III - USER'S MANUAL**](http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/docacc.htm)written by Applied Engineering
 compiled/archived by Arnaud Brossard\
 type of document : PDF\
 source : [www.apple-iigs.info/](http://www.apple-iigs.info/home.htm)
- title: VULCAN IIGS - USER'S MANUAL
url: http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/docacc.htm
cover: null
text: |-
[**VULCAN IIGS - USER'S MANUAL**](http://www.apple-iigs.info/doc/docacc.htm)written by Applied Engineering
 compiled/archived by Arnaud Brossard\
 type of document : PDF\
 source : [www.apple-iigs.info/](http://www.apple-iigs.info/home.htm)
comments:
- author: Skel (Burlington, Ontario, Canada)
date: Sunday 24th March 2019
text: |-
The Apple IIgs was one of the biggest blunders Apple ever did! The Machine had an amazing graphics ability, fantastic sound system, the disk drives were whisper quiet and fast, the computer''s appearance on the desktop was pleasing, backward compatibility, and it''s operating system was the forerunner to the modern Mac one. A lot of care and time went into engineering this beast.
There was just one problem - the blunder was not the fault of the machine. NO, the problem was: Apple''s management was not interested in pushing it and preferred the Mac instead! BIG MISTAKE, if this had become the Mac, they would probably have millions and millions of more Mac users today! Such a waste!
I remember in my senior year in high school, the computer science department had brought in a whole room of these. The Apple IIgs was just better than the first few versions of the Mac at the time and we all preferred to use the IIgs than the Macs! I learned Pascal on the IIgs. I still have fond memories of this computer!
- author: Robert (usa)
date: Friday 31st October 2014
text: the elementary school i went to in the 90s had a whole computer lab full of these about 50 to 60 of them the only thing we could do on these was word processing or play a bunch of educational games like wild west math or number muncher they even had orgeon trail they were there until i was in the 5th grade back in 96-97 thats when the school upgraded to macs if i remember correctly they were perfoma macs
- author: Tyler (us)
date: Friday 17th October 2014
text: |-
I have a bunch of equipment for Iigs for sale
3 x iigs rom 1 machines all working\
2 x memory expansion cards\
2 x iigs keyboards\
2 x apple keyboard II\
7 x adb tank mouse\
4 x 3.5 drives\
1 x 5.25 drive\
3 x iigs color rgb monitors\
System disks\
Modems
and also a rare system it is a Woz edition and in very nice condition it contains the rare hundred megabytes Vulcan internal drive with applied engineering vulcan card along with a rAm gs card and 3.5inch drive and a 5.25 drive all working with a perfect condition RGB color monitor with the Word Perfect corporation asset tag on itplease email me at A9163161094 at Gmail for pictures info and
- author: Bob Murphy (USA)
date: Monday 8th October 2012
text: |-
Need help with GS/Imagewriter II setup:\
When printing a program listing, I am getting overprinting (lines more than 80 columns printing on 1 line). Must be a line feed problem? I''ve tried setting Imagewriter dipswitch SW 1-8 to both open and closed to no avail. Can anyone solve my problem?\
p.s. printer outputs single lines without a problem.
- author: David Guzman (PR)
date: Tuesday 28th August 2012
text: |-
I remember this little thing, together with the Amiga this was the other computer I wanted to buy back there. I couldn''t because my brother needed a PC compatible for college so my mother bough a PCjr instead (and even those were very expensive back then) and I still enjoyed that one but I would have probably bought an Amiga 1000 and/or a IIgs back there if we could have afforded them. :)
The IIgs was great machine too, it was backward compatible with the software for the Apple II, it had great graphics (much better than the older II), great sound, it had new tricks up it sleeve, and even a great GUI like the Mac. It was also much faster than the older IIs. Great machine and I don''t know if this was me but I always tough that the aesthetic design of the exterior of the machine was very, very nifty and very cool! As a matter of fact today I still think that!
If I had a little bit of more cash I think that maybe I would acquire a IIgs CPU and monitor chassis and maybe mod it and retrofit a newer computer inside of the CPU chassis (even if it was one of those miniitx or nano itx PC boards, I don''t care!) and retrofit an LCD display in the monitor case! Yes even if it was PC! There are many options with that, one could run it as a PC and put Windows Blind skins, new Mac like icons, cursors, Mac like wallpapers etc. that made it look like an Apple machine, and/or run an Apple II emulator in it or perhaps use the PC innards to turn it into a Hackintosh!! ja, ja, ja! Maybe put the innards of a Mac mini in it but I just don''t know at the moment if it would fit inside, I just know that it would be way cool and bring back a lot of nostalgic memories. Woohoo!! That would be so cool to do!! Ja, ja, ja.
I love computers, I have a more let''s say PC cosmopolitan attitude toward them, I am just as happy using a PC as I could be using a Mac or a Linux if it just works good enough, I''m happy with it so this would be very cool to do.
I was astounded to see that Apple withdrew this machine from the market instead of continuing to evolve it but Apple wanted to push the Mac as their main PC only so they cancelled it at a moment when the II line still had a lot of respect of the community and good penetration in the education sector, that was so sad.
I many times tough that perhaps this strategy wasn''t so good from Apple, perhaps if they had continued to advance this line they would have covered not only the Desktop Publishing market that they captured with the Mac but they would have continued to capture a great part of the education sector and maybe later on they could have somehow merged the two architectures or make them very interoperable and maybe today the Mac would have had a larger market share, perhaps.
- author: Amanda (us)
date: Tuesday 23rd November 2010
text: i have a iigs computer that i am wanting to sell if anyone is interested email me at rocketchic20@yahoo.com
- author: Kyle (NH, USA)
date: Tuesday 3rd August 2010
text: Sorry Im just basking in IIgs glory. I remember back in the day we had only one of these machines in our elementary school that could actually use a modem and communicate with other schools lol. Wow what an event that was, to actually communicate with a school from accross the country... I actually enlisted my Dad to come into our school and teach us ablout telecommunications, for he at the time worked as an IT for a little company called Sungard Data Recovery Systems. I will never forget my Dad teaching my 3rd grade class about this new horizon in technology :) Thanks Dad. Youre the reason I still have one of these incredible machines.
- author: Kyle (NH, USA)
date: Tuesday 3rd August 2010
text: |-
I have a IIgs Woz Limeted edition sitting right here next to me. I love the GSOS operating system and the colors/graphics are second to none. I am currently looking for some more memory and a SVGA card for it. I heard some loony actually ported Quake to this machine.... Imagine that, a machine from ''86 able to support a game from ''96. The IIgs is definately the greatest system I have ever used.\
(PS: YES I have used an Amiga so all you Amiga fans can be quiet, I still prefer the IIgs...)
- author: MaryAnne (Irvine, CA USA)
date: Wednesday 9th June 2010
text: I still own an Apple IIGS and it looks brand new $ still works! My first Apple. I''m a huge Mac fan, will be keeping this for my geeky home office museum. :-)
- author: Poopskin the liar (Naperville, Illinois)
date: Friday 13rd June 2008
text: Well, i may have been born in 1994, but i have quite a interest in many old computers, particularly the IIGS and the LISA. in a few days, i'll be procuring a IIGS off ebay! Man! i feel so geekily ecstatic!
- author: Skel (Oakville, Ontario, Canada)
date: Saturday 31st May 2008
text: The Apple IIgs was a beautiful machine. I remember back in high school using them. Indeed, I learned to program PASCAL on an Apple IIgs in that very classroom. I still have those floppy disks and although that classroom is now filled with the latest model of PCs and the IIgs's are all but a memory, I never got around to formatting those disks - there has always been a soft spot for me with these computers. Quite frankly the Apple IIgs was the only Apple computer I've ever really liked, why they rather abruptly discontinued with it's product line I'll never know.
- author: Henry (USA)
date: Monday 21st January 2008
text: |-
Hi
After reading your comment on the forum I thought I would share some\
of my ideas with you on what the problem could be with the Apple IIgs\
you found. A reason why you might have gotten a spark is because you\
hadn't waited after the computer was turned off to install the cards.\
Hopefully the machine was off while you were working :) But the reason why\
spaks fly every time it turns on, hmmm..
The issue might be with the RAM cards you installed with the\
machine. Try this: Remove all the cards from the slots and make sure the\
circuit board that would hold the cards is completly free of dust. If it\
isn't, use a can of compressed air to clean out the dust. Aersol cans of\
compressed air can be found at any office supply store (OfficeMax,\
Staples, ect). Pay close attention to the slots where those cards go when\
cleaning and look for any obstructions (like dust clumps). Once the\
circuit board is dust free WITH CAUTION start up the Apple IIgs. If there\
aren't any sparks, turn off the computer, wait about 15 seconds, and put\
ONE of the cards in. Again, make sure the card itself is free of dust\
specially the goldfingers (those golden like teeth that go into the\
slot. Make sure the side of the card with the components is facing AWAY\
from the power supply. Repeat the test by turning the computer on again\
carefully. If there are sparks, remove the card and then repeat\
this same test with the other cards, one by one.
Remember to excercise extreme caution when working.
The Apple IIgs is a great computer to use and play some of those\
nostolgic games from the 80s and early 90s. The GS had great Graphics and\
Sound; Hence the name. The Apple IIgs shows the great quality that Apple\
Computers had then and still have today. I have collected a few old\
Apple Computers and really enjoy using them for fun once in awhile.
Some good places to find Apple IIgs peripherals, software, accesories\
is at\
-Ebay.com\
-DigitalDinos.com
Hope I could help,\
Henry
- author: Eric (USA)
date: Thursday 16th August 2007
text: |-
I found an Apple IIgs in one of the old computer rooms the other day. It has no hard drive or floppy drive. But a few days ago, I accidentally caused the computer to make a spark. when trying to switch out the RAM location (I've already realized that you put the ram in by slot cards. I didn't put any of the kind of RAM we use these days.) I put it back to the way I found it. Now when i start it up, I get a whole bunch of static. Can anyone help me?
Email me, please. I don't check forums very often.
- author: Henry (usA)
date: Friday 19th January 2007
text: Hi, I can answer questions for you on this page! Just send a message!
- author: Henry (USA)
date: Monday 18th September 2006
text: |-
Do you ever have trouble accessing the Control Panel Program? I know I do. But, to make it easier, try, Apple - control - escape at any time. When you are finished with the control Panel, you can resume what you were doing. I don't know if this is works with all of the ROM versions,\
but try it. :)
- author: Max (from Italy) (Italy)
date: Wednesday 28th June 2006
text: |-
Hi,\
I have found one of these, but it have 110 Vac power supply. I know it's possible to modify some internal jumpers into power supply to switch off one duplicator so it can use 220 Vac (European mains), but I don't know what jumpers rules! I have an Astec power supply. Thanks for any help you may provide. Max
- author: Henry (same as one below) (USA)
date: Friday 16th June 2006
text: To answere your question Karen, you can use a RCA video cable to plug in to the TV or VCR. This conncets to the video cable port next to the RGB moniter port. The image will appear on your screen in color. (You may need to check your TV set up if you are having difficulties.
- author: karen (Australia)
date: Tuesday 2nd May 2006
text: |-
Hi,\
I was wondering how i would go about locating a working screen/terminal for an old Apple IIgs i have - the screen on my current one appears to have died.
- author: Poe (California)
date: Friday 2nd September 2005
text: Ah, but multitasking and internet is possible. You'll need about four megs of ram and a multitasking program called Soft Switch. As for the internet, it is mainly text based and slow. Ah, but the software base... you have to love it!
- author: Renzin (USA)
date: Wednesday 3rd August 2005
text: My school has truckloads of these Apples in a storage room. I guess they really must've liked them. I really don't know why they don't wanna get rid of them. I'd like to get my hands on one.
- author: GSGeek (Ste-Therese, Quebec)
date: Thursday 14th July 2005
text: |-
You said it Poog. It had most of today's desktop features (and Apple's unique Eject command... with burp! sound :^), less multi-tasking and Internet (or TCP/IP) support. It had Apple Talk however, which was fine in classrooms. A hard drive really enhance GS experience.\
Hmmm... regular keyboard of Mac are probably useable since the GS supports ADB (Apple Desktop Bus).
- author: poog t(^^t) <-that's me (America)
date: Friday 3rd June 2005
text: |-
hey, can I use a regular computer mouse for this computer? What about keyboard (they have these awesome LED glowing keyboards at thinkgeek.com and I thought it would be funny to hook it up to my 'gs.) ?\
Oh, and this computer is so freaking awesome!
- author: Henry (Again) (US of A)
date: Tuesday 24th May 2005
text: |-
When you turn on you IIgs and get:\
-CHECK STARTUP DEVICE-\
Don't Freak out! It's perfectly normal. You see,\
It's looking for a floppy drive with a program disk in it to read. The start up device is the floppy drive(s) and/or the hard drive. WARNING! THE APPLE IIGS CPU DOES NOT HAVE A HARD DRIVE. It's a sepereate Pheripheral that is external; always out side of the CPU. If you have purchased a "new" Aple IIgs without software, YOU NEED software to run it. Software on floppies for the Apple II.T he Apple IIgs can run any of the previous Apple II series software. That's the best part about it!
- author: Henry (US of A)
date: Tuesday 24th May 2005
text: |-
You can change the speed of your Apple IIgs by using the control panal program that is built in. To access it, turn on the unit. When the Apple Computer inc. 1977-1987 screen comes up press CONTROL-OPTION-RESET. Press as many times as you need to then the control panal application will come up!
P.S. Hold down keys if nessesary.
- author: zach (merrick, ny)
date: Monday 3rd January 2005
text: i remember using these bastards in 1997 in the first grade (as you can c, i'm not very old) and having Apple IIG's in the classroom. boy... you got really far when on this machine.
- author: Gabe (Houston Texas)
date: Sunday 14th December 2003
text: Im a comp tech at a school district, and we still got a lab of these little bastards. We never have problems with them. I remember using them when i went to elem school. OMG.
- author: Yves Mc Donald (Quebec, Canada)
date: Thursday 10th October 2002
text: 'Apple IIgs hardware on a standard PC? Certainly not as far as interface cards are concerned: PC and Apple buses are not compatible. Joystics, mice and keyboard? Forget it, they use different serial buses. Memory chips - IIgs are propably too slow . You could probably salvage SCSI hard disks but what''s the point? They must be of 40 Mb capacity. Just leave your GS as it is and enjoy.'
- author: raf (israel)
date: Sunday 22nd September 2002
text: can i use any of the apple IIgs hardware on a standart pc computer?
- author: techfury (not telling you)
date: Thursday 27th June 2002
text: That message is just asking you to insert a disk and reboot.
- author: Matt Taylor (South Carolina)
date: Wednesday 29th May 2002
text: I recently picked up an Apple IIgs. I would really like to get it up and running the best that it can, ( a hobby project ). I know noting about apple, but am learning. I have a message across the screen that says "check startup device " I am guessing that this is the "screen of death" for the Apple IIgs. Does anyone know where I can purchase hardware/software for the Apple IIgs ? thanks for all your help.
- author: Fabrice Montupet (France)
date: Monday 25th February 2002
text: 'If you want to see the names of the guys who designed the Apple II GS: when starting the computer without any disk or HD, the following message appears "CHECK STARTUP DEVICE". Then press simultaneously the CTRL + OPTION + APPLE + N keys!'
oc_id: 71
source:
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230426111454/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=71
date: '2023-04-26'
---
The Apple IIGS was designed in response to the [Amiga 1000](/museum/commodore-amiga-1000/) and [Atari 520ST](/museum/atari-520-st-st-stm/) computers & could be considered a cross between the [Macintosh](/museum/apple-macintosh/) & [Apple II](/museum/apple-iie/) (naturally, it can't use Macintosh programs). It was (and still is) a quantum leap for the Apple II line.
Sales were strong initially and the IIGS even outsold the black and white Macintosh units that were its contemporary. Sadly, Apple wanted Macintosh to be its future. The total number of advertisements and commercials for the IIGS could probably be counted on one hand. If the computer had been introduced a year or two earlier, things might have been different. The Apple IIGS disappeared from the market in 1992.
In one final gasp, the Apple II supporters at Apple designed the Apple IIGS Plus, code named "Mark Twain". It had an 8Mhz 65C816, a built in SuperDrive, 2MB on the motherboard, and a hard drive. Prototypes leaked out and a user group that has one and wrote a series of articles about it. Apple management vetoed this unit.
The Ensoniq chip in the Apple IIGS was a brilliant move by Apple, but it drew a lawsuit from Apple Records, the Beatles' record label. Apple never again put a synthesizer chip in any computer. Even today, the Macintosh does not have hardware synthesizers. The Macintosh works around this by using software-based synthesis.
It had a lot of graphic modes : All modes used a 12-bit palette for 4096 colors.\
\- 320x200 with 16 colors\
\- 320x200 with 256 colors: in this mode, the VGC is taking advantage of the fact that it has memory for 16 separate palettes. Each scan line can be assigned any one of these 16 palettes for a total of 256 possible colors. This mode requires no CPU assistance and is often used in games.\
\- 320x200 with 3200 colors: in this mode, the CPU is used to swap palettes into and out of video memory such that a separate 16 color palette can be used on each of the 200 scan lines for 3200 possible colors. This mode is often used for viewing graphics.\
\- 640x200 with 4 pure colors: this mode is bland and is not often used.\
\- 640x200 with 16 dithered colors: in this mode, the pixels in the graphic screen are grouped into even and odd columns. The even columns can have a palette of 4 pure colors out of a of a possible 4096. The odd columns can have a second palette of 4 pure colors. The GS dithers the adjacent colors for 4x4=16 dithered colors. This mode is widely used in productivity programs and also in Apple's Finder for the GS.\
\- Fill mode: for faster rendering of graphics, fill mode is a hardware mode in which an outline of a graphic can be drawn and the outline filled by a solid color without needing to draw in all the pixels.
Combinations and variations: the Apple IIGS supported scan line interrupts. Part of the screen could be in 640x200 mode while another part could be in 20x200 resolution. Such split modes were sometimes used in paint programs, where the menu bar was in 640x200 while the graphic was in 320x200.
SVGA modes with 24-bit color could be added with an additional video card (see the Second Sight SVGA card at Sequential Systems at [http://www.sequential.com/](http://www.sequential.com)).
The Apple IIGS also had all the graphics modes found on the [Apple IIc](/museum/apple-iic/).
\- Text mode: 40x24 and 80x24. Characters are formed by a 7x8 pixel matrix. Text mode is monochrome but can be set to a specific color. The background and border can each be set to different colors. Text mode is rarely used in GS programs since the OS, GS/OS, had a graphic desktop.\
\- Low Resolution: 40x48 pixels in 16 colors. Double Low Resolution: 80x48 pixels in 16 colors. High Resolution: 280x192 pixels in 6 colors Double High Resolution: 560x192 pixels in 16 colors.
Combinations/Variations: 4 lines of text mode could be mixed with a truncated Low Resolution or High Resolution mode graphic. The text in mixed mode could be either 40 column or 80 column. Double Low Res and Double High Res modes couldn't be mixed with text.
The "SmartPort" external drive port supports both Apple IIe/IIc UniDisks (3.5" and 5.25" models) and Apple IIGS daisy-chain 3.5" drives and Apple 5.25" disks. It was sold with a 3.5" floppy drive which not only worked on this computer, but on the Macintosh as well. It was also designed to support the Chinook CT-series 20MB to 100MB SmartPort hard drives, but Apple IIGS users usually added an SCSI card to the system for faster hard drive access.
The difference between a UniDisk and a IIGS 3.5" drive is that the IIGS drive is controlled directly by the computer while the UniDisk has a separate processor. The UniDisk is thus much slower (up to 4x slower) than a IIGS 3.5" drive.
The SmartPort can support two 800K 3.5" drives, two 140K 5.25" drives, and one 100MB CT100 hard drive simultaneously daisy-chained to each other.
The Apple IIGS often shipped with the Apple High Speed (DMA) SCSI controller in an expansion slot for controlling SCSI devices. Even 100MB Zip Drives and 1 GB Jazz Drives work on this SCSI port. A SuperDrive controller could be added for using 1.44MB high density floppy drives.