Apple's 15 Most Audacious Product Designs


#14 Apple IIe: 1983

The Apple IIe, is the third model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The e in the name stands for enhanced, referring to the fact that several popular features were now built-in that were only available as upgrades and add-ons in earlier models. It also improved upon expandability and added a few new features, which, all combined, made it very attractive to first-time computer shoppers as a general-purpose machine. The Apple IIe has the distinction of being the longest-lived computer in Apple's history, having been manufactured and sold for nearly 11 years with relatively few changes.

One of the most notable improvements of the Apple IIe is the addition of a full ASCII character set and keyboard and also its ability to input and display lower-case letters. The machine came standard with 64 KB RAM, with the equivalent of a built-in Apple Language Card in its circuitry, and had a new special "Auxiliary slot" for adding more memory via bank-switching RAM cards.

"Somewhere between the Apple I and the Apple II, the element of design and style began shaping its form factor. The computer no longer was a techno innovation but an object, an ideal that elicited great passion and loyalty. We were the Mac-aphiles, the loyalists who believed in the movement," said Yamaguma.

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