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· Announcement

Apple I

Apple announced one product in July 1976: Apple I.

It was the 2nd of 2 dated moments the archive holds for 1976, 91 days after the previous one, 1 April 1976.

Apple I product photograph

Achim Baqué · CC BY-SA 4.0

What Apple announced

Apple I

Early computers · discontinued 30 September 1977

The Apple Computer 1 (Apple-1), often referred to as the Apple I(written with a Roman numeral), is an 8-bit personal computer designed by Steve Wozniak and introduced by the Apple Computer Company (now Apple Inc.) in 1976. It was the company's first product and laid the foundation for what would become one of the world's largest technology companies. The idea of founding the company and marketing the computer came from Wozniak's friend and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Unlike most contemporary hobbyist computers, which were sold as kits requiring assembly, the Apple-1 was delivered as a pre-assembled motherboard with built-in video display terminal circuitry. This allowed it to connect directly to a household television using a composite video cable, eliminating the need for an expensive external terminal. Users still had to supply a case, power supply, and keyboard. Powered by the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, it was among the earliest personal computers to offer these capabilities, alongside the Sol-20.

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Also in 1976

Sources

  1. Apple I · Wikipedia

Dates on this page are announcement dates, not shipping dates. Product summaries are drawn from the linked articles, and specification claims in them are the publisher’s, not independent testing. Photograph credits and licences are listed in full on the image credits page.