How current Apple 11-serles owners can step UfJ

oving up to the Iles is a But is it really a good buy? Will you board, and speaker cables from the logical next step for owners still be able to use all your old pe­ Ile motherboard Mof current Apple-II-series ripheral cards and software? Should • remove the base pan from the plas­ computers: You get a you keep your Ile and ignore the tic casing of the Ile and save the souped-up, Macintosh-like com­ Iles? Or is this the time to sell your speaker puter that still works with most of Ile, II Plus, or Ile system unit and • insert the Iles motherboard and your current software and peripher­ graduate to a genuine Iles? These the new base pan als. If you own an Apple Ile, it's pret­ are some of the questions I hope •reconnect the power supply, key­ ty obvious how you can upgrade to a you'll be able to answer after read­ board, and speaker cables. Iles-by purchasing an upgrade kit ing this article. The computer you end up with is from Apple that gives your old Ile Details of the Upgrade functionally no different from a real new innards. But that's only one ap­ The Iles upgrade kit consists of Iles-it just has a different keyboard proach to upgrading. Even if you three items: a Iles motherboard, a and a different case. Thus, you will have a Ile or a II Plus, there is still an metal base pan, and a manual that be able to take advantage of all the upgrade path for you. You can sell describes the differences between a Iles-specific software that will begin (or set aside) your old CPU, buy a Iles and a Ile. The upgrade does not to appear in 1987, notably graphics Iles system unit, and use it with include a Iles keyboard, power sup­ and sound applications. One caveat: your old software and peripherals. ply, or case-you must salvage these Most of this new software will prob­ Here we examine the whys and items from your Ile. The upgrade ably require a mouse and 3.5-inch wherefores of purchasing the offi­ also does not include the Iles mouse disk drives, but these are not part of cial Apple upgrade kit and describe or a disk drive. the upgrade kit. You might need to what you can and can't take along he kit's motherboard is iden­ budget a few hundred dollars more with you no matter which upgrade tical to the Iles motherboard for these items. path you take and no matter which Texcept that it has two addi­ Hardware Compatibility Apple II you're starting with. tional connectors: one for the A major factor in deciding wheth­ The Apple Iles upgrade kit, Ile keyboard and one for the option­ er to buy the Iles upgrade is wheth­ scheduled for release later this year, al Ile keypad. A new base pan er you can protect your existing will give the almost two million Ile (which includes the back panel) is investment in peripheral hardware. users the opportunity to transform needed because the Ile base pan In other words, will all those nifty their computers into Iles equiv­ does not have openings for the Iles's interface cards you've grown to alents for only $499. The upgrade is built-in port connectors. know and love still work on th. e Ap- not available to II, II Plus, or Ile According to Apple, the upgrade ple Iles? 1 owners, however, despite frequent kit must be installed by an autho­ Keep in mi~d that the Iles has rumors to the contrary. It simply rized Apple dealer, but the $499 several built-in I/ 0 ports, so you won't work with these computers price does not include installation won't even need some of your old because of lack of space inside the charges. Installation doesn't take cards in the first place. That's nice computer (Ile) or incompatible key­ long, · however, so these charges because you can conceivably recoup boards (II and II Plus). should be low-some dealers may part of the upgrade price by selling The upgrade is only half the price even do it free. Unfortunately, you your redundant peripherals to II of a. real Iles (the Iles system unit, are not allowed to keep your Ile Plus users or to Ile users who aren't keyboard, and mouse cost $999). motherboard; dealers must ship upgrading. And, if you purchased a Ile from an these back to Apple. Built into the Iles are two serial authorized Apple dealer between Installation is relatively simple interfaces, a mou~e interface, analog July 15 and September 14, 1986, you and involves the following steps: RGB and composite video ports, and can get a $100 rebate for an upgrade. •disconnect the power supply, key- a SmartPort controller for 3.5-inch to the power ifthe Iles

and SIA-inch disk drives. T,he GS also ~ has an internal battery-operated clock, a music/speech synthesizer, ~ and 80-column-display circuitry. It seems pointless, therefore, to use cards that simply duplicate these functions. · ou may want to continue fl using an interface card ~ott I'\.\ Yinstead of the corre­ ; l\E.oi.l sponding port, howev- 1S1~1i.~ er, if the firmware on the card lets you issue useful :.s"El\"l commands that the IIGS does st..~'€. not. For example, some printer-interface cards, such as the Serial Grappler and Alphabits, contain ad- vanced screen-printing utili- ties. And most clock cards give you the time and date in a variety of formats if you use a few simple Applesoft com­ mands, unlike the IIGS clock. You may also want to use a card instead of a port to avoid the expense of (or the hassle of mak­ ing) a new cable for a printer or modem you already use. It's quite as­ tounding, but it seems that every time Apple releases a new computer, it dreams up· a new 1/0 connector. The serial connectors on the IIGS are 8-pin circular connectors, not the ones used on the Ile or on any pe­ ripheral card I've seen for the Ile or II Plus. These connectors are used on the Macintosh Plus, however. Most (but not all) Apple II pe­ ripheral cards that plu-g into an I/0 slot (not the Ile auxiliary connector) can work on the IIGS. The cards that definitely cannot work are multi­ function cards that use "phantom" slot techniques (where an 1/0 de- vice appears to be in a slot different from the slot in which the card is in­ INSIDE: serted), such as the Street Business­ The $499 Apple Ile-to­ Card, AST Multi-I/0, and the lles upgrade kit includes a metal base Prometheus Versacard. These types pan that has the new of cards simply can't cope with the back panel and a Iles 16-rnegabyte address range of the motherboard. The kit's 65816 microprocessor of the Iles. motherboard is Multifunction cards that don't use identical to the Iles motherboard except phantom slots, notably the RC Sys­ that the kit has the tems Slotbuster, can work. connectors for the Ile Generally speaking, single-func­ keyboard and Ile tion cards work fine on the IIcs­ keypad. the list includes serial and parallel printer-interface cards, internal-mo­ dern cards, disk-drive controllers, OUTSIDE: and memory cards compatible with You will get an Apple the Apple II Memory Expansion Iles logo to stick on Card (such as the Applied Engineer­ your Ile, and a manual ing RarnFactor and the AST Sprint­ that describes the differences between a Disk). There are exceptions, so you Iles and a Ile. should ask the manufacturer of any given card whether it will work, be­ fore you upgrade. Apple recommends using a fan if you install more than two expansion cards in the Iles, to avoid heat-relat­ ed damage to components. Apple sells an internal Iles System Fan, but it won't fit inside an upgraded Ile work either, but, again, Central Iles has no auxiliary connector. So case-use something such as the Point will make you a simple fix for you can say good-bye to 80-colurnn/ Kensington System Saver instead. a small charge. Eight-bit accelerator memory cards such as MultiRAM Two important exceptions relate cards don't work on the Iles at all, and Ram Works. Many people also to drive controllers. The interface which causes no problems, because buy RGB video adapters for these card for the Apple Profile hard­ the Iles already operates up to 2.8 cards that drive digital RGB color disk drive doesn't work properly on times faster than does a standard Ile. monitors. Unfortunately, the Iles the Iles-in fact, if you tried to use (Note: Applied Engineering is work­ generates analog RGB signals, so you it, you could lose data. Apple has ing on a 16-bit accelerator designed can't connect a digital monitor to the published a simple hardware fix to to increase the speed of the Ile s.) RGB port of the Iles. (See "The Iles solve this problem, however. Older Any card designed for the auxil­ Shows Its Colors," in this issue.) So versions of Central Point Software's iary connector on the Ile definitely say goodbye to your digital RGB Universal Disk Controller won't cannot work on the Iles, because the monitor, too.

o matter which old Apple ic software, you'll need 3.5-inch disk BUT you own, there's a way to car­ drives, and to appreciate all those Nry over some of your pre­ beautiful graphics, you'll probably vious investment (in terms of want an analog RGB monitor. Here's HOW MUCH peripherals and software) to a Iles. If a snapshot look at four sample situa­ you own a Ile, you can upgrade by tions- and their approximate swapping out the motherboard. Or, costs-in which an Apple owner up­ WILL IT with the II Plus, Ile, or Ile, you can grades or sells an old system in or­ set aside or sell your old system and der to move up to the cs. REALLY plug in a new Iles box in its place­ amid your old disk drives, moderns, SCENARIO #1 printers, and such. Approximate cost: $500 COST YOU? But, (and this is a formidable but), John is an Apple Ile owner who if you want to step up to the cs, takes the simplest route: He buys the chances are you'll also want to buy upgrade kit from Apple and contin­ FOUR the peripherals that allow you to ues to use the printer, modem, 51A­ take advantage of the fanciest fea­ inch disk drives, software, and SCENARIOS tures of this system. To use GS-specif- composite monitor he already has.

3 6 ~A + MAGAZINE/ FEBRUARY 1987 Software Compatibility this restriction because programs will be if you can sell the old Apple Apple has made a concerted ef­ that require such a port are rare. for more than the cost of an upgrade fort to make the IIGS compatible Apple has distributed a software kit! But remember, the longer you with existing Ile software. As a re­ compatibility chart to dealers, but I wait, the harder it will be to sell your sult, almost all Apple Ile software wouldn't rely on it too much. It's just old system, so move quickly. Just ask works with it without modification, too difficult to keep accurate track of people still using the II Plus wheth­ including such standards as so many versions of so many pro­ er they wish they had moved up to AppleWorks, Apple Writer, Mouse­ grams. If you really want to be sure the Ile four years ago. Write, The Print Shop, and Pinpoint. your program works, sit down in a If you take this route, the only ex­ A few programs cannot work on dealer's showroom and try your soft­ tras you really need to have before the IIGS at all, however. The biggest ware on a IIGS. You should also con- firing up the IIGS are a video moni­ culprits are communications pro­ tor and a disk drive (preferably a 3.5- grams that bypass the serial-port inch drive). You can purchase firmware and communicate directly composite black-and-white moni­ with the port's hardware registers. All major publishers tors for less than $100 (or you can Many such programs understand are taking prompt splurge and spend $499 on Apple's only the 6551 chip of the Super Ser­ RGB monitor); Apple's 3.5-inch disk ial Card, but the IIGS uses the Intel steps to make drive will cost you $399, but you can 8530 chip. (This is the same chip the probably find other drives for less. Macintosh uses; Apple used it to their programs work External peripherals you might al­ permit the IIGS to connect easily to ready have-such as modems and AppleTalk networks.) Point-to-Point on the Iles if serial printers (for example, the was designed to work with the IIGS. they don 't already ImageWriter)-work with both old Others, such as ASCII Express and Apple II-series computers and the CommWorks, were upgraded after tact the software publisher to verify IIGS. All you have to do is invest in the announcement of the IIGS last compatibility and inquire about spe­ another set of cables. If you have a September. Contact the publisher of cial IIGS versions. All major publish­ parallel printer, you'll have to buy a your software for upgrading infor­ ers are taking prompt steps to make parallel-interface card for the IIGS. mation if you have an old version. their programs work on the IIGS if Decision Time Some software may work on the they don't already. I'm convinced that if you own an IIGS but only at normal speed (I For some users, an attractive alter­ 8-bit Apple II and you're not using a MHz). This category includes any native to buying the IIGS upgrade kit lot of oddball software or hardware software that relies on precise tim­ is to buy a real IIGS and keep the old that won't work on the IIGS, you ing loops, primarily music software Apple II or sell it. The extra cost for should move up to a IIGS, either by and some games. You can use the Ile owners is only $500, but it's even purchasing the Ile upgrade or IIGs Control Panel desk accessory to less if you considiu that you have to buying the IIGS itself. It's just too switch from the fast speed (the IIGS pay for the upgrade kit, installation, good a deal to turn down. + default) to normal speed. a mouse, and a numeric keypad to Programs that use the cassette get the equivalent of a $999 IIGS. Gary Little is the author of Point-to­ port on the Ile won't work on the And just think how happy the kids Point, a communications program for the IIGS because the IIGS has no cassette will be when you give them your Ile, Ile, and Iles published by Pinpoint port. Few users will lose sleep over spare computer or how happy you Publishing.

However, if he later wants to use the he keeps to use with the GS, and he sides buying the IIGS system, she more powerful GS software, he'll also buys a 3.5-inch drive so that he also buys a 3.5-inch drive, for $1398. need to spend another $500 or so to can take advantage of the new soft­ Subtracting the $500 she gets from buy a 3.5-inch drive and a mouse. ware. The suggested price for the selling her Ile, her total outlay is IIGS (which includes a mouse) plus $898. SCENARIO #2 disk drive is $1398, so with the Approximate cost: $650 amount David receives for his old SCENARIO #4 David has an Apple Ile with 128K of system, his net out-of-pocket ex­ Approximate cost: $1150 memory, two 51.4-inch disk drives, a pense is $648. Ron has an Apple II Plus with two composite monitor, hard-disk drive, 51.4-inch drives, printer, modem, printer, multifunction card, and mo­ SCENARIO #3 monochrome monitor, hard-disk dem. For $750, he sells the system Approximate cost: $900 drive, accelerator board, and multi­ with its additional memory, one of Elizabeth owns an Apple Ile with a function card. He sells the system the drives with the controller card composite monitor, second disk unit, one drive, the monitor, and en­ (he keeps one to run his old software drive, printer, and modem. She sells hancement cards for $750 and then on the GS), and the multifunction 1· the system unit with its built-in buys a GS with 3.5-inch drive and card (since it won't work on the new drive for $500 and keeps all her oth­ RGB monitor for the suggested price system). The rest of the peripherals er peripherals to use with the GS. Be- of $1897-his net cost is $1147.

A + MAGAZINE/ FEBRUARY 1987 ~37