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Apple IIGS

The AppleIIGS is the fifth and most powerful model of the Apple II family. It is a 16 bit computer using the 16-bit 65C816 Microprocessor. This processor gives direct access to megabytes of RAM, and the mouse. This enabled Apple to equip the computer with a color graphical user interface, and an Apple Desktop Bus interface that was used for Mouse, keyboard and other input devices.

The sound capabilities were also greatly improved using a wavetable synthesis chip from Ensoniq

The Apple IIGS came standard with 256KByte of memory, and was expandable to 8MByte. The computer supported a 12-bit palette in 320x200 or 640x200.

WDC 65C816 CPU

The W65C816, or 65816 for short, is an 8/16 bit microprocessor developed by the Western Design Center (WDC). The W65C816 is an enhanced version of the WDC 65C02 8-bit processor, which itself is an enhancement of the MOS 6502. The W65C816 was the CPU for the Apple II gs and, in slightly modified form, for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

The Processor has selectable 8- and 16-bit register sizes. In addition to the 16-bit registers, the processor also extended memory addressing to 24 bits, supporting memory sizes up to 16 MByte. Other improvements were an enhanced instruction set and a 16-bit stack pointer.

The W65C816 starts in emulation mode, in which it behaves like a 65C02. The processor can then be switched to native mode with a two instruction sequence, causing it to enable all the new features, while also maintaining backwards compatibility with most 65C02 code.

source WikiPedia
Technical Details
Released 1986 Brand Apple Type Apple Series II Name Apple II gs CPU Class 650x CPU WDC 65C816 @2.8MHz Memory RAM: 1MB
RAM max: 8MB
ROM: 256kB
Sound Chip Ensoniq 5503 digital oscillator Sound 8-bit audio (64K sound RAM), 32 channels (8 independent stereo) Display Chip none Display 320x200 in 3200/4096 colors
620x200 in 800/4096 colors
APPLEII emulated Video
Best Color 3200 out of 4096 colors Best Graphics 620x200 in 800 out of 4096 colors Sprites none System OS Apple ProDOS
Apple GS/OS
Storage External Disk & Hard Drives.
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Apple Series I
 
Apple Series II
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Apple II  gs (1986)
 
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Apple Macintosh II
 
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