Editing Apple II (section)

==Hardware==
[[File:Apple iie.jpg|thumb|Apple IIe with DuoDisk and Monitor //]]

Unlike preceding home microcomputers, the Apple II was sold as a finished consumer appliance rather than as a kit (unassembled or preassembled).  Apple marketed the Apple II as a durable product, including a 1981 [[Advertising|ad]] in which an Apple II survived a [[fire]] started when a cat belonging to one early user knocked over a lamp.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1981-12/1981_12_BYTE_06-12_Computer_Games#page/n13/mode/2up|title=Apple ad, Byte December 1981|date=December 1981 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231015338/http://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1981-12/1981_12_BYTE_06-12_Computer_Games#page/n13/mode/2up|archive-date=December 31, 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

All the machines in the series, except the IIc, share similar overall design elements. The plastic case was designed to look more like a [[Small appliance|home appliance]] than a piece of [[electronics|electronic]] equipment,<ref>Helmer, Carl, "An Apple to Byte," Byte, March 1978, p. 18-46.</ref> and the case can be opened without the use of tools. All models in the Apple II series have a built-in keyboard, with the exception of the II<small>GS</small> which has a separate keyboard.

[[File:Apple IIc with monitor.jpg|thumb|Apple IIc with monitor]]

Apple IIs have color and high-resolution [[Apple II graphics|graphics modes]], sound capabilities and a built-in [[BASIC]] programming language.  The [[motherboard]] holds eight [[expansion slot]]s and an array of random access memory (RAM) sockets that can hold up to 48&nbsp;[[kilobyte]]s. Over the course of the Apple II series' life, an enormous amount of first- and third-party hardware was made available to extend the capabilities of the machine.  The IIc was designed as a compact, portable unit, not intended to be disassembled, and cannot use most of the expansion hardware sold for the other machines in the series.

[[File:Apple Museum (Prague) Apple IIGS Woz (1986).jpg|thumb|Apple II<small>GS</small>]]