Apple II & IIGS Hardware
One of the biggest advantages that the Apple II had over other personal computers of its time was that it had eight expansion slots for plugging in cards to expand its capabilities. Over the years, many different types of cards were produced to interface with printers and modems, expand the memory, add better graphics and sound, add mass storage devices like hard drives and CD-ROMs, and to help copy protected software. Co-processors and accelerators were made available. Interfaces to additional input devices like mice, touchpads, light pens, and scanners were also offered.
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Parallel Interfaces
Expansion cards that provide the Apple II with a parallel interface, most commonly used for hooking up a printer.
- Apple II Parallel Printer Interface Card
- Apple II Parallel Interface
Added 10-Oct-12
- ProGrappler
- RV-611 Parallel Interface Card
Serial Interfaces
Expansion cards that provide the Apple II with a serial interface for connecting to modems, terminals, and other serial devices. The largest use for the Super Serial Card today is probably to interface with a modern PC or Mac for the purpose of transferring disk images.
- Apple Communications Card
- Apple II Super Serial Card
- Super Serial Board (SSB-1)Added 15-Oct-2012
Modems
Internal and external modems for connecting Apple II computers to networks through the telephone system.
Network
Interface cards to connect Apple II computers to AppleTalk, Ethernet, and other networks.
- Apple II Workstation Card
- LANceGS Ethernet Card
- SCNet Card
- UtherNet Ethernet Card
Video
Expansion cards and other devices that enhance Apple II video with 80-column text, enhanced graphics, or additional video interfaces, such as RGB.
- Apple II Video Overlay Card
- Magnum 80 Video Card
- The Arcade Board
- VideoTermAdded 26-October-2012
Sound and Speech
Interface cards and devices that provide enhanced music & sound effects, additional input/output options, or the capability of speech to Apple II computers.
Copy Cards
Expansion cards that assist in copying protected software.
Floppy Drives & Controllers
Floppy drives and the interfaces for connecting them to Apple II computers.
- Apple 3.5 Floppy Disk Drive Interface ("LIRON" or "UniDisk" Controller)
- Apple II 3.5 Disk Controller ("SuperDrive" Controller)
- Disk II Controller
- UniDisk 3.5
- Universal Disk Controller
Mass Storage
Devices that provide mass storage to Apple II computers. This includes SCSI and IDE interface cards, hard drives, optical drives, ZIP drives, Compact Flash, tape drives, and other storage with capacities larger than floppy disks.
- AMR SCSI Host Card & D60 Hard Drive
- Apple II High-Speed SCSI Card ("Sandwich II" Card)
- Apple II SCSI Card
- CMS SCSI Card
- RAMFast SCSI Card (Revision C)
- RAMFast SCSI Card (Revision D)
- CFFA Card
Coprocessors and Accelerators
Cards or replacement chips that increase the speed of Apple II computers and cards that let the Apple II run software designed for other processors. The most popular coprocessor cards provided a Z80 processor, allowing the CP/M operating system to run on an Apple II.
RAM & ROM Cards
ROM and RAM expansion cards for Apple II computers. This category also includes battery backup for memory cards.
- Apple II Firmware Card
- Apple II Language Card
- Apple IIGS Memory Expansion Card
- Davong DSI-A16
- GS Juice Plus
- GSRAM-4096Information needed!
- IIgs Super Ram IV
- MemorysaverInformation needed!
- Microsoft RAMCardAdded 26-October-2012
- RamFactor
- RamKeeper
Mice, Paddles, Joysticks, and Other Input Devices
Input devices such as game paddles, joysticks, mice, touchpads, and scanners.
