e Platinum 1987)

Features

CPU: MOS 6502 1MHz [Apple IIe]; MOS 65C02 1MHz [Apple //e]
Memory: 64kB RAM standard, 128kB RAM with extended 80-column card, 16kB ROM
Screen: 16 colors at 560 x 192 (double-hi-res); 4-bit color text mode at 40 x 48
Data path: 8-bit
I/O Ports: Monitor, Internal Slots (6), Memory slot, Tape, Joystick
Keyboard: Full stroke 52 key with cursor keys
Built In Media: None
OS: DOS 3.3 or ProDOS
Built In Language: Basic

Usage

MESS emulates the following systems

apple2e [Apple //e]
apple2ee [Apple //e (enhanced)]
apple2ep [Apple //e (Platinum)]

In each driver, MESS supports the emulation with two floppy drives, “slot6disk1” (s6d1) and “slot6disk2” (s6d2), for disk images in one of the following supported formats: .do, .dsk, .bin, .po, .nib

These systems require full keyboard emulation to work correctly. At startup, full keyboard emulation mode is enabled by default. Whilst in full keyboard emulation mode, some key associated functionality may be disabled (like the ESC key for EXIT). The keyboard emulation mode is toggled using the “Scroll Lock” key (by default).

RAM options

Different RAM configurations are possible for these systems in MESS. You can switch between them, changing the -ramsize parameter. At command line, you simply have to add -ramsize ram_value, where ram_value can assume one of the following values

64k
128k (default)

History and Trivia

The Apple IIe is the successor of the Apple ][+. It was developed after the Apple /// failed to catch on with the public, and released in 1983. It was a very great success and was widely used in schools. The Apple IIe features an optional 80-column text display, new keys on the keyboard, upper- and lower-case text, and bank-switching to increase the amount of addressable RAM. The Apple IIe also supported the new ProDOS operating system released in 1984.

Note the Apple IIe emulation includes the 80-column card and motherboard revision B, meaning that double-hi-resolution modes are available.

The Enhanced Apple IIe, a.k.a. the Apple //e (MESS system name, “apple2ee”) was released in 1985. It included ROM bugfixes, replace the 6502 processor with the 65C02, and added a character genrator ROM with new graphic characters called “MouseText”. The 65C02 and MouseText hurt compatibility with the older models slightly but gave it slightly better performance.

The Platinum Apple //e adopted the ||GS keyboard layout and minor motherboard modifications.

Apple "][", Apple "II", Apple "//" : which is correct?

”][”, “II”, and ”//” tend to be used pretty much interchangeably for any model of Apple II computer, although, practically speaking, there are a few usages which may provoke a correction.

”][” is the original Apple II symbol. It appears on all early II's and II+'s as well as on the Disk ][ drive. It is, easily, the most attractive and distinctive II symbol; but, it is also associated with old Apple II's. The ”//” usage is generally associated with the “c” and newer “e” models.

The generally preferred machine designations are: