The Apple I was a personal computer designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak in 1976. It was the first product of Apple Computer Company and represented a breakthrough in making computers accessible to hobbyists and enthusiasts.
Design Philosophy
Unlike other hobbyist computers of the era that came as kits of components, the Apple I came as a fully assembled circuit board. Users still needed to add a keyboard, power supply, and display, but the core computer was complete.
Technical Features
The Apple I was elegant in its simplicity:
- MOS 6502 processor: Affordable 8-bit CPU
- 8KB RAM: Expandable
- Built-in BASIC: Wozniak wrote Integer BASIC
- Video output: Display characters on a TV
Production
Only about 200 Apple I computers were made, each hand-assembled by Wozniak, Jobs, and friends. They sold for $666.66 at the Byte Shop and to hobbyist clubs.
Legacy
The Apple I demonstrated Wozniak’s engineering genius and established Apple Computer. Its successor, the Apple II, became one of the first mass-market personal computers. Today, surviving Apple I units are collector’s items worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.