Apple IIGS

The Apple IIGS (styled as IIGS) is a 16-bit personal computer produced by Apple Computer beginning in September 1986. It is the fifth and most powerful model of the Apple II family. The "GS" in the name stands for "Graphics and Sound", referring to its enhanced multimedia hardware, especially the "state-of-the-art" audio. It is compatible with earlier Apple II models, and Apple initially sold a kit for converting an Apple IIe into a IIGS. 8-bit Apple II software runs nearly three times as fast on the IIGS by default. The system is a radical departure otherwise, with a WDC 65C816 microprocessor, 256 KB—1 MB of random-access memory expandable to 8 MB, resolution and color similar to the Amiga and Atari ST, and a 32 channel Ensoniq wavetable synthesis chip. Bundled with a mouse, it is the first computer from Apple with a color graphical user interface (color was introduced on the Macintosh II six months later) and the Apple Desktop Bus interface for keyboards, mice, and other input devices. The IIGS blurred the lines between the Apple II and Macintosh. After releasing the IIGS, Apple chose to focus on the Mac and no new Apple IIGS models were released. The standard RAM was doubled to 512 KB in 1988, then to 1 MB in 1989, and there were two firmware updates. Apple ceased IIGS production on December 4, 1992.