Greg Weston wrote: > In article , Simon Poole > wrote: > > > Would anybody out there happen to know the average processor speed of an > > Apple computer in 1985? > > > > I need the information for a report I'm writing. > > The average processor speed of an Apple computer? > > As shipped, the whole Apple II line up through 1985 (and somewhat > beyond) had a 1MHz (actually marginally higher) 6502 or 65C02. Apple > later released the IIgs with a 2.8MHz 65C816 and a //c+ with, IIRC, a > 4MHz 65C02. > > Note that there were a few 3rd-party accelerators available. The most > popular in 1985 was probably Applied Engineering's 3.6MHz TransWarp. > The released a few other models later that had faster chips and some > other improvements. The other significant accelerator I remember was > the ZipChip, which was a drop-in replacement for the 6502 (the AE > option went into a card slot). I can't remember how fast that was. > > "Average" is an inspecific word. The mode - the single most common > speed you would expect from an Apple II - was the stock 1MHz > configuration. > > Since you say "Apple" instead of Apple II specifically, I'll mention > that the Macintosh line from 1/84 until 2/87 was solely produced with a > 7.78MHz 68000. That isn't quite correct, the original Macintosh was phrased out, when the Macintosh Plus was released in 1986. [Source: Concept to Reality (promotional booklet), Published by Apple Computer in 1988]. In 1985, the Apple IIe got some new enhancements. Notably, a newer processor, 65C02 (replacing the 6502), that ran at 1.02Mhz (up to about 500,000 operations per second) and the Mousetext character set. These features came standard in all future versions of the Apple IIe, including the 1987 Plantium edition. [Source: 1987, Apple Computer promotional brochure for the Apple IIe. On the technical specifications page]. The Apple IIc (Released: April 1984), uses a 65SC02 CMOS processor, clock-speed 1.02Mhz. [Source: A+ Magazine, June 1984] A 16-bit, 65816 micro-processor was available in 1984, for the Apple II, II Plus, IIe and III computers. It's hardware and software backward compatible with the 6502 microprocessor, which can be replaced with the newer processor. [Source: A+ Magazine, June 1984] In May, 1984, the Apple III (released: May, 1980) was discontinued and superceded by the Apple III Plus (released: December, 1983). [Source: A+ Magazine, February 1987]. The Apple III Plus, uses a 6502B processor with extended addressing capability, peak clock-speed 2Mhz and 1.4Mhz average. [Source: A+ Magazine, June 1984] January 1985, the Lisa is renamed to Macintosh XL and then is dropped from the product line, during April 1985. [Source: A+ Magazine, February 1987]. As for the Apple IIGS (released: September 1986), there are two clock-speeds 2.8Mhz or 1Mhz, user or software selectable. [Source: 1986, Apple Computer promotional brochure for the Apple IIGS. On the technical specifications page]. With the both, the Lisa and Macintosh they used a Motorola 68000 32-bit processor, running at 7.14Mhz. Also used with the Commodore Amiga 1000 (released: 1985), 500 and 2000 (released: 1987). [Source: Australian Personal Computer, Commerative Edition, 1988]. Rival computers of the time, were: The BBC Microcomputer system. Using a 6502 micro-processor, clock-speed: 2Mhz. [Source: Promotional brochure for the BBC Microcomputer]. Commodore 64 (Released: 1982). 6510A micro-processor, basically a 6502 processor with additional features, clock-speed: 1Mhz. [Source: Bits & Bytes, May 1983]. IBM PC AT {Advanced Technology}(Released: 1984), Intel 80286 micro-processor or called 286 or AT for short, clock-speed: 6Mhz. [Source: NZ PC World, August 2001] Atari 520ST (Released: 1985), Motorola 68000 micro-processor, clock-speed: 8Mhz. [Source: Your Computer, July 1985]. Sinclair ZX Spectrum (Released: 1982), Z80-A micro-processor, clock-speed: 3.5Mhz. [Source: Australian Personal Computer, Commerative Edition, 1988] The Sinclair QL (Released: 1984), Motorola 68008 micro-processor, clock-speed: 7.5Mhz. [Source: Australian Personal Computer, Commerative Edition, 1988]. That's some of them, which you could buy in 1985. I've excluded, Tandy and a few others. But that ought to be a good start! Good luck, with your research. Regards, Jeff.