FAQ

No. Applelogic is not intended for the generation of profit. AppleLogic's existence is to encourage Apple enthusiasts and technically minded people to research and develop vintage Apple II systems into FPGAs and to enable those interested in "Super IIs" to either help develop such a system or download and use a system developed by others.

Yes. AppleLogic and its participants do develop hardware products to help bridge the gaps to do what is required to build vintage Apple systems in FPGAs. These hardware products don't use 'complex to assemble' Ball Grid Array devices (BGA's) and the designs are available freely to download and build yourself.

As we design soft Apple systems for FPGAs, we hope to develop and port across our Apple designs as well as other Apple II projects to several different FPGA development platforms. The Nanoboard is my preferred platform, simply because I designed them and know the platform well. The Nanoboard can accommodate complex systems that span several FPGAs in a single project and manage the physical peripheral hardware card requirements that make an Apple II system complete.

If you wish, absolutely. However it is important not to forget that these systems are the copyright of Apple Computer (now Apple), regardless of whether the information came from an ex-Apple cloning company or direct from Apple. AppleLogic has simply taken the original design and interpreted it into a different medium, to allow it to grow and continue to be used today on modern FPGA-based hardware. If you are able to contribute photos or images, we will not superimpose anything over them. Whatever information we share, we will work with all items in their original state.

AppleLogic has been put together in the form of an engineers diary. As we research and build the designs, information has been created, sourced, provided and located from various different places, including ex cloners of the 80's and a lot of material from vintage reference books and the internet. All the material listed on this site has a copyright by default. If you wish to use it, please do so at your own risk. We ask you not to use it for commercial use.

AppleLogic's interests are focused on the Apple II and III series computer systems. There are several key vintage systems that would be great to capture in the FPGA domain, being the Apple IIe, the III+ and the IIgs 01. To date we still have a long way to go. If we do successfully reach a point where we have succeeded in achieving this, we would then be in a position to consider creating a logic board that can not only support these three systems, but can also be retro fitted back into either a IIe or IIgs to complete the concept.

As we pursue particular tasks we will source information from a variety of places. Most commonly from vintage documentation, from extinct companies that previously reverse engineered and cloned Apple II's, or from the very engineers that may have worked on developing these products from or for Apple in the first place. As with most technical diaries nothing is a certainty. So considering the informalities of our sources, we don't guarantee anything and accuracy can only be measured by how successfully we solve a problem.

AppleLogic as a website will most likely never be "complete". With the history behind all the aspects of the Apple II and III, the underlying theory of operation and implementation, and the plethora of data associated with the elements of these systems, the chances are very high we will be adding new information and correcting current information for many years to come.

Apart from finalising the several key Apple II and Apple III systems and developing several derivatives for future platforms, we hope to make available all the resources, such as ROM images, documents and manuals. We also intend to include documents and "extracts" from quotes to help back up the history of these systems. It seems clear these guys were around when the whole personal computing market took off, and really had the opportunity to enjoy and experience some amazing stuff as they designed a new industry. It's just good to have some first hand info on some of the amazing successes and stories these people had during some of those pioneering years. The web is a great source, but having the opportunity to actually "sight" some records really backs up what we know. If you are in a position to help out with any documents or data, all contributions are be very much appreciated.