Apple III
| Developer | Apple Computer |
|---|---|
| Released | November 1980 |
| Introductory price | US$4,340 – $7,800 (equivalent to $16,960 – $30,480 in 2025) |
| Discontinued | April 24, 1984 |
| Units sold | 65,000–75,000 |
| Operating system | Apple SOS |
| CPU | Synertek 6502B @ 1.8 MHz |
| Memory | 128 KB RAM, expandable to 512 KB |
| Removable storage | 5+1⁄4 inch floppy disk |
| Display | 80 × 24 text 560 × 192 pixels (monochrome) 280 × 192 pixels (16 colors or grayscale) |
| Sound | 6-bit DAC |
| Predecessor | Apple II |
| Successor | Apple III Plus |
The Apple III (stylized as apple ///) is a business-oriented personal computer that was produced by Apple Computer and released in 1980. It was intended as the successor to the Apple II with features business users wanted—a full typewriter-style keyboard with upper and lowercase letters, multi-directional cursor keys and an 80-column display—but it failed in the market. It uses Apple's proprietary Sophisticated Operating System (SOS).
Designed by Wendell Sander, the Apple III was announced on May 19, 1980, and released in late November that year. Serious stability issues required a design overhaul and a recall of the first 14,000 machines produced. It was formally reintroduced on November 9, 1981, but damage to the computer's reputation had already been done. An updated version was released in December 1983 as the Apple III Plus.
An estimated 65,000 to 75,000 Apple III computers were sold. The Apple III Plus brought this up to approximately 120,000. The original model was discontinued on April 24, 1984 and the Plus in September 1985. The III's failure led Apple to reevaluate its plan to phase out the Apple II, and later Apple II models incorporate some technologies of the Apple III. Steve Wozniak stated that the primary reason for the Apple III's failure was that the system was designed by Apple's marketing department, unlike Apple's previous engineering-driven projects.