Apple II

What hackers pick instead

• Apple MacRecommended for excellent build quality and tight hardware-software integration that makes it reliable and easy to use, though critics dislike macOS UI changes and pricey upgrades.453recommend
• Apple Mac StudioRecommended for running large local AI models thanks to huge unified memory, plus quiet, efficient everyday performance; critics note slow prompt processing and high prices for upgrades.319recommend
• Apple M1 MacStill fast enough for web dev, everyday work and Linux years after release, and cheap used. Critics note soldered, hard-to-upgrade storage.48recommend
• Apple MacintoshRecommended for its graphical interface, attention to detail, and strength in visual and creative work. Critics say it started out costly and limited, with weak multitasking and slow performance for demanding tasks.34recommend
• Apple M-series MacPeople recommend M-series Macs for battery life, displays, trackpads, quiet operation and efficient chips. Common caveat: poor Linux support and limited hardware documentation.34recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 60 comments. Each links to the original.

1. Did his absolute best (but failed) to cut the Apple II product line, even though it was the only money maker for the company

   Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Steve wants us to make the Macintosh boot faster”

2. it was very much still an open platform, with a very good reference manual written by Woz himself

   Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Apple at 50”

3. I bought an enhanced IIe first because that was closest to the computer I grew up with.

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Z80 REPL (2018)”

4. The Apple's technical quality was head and shoulders above the other PCs of the epoch.

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “A 'toaster with a lens': The story behind the first handheld digital camera”

5. the apple II was a slight bit of a setback but it was very much still an open platform

   Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “Apple at 50”

6. The Apple computers were revolutionary, but to me they have never been affordable.

   Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “Apple: Our philosophy is to provide software for our machines free (1976)”

7. It was the first computer that I used and the product that launched the company.

   Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Rank the 50 best Apple products”

8. The Apples were not that robust, but worked well enough to not be a big bother.

   Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Booting a PC from a Vinyl Record”

9. The Apple II was more stylish than any other personal computer in 1977.

   Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “The Windows 95 User Interface: A Case Study in Usability Engineering”

10. unrefined and clunky to use as compared to the Apple or even the Pet

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Happy 50th Birthday KIM-1”

11. Steve Wozniak was incredibly foresighted when designing the Apple II

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “The Microsoft SoftCard for the Apple II: Getting two processors to share memory”

12. Lots of computer joy early in my life was thanks to the IIe and IIc.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “An Apple (II) for Teacher”

13. gently lazing my eyeballs each day as I clacked BASIC into the REPL

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Light Mode InFFFFFFlation”

14. the Apple II product line was a huge success for more than a decade

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Steve Jobs Next Computer: His Forgotten Exile Years”

15. It was a machine designed for hackers, and it was highly flexible.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “There's only one Woz, but we can all learn from him”

16. Apple who had some business success with the Apple II + VisiCalc

    Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “The Late Arrival of 16-Bit CP/M – By Nemanja Trifunovic”

17. I enjoyed writing assembly on the 6502 Apple II back then

    Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “The challenges of porting Shufflepuck Cafe to the 8 bits Apple II”

18. has got to be up there at least for the novelty for me

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Rank the 50 best Apple products”

19. all had quality switching power supplies built-in

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Franklin's bad ads for Apple ][ clones and the beloved impersonator they depict”

20. Way back I had used an Apple II. It was cool.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Apple Is Entering Its Slop Era”

21. It was a very open and pro-hacker device.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Richard Stallman at the First Hackers Conference in 1984 [video]”

22. I fucking loved my Apple IIe growing up

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “US seeks cheaper hunter-killer drones after Iran destroys $1B worth of Reapers”

23. The original Apple II tried to do graphics but the tech to do it properly just didn't exist.

    Criticizes · May 2026 · in “Jef Raskin, the Visionary Behind the Mac”

24. they weren't exactly cheap, actually, and they couldn't do much.

    Criticizes · May 2026 · in “I Recreated the Apple Lisa Computer Inside an FPGA – The LisaFPGA Project”

25. they had to rip out the mini-assembler in the Monitor ROM

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Z80 REPL (2018)”

26. something that simple is quite difficult on an Apple ][

    Criticizes · Jan 2026 · in “Ask HN: Books to learn 6502 ASM and the Apple II”

27. I hated how the Apple ][ forced a case on you.

    Criticizes · May 2026 · in “Killed by Apple”

28. makes programming the machine more difficult

    Criticizes · Jan 2026 · in “Ask HN: Books to learn 6502 ASM and the Apple II”

29. this locked the II to 1MHz for far too long

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “The Card That Made the Apple II Serious”

30. But I learned a lot more about disk data organization (hardware-level) via the Apple IIs that were at school.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “I Owe My Life to the Commodore 64”

31. nobody else was offering a fully integrated computer at that price point that could do bitmap graphics

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “The Apple II Wasn't the Best Computer of 1977”

32. I highly recommend anyone who's interested in "retro games" to explore the Apple II collection.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Sierra digital cameras on the Apple II”

33. It was neat. But it rebooted in under a second so a complete crash was no biggie.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “The Microsoft SoftCard for the Apple II: Getting two processors to share memory”

34. The IIe card has a little lag in the video circuitry compared to the real thing

    Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “The Microsoft SoftCard for the Apple II: Getting two processors to share memory”

35. I wish it expanded on the //e hardware rather than becoming something else.

    Mixed · May 2026 · in “Playing Atari ST Music on the Amiga with Zero CPU”

36. Apple survived by chanting "Apple II Forever!" at their legacy edu market

    Mixed · May 2026 · in “Steve Jobs Next Computer: His Forgotten Exile Years”

37. The Apple II (1977) was really good with its expandability capacities

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “The IBM PC, Part 1: Arrival”

38. the Apple II scan hardware is an absolute masterpiece of the era

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Maximizing Compression of Apple II Hi-Res Images”

39. especially if you start with something basic like Apple II

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Ask HN: Chromebook Leads for K-8 School In Need?”

40. Apple I was a motherboard, the II was a complete computer.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “iPhone Duo”