Editing Apple IIe (section)

==New features==
[[File:Iie-with-manuals.jpg|thumb|Apple IIe computer chassis with a selection of original documentation]]
[[File:Iie-rear.jpg|thumb|Rear view of an Apple IIe computer and monitor]]
[[File:Iie-system.jpg|thumb|Front view of an Apple IIe system, including computer chassis, monitor, and external 5¼" floppy disk drive]]
[[File:Iie-software.jpg|thumb|A selection of Apple IIe software]]
One of the most notable improvements of the Apple IIe is the addition of a [[ASCII]]-equivalent printable character set and keyboard. The most important addition is the ability to input and display lower-case letters. Other keyboard improvements include four-way cursor control and standard editing keys ({{keypress|Del}} and {{keypress|Tab}}), two special Apple modifier keys (Open and Solid Apple), and a safe off-to-side relocation of the {{keypress|Reset}} key. The auto-repeat function (any key held down to repeat same character continuously) is now automatic, no longer requiring the {{keypress|REPT}} key found on the keyboards of previous models.

The machine came standard with 64&nbsp;[[kilobyte|KB]] [[Random-access memory|RAM]], with the equivalent of a built-in Apple Language Card in its circuitry, and had a new special "Auxiliary slot" (replacing slot 0, though electronically mapped to slot 3 for compatibility with earlier third-party 80-column cards) for adding more memory via bank-switching RAM cards. Through this slot it also includes built-in support for an 80-column text display on monitors (with the addition of a plug-in 1K memory card, via bank-switching of 40 columns) and could be easily doubled to 128&nbsp;KB RAM by alternatively plugging in Apple's [[Apple 80-Column Text Card|Extended 80-Column Text Card]]. As time progressed, even more memory could be added through third-party cards using the same bank-switching slot or, alternatively, general-purpose slot cards that addressed memory 1 byte at a time (i.e. Slinky RAM cards). A new ROM diagnostic routine could be invoked to test the motherboard for faults and also test its main bank of memory.

The Apple IIe lowered production costs and improved reliability by merging the function of several off-the-shelf ICs into single custom chips, reducing total chip count to 31 (previous models used 120 chips). The IIe also switched to using newer single-voltage 64x1 DRAM chips instead of the triple-voltage 16x1 DRAM in the II/II+. For this reason the motherboard design is much cleaner and runs cooler as well, with enough room to add a pin-connector for an (optional) external [[numeric keypad]]. Also added was a backport-accessible DE-9 joystick connector, making it far easier for users to add and remove game and input devices (previous models requiring plugging the joystick/paddles directly into a 16-pin DIP socket on the motherboard; the IIe retained this connector for backwards compatibility). Also improved were port openings for expansion cards. Rather than cutout V-shaped slot openings as in the Apple II and II Plus, the IIe has a variety of different-sized openings, with thumb-screw holes, to accommodate mounting interface cards with DB-xx and DE-xx connectors (removable plastic covers filled the cutouts if not used).

Although the lower IC count improved reliability over previous Apple II models, Apple still retained the practice of socketing all ICs so that servicing and replacement could be performed more easily. Later-production IIe models had the RAM soldered to the system board rather than socketed.

Despite the hardware changes, the IIe maintained a high degree of backwards compatibility with the previous models, allowing most hardware and software from those systems to be used. Apple provided technical information on the IIe to hundreds of developers before its release, and claimed that, as a result, 85 to 90% of Apple II software worked with it.<ref name="shea19830207">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_y8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1 | title=Apple IIe runs 90% of software designed for II | work=InfoWorld | date=1983-02-07 | access-date=1 February 2015 | author=Shea, Tom | pages=1 | archive-date=March 10, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310064441/https://books.google.com/books?id=_y8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1 | url-status=live }}</ref>