Which manuals exist for the Apple-1?

Apple published the Operation Manual, Basic Manual and a Manual for the Apple Cassette Interface.

What is the Zaltair Prank?

The Zaltair Prank was a prank done by Steve Wozniak. Very young Adam Schoolsky (later an Apple employee) helped him to pull of it at the West Coast Computer Faire. Of course, the Zaltair was a non-existing computer. It was comparing a fictional computer of MITS with many other computers. More

Software and Documents

Documents

Some documents were offered by Apple Computer. If you would like to get your hands on them, you may find some scanned documents.

Please be careful when buying supposedly original manuals. Ask an expert for their opinion. There are various reproductions, including so-called 'perfect copies.' Due to modern production processes, these manuals have a much higher print quality than the originals from 1976 and 1977 and are therefore not perfect copies, but imitations. Good copies/imitations are pleasing for Apple-1 fans, as long as there are no legal issues involved. These manuals are sometimes offered at high prices. Of course, out of greed for money, third parties try to improve the imitations so they pass as originals.

Apple-1 Operation Manual

See the complete Apple-1 Operation Manual.

Two different versions/generations exist:

Brochures with the first Apple Computer logo (Newton under the apple tree) printed on thick paper with a yellow tint. Including fold-out schematics of the Apple-1.
Tan manuals stacked together in the left corner. On the front, the Apple logo. The manuals contain fold-out schematics of the Apple-1.

Apple-1 Cassette Interface Manual

See the complete Apple-1 Cassette Interface Manual.

BASIC Manual

See the complete Apple-1 Preliminary Basic Manual.

Two different versions/generations exist:

Preliminary manuals with the first Apple Computer logo (Newton under the apple tree) on white paper, stacked together in the left corner. Mostly comes with a green/blue first page.
Tan manuals stacked together in the left corner. On the front, the Apple logo. The manuals contain fold-out schematics of the Apple-1.

Apple-1 price list

The Apple-1 was listed in the official Apple Computer price list of April 1977. It was a single sheet. The price was reduced to US$475 for 4 KB and US$575 for 8 KB.
The Apple-1 had to compete with the vastly superior Apple II at that time. Its only advantage over the Apple II was its low price.

Apple-1 advertisement

A handout and and two different ads in computer magazins (SCC Interface, Interface Age and Kilobaud) exist.
See the Apple-1 ads.

Apple-1 ads are found for example in the magazines
SCCS Interface July and September 1976,
Interface Age September, October, Novemeber, December 1976 and January, February 1977,
Kiloboud February, March and April 1977 etc.

Apple-1 product information

Preliminary leaflet with some product information.
Both images with kind permission of David Larsen.

Articles in magazines

Apple article Apple and some computer shops had placed advertisements since July 1976. Some newspaper articles have been published.
Read the article Comparing apples and oranges in the Interface Age July 1976 page 91.

Apple article The new computer magazine Kilobaud published another article in February 1977.
Read the article The remarkable Apple computer in the Kilobaud magazine February 1977 pages 34-38.

Steve Jobs article Steve Jobs wrote an article about how to use the SwTPC PR-40 printer with an Apple-1.
Read the article Interfacing the Apple computer in the Interface Age October 1976 from page 65.

In the magazine '73 Amateur Radio' December 1976 was an article about the Apple-1 on pages 70-71. Read the article here.

Steve Wozniak published several articles as well.

Exhibitions

First presentations happened at the Homebrew Computer Club.
At the PC-76 show in Atlantic City Apple was present.
At the First West Coast Computer Faire Apple had a stand and was successful in selling computers.

Zaltair prank

Zaltair was a prank pulled off by Steve Wozniak. A very young Adam Schoolsky (later an Apple employee) helped him execute it at the West Coast Computer Faire. Of course, the Zaltair was a non-existent computer. It was a parody of the fictional MITS computer compared with many other computers.

Steve Wozniak loves jokes and pranks. At the First West Coast Computer Faire (1977), he distributed many copies of a handout advertising the fictional computer called Zaltair. Woz wrote that he had 20,000 copies. Only a few still exist. MITS, the company that built the Altair, obviously didn't like this brochure very much.

Woz didn't tell Steve Jobs about this prank. He wrote in an article for the 'Digital Deli' that he told Steve Jobs the whole story four or five years later at dinner. Woz gave Jobs, maybe 6 or more years later, a framed handout as a birthday gift.

Fun fact: If you take the first letter of every word in the fictional quote on the front page, you get 'Processor Technology'.

Others

Apple letter Some other Apple-1 related documents exist, such as bills, letters, and postcards from Apple Computer. Product information for the Apple-1 and Apple II also exists.
A few bills still exist; these bills are handwritten.
The Apple-1 and the young Apple Computer company were featured in some computer magazines.
A one-of-a-kind Apple-1 related document is the Apple Computer contract. Every founder has one, and Ron Wayne sold his.
Later in history, numerous books and articles were written about the Apple-1 and the young Apple Computer company.
Many can be found in your favorite bookstore in multiple languages.

Apple Company docs

Some Apple Company docs are interesting for anyone:
Apple Computer Company Partnership Agreement 1976 (preseved by David T. Craig)
Articles of incorporation of Apple Computer Jan 1977

In 1976, Apple built the Apple-1 computer and had to buy electronic components for it. In 2022, the check showed up at an auction, which the two company founders used to buy some of the needed components. Later more checks were found like check #2 in July 2023.

It is a historic Apple Computer Company check, 6 x 3 inches, filled out and signed by Steve Jobs, "steven jobs," and countersigned by Steve Wozniak, "Steve Wozniak," payable to Kierulff Electronics for $3,430, dated July 15, 1976. Headed "Apple Computer Company," the check uses Apple's first official address at "770 Welch Rd., Ste. 154, Palo Alto"—the location of an answering service and mail drop they used while still operating out of the famous Jobs family garage. In very fine condition.

This extraordinary check comes from the foundational moment of Apple Computer, today the most valuable company in the world. Three months earlier, on April 1, 1976, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ron Wayne signed the company's original partnership agreement, which assigned 45% of the company to each of the Steves and 10% to Wayne. It also required any expenditure over $100 to be approved by two of the partners—perhaps the reason that both Jobs and Woz signed this check. Because of the legal structure of the partnership, all three could be held personally liable for any of the company's debts. Jobs and Woz were effectively penniless—Jobs sold his beloved Volkswagen Bus and Woz sold his prized HP-65 pocket calculator to raise about $1,300 in operating capital. Wayne, on the other hand, was older and more experienced in the business world. He had assets to protect and sold back his share in the partnership for the meager sum of $800 just days later. Jobs and Woz were on their own to finance the development, production, and sales of the Apple-1.

Shortly thereafter, Wozniak first demonstrated the Apple-1 prototype at a meeting of Palo Alto's Homebrew Computer Club. Upon seeing interest among the membership, he and Jobs pooled their resources to have the printed circuit boards produced. Like most hobbyist computers of the time, they conceived the Apple-1 as a kit to be soldered together by the end user. They originally hoped to sell 50 boards at $40 apiece to recover their initial $1,000 outlay. However, seeking a larger audience, Jobs approached Paul Terrell, owner of The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, one of the first personal computer stores in the world. Terrell offered to buy 50 of the computers—at a wholesale price of $500 a piece, to retail at $666.66—but only if they came fully assembled. With this request, Terrell aimed to elevate the computer from the domain of the hobbyist/enthusiast to the realm of the mainstream consumer. Wozniak later placed Terrell's purchase order in perspective: 'That was the biggest single episode in all of the company's history. Nothing in subsequent years was so great and so unexpected.'

However, Jobs and Woz weren't prepared to fill such a massive order—what began as a $1,000 investment in PCBs grew to over $20,000 in expected material costs, and they had already sold off their most valuable possessions. Banks found it easy to refuse loans to 'a couple of hippy kids,' and most electronics vendors were skeptical. Jobs caught a break when he met with Bob Newton, the division manager of Kierulff Electronics in Palo Alto. The episode is discussed in *Return to the Little Kingdom: Steve Jobs and the Creation of Apple* by Michael Moritz: 'Newton… met Jobs and examined both him and the prototype. "He was just an aggressive little kid who didn't present himself very professionally." Nevertheless, Newton agreed to sell Jobs $20,000 worth of parts and explained that if the bill was paid within thirty days, Jobs would not be charged interest. Jobs, unfamiliar with accounting rubric, recalled: "We didn't know what 'net thirty days' was."' The components now successfully secured, Jobs and Wozniak spent ten days putting together, soldering, and testing the Apple-1 units before delivering them to The Byte Shop. Thus, the Apple-1 was one of the first completely assembled 'personal' computers that simply worked out of the box with a few accessories that could be purchased from a local electronics store (a power supply, case, keyboard, and monitor were not included). Altogether, over a span of ten months or so, Jobs and Wozniak produced about 200 Apple-1 computers and sold 175 of them.

Based on the date of this check, it likely represents a payment for parts used in putting together the second batch of Apple-1 computers. As a document signed by Apple's famed co-founders in the year of the company's origin, and directly connected with the production of the Apple-1 Computer, this is an unparalleled, museum-quality piece.

It is up for auction on March 17, 2022.

Published with permission of RR Auction.

Books

Many books about Apple, Steve Wozniak, and Steve Jobs exist. Here are just a few that have information about the Apple-1 and the early years of Apple. We do not link to Amazon, etc., to get commissions (this website is non-profit). Some books are available online; others you can get from your favorite bookseller.

Book Read the book The Little Kingdom by Michael Moritz here.

Book Read the book Return to the Little Kingdom by Michael Moritz here.

Book Read the book Apple Confidential by Owen W. Linzmayer here.

Book Read the book Apple Confidential 2.0 by Owen W. Linzmayer here.

Book Read the book iWoz by Gina Smith here.

Software

Only a handful of original software titles for the Apple-1 exist. Apple Computer itself had only a few cassettes to offer. Today, it is much more convenient to use a music player instead of a cassette player.
All software for the Apple-1 can be found as sound files. You can record those files onto tapes or use a modern music player.

Apple-1 Software

Apple-1 software was stored on cassettes tapes. Today many Apple-1 user use moden music player. Therefore the software is saved as an audio file.
Software available by Apple in 1976:
BASIC
Blackjack
Disassembler (PDF with source code)
Extended Monitor
Hamurabi
Mastermind
Lunar Lander
StarTrek

Other software for the Apple-1:
Apple 30th years graphics demo
Chess
AceyDucey
Apple-1 Enhanced Checkers
Bowling
Buzzword
Craps
Deal or No Deal
Football
HiLo
Life
Lunar Lander (ASCII Graphics)
Microchess
Pasart
Slots
StarTrek 2003
WordCross
Wumpus

Newer games:
15 puzzle game (audio file and source code)
2048 (audio file and source code)

Other sources for Apple-1 software are:
Apple-1 software at archive.org
Apple-1 software at Mike Willegal's website
Article about WOZ writing BASIC from the scratch
Memory test by Mike Willegal
Using the Woz Monitor (PROMs)
Sourcecode of the Woz Monitor (PROMs)
Try this Apple-1 Emulator! You can even load programs, but you need some knowledge of how to use the Apple-1.

How to?
To use software, you have to load it from a cassette or music player by typing the command C100R on your Apple-1. Next, you have to type an individual code to start the program. Type the code, start the cassette or music player, and hit enter. You need patience because it takes some time to load. The last step is to type a code to start the program.
For example, to start BASIC, you have to enter E000.EFFF. This will load the software. After loading, type E000R.
For the game Star Trek, you must start BASIC and type E000R.

You can link to the Apple-1 Registry. Any form of reprint or reproduction (including excerpts) only with written permission of the Apple-1 Registry. Here you find press releases and images free to use under CC BY-SA 4.0.