Although the new controller chips were more capable than the older ones used on the 8-bit Apple II, telecommunications programs written for those older Apples wouldn’t work. Apple IIGS upgrade – Photo credit: unknownīecause the engineers wanted to make the II GS capable of connecting to an AppleTalk network, the serial ports they planned were based on a different communications controller chip than was used in the older Super Serial Card and the Apple IIc serial controller.
(AppleTalk was the network protocol that Apple had designed originally for use with the Macintosh). They allocated serial ports to slots 1 and 2, the classic 80-column firmware to slot 3, the mouse controller to slot 4, a Smartport controller to slot 5, a 5.25 inch disk controller to slot 6, and AppleTalk capability to slot 7.
Taking the cue from their experience with the Apple IIc, they included as built-in features the peripherals that most users would want to use. Other features Apple engineers added to make the Apple II GS a next generation computer included a built-in clock, slot space for internal expansion cards, and the electronic equivalents of seven more expansion cards.
