Apple II Rev. 0 (1977)

+ Apple II Rev. 0 S/N 25 © Achim Baqué Apple II Rev. 0 S/N 25

+ Apple II Rev. 0 S/N 25 © Achim Baqué Apple II Rev. 0 S/N 25

+ One of my two Ventless Apple II Rev 0 © Achim Baqué One of my two Ventless Apple II Rev 0

+ Another Apple II Rev 0 © Achim Baqué Another Apple II Rev 0

+ Another Apple II Rev 0 © Achim Baqué Another Apple II Rev 0

In my collection there are over 10 of these rare earliest Apple II Revision 0, easily recognisable by the light green slots, the missing “colour killer” transistor and the breadboard at the bottom. Later versions were given dark green slots and then the masses got black ones.

The lowest serial number I own is #25 and this is one of the earliest known Apple II.

The Apple II was one of the most important and influential personal computers ever created. It was the product that transformed Apple Computer from a small startup into a major player in the rapidly growing home computer market of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Introduced in April 1977 at the West Coast Computer Faire, the Apple II stood out from competitors like the Commodore PET and the TRS-80 because of its color graphics and open architecture. Unlike other machines, it came in a sleek plastic case with a built-in keyboard, a big leap forward in making computers appealing to ordinary consumers, schools, and small businesses.

An interesting detail in Apple’s early hardware history is the rare ventless Apple II. The very earliest Apple II units, produced in 1977, had a unique feature or rather, a missing one: no vents on the sides of the computer’s plastic case. These early and very rare units are sometimes called “ventless” Apple II.

At first, the decision to ship the Apple II without vents came from the desire for a sleek, clean, consumer-friendly design. Steve Jobs in particular was known for pushing for minimalism and elegant, appliance-like appearance. However, it quickly became clear that without ventilation, the computer’s internal components could overheat. Heat buildup risked damaging chips and causing instability during operation.

Apple soon recognised this flaw and quietly revised the case design to add vents along the sides to improve airflow and heat dissipation. Only a small number of ventless Apple IIs were ever produced before the change was made, making them highly collectible today. For collectors, an original ventless Apple II is a prized piece of Apple history, representing both the company’s early push for industrial design and the lessons learned in making a mass-produced consumer product reliable. There are two in my collection so far.

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