The Apple Silentype printer was a thermal printer produced by Apple Computer in the late 1970s for use with their Apple III computer line. It was known for its silent operation and high print quality.
The Apple Silentype is a printer that was designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple from 1979 to 1982 as part of the Apple Printer series. The printer was introduced on 1 June 1979 but released in March 1980, and its price started at $595.
The Silentype is a thermal printer, which uses special paper and provides 80-column output. It was also compatible with the Apple III. The Silentype printer needs its own specially designed interface card or an Apple III with the built-in Silentype port.
It is mechanically similar to the 3M Whisper Writer 1000 and identical to Trendcom’s Model 200 and the Axonix ThinPrint 80 (the first, thermal version, not the later DMP model), except for the Apple logo in the lower-left corner of the front cover. Internally digital board was completely redesigned by Apple, removing the relatively expensive microprocessor and memory chips, and relying on software in the Apple II instead.
This printer was discontinued on 1 October 1982 and replaced by the Apple Dot Matrix Printer. Today Apple Silentype is 44 years old!
Apple Silentype Printer Details
| Introduced | June 1, 1979 – 44 years ago |
| Released | March 1980 – 44 years ago |
| Discontinued | October 1, 1982 – 41 years ago |
| Time on the Market | 31 months (2 years) |
| Order Number | A2M0032 A2M2045 |
| Initial Price | $595 |
System Requirements
- Apple III computer
Printer Specs
| Type | Thermal |
| Colors | 1 |
| Page Per Minute | Text Mode: Up to 40 characters per second, bidirectional Graphics Mode: 240 columns of 7 dots each per second |
| DPI | Text mode: 10 characters/inch horizontal, 6 lines/inch vertical. Graphics mode: 60 dots/inch |
Connections
| Connection | DB-9 |
Further Reading and References
- Apple Silentype printer – 1980 – MyOldMac
- 13-Peripherals – Apple2History
- Apple Silentype Operation and Reference Manual (PDF) – Historybit
- What Hath Woz Wrought – Folklore
- 1981 Silentype Printer – AppleToTheCore
- Apple Silentype – Wikipedia (Image 1 Source)
- Apple III Computer with ProFile, Monitor III, Silentype, and Disk III – Apple Museum Poland (Image 2 Source)
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