Apple ImageWriter II Printer

Introduced in 1985 at $595, the ImageWriter II was Apple’s longest running product! It was discontinued in 1996. During it’s long life, there were 3 models of the ImageWriter II:

A9M0310 was the first Model. Snow White in color, it was introduced with the Apple IIc. Easily distinguished not only by the color, but also the only model without the ImageWriter II name on the top of the case.

A9M0320 was the second and longest running model. Platinum, or gray in color, this model was introduced with the Apple IIGS and sports the “ImageWriter II” name next to the Apple logo on the top.

G0010 (C0090LL/A) was the last model of the ImageWriter II. While the same color as the previous model, it was easily the lightest of the 3 models, the only one to use a switching power supply instead of an A/C transformer. This model also has 24K onboard memory. The easiest way to determine this model is that the serial and A/C ports are on the sides below the tractor feed, rather than on the back of the legs.

 

Overall, they all look and work the same, but there are some parts that are not interchangeable. They are all compatible with every Apple II model, Apple III, Lisa (Macintosh XL), and every Macintosh model from the 128K through the Beige G3. In other words, it was compatible with every single computer Apple ever made, except for the original Apple (or Apple 1), until the iMac was introduced in 1998. Wow!

This dot matrix printer offers 3 levels of print quality, Near Letter Quality (NLQ), Standard Quality and Draft Quality at speeds of up to 250 characters per second! Seven color printing, text formatting, character sets and even proportional spacing are all handled easily. Form feed (continuous or tractor feed) paper, envelopes, labels and single sheet paper can all be used with this printer as well as pre-printed forms, checks and multi-part forms.

Optional accessories will further enhance the ImageWriter II’s performance.
* ImageWriter II SheetFeeder will hold 100 sheets of regular printer paper.
* ImageWriter II 32K Memory Option acts as a buffer and will hold up to 20 pages in memory while waiting to print.
* ImageWriter II AppleTalk Option lets up to 31 computers share the printer on an AppleTalk network.

The ImageWriter II cannot use both the Memory Option and AppleTalk Option. Only one or the other.

The ImageWriter II uses a serial interface and is usable on any computer that has one, just have to find the correct interface cable for your computer. The serial port on the printer is the round, 8 pin Mini-DIN. The serial port on your computer may be a 9 pin DB-9 (Macintosh 128K and 512K), the same round 8 pin Mini-DIN as on the printer (Mac Plus and up, Apple IIGS, IIC Plus), a 25 pin DB25 on the Super Serial Card installed in an Apple ][, ][ Plus or //e, 25 pin C port on an Apple ///, 25 pin B port on Lisa/XL. Apple //c has a round, 5 pin DIN.

No external power supply need for this printer, just a standard computer power cable will do.
Serial Interface card required for the Apple ][, ][ Plus and //e.