View source for ProFile

{{Product
|name          = 
|image         = Apple III computer with ProFile and accessories.jpg
|caption       = ''A ProFile drive stacked between an [[Apple III]] system (at bottom) and a [[Monitor III]] (at top).''
|productid     = A9M0005 <small>(5 [[MB]])</small><br/>A9M0100 <small>(10 MB)</small>
|codename      = ''Pippin''
|developer     = [[Apple Computer]]
|type          = [[Hard disk drive]]
|datein        = September [[1981]]<ref name=release1983>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1983-05/1983_05_BYTE_08-05_The_Electronic_Office#page/n2/mode/1up |title=Inside Apple: A storehouse of knowledge (Vol. 1 No. 2)]| pages=2–3 |magazine=[[Byte (magazine)|BYTE]] |volume=8 |number=5 |date=May 1983}}</ref><ref name=oldcomp>{{Cite web|url=http://oldcomputers.net/appleii.html|title=Apple II computer|website=oldcomputers.net|accessdate=January 28, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dD4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34 |title=InfoNews/Software: Apple |magazine=[[InfoWorld]]|date=11 January 1982 |pages=34–36 |volume=4 |issue=1 |quote=...Medical Clinix will work with the floppy diskettes or the new Apple Profile harddisk...}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SD0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1 |title=It's official! Apple rolls out the III(again) |first1=Paul |last1=Freiberger |author1-link=Paul Freiberger |first2=John |last2=Markoff |author2-link=John Markoff |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |date=30 November 1981 |page=1 |volume=3 |issue=28 |quote=...Profile, the new 5-megabyte hard disk, greatly increase the system's online storage capacity. Seagate, of Scotts Valley, California, is producing the drive for Apple...Profile, which is now being shipped to dealers...is priced at $3495... }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCIvSU6Y2GAC&pg=PA127 |title=Apple Charts The Course For IBM |first1=Barbara E. |last1=McMullen |first2=John F. |last2=McMullen |magazine=[[PC Magazine]] |date=21 February 1984 |volume=3 |issue=3 |page=122-129 |quote=...For example, it developed the Apple Profile, for the III in 1981...}}</ref>
|dateout       = September [[1986]]
|originalprice = {{w|United States dollar|US$}} 3,499 <small>(5 [[MB]])</small>
|ports         = DB-25
|power         = 35 {{w|watt}}s
|size          = 4.39 x 17.28 x 8.8 in.
|weight        = 11 lbs.
}}
The '''ProFile''' (codenamed "Pippin")<ref>{{cite journal |last=Linzmayer |first=Owen W. |title=Apple Confidential 2.0 |url=https://archive.org/details/appleconfidentia00linz_028 |url-access=registration |year=2004 |page=[https://archive.org/details/appleconfidentia00linz_028/page/n52 41] |isbn=1-59327-010-0 |publisher={{w|No Starch Press}} |lccn=98-49132}}</ref> was the first [[hard disk drive]] produced by [[Apple Inc.|Apple Computer]], initially for use with the [[Apple III]] [[personal computer]].<ref name=release1983 /> The original model had a formatted capacity of 5 [[MB]] and connected to a special interface card that plugged into an Apple III slot. In [[1983]], Apple offered a ProFile interface card for the [[Apple II]], with software support for [[ProDOS]] and [[Apple Pascal]].

==Description==
[[File:Apple Lisa I, FileWare and ProFile Demo|thumb|270px|right|]]
The 5 MB ProFile was Apple's first hard drive, and was introduced in September [[1981]] at a price of {{w|United States dollar|US$}} 3,499.<ref name=oldcomp /><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ej4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT1 |title=Santa Clara Systems |type=Advert |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |date=15 February 1982 |page=46 |quote=Comparison table: ''...Apple ProFile / Integrated Backup: None / Error Correction : None / Capacity Formatted: 5 MBytes / Avg Seek Time: 95 ms / Suggested List : $3495...''}}</ref> Later a 10 MB model was offered, but required an upgraded {{w|Programmable ROM|PROM}}/interface card to recognize the additional 5 MB.{{fact|date=May 2018}}

Internally, the ProFile consisted of a bare {{w|Seagate Technology|Seagate}} {{w|ST-506}} stepper motor drive and mechanism, without the usual Seagate electronics, a digital and an analog circuit board designed and manufactured by Apple, and a power supply.

In [[1983]], Apple introduced the [[Lisa]] computer, which was normally sold with a ProFile.<ref>{{cite journal| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qZiwCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA166 |chapter=LISA PERIPHERALS: Disk Drives |title=Microcomputer User's Handbook: The Complete and Up to Date Guide to Buying a Business Computer |editor1=Dennis Longley |editor2=Michael Shain |publisher=The MacMillan Press |year=1983 |isbn=9781349067374 |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-06737-4 |page=166 |quote=...The Lisa is supplied with a Profile 5-1/4 inch hard disk unit providing a further 5 Mb of storage. Additional Profile units may be added via interface expansion cards...}}</ref> The ProFile could be connected to the built-in [[parallel port]] of the Lisa, or to a port on an optional dual-port parallel interface card. Up to three such interface cards could be installed, so in theory up to seven ProFile drives could be used on a Lisa.

===Successors===
Later Lisa models could be configured with an internal 10 MB "[[Widget drive|Widget]]" {{w|voice-coil}} drive with a proprietary controller designed and built entirely by Apple, but the Widget was never offered as an external product for use with other Apple computers.

Apple did not offer another hard drive until it released the [[Hard Disk 20]] designed specifically for the [[Macintosh 512K]] in September [[1985]] which could not be used on the [[Apple II]] or Apple III|III]] families, or Lisa series. The ProFile could not be used on the Macintosh or the [[Apple IIc]] (for which Apple never offered an external hard disk drive of any kind).

By September [[1986]], the ProFile would be superseded by the introduction of the first cross-platform [[Hard Disk 20SC]] [[SCSI]]-based drive for the Macintosh and interface card for the Apple II family (excluding the IIc series, which had no SCSI interface of any kind) and Lisa/XL series.

==References==
{{reflist|2|small}}

==External links==
*[https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102681317 Apple Profile hard disk drive] at the Computer History Museum
*[https://collection.maas.museum/object/457105 Apple 5MB 'Profile' hard disk drive] at the Powerhouse Museum
*[https://madeapple.com/apple-profile/ Apple ProFile] at madeApple
*{{w|Apple ProFile}} at Wikipedia
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{{wikipedia|Apple ProFile}}
[[Category:Apple peripherals]]
[[Category:1981 introductions]]