There are actually three different versions of the Apple //c. One can determine the version by entering Applesoft BASIC (a version of the Basic programming language which is part of every Apple //c) and typing in the following command:
PRINT PEEK (64447)
The value displayed on the monitor screen will designate the particular edition of Apple //c.
  • IF PEEK (64447) = 255 THEN Original Apple //c

    • 65C02 microprocessor
    • 128K of RAM
    • 128K ROM IC

  • IF PEEK (64447) = 0 THEN UniDisk 3.5 Apple //c

    • 256K ROM IC instead of 128K ROM
    • support for external UniDisk 3.5 inch diskette drive
    • Mini-Assembler
    • built-in diagnostics; STEP and TRACE Monitor commands

  • IF PEEK (64447) = 3 THEN Memory expansion Apple //c

    • Same as above plus support for optional memory expansion card

Depending upon point of view, there are actually five different editions of this line; the Apple //c+ was issued with two different keyboards ("crappy" and "good"). Much criticism of the Apple //c+ is due simply to the inadvertency of owning an Apple //c+ with a "crappy" keyboard. The "crappy" version is mushy and the keys stick quite a bit. The "good" version is robust and the keys do not stick at all. The author has disassembled several Apple //c's and has observed two very different keyboard constructions (i.e., the state of the keyboard is not a quality issue, but is truly two different designs, thus editions). The size and the connectors of the keyboards are identical, thus, one can swap out a "crappy" for a "good."

Sources:

Apple II Apple IIc Technical Reference Manual New York : Addison-Wesley (1987). pp. xxiii-xxv ISBN 0201177528

Personal knowledge.

Side note: This book lists the code for the firmware for the Apple //c (Appendix 1) which includes a pair of amusing comments in the code.

page 414:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Code beyond this point is not *
* sacred... It may be perverted *
* in any manner by any pervert. *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
page 409:
*********************************************************************
* the following two bytes must be $90 and $4B in locations $C411 and
* and $c412 respectively. the bcc ($90) is never taken by the
* slinky code and the $4b is used to duplicate the mouse entry
* point found in slot 7. this 'fix' enables some programs
* to still work correctly. (tim, you owe me a beer for this one!)
********************************************************************

"It looks cool" is common the first thing said of the Apple //c. And indeed that is its most striking feature. Designed as the first foray in the Portable Apple 2 world, the machine was very small, the case designed by FrogDesign, the same company that would later design the Apple IIgs.

Essentially an unexpandable Apple IIe, the //c had some pretty nice stuff; MOS 65c02 running at 1mhz, 128k RAM (Expandable to well over 1 meg with third party upgrades), built in 80-column capability, built in 5 1/4 floppy drive (with a SmartDrive connector on back for additional disk drives and even hard drives), two serial ports and mouse/joystick port. The processor could eventually go as high as 8mhz with upgrades like the Rocket Chip.

Though Apple had never intended it to be mobile, Prairie Power corp even designed and sold an 8-hour battery pack for it, and several companies offered LCD panels that would plug in to its RGB connector.

To be specific, the Apple //c was modeled after the Enahanced //e, which was the upgraded model of the Apple //e with a 65c02 processor instead of the original 6502.

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