ACT/Apricot Advert - January 1985
From Practical Computing
Has Apricot gone bananas?
Launched in 1984, ACT's Apricot F1 was a follow-up to the previous year's Apricot PC - a machine which featured compatibility with Chuck Peddle's Sirius 1, which ACT had a lot success with as an importer, shifting some 25,000 machines in the UK alone.
Unlike the earlier machine, the F1 was aimed more at home users as well as perhaps small businesses, shipping with the ability to plug in to a television and using infra-red to connect its keyboard and mouse - making it possible to use from a sofa several metres away, as long as the user had strong glasses in order to see the screen.
The F1 - like the Apricot before it - was designed and built in the UK, with only components not made locally being the integrated circuits like the Intel 8086 CPU.
And whilst it ran MS-DOS, it wasn't actually IBM compatible, although it was sometimes referred to as a "British PCjr", in reference to IBM's flawed attempt at the home market.
Reflecting its target market, the F1 was quite cheap, retailing for only £1,095 plus VAT, which is around £5,240 in 2026, although that's without a monitor.
Date created: 21 July 2026
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Text and otherwise-uncredited photos © nosher.net 2026. Dollar/GBP conversions, where used, assume $1.50 to £1. "Now" prices are calculated dynamically using average RPI per year.
