The TI-84 Plus series is a line of graphing calculators produced by Texas Instruments. They are ubiquitous in the American education system, and have historically been considered the de facto standard in grade school math. The series has also amassed a significant hobbyist following, along with a large library of community-developed applications, for its support of assembly language and TI-BASIC programs. The family was superseded by the TI-84 Plus CE series in 2015; of the original series, only the TI-84 Plus is still in production, the Silver Edition and C Silver Edition having been discontinued that same year. However, they remain popular in the United States, with the TI-84 Plus being issued by schools more than 20 years after its introduction. Beginning from around 2011, the series has received media attention from technology publications due to hobbyist app releases for the platform, such as an unofficial ChatGPT client, a web browser, and a neural network. In recent years, however, the TI-84 Plus has been increasingly criticized for its antiquated technology and poor value for money, with critics claiming that its continued sale is a result of Texas Instruments' calculator monopoly.
Editions
TI-84 Plus The original TI-84 Plus was released in 2004 as an upgrade to the TI-83 Plus. Its keyboard layout and user interface are identical to that of its predecessor, and it is backwards compatible with older TI-BASIC programs. Despite this, it has significantly improved hardware; its CPU, the Zilog Z80, is 2.5 times as fast as the one in the TI-83 Plus, its display is of a higher contrast, and it has three times as much flash memory. The TI-84 Plus introduced a real-time clock and a mini-USB data transfer port. The USB port is USB On-The-Go compliant, allowing the TI-84 Plus to connect to—and exchange data with—another calculator; Texas Instruments calls this feature Communication Link. The TI-84 Plus can also connect to a computer to transfer programs and files using Texas Instruments' proprietary program, TI-Connect. An all-white variant of the TI-84 Plus was introduced in 2023. Currently, the calculator is still in production and issued by schools around the United States, required by some institutions, and seen as the standard option by many; critics argue that the enduring prevalence of the TI-84 Plus—which is considerably less powerful than a smartphone, yet still costs more than some—has hindered innovation in calculator technology and is a result of monopoly. They also claim that Texas Instruments exploits this by keeping prices at a level roughly twice that of competing calculators.
TI-84 Plus Silver Edition
The TI-84 Plus Silver Edition (SE) was introduced on January 7, 2004 as an upgrade to the TI-83 Plus Silver Edition. It features 24 KB of user-available RAM; the calculator technically has 128 KB—48 KB in newer revisions—but the operating system was never updated to utilize it. It has 1.5 MB of user-accessible ROM, more than three times the 480 KB in the TI-84 Plus. It came preloaded with 30 applications. The Silver Edition has interchangeable faceplates, and new, colored faceplates were available for purchase at Texas Instruments' online store. It was discontinued in 2015, making the TI-84 Plus the only currently produced calculator in the series.
TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition The TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition (C SE) was released in 2013 as the first Z80-based Texas Instruments graphing calculator with a color screen. It introduced a 320-by-240 pixel color screen, a modified version of the TI-84 Plus's 2.55MP operating system, and a removable 1200 mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery. It was praised for its high-resolution color screen, which added new capabilities such as the ability to graph multiple simultaneous functions in different colors. The C Silver Edition would not be Texas Instruments' last foray into color-screen calculators for the student market; the TI-84 Plus CE was introduced—with an upgraded CPU—two years later. The C Silver Edition was discontinued a few months after the launch of the CE.
Software
Programs and applications The TI-84 Plus series supports both programs and applications. Programs are written by the user; some programs, like those written in TI-BASIC, are interpreted during execution and can thus be edited directly on the calculator. Applications (also called Flash applications) are stored in the calculator's ROM; these tend to be more complex than standard programs, and are usually from Texas Instruments themselves. Officially, two programming languages are supported: TI-BASIC and Z80 assembly. However, there are unofficial, community-developed languages—such as the Axe Parser—made specifically for the TI-84 Plus series. The series has a significant hobbyist following, and a wide variety of official and community-made software has been developed for it over the years. These include video games, math programs, educational tools, and graphing software. In 2011, an unofficial web browser, Gossamer, was released for the platform, and in recent years, programmers have created internet-based programs like a ChatGPT client, graphical ray-casting software, and a neural network that incorporates primitive artificial intelligence. These developments have attracted the attention of technology publications.
Operating systems There have been eight operating system releases for the monochrome-display calculators in the series, which include the TI-84 Plus, the Silver Edition, and their respective variants. There have been two releases for the C Silver Edition. TI-84 Plus series calculators can run custom user interface shells, such as MirageOS and Doors CS. In addition, calculators with an older bootloader can run custom operating systems like KnightOS.
Monochrome
C Silver Edition
Linking software Texas Instruments develops the TI-Connect linking software, which hosts a number of sub-programs (called software tools) to manage TI-84 Plus series calculators.
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