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It's a "smart" disk drive port.
It can detect the type of drive connected to it including in some instances, hard drives.
All smartports have 19 pin (DB-19) D-sub connectors.
The Apple IIc had a smartport that could use either a 5.25" disk drive, or a Unidisk 3.5" drive or an Apple HD-20 type hard disk drive (or equivalent emulator)
The IIc Plus could also use an Apple 3.5" drive (which is logically different from the Unidisk 3.5 drive).
The IIGS's smartport could also handle Apple 3.5" drives along with all the others mentioned here.
There are "smartport" adapters, the most notorious being the "LIRON" card for the IIe that could allow you to connect a Unidisk 3.5" drive but nothing else as far as I know.
Modern implementations are the Yellowstone card from Big Mess O' Wires that can connect almost any type of disk drive out there including HD-20 type hard drives (and emulators).
There is something called "SoftSP" which is a ROM image that will allow slotted Apples (II+ and IIe) to get rudimentary smartport capability from a regular Disk II card, but will also require some cable modifications in certain instances.
Perhaps not a real one, but the Floppy Emu works just fine in HD-20 mode on multiple Apple IIs.
Interesting. That suggests that it might be possible to make the HD-20 work with the II's after all. We just need someone who knows how it works, and how a smartport works.