I wouldn't compare the Apple IIgs to an 386 PC. It's not really a fair comparison; the poor IIgs would be outclassed. It's 2.8 MHz 65C816 processor was 16 bits and introduced in 1983.

The 386 benefited from two years of technological advances when it was introduced in 1985, and had 32-bit registers and a 32-bit data bus (2^32 bits==4GB of physical RAM). It shipped at 16 MHz. (A better comparison would probably be the contemporaneous 68000 family vs. the x86 line.)

More broadly, Apple didn't have a lot of great options circa 1984-1985. The original Mac was slow, black and white only, didn't support hard drives, etc., but at least enjoyed a modern architecture. The Apple II was still selling well, and bankrolling Mac development, but was falling behind its x86-based rivals (yay 64KB bank switching!). So you keep the cash cow alive for a while longer with the IIgs until the Mac reaches critical mass.

Apple II enthusiasts still resent John Sculley & co (though Steve Jobs would probably have been more ruthless) for this betrayal. :)

It's no secret that the Macintosh was the computer of Steve Jobs.

The x86 PCs were the computer of Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

The Apple // was the computer of scruffy Steve Wozniak. The original computer built in a garage, the local Apple user groups, etc. The anti-IBM back when that meant a soldering iron and a trip to radio shack, not a mouse.