The 8th bit was never ignored, it was for phase, and for example determined if you saw green or orange. Probably the best ref for this is from '83, Gayler's "The Apple II Circuit Description."
edit: corrected below, rev 0 non RFI (without the aux vid pin) ignored DL7
Thank, I just consulted appendix B of my copy, you are correct. DL7 is unconnected in nonRFI rev0 though every later Apple II RFI or not could do 6 color HIRES.
edit: corrected below, rev 0 non RFI (without the aux vid pin) ignored DL7