Macintosh Plus
Encyclopedia
The Macintosh Plus computer was the third model in the Macintosh line, introduced on January 16, 1986, two years after the original Macintosh
and a little more than a year after the Macintosh 512K
, with a price tag of US$
2599. As an evolutionary improvement over the 512K, it shipped with 1 MB of RAM standard, expandable to 4 MB, and an external SCSI
peripheral bus, among smaller improvements. It originally had the same generally beige-colored case as the original Macintosh
("Pantone
453"), but in 1987, the case color was changed to the long-lived, warm gray "Platinum" color. It is the earliest Macintosh model able to run System 7
OS.
port, which launched the popularity of external SCSI devices for Macs, including hard disks, tape drives, CD-ROM drives, printers, and even monitors. The SCSI implementation of the Plus was engineered shortly before the initial SCSI spec was finalized and, as such, is not 100% SCSI-compliant. SCSI ports remained standard equipment for all Macs until the introduction of the iMac
in 1998, which replaced most of Apple's legacy ports with USB.
The Macintosh Plus was the last classic Mac to have a phone cord-like port on the front of the unit for the keyboard, as well as the DE-9 connector for the mouse; models released after the Macintosh Plus would use ADB
ports.
It had a new 3.5-inch double-sided 800 KB floppy drive, offering double the capacity of previous Macs along with backward compatibility. The new drive was controlled by the same IWM
chip as in previous models, implementing variable speed
GCR
. The drive was still completely incompatible with PC
drives. The 800 KB drive had two read/write heads, enabling it to simultaneously use both sides of the floppy disk and thereby double storage capacity. Like the 400 KB drive before it, a companion Macintosh 800K External Drive was an available option. However, with the increased storage capacity combined with 2-4x the available RAM, the external drive was less of a necessity than it had been with the 128K and 512K.
The Mac Plus was the first of many Macintoshes to use SIMM
s (single in-line memory modules) for its memory. It came standard with 1 MB of RAM (four 256 KB
SIMMs) and could be upgraded to 4 MB of RAM. It had 128 KB of ROM on the motherboard, which was double the amount of ROM that was in previous Macs; the new System software and ROMs included routines to support SCSI, the new 800 KB floppy drive, and the Hierarchical File System
(HFS), which used a true directory structure on disks (as opposed to the earlier MFS, Macintosh File System
in which all files were stored in a single directory, with one level of pseudo-folders overlaid on them). For programmers, the fourth Inside Macintosh
volume detailed how to use HFS and the rest of the Mac Plus's new system software. This new filing system allowed it use the first hard drive Apple developed for the 512K, the IWM
floppy disk-based Hard Disk 20
and the new ROMs allowed the Macintosh to use the drive as a startup disk for the first time. The Plus still did not include provision for an internal hard drive and it would be over nine months before Apple would offer a SCSI drive replacement
for the slow Hard Disk 20. It would be well over a year before Apple would offer the first internal hard disk drive in any Macintosh.
A compact Mac
, the Plus had a 9-inch 512×342 pixel
monochrome display with a resolution of 72 PPI
, identical to that of previous Macintosh models. Unlike earlier Macs, the Mac Plus's keyboard included a numeric keypad and directional arrow keys, and, as with previous Macs, it had a one-button mouse and no fan, making it extremely quiet in operation.
The applications MacPaint
and MacWrite
were bundled with the Mac Plus. After August 1987, HyperCard
and MultiFinder
were also bundled. Third-party software applications available included MacDraw
, Microsoft Word, Excel
, and PowerPoint
, as well as Aldus
's PageMaker
. Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint (originally by Forethought
) were actually developed and released first for the Macintosh, and similarly Microsoft Word 1 for Macintosh was the first time a GUI version of that software was introduced on any personal computer platform. For a time, the exclusive availability of Excel and PageMaker on the Macintosh were noticeable drivers of sales for the platform.
The case design was essentially identical to the original Macintosh
. It originally debuted in beige and was labeled Macintosh Plus on the front, but Macintosh Plus 1MB on the back, to denote the 1MB RAM configuration with which it shipped. In January 1987 it transitioned to Apple's long-lived Platinum gray color with the rest of the Apple product line, and they keyboards keycaps changed from brown to gray. In January 1988, with reduced RAM prices, Apple began shipping 2 and 4 MB configurations and re-branded it simply Macintosh Plus. Among other design changes, it included the same trademarked inlaid Apple logo and recessed port icons as the Apple IIc
and IIGS
before it, but it essentially retained the original design.
An upgrade kit was offered for the earlier Macintosh 128K
and Macintosh 512K
/enhanced
, which included a new motherboard, floppy disk drive and rear case. The owner retained the front case, monitor, and analog board. Because of this, there is no "Macintosh Plus" on the front of upgraded units, and the Apple logo is recessed and in the bottom left hand corner of the front case. However, the label on the back of the case reads "Macintosh Plus 1MB". The new extended Plus keyboard could also be purchased. Unfortunately, this upgrade cost almost as much as a new machine.
The Mac Plus itself could be upgraded further with the use of third-party accelerators. When these were clipped or soldered onto the 68000 processor, a 32 MHz 68030 processor could be used, and up to 16 MB RAM. This allowed it to run Mac OS 7.6.1
.
At present, there is a program called Mini vMac that can emulate a Mac Plus on a variety of platforms, including Unix
, Windows
, DOS
, Mac OS
, Mac OS X
, Pocket PC
, iOS (on jailbroken devices) and even Nintendo DS
.
and the Macintosh II
), it remained in production as a cheaper alternative until the introduction of Macintosh Classic
on 15 October 1990. This makes the Macintosh Plus the longest-produced Macintosh ever. It continued to be supported by versions of the Mac OS
up to version 7.5.5
, released in 1996. Additionally, during its lifespan, it was heavily discounted like the 512K/512Ke before it and offered to the educational market badged as the "Macintosh Plus ED". Due to its popularity, long life and its introduction of many features that would become mainstays of the Macintosh platform for years, the Plus was a common "base model" for many software and hardware products.
joints inside it would fracture causing many problems, such as loss of deflection in the monitor or a complete loss of power. As in most early compact Macs, the problem was common in the yoke connector, flyback transformer, and horizontal drive coupling capacitor.
From the debut of the Macintosh 128K
through the Macintosh Plus, various third-party cooling add-ons were available to help increase airflow through the unit. Apple
finally reorganized the compact Macintosh case to accommodate a fan with the release of the Macintosh SE
.
Macintosh 128K
The Macintosh 128K machine, released as the "Apple Macintosh", was the original Apple Macintosh personal computer. Its beige case contained a monitor and came with a keyboard and mouse. An indentation in the top of the case made it easier for the computer to be lifted and carried. It had a selling...
and a little more than a year after the Macintosh 512K
Macintosh 512K
The Macintosh 512K Personal Computer, also known as the "Fat Mac", is the second of a long line of Apple Macintosh computers, was the first update to the original Macintosh 128K. It was virtually identical to the previous Mac, differing primarily in the amount of built-in memory , which quadrupled...
, with a price tag of US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
2599. As an evolutionary improvement over the 512K, it shipped with 1 MB of RAM standard, expandable to 4 MB, and an external SCSI
SCSI
Small Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...
peripheral bus, among smaller improvements. It originally had the same generally beige-colored case as the original Macintosh
Macintosh 128K
The Macintosh 128K machine, released as the "Apple Macintosh", was the original Apple Macintosh personal computer. Its beige case contained a monitor and came with a keyboard and mouse. An indentation in the top of the case made it easier for the computer to be lifted and carried. It had a selling...
("Pantone
Pantone
Pantone Inc. is a corporation headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey, USA. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System , a proprietary color space...
453"), but in 1987, the case color was changed to the long-lived, warm gray "Platinum" color. It is the earliest Macintosh model able to run System 7
System 7
System 7 is the name of a Macintosh operating system introduced in 1991.System 7 may also refer to:* System 7 , a British dance/ambient band* System 7 , 1991 album* IBM System/7, a 1970s computer system...
OS.
Overview
Introduced as the Macintosh Plus, it was the first Macintosh model to include a SCSISCSI
Small Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...
port, which launched the popularity of external SCSI devices for Macs, including hard disks, tape drives, CD-ROM drives, printers, and even monitors. The SCSI implementation of the Plus was engineered shortly before the initial SCSI spec was finalized and, as such, is not 100% SCSI-compliant. SCSI ports remained standard equipment for all Macs until the introduction of the iMac
IMac
The iMac is a range of all-in-one Macintosh desktop computers built by Apple. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its introduction in 1998, and has evolved through five distinct forms....
in 1998, which replaced most of Apple's legacy ports with USB.
The Macintosh Plus was the last classic Mac to have a phone cord-like port on the front of the unit for the keyboard, as well as the DE-9 connector for the mouse; models released after the Macintosh Plus would use ADB
Apple Desktop Bus
Apple Desktop Bus is an obsolete bit-serial computer bus connecting low-speed devices to computers. Used primarily on the Macintosh platform, ADB equipment is still available but not supported by most Apple hardware manufactured since 1999....
ports.
It had a new 3.5-inch double-sided 800 KB floppy drive, offering double the capacity of previous Macs along with backward compatibility. The new drive was controlled by the same IWM
Disk controller
The disk controller is the circuit which enables the CPU to communicate with a hard disk, floppy disk or other kind of disk drive.Early disk controllers were identified by their storage methods and data encoding. They were typically implemented on a separate controller card...
chip as in previous models, implementing variable speed
Zone bit recording
Zone Bit Recording is used by disk drives to store more sectors per track on outer tracks than on inner tracks. It is also called Zone Constant Angular Velocity ....
GCR
Group Code Recording
In computer science, group code recording refers to several distinct but related encoding methods for magnetic media. The first, used in 6250 cpi magnetic tape, is an error-correcting code combined with a run length limited encoding scheme...
. The drive was still completely incompatible with PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
drives. The 800 KB drive had two read/write heads, enabling it to simultaneously use both sides of the floppy disk and thereby double storage capacity. Like the 400 KB drive before it, a companion Macintosh 800K External Drive was an available option. However, with the increased storage capacity combined with 2-4x the available RAM, the external drive was less of a necessity than it had been with the 128K and 512K.
The Mac Plus was the first of many Macintoshes to use SIMM
SIMM
A SIMM, or single in-line memory module, is a type of memory module containing random access memory used in computers from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. It differs from a dual in-line memory module , the most predominant form of memory module today, in that the contacts on a SIMM are redundant...
s (single in-line memory modules) for its memory. It came standard with 1 MB of RAM (four 256 KB
Kilobyte
The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...
SIMMs) and could be upgraded to 4 MB of RAM. It had 128 KB of ROM on the motherboard, which was double the amount of ROM that was in previous Macs; the new System software and ROMs included routines to support SCSI, the new 800 KB floppy drive, and the Hierarchical File System
Hierarchical File System
Hierarchical File System is a file system developed by Apple Inc. for use in computer systems running Mac OS. Originally designed for use on floppy and hard disks, it can also be found on read-only media such as CD-ROMs...
(HFS), which used a true directory structure on disks (as opposed to the earlier MFS, Macintosh File System
Macintosh File System
Macintosh File System is a volume format created by Apple Computer for storing files on 400K floppy disks. MFS was introduced with the Macintosh 128K in January 1984....
in which all files were stored in a single directory, with one level of pseudo-folders overlaid on them). For programmers, the fourth Inside Macintosh
Inside Macintosh
Inside Macintosh is the name of the developer documentation manuals published by Apple Computer, documenting the APIs and machine architecture of the Macintosh computer....
volume detailed how to use HFS and the rest of the Mac Plus's new system software. This new filing system allowed it use the first hard drive Apple developed for the 512K, the IWM
Disk controller
The disk controller is the circuit which enables the CPU to communicate with a hard disk, floppy disk or other kind of disk drive.Early disk controllers were identified by their storage methods and data encoding. They were typically implemented on a separate controller card...
floppy disk-based Hard Disk 20
Hard Disk 20
The Macintosh Hard Disk 20 was the first hard drive developed by Apple Computer specifically for use with the Macintosh 512K. Introduced on September 17, 1985, it was part of Apple's long awaited solution toward completing the Macintosh Office announced in January 1985...
and the new ROMs allowed the Macintosh to use the drive as a startup disk for the first time. The Plus still did not include provision for an internal hard drive and it would be over nine months before Apple would offer a SCSI drive replacement
Hard Disk 20SC
The Apple Hard Disk 20SC was Apple's first SCSI based hard drive for the Apple II family as well as the Macintosh and other third party computers using an industry standard SCSI interface.-History:Released...
for the slow Hard Disk 20. It would be well over a year before Apple would offer the first internal hard disk drive in any Macintosh.
A compact Mac
Compact Macintosh
"Compact Macintosh" or "Classic Macintosh" are informal terms that refer to the direct descendants of the original Macintosh personal computer case design by Apple Computer, Inc. All of them are all-in-one desktop computer designs with the display integrated in the computer case, but not the...
, the Plus had a 9-inch 512×342 pixel
Pixel
In digital imaging, a pixel, or pel, is a single point in a raster image, or the smallest addressable screen element in a display device; it is the smallest unit of picture that can be represented or controlled....
monochrome display with a resolution of 72 PPI
Pixels per inch
Pixels per inch or pixel density is a measurement of the resolution of devices in various contexts; typically computer displays, image scanners, and digital camera image sensors....
, identical to that of previous Macintosh models. Unlike earlier Macs, the Mac Plus's keyboard included a numeric keypad and directional arrow keys, and, as with previous Macs, it had a one-button mouse and no fan, making it extremely quiet in operation.
The applications MacPaint
MacPaint
MacPaint was a bitmap-based graphics painting software program developed by Apple Computer and released with the original Macintosh personal computer on January 22, 1984. It was sold separately for US$195 with its word processor counterpart, MacWrite. MacPaint was notable because it could generate...
and MacWrite
MacWrite
MacWrite was a word processor application released along with the first Apple Macintosh systems in 1984. It was the first such program that was widely available to the public to offer WYSIWYG operation, with multiple fonts and styles...
were bundled with the Mac Plus. After August 1987, HyperCard
HyperCard
HyperCard is an application program created by Bill Atkinson for Apple Computer, Inc. that was among the first successful hypermedia systems before the World Wide Web. It combines database capabilities with a graphical, flexible, user-modifiable interface. HyperCard also features HyperTalk, written...
and MultiFinder
MultiFinder
MultiFinder was the name of an extension software for the Apple Macintosh, introduced on August 11, 1987 and included with System Software 5. It added the ability to co-operatively multitask between several applications at once – a great improvement over the previous systems, which could only...
were also bundled. Third-party software applications available included MacDraw
MacDraw
MacDraw was a vector based drawing application released along with the first Apple Macintosh systems in 1984. MacDraw was one of the first WYSIWYG drawing programs that could be used in collaboration with MacWrite. MacDraw was useful for drawing technical diagrams and floorplans...
, Microsoft Word, Excel
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
, and PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint, usually just called PowerPoint, is a non-free commercial presentation program developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Office suite, and runs on Microsoft Windows and Apple's Mac OS X operating system...
, as well as Aldus
Aldus
Aldus Corporation, named after the 15th-century Venetian printer Aldus Manutius, was the inventor of the groundbreaking PageMaker software, a program that is generally credited with creating the desktop publishing field. The company was founded by Jeremy Jaech, Mark Sundstrom, Mike Templeman,...
's PageMaker
Adobe PageMaker
PageMaker was one of the first desktop publishing programs, introduced in 1985 by Aldus Corporation, initially for the then-new Apple Macintosh and in 1987 for PCs running Windows 1.0....
. Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint (originally by Forethought
Forethought (company)
Forethought, Inc. was a computer software company, best known as developers of what is now Microsoft PowerPoint.-History:In late 1983, Rob Campbell and Taylor Pohlman founded Forethought, Inc in order to develop object oriented bit-mapped application software. In 1984, they hired Bob Gaskins, a...
) were actually developed and released first for the Macintosh, and similarly Microsoft Word 1 for Macintosh was the first time a GUI version of that software was introduced on any personal computer platform. For a time, the exclusive availability of Excel and PageMaker on the Macintosh were noticeable drivers of sales for the platform.
Macintosh 128K
The Macintosh 128K machine, released as the "Apple Macintosh", was the original Apple Macintosh personal computer. Its beige case contained a monitor and came with a keyboard and mouse. An indentation in the top of the case made it easier for the computer to be lifted and carried. It had a selling...
. It originally debuted in beige and was labeled Macintosh Plus on the front, but Macintosh Plus 1MB on the back, to denote the 1MB RAM configuration with which it shipped. In January 1987 it transitioned to Apple's long-lived Platinum gray color with the rest of the Apple product line, and they keyboards keycaps changed from brown to gray. In January 1988, with reduced RAM prices, Apple began shipping 2 and 4 MB configurations and re-branded it simply Macintosh Plus. Among other design changes, it included the same trademarked inlaid Apple logo and recessed port icons as the Apple IIc
Apple IIc
The Apple IIc, the fourth model in the Apple II series of personal computers, was Apple Computer’s first endeavor to produce a portable computer. The end result was a notebook-sized version of the Apple II that could be transported from place to place...
and IIGS
Apple IIGS
The Apple , the fifth and most powerful model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The "GS" in the name stands for Graphics and Sound, referring to its enhanced graphics and sound capabilities, both of which greatly surpassed previous models of the line...
before it, but it essentially retained the original design.
An upgrade kit was offered for the earlier Macintosh 128K
Macintosh 128K
The Macintosh 128K machine, released as the "Apple Macintosh", was the original Apple Macintosh personal computer. Its beige case contained a monitor and came with a keyboard and mouse. An indentation in the top of the case made it easier for the computer to be lifted and carried. It had a selling...
and Macintosh 512K
Macintosh 512K
The Macintosh 512K Personal Computer, also known as the "Fat Mac", is the second of a long line of Apple Macintosh computers, was the first update to the original Macintosh 128K. It was virtually identical to the previous Mac, differing primarily in the amount of built-in memory , which quadrupled...
/enhanced
Macintosh 512Ke
The Macintosh 512K enhanced was introduced in April 1986 as a cheaper alternative to the top-of-the-line Macintosh Plus, which had debuted three months previously. It was the same as the Macintosh 512K but with the 800K disk drive and 128K of ROM used in the Macintosh Plus. Like its predecessors,...
, which included a new motherboard, floppy disk drive and rear case. The owner retained the front case, monitor, and analog board. Because of this, there is no "Macintosh Plus" on the front of upgraded units, and the Apple logo is recessed and in the bottom left hand corner of the front case. However, the label on the back of the case reads "Macintosh Plus 1MB". The new extended Plus keyboard could also be purchased. Unfortunately, this upgrade cost almost as much as a new machine.
The Mac Plus itself could be upgraded further with the use of third-party accelerators. When these were clipped or soldered onto the 68000 processor, a 32 MHz 68030 processor could be used, and up to 16 MB RAM. This allowed it to run Mac OS 7.6.1
System 7
System 7 is the name of a Macintosh operating system introduced in 1991.System 7 may also refer to:* System 7 , a British dance/ambient band* System 7 , 1991 album* IBM System/7, a 1970s computer system...
.
At present, there is a program called Mini vMac that can emulate a Mac Plus on a variety of platforms, including Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
, Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
, Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, Pocket PC
Pocket PC
A Pocket PC is also known by Microsoft as a 'Windows Mobile Classic device'. It is a hardware specification for a handheld-sized computer, personal digital assistant , that runs the Microsoft 'Windows Mobile Classic' operating system...
, iOS (on jailbroken devices) and even Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
.
Long production life
Although the Mac Plus became overshadowed by two new Macs in March 1987, (the Macintosh SEMacintosh SE
The Macintosh SE was a personal computer manufactured by Apple between March 1987 and October 1990. This computer marked a significant improvement on the Macintosh Plus design and was introduced by Apple at the same time as the Macintosh II....
and the Macintosh II
Macintosh II
The Apple Macintosh II was the first personal computer model of the Macintosh II series in the Apple Macintosh line and the first Macintosh to support a color display.- History :...
), it remained in production as a cheaper alternative until the introduction of Macintosh Classic
Macintosh Classic
The Macintosh Classic was a personal computer manufactured by Apple Computer. Introduced on October 15, 1990, it was the first Apple Macintosh to sell for less than US$1,000. Production of the Classic was prompted by the success of the Macintosh Plus and the SE...
on 15 October 1990. This makes the Macintosh Plus the longest-produced Macintosh ever. It continued to be supported by versions of the Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
up to version 7.5.5
System 7 (Macintosh)
System 7 is a single-user graphical user interface-based operating system for Macintosh computers. It was introduced on May 13, 1991 by Apple Computer. It succeeded System 6, and was the main Macintosh operating system until it was succeeded by Mac OS 8 in 1997...
, released in 1996. Additionally, during its lifespan, it was heavily discounted like the 512K/512Ke before it and offered to the educational market badged as the "Macintosh Plus ED". Due to its popularity, long life and its introduction of many features that would become mainstays of the Macintosh platform for years, the Plus was a common "base model" for many software and hardware products.
Problems
The lack of fan could cause the life of a Macintosh Plus to end early for some users. As the power supply would heat up, solderSolder
Solder is a fusible metal alloy used to join together metal workpieces and having a melting point below that of the workpiece.Soft solder is what is most often thought of when solder or soldering are mentioned and it typically has a melting range of . It is commonly used in electronics and...
joints inside it would fracture causing many problems, such as loss of deflection in the monitor or a complete loss of power. As in most early compact Macs, the problem was common in the yoke connector, flyback transformer, and horizontal drive coupling capacitor.
From the debut of the Macintosh 128K
Macintosh 128K
The Macintosh 128K machine, released as the "Apple Macintosh", was the original Apple Macintosh personal computer. Its beige case contained a monitor and came with a keyboard and mouse. An indentation in the top of the case made it easier for the computer to be lifted and carried. It had a selling...
through the Macintosh Plus, various third-party cooling add-ons were available to help increase airflow through the unit. Apple
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
finally reorganized the compact Macintosh case to accommodate a fan with the release of the Macintosh SE
Macintosh SE
The Macintosh SE was a personal computer manufactured by Apple between March 1987 and October 1990. This computer marked a significant improvement on the Macintosh Plus design and was introduced by Apple at the same time as the Macintosh II....
.
ROM revisions
The Plus went through two ROM revisions during its life. The initial ROM was replaced after the first two months as it had a serious bug which prevented the Mac from booting if an external SCSI device was powered off. The second revision fixed a problem with some SCSI devices that could send the Mac into an endless reset at startup.See also
- Macintosh 512KMacintosh 512KThe Macintosh 512K Personal Computer, also known as the "Fat Mac", is the second of a long line of Apple Macintosh computers, was the first update to the original Macintosh 128K. It was virtually identical to the previous Mac, differing primarily in the amount of built-in memory , which quadrupled...
- Macintosh SEMacintosh SEThe Macintosh SE was a personal computer manufactured by Apple between March 1987 and October 1990. This computer marked a significant improvement on the Macintosh Plus design and was introduced by Apple at the same time as the Macintosh II....
- Macintosh ClassicMacintosh ClassicThe Macintosh Classic was a personal computer manufactured by Apple Computer. Introduced on October 15, 1990, it was the first Apple Macintosh to sell for less than US$1,000. Production of the Classic was prompted by the success of the Macintosh Plus and the SE...
- Macintosh 512KeMacintosh 512KeThe Macintosh 512K enhanced was introduced in April 1986 as a cheaper alternative to the top-of-the-line Macintosh Plus, which had debuted three months previously. It was the same as the Macintosh 512K but with the 800K disk drive and 128K of ROM used in the Macintosh Plus. Like its predecessors,...
- Macintosh XLMacintosh XLMacintosh XL was a modified version of the Apple Lisa personal computer made by Apple Computer, Inc. In the Macintosh XL configuration, the computer shipped with MacWorks XL, a Lisa program that allowed 64 K Macintosh ROM emulation...