--- title: Apple MACINTOSH Portable categories: - Computers types: - Portable origins: - U.S.A. years: - '1989' cpus: - 68HC000 params: name: MACINTOSH Portable image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macportable_system_s1.jpg company: /companies/apple company_name: Apple specs: - label: NAME value: MACINTOSH Portable - label: MANUFACTURER value: Apple - label: TYPE value: Portable - label: ORIGIN value: U.S.A. - label: YEAR value: September 1989 - label: END OF PRODUCTION value: October 1991 - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE value: None - label: KEYBOARD value: |- Typewriter 80-key with numeric keypad\ A trackball could replace the numeric keypad on left or right side. - label: CPU value: 68HC000, low-power version of the Motorola 68000 - label: SPEED value: 16 MHz - label: RAM value: 1 MB up to 9 MB of SRAM - label: ROM value: 256 KB - label: TEXT MODES value: bitmap character fonts - label: GRAPHIC MODES value: 640 x 400 dots - label: COLORS value: Monochrome - label: SOUND value: 8bit stereo output - label: SIZE / WEIGHT value: 38.8 (W) \* 37.7 (D) \* 10.3 (H) cm / 7.1 kg - label: I/O PORTS value: Serial, Parallel, SCSI, 2xADB - label: BUILT IN MEDIA value: 1.44 MB floppy disk, optional 40 MB hard disk - label: OS value: MAC 0S 6.0.4 to 7.5.5 - label: POWER SUPPLY value: 6.5V 5A lead-acid battery - label: PRICE value: $6,500 tabs: - photos - emulators - links photos: - title: LARGE VIEW subtitle: '' text: The machine could be delivered with either a numeric keypad or a trackball. image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macportable_system_s2.jpg - title: LEFT SIDE subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macportable_leftside_s1.jpg - title: TOP VIEW subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macportable_topview_s1.jpg - title: CLOSED subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macportable_closed_s1.jpg - title: REAR SIDE subtitle: '' text: |- From left to right:\ • Video Output Connector - video output in a proprietry format. Required an expensive external adaptor box to process the video into a useful format.\ • External Floppy Drive Connector\ • SCSI Port\ • Blanking plate for optional internal modem socket\ • ADB Port (mini-DIN)\ • Serial Printer Port (mini-DIN)\ • Serial Modem Port (mini-DIN)\ • Sound Output Jack\ • Power jack. Power is supplied by an external AC adaptor. The computer can be switched on only if the AC adaptor is connected and the internal battery is sufficiently charged. image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macportable_rearside_s1.jpg - title: INSIDE subtitle: '' text: |- **(1)** 40 MB Conner pre-formatted hard disk drive.\ **(2)** Optional modem card and RAM card slots.\ **(3)** Battery cover. image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macportable_inside_s1.jpg - title: APPLE CARRYING BAG subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macportable_bag_s1.jpg emulators: - title: Executor url: http://www.ardi.com/ platform: Windows text: Demonstration version of a commercial software (MS DOS & Win95) - title: Gemulator url: http://www.emulators.com/ platform: Windows text: A commercial Software which emulates the Atari ST/TT and the Mac 128/Plus/2 (Win95 / Win NT) - title: LisaEm url: http://lisa.sunder.net/ platform: Windows text: Same as Apple lisa emulator for unix but ported to windows - title: PearPC url: http://pearpc.sourceforge.net/ platform: Windows text: PearPC is an architecture-independent PowerPC platform emulator capable of running most PowerPC operating systems. - title: SoftMac url: http://www.emulators.com/ platform: Windows text: good 68K Emulator For Windows - title: Executor url: http://www.ardi.com/ platform: Unix / Linux text: Demo version of a commercial software (Linux / NextStep) - title: vMac - The Virtual Macintosh Emulator Project url: http://www.leb.net/vmac/ platform: Other platform text: '' - title: Basilisk II url: http://basilisk.cebix.net/ platform: Multiplatform text: Basilisk II is an Open Source 68k Macintosh emulator. Good emulator, runs on several platforms, even Amiga - title: Mini vMac url: http://minivmac.sourceforge.net/ platform: Multiplatform text: Mini vMac, a spin off of the program vMac, emulates a Macintosh Plus and Macintosh SE. So far it works on Macintosh OS, Microsoft Windows, and the X Window System. links: - title: Apple History url: http://www.apple-history.com/ text: History of Apple computers with detail information about all of the computers to come out of Apple. - title: Applefritter url: http://www.applefritter.com text: Excellent site about all Apple models,clones,prototypes,etc... A must see ! - title: CMQ - Groupes d'usagers Apple url: http://www.cmq.qc.ca/cmq.html text: (french) - title: Homepage of Gamba url: http://home.earthlink.net/~gamba2/index.html text: A lot of interesting Mac links, for example "How To Transfer Files From PC to MAC " - title: Jag's House url: http://www.jagshouse.com/ text: Lot of info on all non PowerMac models - title: Low End Mac url: http://www.lowendmac.com text: Great site with a full catalog of ALL old macintoshes. - title: Mac Forums at MacForumz.com url: http://www.MacForumz.com text: Mac forums, a resource on the latest and greatest, as well as vintage, Macintosh hardware, software, and internet. Free registration. - title: MacDebate url: http://www.macdebate.com text: Macintosh discussion forum - title: The Vintage Mac Museum url: http://www.d4.dion.ne.jp/~motohiko/ text: Nice dedicated website with tons of screenshots ! - title: Titlemax - Apple products url: https://www.titlemax.com/discovery-center/lifestyle/every-product-apple-has-made-so-far/ text: Nice graphic of every product Apple Has Made So Far (thanks Lily) - title: Web Wiz CAPTCHA url: http://www.webwizcaptcha.com text: Discussion of Macintosh software system comments: - author: Mark Davis (Portland, OR USA) date: Monday 29th March 2021 text: While working at Prometheus Products in the late 1980s, I designed an internal 1200 bps modem for the Mac Portable. Apple made a machine available to us, along with detailed engineering documention, expressly for this purpose. - author: Jeff Meyer (Silly-con Valey) date: Monday 21st September 2015 text: |- With all due respect, this article needs a deep fact check against the Macintosh product timeline and performance comparisons.\ e.g. the Macintosh Portable was introduced and discontinued several years before the Macintosh II. I suspect that some of the comparisons are being confused with the PowerBook product family. - author: scott mccockmunchington date: Monday 2nd December 2013 text: i found this laptop to be of the upmost quality and not only exceeding but also shattering all my preexisting presumptions! great buy! what a steal! i am a flaming homosexual - author: Anon date: Saturday 9th October 2010 text: Look where the Mac is today!! - author: walmartcartpusher date: Saturday 18th April 2009 text: |- Macintosh Portable Disk Eject in Space http://www.youtube.com/watch?v$e_MfM4j09ME - author: Henry (Pflugerville TX) date: Thursday 7th September 2006 text: |- Mac Portables are becoming rare, especially in working order. They can still be found once in a while on eBay in "as is" condition for under $50, to which you will need to add another $50 or so to rebuild the battery (you can buy the lead-acid cells which go in the battery), and you will need to find whatever parts are missing (AC adapter, hard drive, etc.). There is a hobbyist who buys, fixes and sells Portables on eBay.You pay a premium, but you get a working system with software & carry case. My sense is that the prices have bottomed out, and will rise from here on, though I wouldn't invest my retirement savings in old Macs. The first Mac laptops were not made by Apple, they were made in Boulder, CO by Outbound. The big drawback to the Outbound, and the Atari Spectre as well, is they needed a set of Mac Plus or SE ROMs to run, so you had to buy and gut a Mac. This added a lot of cost, but in the case of the Outbound, when at home the portable could dock with the ROM-less Mac and use it as a second display screen. - author: Mark (Boston) date: Friday 25th March 2005 text: I was tempted to buy a rather expensive Macintosh Portable off of Ebay, but did not know how much they are worth, and at what rate they are gaining value. If any one knows the answer to this it would be vary helpfull to me. - author: Aleks (Toronto) date: Wednesday 4th August 2004 text: The Macintosh Portable was NOT "the first laptop computer with a GUI interface" as stated on the web page. The Atari Stacy laptop had a GUI interface (GEM by Digital Research) and was released befotre the Mac Portable. And in fact, if you plugged in a commercially available product called the Spectre GCR, it ran the MacOS as well. That's right, the first Mac laptop was not made by Apple at all, but rather by Atari. Which is fitting, since Steve Jobs worked at Atari (made Breakout) before working at Apple! :) - author: Joseph (New Jersey) date: Thursday 29th April 2004 text: Can you show a screen shot of what the screen looks like? (It's O.K. if it dosn't work or you cant get a picture.) related: - /museum/apple-lisa-lisa-2-mac-xl - /museum/apple-macintosh - /museum/apple-macintosh-color-classic - /museum/apple-macintosh-ii - /museum/apple-macintosh-plus - /museum/apple-macintosh-se - /museum/apple-macintosh-se-30 oc_id: 1005 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230320230824/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1005 date: '2023-03-20' --- The Mac Portable was Apple's first attempt to produce a portable version of a desktop Macintosh computer. The machine was partially engineered by Alan Kay (designer of the Dynabook), and was the first laptop computer with a GUI interface, along with [Atari Stacy](/museum/atari-stacy/). Apple launched the Mac Portable at the same time as the Mac IIci. This marketing tactic could be considered questionable given the fact that the IIci featured a 68030 processor running at 25 MHz while the Portable version offered a 68000 (in actual fact, a low-power 68HC000) running at 16 MHz. This is likely the reason that Portable sales never reached the volume that Apple was hoping for; this despite the fact that the machine was twice as fast as a [Mac SE](/museum/apple-macintosh-se/) and nearly as fast as a [Mac II](/museum/apple-macintosh-ii/). Despite its weight, the Mac Portable was well-designed. It featured an advanced active-matrix LCD screen, up to 9 MB of SRAM, a 1.44MB floppy disk drive and an optional 40MB 3.5-inch hard disk drive. Its lead-acid battery -- responsible for most of the machine's weight -- offered 8 to 10 hours of autonomy which was quite an achievement at that time. 18 months after the Portable was first launched, Apple replaced the LCD screen with a backlit version, replaced the SRAM chips with less expensive versions, and offered a lower retail price. The machine was eventually discontinued six months later, but the system icon made for this computer became the icon for all Mac portables for several years to come. Note also that the Macintosh Portable was used in space, not without some problems... (see the video).
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