--- title: Apple MACINTOSH SE categories: - Computers types: - Professional Computer origins: - U.S.A. years: - '1987' cpus: - Motorola MC 68000 params: name: MACINTOSH SE image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macse_system_s2.jpg company: /companies/apple company_name: Apple specs: - label: NAME value: MACINTOSH SE - label: MANUFACTURER value: Apple - label: TYPE value: Professional Computer - label: ORIGIN value: U.S.A. - label: YEAR value: March 1987 - label: END OF PRODUCTION value: '1989' - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE value: None - label: KEYBOARD value: Typewriter style, 84 keys with numeric keypad - label: CPU value: Motorola MC 68000 - label: SPEED value: 7.83 MHz - label: RAM value: 1 MB (up to 4 MB) - label: ROM value: 256 KB - label: GRAPHIC MODES value: 512 x 342 - label: COLORS value: Monochrome - label: SOUND value: 8-bit mono sound chip - label: SIZE / WEIGHT value: 13.6 (H) x 9.6 (W) x 10.9 (D) in / 19.5 lb. - label: I/O PORTS value: 'Centronics, ADB (2 : Keyboard, mouse), RS232/422, Internal expansion slot (96-pin Eurodin)' - label: BUILT IN MEDIA value: One or Two 3.5'' disk-drives, 20 to 80 MB HDD - label: OS value: MAC OS 4.0 - label: POWER SUPPLY value: Built-in switching PSU - label: PRICE value: $3700 tabs: - photos - hardware - emulators - links photos: - title: RUNNING SYSTEM subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macse_running_1.jpg - title: LEFT SIDE subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macse_system_s1.jpg - title: TOP VIEW subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macse_topview_s1.jpg - title: KEYBOARD CLOSE-UP subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macse_keyboard_s1.jpg - title: BACK SIDE subtitle: '' text: |- Connectors, from left to right:\ • 2 ADB connectors for keyboard and mouse\ • SCSI connector for external HDD\ • Parallel printer connector\ • 2 serial ports (Printer and modem)\ • Sound output jack image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macse_backside_s1.jpg - title: INSIDE subtitle: '' text: |- **(1)** 20 MB Hard disk drive\ **(2)** Motherboard\ **(3)** 100W switching power supply unit\ **(4)** Video board image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macse_inside_s1.jpg - title: MAIN BOARD EXPLAINED subtitle: '' text: |- **(1)** Internal SCSI connector\ **(2)** Internal floppy-disk connectors\ **(3)** SCSI chip\ **(4)** Apple Desktop Bus chip\ **(5)** Parallel chip (VIA)\ **(6)** 256 KB ROM chips. Holds system routines\ **(7)** Motorola 68000 processor\ **(8)** Peripheral card slot (96-pin Eurodin)\ **(9)** 1 MB RAM in four 256k SIMM modules (could be replaced with 1 MB modules)\ **(10)** Custom gate array chip\ **(11)** Disk management chip (IWM)\ **(12)** Serial chip (SCC) and drivers\ **(13)** Sound chip image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macse_mainboard_s1.jpg - title: CARRYING BAG subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/apple_macse_bag_s1.jpg hardware: - title: MODEM subtitle: '' text: French 1200/75 baud modem dedicated to the Apple Macintosh series. image: /media/museum/hardware/apple_macse_fmodem_s1.jpg emulators: - title: Executor url: http://www.ardi.com/ platform: Windows text: Demonstration version of a commercial software (MS DOS & Win95) - 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: 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: vMAC (Virtual MAC) url: http://www.leb.net/vmac platform: Windows text: A Mac 128 Emulator for MS DOS / Win97 (available for OS/2 too) - title: vMAC (Virtual MAC) url: http://www.leb.net/vmac platform: Apple text: A Mac 128 Emulator for Macintosh !!! - title: Executor url: http://www.ardi.com/ platform: Unix / Linux text: Demo version of a commercial software (Linux / NextStep) - title: Executor url: http://www.ardi.com/ platform: Unix / Linux text: Demo version of a commercial software (Linux / NextStep) - title: Macintosh Application Environment (MAE) url: http://www.mae.apple.com/ platform: Unix / Linux text: for HP-UX and Solaris - title: The Official ShapeShifter Home Page url: http://www.uni-mainz.de/~bauec002/SSMain.html platform: Amiga OS text: '' - 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: CMQ - Groupes d'usagers Apple url: http://www.cmq.qc.ca/Groupes.html text: (french) - title: Everything for the Mac url: http://www.everythingmac.com/ text: '' - 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: Web Wiz CAPTCHA url: http://www.webwizcaptcha.com text: Discussion of Macintosh software system comments: - author: BoctorPoo (USA) date: Monday 9th January 2012 text: I have one of these with an 80MB HDD and a superdrive. It''s one with the word "SuperDrive" printed underneath the standard name on the front, which is allegedly rare. Only 50 dollars on ebay though. - author: Kam (Scarborough, Ontario, Canada) date: Friday 7th October 2011 text: Many years ago I opened up my MAC SE and discovered the signatures of the Apple team (incl. both Steves!) embossed on the inside of the back ''shell'' of the body/hood! You just need a torx driver that''s at about 8" long to undo the screws on either side of the SE''s top handle/slot. - author: Ryan (USA) date: Sunday 31st October 2010 text: I just picked one of these up for $20. Just for personal satisfaction, how can I get this little classic on the net and since it came with no disks but the software is all loaded, how can I back each program up to floppies? - author: He who hides date: Thursday 30th September 2010 text: I just bought one of these off ebay for 60 bucks. It works great but it smells like cow poop(EEEEW!). - author: Kyle (USA) date: Thursday 12th August 2010 text: I have one of these Mac SE machines right next to my Apple IIgs. One of the things that goes regularly on these is the original cylindrical fan that cools the machine. They become loud and stop blowing any air. I am attempting to fit a newer fan to the machine as we speak tho. Absolutely worth it on this amazing computer. FYI, Mac OS 6.0.8 is available to download for free at Apple''s support page if you want to at least test out your crashed machine. - author: Azorean (USA) date: Monday 15th June 2009 text: I have Mac SE too,stills running like new,sometimes I play games on it. - author: Josh (redding) date: Wednesday 12th September 2007 text: |- I got one from my old teacher for free and it crashed... i barly know what to do with it i need the set of flopy disks,... and i dont know where to find them... - author: Miesa (USA) date: Wednesday 6th June 2007 text: i just resurrected my dads old Mac SE from the far reaches of the garage. i would like to get it up and running, for my own geeky fun. and a little bit of nostalgia. any help would be appreciated. you can email me. - author: bluekatt (netherlands) date: Monday 18th September 2006 text: |- the mac se runs mac os 5 til 7.5.5\ 7.5.5 is freely downloadable from apple.com as 19 floppy images - author: Jyri P. (Estonia) date: Saturday 8th October 2005 text: A Mac SE is used to hold the door open at my local Macintosh shop. - author: jacob cline (USA) date: Tuesday 27th September 2005 text: what software does a mac SE run on it - author: Len Hopkins (USA) date: Friday 10th December 2004 text: I am the lucky owner of an SE that has 2 800k floppies and a 40mb hard drive inside. I have had the case off and to my dissapointment, there are no signatures on the inside. But, I did find that you could a put another hard drive in it if you were so inclined. There is space above the PDS slot that would do nicely. - author: Martijn Derks (Vlijmen (Netherlands)) date: Monday 30th August 2004 text: I found an old Macintosh SE/30 and I haven't got any software for it. When I turn it on, a disk with a question mark on it appears. I looked this up, and I found out that I need software. Who can help me out? - author: Nighthawk (Ontario, Canada) date: Tuesday 7th January 2003 text: I have a Mac SE. It has 4 megs of ram, a 1.44 SuperDrive and a SCSI 170 meg HD. It runs OS 7.5.5. I got it for $10(Can) with a Laser Writer. This little mac works as good as the day it was new. An excellent computer. It was sold for $3900(US) when it fitst came out. This model of Macintosh was the \*first\* Mac to have both a boot-up tone and built-in speaker. - author: Dave P. (UK) date: Tuesday 22nd January 2002 text: I've got a Mac SE so I thought I'd attach a 200 meg external hard disk to it, and install System 7.5(.5) on it. Guess what - it worked! 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-portable - /museum/apple-macintosh-se-30 oc_id: 161 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230528101559/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=161 date: '2023-05-28' --- The Apple Macintosh SE was launched in 1987 at same time as the [Macintosh II](/museum/apple-macintosh-ii/). It was an enhanced version of the [Macintosh 128](/museum/apple-macintosh/) and the [Macintosh Plus](/museum/apple-macintosh-plus/). It had almost the same specifications as the latter, and unlike the [Mac plus](/museum/apple-macintosh-plus/), it had an extension slot (which was not compatible with the NUBUS slots of the Macintosh II). A little trivia: the ROM used only 89 KB of the available 256 KB. So to fill the chip, Apple put the photos of the development team into the ROM. To see these photos, press the debug button then type: G 41D89A. The Mac 128, the 512k, the 512KE (same but with an 800K floppy drive), and the SE have the signatures of their developers molded as engravings on the inside of the case at the rear. --- More information from **Luca Rescigno**:\ The Mac SE had a few different configurations that aren't listed. Originally, there was a dual 800kb floppy configuration or you could replace one of the floppies with a hard disk for extra money. A couple years later it was replaced with the SE FDHD (Floppy Disk High Density) which had a 1.4 MB "superdrive" and a 40 MB hard disk standard. Also, some people have managed to mount an internal hard drive in a dual-floppy SE. There's just barely enough room inside the case. One person even managed to replace both 800k floppies with salvaged 1.4 MB floppies, and they had to replace the ROM chips as well so it would recognize them. Finally, all SEs I've looked inside (including an FDHD) have two floppy controllers on the motherboard and one SCSI connector, so you can theoretically put dual floppies in a newer model.