website/content/museum/apple-macintosh.md

title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Apple MACINTOSH	Computers	Home Computer	U.S.A.	1984	Motorola MC 68000	name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos emulators links related oc_id source MACINTOSH /media/museum/photos/apple_mac128.jpg /companies/apple Apple label value NAME MACINTOSH label value MANUFACTURER Apple label value TYPE Home Computer label value ORIGIN U.S.A. label value YEAR January 1984 label value END OF PRODUCTION October 1st, 1985 label value KEYBOARD Full stroke 59-key label value CPU Motorola MC 68000 label value SPEED 7.83 MHz label value RAM 128 kb (expandable to 512 kb) label value ROM 64 kb label value TEXT MODES 40 chars x 32 lines bit-mapped pseudo-character mode label value GRAPHIC MODES 512 x 342 dots label value COLORS black & white 9'' monitor label value SOUND 4 voices, 12 octave sound @ 22 kHz label value SIZE / WEIGHT 13.6'' (H) x 9.6'' (W) x 10.9'' (D) / 16.5 lbs label value I/O PORTS Two serial (RS 232/422) for printer and modem, mouse, external floppy drive, sound out label value BUILT IN MEDIA One 400k 3.5'' internal floppy drive, 400K external drive optional label value OS Macintosh System 1.0 label value POWER SUPPLY Built-in power supply unit label value PRICE $2495 (USA, 1984) - £1795 (U.K., 1984) photos emulators links 281 title subtitle text image OPENED MAC Here you can see the screen, the disk drive (metal box), the video-board (vertical) and the motherboard (bottom) with the 68000 CPU right in the middle. /media/museum/photos/apple_mac_opened.jpg title subtitle text image INSIDE A MAC It goes without saying that the Macintosh was the result of intensive research and development. The result is a simple architecture composed of 2 electronic boards (power/video card and motherboard) plus a disk drive. The design work that went into the Macintosh is impressive. **(1)** The 3.5" disk drive was manufactured especially for the Macintosh by Sony. It could hold 400 kb on one side. A 800 kb double-sided version would appear a few months later.\ **(2)** The contrast ajdustment potentiometer is mounted on the power/video card.\ **(3)** There is only one magnetic head on the single-sided disk drive models.\ **(4)** Built-in loudspeaker. The sound could also be sent to an external Hi-Fi amplifier.\ **(5)** This card contains the general power supply as well as the video electronics. Notice that the Macintosh does not use a fan, but coolers in the form of metal plates are spread along the case.\ **(6)** There are very few connectors and internal cables in the Macintosh. This one transmits all data from the power/video card to the motherboard.\ **(7)** Audio output.\ **(8)** Serial connector for printer.\ **(9)** Serial connector for other peripherals.\ **(10)** Connector for an external floppy disk unit.\ **(11)** Mouse socket.\ **(12)** Specialized 6522 input/output chipset. It manages the mouse, the keyboard and the real-time clock.\ **(13)** This circuit controls serial-mode communications.\ **(14)** This one controls the internal and external disk drives.\ **(15)** Motorola 68000 16 bit microprocessor.\ **(16)** 128 KB RAM composed of two 64 KB rows. The weak point of the Macintosh was its limited memory size, but it was possible to replace the original memory chips to get 512 KB. RAM.\ **(17)** The mouse is used to move the cursor on the screen and to select objects to perform operations (this may seem obvious to you now, but it was not then !).\ **(18)** Keyboard connector.\ **(19)** The separate keyboard has its own microprocessor which enables it to recognize all the specific characters from each country. It does not include a numeric keypad, nor cursor keys as Apple's designers believed that the mouse would fulfill these functions. This gap was to be corrected in following models.\ **(20)** Eight chips offering 22 KB of video RAM. /media/museum/photos/eclate.jpg title subtitle text image FREMONT FACTORY This legendary factory was producing a Macintosh every 27 seconds in 1984 ! /media/museum/photos/apple_mac_fremont_factory.jpg title subtitle text image MACS RECYCLED FOR THE GARDEN! /media/museum/photos/apple_mac_jardinieres.jpg title url platform text Executor http://www.ardi.com/ Windows Demonstration version of a commercial software (MS DOS & Win95) title url platform text Gemulator http://www.emulators.com/ Windows A commercial Software which emulates the Atari ST/TT and the Mac 128/Plus/2 (Win95 / Win NT) title url platform text LisaEm http://lisa.sunder.net/ Windows Same as Apple lisa emulator for unix but ported to windows title url platform text PearPC http://pearpc.sourceforge.net/ Windows PearPC is an architecture-independent PowerPC platform emulator capable of running most PowerPC operating systems. title url platform text SoftMac http://www.emulators.com/ Windows good 68K Emulator For Windows title url platform text Executor http://www.ardi.com/ Unix / Linux Demo version of a commercial software (Linux / NextStep) title url platform text vMac - The Virtual Macintosh Emulator Project http://www.leb.net/vmac/ Other platform title url platform text Basilisk II http://basilisk.cebix.net/ Multiplatform Basilisk II is an Open Source 68k Macintosh emulator. Good emulator, runs on several platforms, even Amiga title url platform text Mini vMac http://minivmac.sourceforge.net/ Multiplatform 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. title url text Apple History http://www.apple-history.com/ History of Apple computers with detail information about all of the computers to come out of Apple. title url text Applefritter http://www.applefritter.com Excellent site about all Apple models,clones,prototypes,etc... A must see ! title url text CMQ - Groupes d'usagers Apple http://www.cmq.qc.ca/cmq.html (french) title url text CMQ - Groupes d'usagers Apple http://www.cmq.qc.ca/Groupes.html (french) title url text Everything for the Mac http://www.everythingmac.com/ title url text Homepage of Gamba http://home.earthlink.net/~gamba2/index.html A lot of interesting Mac links, for example "How To Transfer Files From PC to MAC " title url text Jag's House http://www.jagshouse.com/ Lot of info on all non PowerMac models title url text Low End Mac http://www.lowendmac.com Great site with a full catalog of ALL old macintoshes. title url text Mac 512 http://www.mac512.com/ Macintosh 512k User's Group title url text Mac Forums at MacForumz.com http://www.MacForumz.com Mac forums, a resource on the latest and greatest, as well as vintage, Macintosh hardware, software, and internet. Free registration. title url text MacDebate http://www.macdebate.com Macintosh discussion forum title url text Nerd World MACINTOSH COMPUTERS http://www.nerdworld.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi?MACINTOSH_COMPUTERS/503 title url text The Vintage Mac Museum http://www.d4.dion.ne.jp/~motohiko/ Nice dedicated website with tons of screenshots ! title url text Web Wiz CAPTCHA http://www.webwizcaptcha.com Discussion of Macintosh software system /museum/apple-lisa-lisa-2-mac-xl /museum/apple-macintosh-color-classic /museum/apple-macintosh-ii /museum/apple-macintosh-plus /museum/apple-macintosh-portable /museum/apple-macintosh-se /museum/apple-macintosh-se-30 271 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230608162426/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=271 2023-06-08

With their II and III series getting rather long in the tooth, and the Lisa being rather pricey, Apple had to do something to get back into the small-business market. They did.

The Macintosh can be considered the very first commercially successful computer to use a GUI (Graphical User Interface). It was, however, not the first GUI based computer, the first GUI based computer ever sold was the Xerox Star 8010 in 1981.

It was launched a while after the Lisa and was a very attractive alternative to PC compatibles and their old MS-DOS, and text-based applications. After uncertain beginnings, it met with great success despite having no hard disk, single-sided floppy disks, no expansion slot and very little memory!

It was replaced later by the Macintosh 512 (the same but with 512 KB RAM) then later, by the Macintosh Plus.

The Macintosh 128 and Macintosh 512 were non-upgradeable, non-expandable in almost all departments, but especially with regard to memory. The 128 and 512 had memory chips soldered directly to the main logic board.

The original System file was designated 'Macintosh System 1.0'. Apple went as far as System 7 before changing the name to 'Mac OS'. The System/Finder suite was designated 'Macintosh System Software 0.0.'. It wasn't until System 6 that the System file version and System Software designation coincided.

There were also two variants of Macintosh 512K. The 512K was shipped with a 400K floppy drive and 64 KB ROM, which did not support hierarchical file systems. The 512K Enhanced was shipped with 128 KB of ROM, an 800K floppy drive, and supported HFS right out of the box.