Introduced in January 1984 (along with a revised Lisa ), this Macintosh didn’t have a model number – it was simply the Macintosh . There was no name on the front. Early 128Ks simply said Macintosh on the back, while later ones were marked Macintosh 128K to distinguish them from the later Macintosh 512K .
Equipped with 128 KB RAM, 64 KB ROM, a 3.5″ 400 KB floppy drive, a 1-bit 512 x 342 pixel b&w monitor, a mouse, and a couple applications (MacWrite and MacPaint), the Macintosh was destined to change the face of computing forever – it not only created the Mac look and feel, it also inspired forthcoming versions of Microsoft Windows and several other windowing interfaces.
What didn’t it have? A SCSI port, 5.25″ floppies, backward compatibility with the Apple II, III, or Lisa.
Specs (via Low End Mac)
Announced: January 24th, 1984
Discontinued: October 1st, 1985
Rom: 64 KB Macintosh ROM
Floppy Drive: 400 KB single-sided
Addressing: 24-bit only
Gestalt Id: Macmini1,1
Apple Part Number: M0001
Order Number: N/A Upgrade path: 512K , 512Ke , Plus
Do Not Use High Density Disks: . If you want to copy a disk, open DiskDup+ and insert the “master” disk. It will be read and ejected. You will be asked for a copy disk. Insert the disk you are copying to. If necessary, DiskDup+ will format the disk. If the newly created disk is unreadable on the old Mac, try making a copy on another machine (this can be cause by a misaligned hard drive). DiskDup+ will work on old machines with 1 megabyte of RAM; it will require two passes to duplicate the disk, however.
Introduced to replace the Mac 128K in September 1984, the 512K had four times the RAM of the original Mac. This made it possible to work with larger files, more powerful software, and have more files open (running more than one application was still in the future, awaiting MultiFinder).
There’s really not a lot more you can say about the “Fat Mac” than that. Except for memory, it’s the same as the 128K.
Specs (via Low End Mac)
Cpu: 8 MHz 68000
Ram: 512 KB, expandable to 4 MB with third-party upgrades
Drives Floppy Drive: 400 KB single-sided floppy connector on back of computer
Serial Ports: DB-9 modem and printer ports
Scsi Ports: none
Power Supply: 60W
See: Online Resources – Mac 512K Fat Mac
Do Not Use High Density Disks: . If you want to copy a disk, open DiskDup+ and insert the “master” disk. It will be read and ejected. You will be asked for a copy disk. Insert the disk you are copying to. If necessary, DiskDup+ will format the disk. If the newly created disk is unreadable on the old Mac, try making a copy on another machine (this can be cause by a misaligned hard drive). DiskDup+ will work on old machines with 1 megabyte of RAM; it will require two passes to duplicate the disk, however.
Apple replaced the Mac 512K with a model supporting double-sided 3.5″ disks, just like the Mac Plus . Unlike the Plus, the 512Ke used RAM chips rather than SIMMs, just like the 128K and 512K. This precluded upgrading RAM beyond 512 KB by simply plugging in higher capacity chips, although some companies did make memory upgrade kits for the 512Ke.
The 512Ke and Mac Plus were the last Macs not to use ADB ports for the keyboard and mouse – and the first to use mini DIN-8 serial ports.
Except for the name on the front, the 512Ke looks just like the Mac Plus pictured here. The biggest differences were the amount and type of RAM and the lack of a SCSI port on the 512Ke.
Specs (via Low End Mac)
Cpu: 8 MHz 68000
Ram: 512 KB, expandable to 2 MB with party upgrades
