Herb's Compact Macs

The most recent revision date of this page is Nov 26 2023 to send email @ me, follow this link.

Introduction

The Macs on this page are the first series of Macs produced by Apple. They are called "compact" Macs because they include a 9 inch monitor. Sometimes they are also called "9-inch" Macs. ("All in One" is usually a description for later Macs with CRTs inside.) Many of these early Macs have problems, like faulty power supplies, dirty or gummed-up floppy drives, faded CRT's, cosmetic issues. Shipping can easily damage these units. Any Mac of this vintage sold for use, generally needs to be tested, repaired and/or parts replaced - that takes time and parts. This Web page shows various compact Macs and identifies features.

My business is to sell Mac parts I describe here, to owners who fix their compact Macs. I cannot offer a complete "compact Mac" below the price of Web-auction sellers. The cheapest of those sellers, do no work, accept whatever price is offered, and sometimes don't pack items well. Any compact Mac systems I'd have for sale would likely be listed on my Mac collectables Web page.

What's the value of these? We can't provide a general price or apprasise YOUR Compact Mac. The very earliest compact Macs - the 128K and 512K - have both the highest prices and the most problems. The 400K floppy drives are always gummy unless previously and recently used and restored. All of these are decades old, most have more exposure to fading and physical damage. But some people want that "first Mac". The SE/30 commands interest, because it supports a lot of memory and offers expansion. The Color Classic is attractive because of the color monitor, the motherboard is often upgraded. The other "compact" Macs are still attractively styled, and functional when repaired.

Here are the various "compact" Macs I describe on this page:

• parts Web page: power supplies, keyboard, mouse, floppy drives...
• Mac Plus
• Mac 512K
• Mac 128K
• 128K, 512K, Plus keyboards and mice
• Mac SE systems,
  
• Mac SE/30 systems,
  
• Mac Classic II and Color Classic II systems,
  
• Shields shrouds for Classic Macs
  
• various other Mac parts
  
• collectables Web page for Mac systems in better cosmetic condition.
• images and grading of Macs by cosmetic condition

Go to our Mac home pageto see links to the other Mac systems and accessories pages I have on my site.

To email or order, please follow this link for ordering information, terms and conditions. There is also info about orders outside the USA. A list of customer references can be found on this page.

Mac Plus

For questions about reading Mac Plus, 128K or 512K diskettes on an IBM-type PC, please review this document.
See the parts sections for power supplies (analog cards) or floppy drives for these systems.

Note: the Mac Plus will not support 1.4MB floppy drives or diskettes. Adding a 1.4M drive won't "work" to do that.

Mac Plus logic (cpu card, motherboard), tested working, $59 without RAM SIMMS.
Memory is available - check the memory Web page
Mac Plus power supply, CRT, 800K floppy drive, and other major parts are in our Mac parts page.
Keyboard and mouse would be on my Mac collectables Web page.
Mac Plus: mobo shroud 805-5047, analog shield 725-0011 Check here for details.

To email or order, please follow this link for ordering information, terms and conditions. There is also info about orders outside the USA.

Mac 512K

The Mac 512K has a 400K floppy drive, the KE has an 800K floppy drive. The 512K motherboard was a later 128K/512K motherboard with 256K DRAMS soldered in and different ROMs. It has the same connectors as the 128K. Some 512's were upgraded to Mac Plus with a new back half! Here is a link to a photo of a 400K drive, the top cover plate is removed to show some of the internals. The 800K drive is half the height of this drive (2 inches, 5 centimeters) and look very different. You may be able to look inside the drive slot of a 512K and make a determination.

Any 512K or 512KE motherboards I'd sell would be listed in my Mac collectables page.
Memory is soldered in (usually), I don't offer RAM chips.

Mac 512k and 512Ke power supply, 800K floppy, CPU shield or shroud, CRT and other parts are in our Mac parts page.
The 400K floppy drive is shown on my Mac collectables Web page.
Keyboard and mouse would be on my Mac collectables Web page.

Mac 128K

The original "Macintosh" of 1984 was a Mac 128K with 128K of RAM and a 400K floppy drive. Later the "128K Mac" was sold as with a 128K/512K motherboard with 64K DRAMs and different ROMs. It has the same connectors as the 512K. Some 128K's were upgraded to Mac 512K's with a 512K motherboard and sometimes a 800K floppy drive. Or upgraded to a Plus with a new back half! Here is a link to a photo of a 400K drive, the top cover plate is removed to show some of the internals. The 800K drive is half the height of this drive (2 inches, 5 centimeters) and look very different. You may be able to look inside the drive slot of a 512K and make a determination.

Any 128K motherboards or systems I'd sell would be listed in my Mac collectables page.

Mac 128K power supply, CRT and other parts are in our Mac parts page.
The 400K floppy drive is shown on my Mac collectables Web page.
Keyboard and mouse would be on my Mac collectables Web page.
Mac 128K, 512K: mobo shroud 805-0577, analog shield 725-0011. Check here for details.

To email or order, please follow this link for ordering information, terms and conditions. There is also info about orders outside the USA.

Mac SE, SE FDHD, SE SuperDrive models

The SE series of Macs have up to 4MB of memory and a 9-inch diagonal black and white CRT. For years, these SE's were relatively common as surplus. Today many of them have cosmetic fading (they are turning yellow). Their original hard drives are wearing out, the floppy drives are gummed up. So most of these that people find today, will need work and replacment parts to get back into operation. There were two models of the SE, in the same case. The "SE" supports 800K floppy drives and disk formats. The "SE Superdrive" or "SE FDHD" also supports 1.4MB floppy drives and disk formats. Shipping weight 25 lbs, with keyboard & mouse 30 lbs.

A common parts request to me is "sell me a 1.4M external floppy drive for my SE". But that may not do what you think it will do. Unfortunately, just adding an external 1.4M floppy drive to an "SE" model, will *not* enable your SE to read or write 1.4M diskettes. Specific ICs from the Superdrive/FDHD models are also required as per the notes below.

SE systems we'd sell would likely be listed in my Mac collectables page.

See the ADB accessories section for keyboard and mouse: For hard drives, review the section on other Mac hard drives for drive sizes and prices. For questions about reading Mac SE diskettes on an IBM-type PC, please review this document. Memory is available - check the memory Web page.

Mac SE models

Mac SE has up to 4 Megs RAM, 1 or 2 800K floppy drives, a SCSI hard drive.

The SE FDHD or SE Superdrive have two differences from the "SE". One, support for 1.4MB drives, thanks to a set of removable chips, see details below. Two, the SE internal frame which holds the CPU board, may not have room to allow PDS expansion cards; the SE FDHD, SE Superdrive, and SE/30 often have more room through the frame.

Superdrive upgrade NOTE: To upgrade an SE motherboard to an SE "superdrive" or "FDHD" to read 1.4M diskettes, it requires replacing three chips. The chips are two ROMS and one IWM (floppy controller chip), all as taken from a FDHD "kit" or from that motherboard/CPU board. OR, you could replace the whole SE CPU board with an SE FDHD CPU board, which includes those same chips. You also need the 1.4M floppy drive of course. Check my parts section for prices on 1.4M floppy drives.

YOu can ask if I have an FDHD board or upgrade available, but they are scarce and pricy for me to obtain. Check my Mac collectables page.

SE logic (motherboard, CPU board) tested and working, are available for $59 each and above, memory extra. There may be differences among the SE motherboards, ask for details.
Mac SE, SE/30 video boards 820-0205 630-0146, 820-0207 630-0169 - check this Web page for details
Mac SE mobo shroud 805-5060, analog shield 725-0020 Check here for details.
Check our SCSI hard drive section for hard drive prices
Memory is available - check the memory Web page.
For SE add-on cards, check my Nubus (and earlier cards) section
For SE network cards, check my networking section.
Check my parts section for prices for various parts - power supply, logic, floppy drives, keyboards, mice, hard drives.

To email or order, please follow this link for ordering information, terms and conditions. There is also info about orders outside the USA.

Mac SE/30 models

The Mac SE/30 is a prized "compact Mac" system, as it will support eight 30-pin SIMMS for a relatively large amount of memory and supports an 68030 processor. There were a number of expansion cards for the SE/30 for Ethernet networking or external video monitors. Some people enjoy upgrading and modifing them, or using them as they are. Unfortunately, many SE/30 motherboards are failing due to age of capacitors which MUST be replaced. Shipping weight 30 lbs, with keyboard & mouse 35 lbs.

SE/30 motherboards - not available
Check our SCSI hard drive section for hard drive prices
Memory is available - check the memory Web page.
The SE/30 systems use 8 30 pin SIMMs in two groups of four.

Mac SE/30 mobo shroud 805-0969, analog shield 725-0020 Check here for details.
Check my parts section for prices for various parts - power supply, floppy drives, keyboards, mice, hard drives.

For SE/30 add-on cards, check my parts section for SE/30 PDS cards. "PDS" is the Processor Dependent Slot, the SE/30 has its own unique PDS. In particular we may have SE/30 video cards in the video parts section
For SE/30 PDS network cards, check my networking page.

To email or order, please follow this link for ordering information, terms and conditions. There is also info about orders outside the USA.

Mac Classic (and II) and Color Classic models

Classic and Classic II systems have monochrome (black/white) CRT's, like the other "compacts". Color Classics, with their color CRT's, are hard to find, and in much more demand. As of 2020 their logics or motherboards need "recapping".

Current interest in Color Classic systems are to "mod" them to accept Power PC motherboards. That involves replacing the internal wiring harness with one from an "all in one" PowerMac. A customer sent me a number of Web links to sites which support such mods, as below. Check my Power Mac Web page for related hardware, such as CPU boards and some harnesses from PowerMacs. Shipping weight 20 lbs.

Classic or Classic II motherboards, not available as of Jan 2023.
Memory card for 4/10 megs, ask if available.
We have various parts for these available, ask for specific parts. Some parts may be available on our Mac Parts Web page.

Note: there are two kinds of connectors from the Classic CRT's "yoke" to the analog/power supply card, if ordering either CRT see this note for details.

Mac Classic II (Performa 200) came with 4 megs RAM, 40M HD, 1.4M floppy. Shipping weight 20 lbs.
Classic II motherboard, ask if available.

Color Classic system has a 68030 processor at 16MHz. shipping weight 30 lbs. Check my Mac collectables page for Color Classics and Color Classic II parts but I don't have much in 2023.

Memory for all the above systems are available - check the memory Web page. Check my parts section for prices for various parts - power supply, floppy drives, keyboards, mice, hard drives.

To email or order, please follow this link for ordering information, terms and conditions. There is also info about orders outside the USA.

Copyright © 2023 Herb Johnson