Macintosh 128K

From Applepedia

Macintosh 128k

Released	January 1984
Codename	{{{codename}}}
Tech Specs
Processor	8 MHz Motorola 68000
Memory	128 KB
Hard Drive	none
Removable Storage	400 K floppy
Ports	Serial, Serial Mouse, Floppy Port
Expansion	none
Networking	LocalTalk
Video	Apple 512x342; Built-in 9" B&W CRT
Native Resolution	{{{native_res}}}
Audio	Headphone jack; (8-bit mono, 22 kHz)
Website	Macintosh

The Macintosh 128K was the original Apple Macintosh personal computer. Introduced in January 1984, it had a beige case and was fully self-contained. An indentation in the top of the case allowed the computer to be lifted and carried. It had MSRP of $2495.

The 128K was not expandable, as it was intended as a stand-alone "appliance", to be purchased in the same way that people purchase refrigerators or vacuum cleaners. Its 128 kilobytes of memory initially seemed large compared to the 64K available in some other desktop computers of the time. It had ports only for the mouse, a printer (ImageWriter or, later, the LaserWriter), a modem, an external floppy drive, and a monophonic speaker — all of which used new, proprietary connectors, different for each device. This was an advantage over previous device connections, which were often the same type for different devices; with the new connectors, an amateur user could connect a device only to the correct port. The disadvantage was that initially only Apple products could be used.

It contained a 400K, single-sided floppy disk drive and had no internal hard drive or other internal storage. At the time, one floppy disk was sufficient to store the System Software, the application you wanted to use at the time (the choices were essentially MacWrite and MacPaint) and the data files created with the applications. Indeed, the 400K drive capacity seemed large compared to the basic 160-180K floppy drives in other computers at the time. However, most users write-protected their System/Application disks and found themselves swapping the system and data diskettes interminably. The Macintosh External Disk Drive (also a single-sided 400K floppy), was a popular add-on at $495.

The 128K had a crisp one-bit monochrome, 9" display with a resolution of 512 by 342 pixels, establishing the desktop publishing standard of 72 PPI. The keyboard had no arrow keys or numeric keypad — although later you could purchase a numeric keypad separately — and the mouse had only a single button, a signature of Apple's mice that would continue until the introduction of the Apple Mighty Mouse in 2005.

The unit did not include a fan, making it extremely quiet while in operation. Steve Jobs insisted that the Macintosh ship without a fan, a marketing (not engineering) decision that persisted until the introduction of the Macintosh SE in 1987, after Jobs was forced out of Apple. This was the source of many common — and very expensive — component failures in the first four Macintosh models, so much so that Larry Pina wrote two very successful (and now highly sought-after) how-to repair manuals, The Dead Mac Scrolls and Macintosh Repair & Upgrade Secrets.

The applications MacPaint and MacWrite were bundled with the Mac, other programs including MacProject, MacTerminal and Microsoft's Word and Microsoft Multiplan, eventually turning into Microsoft Excel.

Following the release of the Macintosh 512K which expanded the memory from 128K to 512K, the original Macintosh was nicknamed the 'thin Mac' and the new model the 'fat Mac'.

It was discontinued on October 1, 1985.

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