Low End Mac's Guide to Compact Macs

• Got a compact Mac? Join the Vintage Macs email list.

Apple released ten different "Compact Macs" between 1984 and 1993. Some used a 9" b&w display, others a 10" color screen. Some ran 68000 CPUs at 8 MHz, others 68030 CPUs at 16 MHz or 33 MHz. Some had expansion slots and drive bays, others didn't. Memory ranged from 128 KB for the original Mactintosh to a maximum of 128 MB in the SE/30.

Processor	68000-based						68030-based
Model	128K	512K	512Ke	Plus	SE	Classic	SE/30	Classic II	Color Classic	Color Classic II
Introduced	1/24/84	9/10/84	4/14/86	1/16/86	3/2/87	10/15/90	1/19/89	10/21/91	2/1/93	10/21/93
Price New	$2,499		$1,999	$2,599	$2,899	$999	$4,399	$1,899	$1,399	$1,299
CPU Speed	8 MHz						16 MHz			33 MHz
Base RAM	128 KB	512 KB		1 MB			1 MB	2 MB	4 MB
Max RAM	128 KB	512 KB		4 MB			128 MB	10 MB		36 MB
Minimum OS	1.0			3.2	4.1	6.0.7	6.0.3	6.0.8L	7.1
Maximum OS	3.3	4.1	6.0.8	7.5.5				7.6.1
Floppy Drive	400K		800K		800K/1.4M	1.4M
Hard Drive	external serial			ext. SCSI	20 MB	20 MB	40 MB	40 MB	40 MB	80 MB
Video	9" 342x512 1-bit								10" 384x512 8-bit
VRAM	uses system memory								256K (512K max)
ADB	no				yes
Exp. Slot	none				SE PDS	none	030 PDS	none	LC PDS
H/W/D	13.6"/9.6"/10.9"					13.2"/9.7"/11.2"	13.6"/9.6"/10.9"	13.2"/9.7"/11.2"	14.5"/9.9"/12.6"
Weight	16.5 lbs.				17 lbs.	16 lbs.	19.5 lbs.	16 lbs.	22.5 lbs.

Go to Vintage Macs Index or the Compact Macs Index.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2008 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, PowerBook, MacBook, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Have a question?
Ask an expert!

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Best Used Macs
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.