Macintosh Plus

Mac_specs

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Introduced=January 16 1986
MSRP=2599|CPU=Motorola 68000
CPUspeed=8 MHz
OS= 1.1–2.1, "3.0"–6.0.8, 7.0-7.5.5
RAM=1 MB, expandable to 4 MB
RAMtype=150 ns 30-pin SIMM
Discontinued=October 15, 1990
ModelNumber=M0001AThe Macintosh Plus computer was the third model in the Macintosh line, introduced two years after the original Macintosh and a little more than a year after the Macintosh 512K. As an evolutionary improvement over the 512K, it introduced RAM expansion from 1 MB to 4 MB, and the SCSI peripheral bus, among smaller improvements. It originally had the same generally beige-colored case as the original Macintosh ("Pantone 453" [ [http://www.landsnail.com/apple/local/design/macintosh.html History of computer design: Apple Macintosh ] ] ), but in 1987, the case color was changed to the long-lived, warm gray "Platinum" color. [ [http://www.landsnail.com/apple/local/design/macplus.html History of computer design: Macintosh Plus ] ]

Overview

Introduced as the "Macintosh Plus", it was the first Macintosh model to include a SCSI port, which launched the popularity of external SCSI devices for Macs, including hard disks, tape drives, CD-ROM drives, printers, and even monitors. Its SCSI implementation was engineered shortly before the initial SCSI spec was finalized and, as such, is not 100% SCSI-compliant. As the Mac Plus had no provision at all for expansion other than the SCSI bus, the entire onus of expansion was on the user. This usually made it very expensive. SCSI ports remained standard equipment for all Macs until the introduction of the iMac in 1998.

The Macintosh Plus was the last classic Mac to have a phone cord-like port in front for the keyboard, as well as the DE-9 connector for the mouse; later models would use ADB ports.

It had a new 3.5-inch double-sided 800 KB floppy drive, offering double the capacity of previous Macs along with backward compatibility. The new drive was controlled by the same IWM chip as in previous models, implementing variable speed GCR. The drive was still completely incompatible with PC drives. The 800 KB drive had two read/write heads, enabling it to simultaneously use both sides of the floppy disk and thereby double storage capacity.

The Mac Plus was the first of many Macintoshes to use SIMMs (single in-line memory modules) for its memory. It came standard with 1 MB of RAM (four 256 KB SIMMs) and could be upgraded to 4 MB of RAM. It had 128 KB of ROM on the motherboard, which was double the amount of ROM that was in previous Macs; the new System software and ROMs included routines to support SCSI, the new 800 KB floppy drive, and the Hierarchical File System (HFS), which used a true directory structure on disks (as opposed to the earlier MFS, Macintosh File System in which all files were stored in a single directory, with one level of pseudo-folders overlaid on them). For programmers, the fourth "Inside Macintosh" volume detailed how to use HFS and the rest of the Mac Plus's new system software. This new filing system allowed it use the first hard drive Apple developed for the Macintosh 512K, the IWM floppy disk-based Hard Disk 20 and the new ROMs allowed the Macintosh to use the drive as a startup disk for the first time. The Plus still did not include provision for an internal hard drive and it would be over 9 months before Apple would offer a SCSI drive replacement for the slow Hard Disk 20. It would be well over a year before Apple would offer the first internal hard disk drive in any Macintosh.

A compact Mac, the Plus had a 9-inch 512 by 342 pixel monochrome display with a resolution of 72 PPI, identical to that of previous Macintosh models. Unlike earlier Macs, the Mac Plus's keyboard included a numeric keypad and directional arrow keys, and, as with previous Macs, it had a one-button mouse and no fan, making it extremely quiet in operation.

The applications MacPaint and MacWrite were bundled with the Mac Plus. After August 1987, HyperCard and MultiFinder were also bundled. Third-party software applications available included MacDraw, Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as Aldus's PageMaker. This was the first time GUI versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint were introduced on any personal computer platform.

Essentially identical to the original Macintosh, it originally debuted in beige and was labeled "Macintosh Plus" on the front, but "Macintosh Plus 1MB" on the back to denote the 1MB RAM configuration with which it shipped. In January 1987 it transitioned to Apple's long-lived Platinum gray color with the rest of the Apple product line. In January 1988 with reduced RAM prices, Apple began shipping 2 & 4MB configurations and re-branded it simply "Macintosh Plus". Among other design changes, it included the same trademarked inlaid Apple logo and recessed port icons as the Apple IIc and IIGS before it, but it essentially retained the original design.

An upgrade kit was offered for the earlier Macintosh 128K and Macintosh 512K/"enhanced", which included a new motherboard, floppy disk drive and rear case. The owner retained the front case, monitor, and analog board. Because of this, there is no "Macintosh Plus" on the front, and the Apple logo is recessed and in the bottom left hand corner. However, the label on the back of the case reads "Macintosh Plus 1MB". The new extended Plus keyboard could also be purchased. Unfortunately, this upgrade cost almost as much as a new machine.

The Mac Plus itself could be upgrade further with the use of third party accelerators, which clipped onto the 68000 processor, allowing the Plus to run up to a 32MHz 68030 processor and adding up to 16MB RAM. allowing it to run Mac OS 7.6.1. [ [http://lowendmac.com/compact/macintosh-plus.html Macintosh Plus Profile ] ]

In the present, there is a program called vMac that can emulate a Mac Plus on a variety of platforms, including Unix, Windows, DOS, Mac OS, Mac OS X, and even Nintendo DS.

Long production life

Although the Mac Plus became overshadowed by two new Macs in March 1987 (the Macintosh SE and the Macintosh II), it remained in production as a cheaper alternative until the introduction of Macintosh Classic on 15 October 1990. This makes the Macintosh Plus the longest-produced Macintosh ever. It continued to be supported by versions of the Mac OS up to version 7.5.5, released in 1996. Additionally, during its life-span, it was heavily discounted like the 512K/512K"e" before it and offered to the educational market badged as the "Macintosh Plus ED". [http://www.mellema.net/homecomputers/images/apple/Apple_Macintosh_Plus_ED_Large.jpg]

Problems

The lack of fan could cause the life of a Macintosh Plus to end early for some users. As the power supply would heat up, solder joints inside it would fracture causing many problems, such as loss of deflection in the monitor or a complete loss of power. As in most early compact Macs, the problem was most acute in the video flyback transformer, which failed more often than any other Mac Plus component. [http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.03/03.03/Mar87Letters/index.html]

From the debut of the Macintosh 128K through the Macintosh Plus, various third-party cooling add-ons were available to help increase airflow through the unit (including the fanless Mac Chimney which cooled by convection). Apple finally reorganized the Compact Macintosh case to accommodate a fan with the release of the Macintosh SE. Another popular remedy was to create more vents so that more air could escape.Fact|date=January 2008

ROM revisions

The Plus went through 2 ROM revisions during its life. The initial ROM was replaced with the first two months as it had a serious bug which prevented the Mac from booting if an external SCSI device was powered off. The second revision fixed a problem with some SCSI devices that could send the Mac into an endless reset at startup. [ [http://developer.apple.com/technotes/hw/hw_11.html Technical Note HW11: Macintosh Plus ROM Versions ] ] [ [http://developer.apple.com/technotes/dv/dv_14.html Technical Note DV14: SCSI Bugs ] ]

Emulators

*vMac
*Mini vMac

ee also

* Macintosh 512K
* Macintosh SE
* Macintosh Classic
* Macintosh 512Ke
* Macintosh XL

References

External links

* [http://www.byte.com/art/9606/sec5/art2.htm BYTE takes an early look at the Mac Plus]
* [http://lowendmac.com/musings/macplus.shtml Uses for a Mac Plus]
* [http://www.mac512.com/macwebpages/plus.htm Mac Plus information page] mac512.com
* [http://pix.blakespot.com/view/computers/mac_plus/ Mac Plus memory upgrade pictorial]
* [http://www.vintagemacworld.com/drives.html Floppy drives compatible with the Mac Plus]
* [http://www.d4.dion.ne.jp/~motohiko/macplus.htm The Vintage Mac Museum: Mac Plus Slideshows]
* [http://www.mac128.com/m0001 The M0001 Registry] Owners of Vintage Macintosh
* [http://homepage.mac.com/chinesemac/earlymacs/#Plus_hardware Apple Macintosh Before System 7] Plus HardwareNavbox with columns
name = Navbox with columns/doc
state = uncollapsed
title = Apple Model Navigation
colstyle = text-align:center;background:silver;
colwidth = 25%
col1header = Replaced
col2header = Current Model
col3header = Successor
col1 = Macintosh 128K
Macintosh XL
col2 =
Macintosh Plus
col3 = Macintosh Classic
Macintosh 512Ke
col1footer = Preceding Family Model
col2footer = January 16, 1986
col3footer = Following Family Model