Mac – Retro Viator

Apple Macintosh LC III

Published on March 18, 2023

The Macintosh LC III is the (not surprisingly) third version of the LC computer introduced in October 1990. The original LC was part of a trio of low-cost Macintosh computers intended to challenge the growing dominance of PCs and also stand up against the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST. The low-cost trio included the Classic, the LC, and the IIsi. The Classic carried on the original Macintosh form factor, replacing the venerable Macintosh SE, and the Macintosh IIsi was a scaled-down Macintosh II. But the LC fit nicely between the two. In its small pizza-box case, it included many of the characteristics of the Macintosh II family, including color graphics, but offered limited expandability. I attended college during the early…

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Apple Macintosh 512K

Apple Macintosh 512K

Published on October 17, 2021

In January 1984, Steve Jobs triumphantly unveiled Macintosh. An “insanely great” computer for the rest of us. And while the original Macintosh was amazing, it also struggled to complete basic tasks. Limited to 128K of RAM and a single 400K floppy drive, the computer was a contradiction, with state-of-the-art software and limited hardware. The Apple IIe (with 64K of RAM) was Apple’s most popular product when Macintosh was released. But the Mac’s bitmapped graphics and robust operating system devoured memory. Jobs was committed to keeping the original Mac at 128K of RAM to control costs. Burrell Smith knew it was a trivial matter to replace the 4264 DRAM chips with 41256 chips instead, and he surreptitiously modified the logic board…

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Apple Macintosh Quadra 650

Apple Macintosh Quadra 650

Published on September 2, 2021

In the early 1990s, the processor wars were heating up. Intel was establishing its dominance thanks to its 80486 processor. Motorola had kept pace early on, moving briefly from the 68000 to the 68020, then finding success with the 68030 chips, providing a migration path for the Macintosh, Amiga, Atari, and Sharp systems. But Motorola’s third-generation 68040–with its onboard cache, floating-point, and memory management capabilities–lifted Apple’s prospects and prompted a new line of computers: the Quadra. The Macintosh Quadra holds a special place in my Apple history. During the ‘90s, I supported hundreds of Macs at a small college, and I was lucky to use a Quadra 840AV regularly. I always admired the Quadra line and now recognize it was…

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Apple Macintosh SE SuperDrive

Apple Macintosh SE SuperDrive

Published on August 1, 2021

Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985. In a now-famous boardroom brawl, Jobs was outmaneuvered by his chosen CEO, John Sculley. Directing the Macintosh team had been Jobs’ most meaningful accomplishment to date, but Jobs and the team were exhausted by the rush to launch the Mac in 1984. Exhaustion, coupled with Apple’s management confusion, led most of the original team to leave Apple to pursue other interests. John Sculley knew the Apple II line was far from state-of-the-art and would not sustain the company much longer. He also recognized the genius of Macintosh. Though he resisted lowering its price (solidifying its reputation as an impressive but expensive computer), he did support enhancing the Macintosh to ensure its…

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Apple Macintosh (128K)

Apple Macintosh (128K)

Published on May 2, 2021

Apple’s Macintosh computer changed the trajectory of technology. The hobbyist systems of the late ‘70s had grown into the gaming and productivity platforms of the early ‘80s. IBM focused the industry when it debuted its PC in 1981, but Apple hoped to upend the definition of the personal computer with the Macintosh. I used an original Macintosh at my first job. In 1988, I was a teenager working for a boutique furniture store. The Mac was a cool but limited computer housed in a small office shed behind the store. While the owner had a newer Macintosh Plus at home, I used the original Macintosh to make product labels and price lists with the connected ImageWriter II printer. Many websites,…

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Apple Macintosh IIsi

Apple Macintosh IIsi

Published on February 7, 2021

The original Macintosh design is timeless, but by the end of the 1980s, Apple decided it was time to break the Mac out of its cute beige all-in-one enclosure and expand into a series of “snow white” cases with separate CRTs. The Macintosh II was bold for a Mac but conventional for its time. In 1987, the original Macintosh II delivered fast processing power, color graphics, and expandability in a big-box format. A few years later, Apple provided similar features in the smaller footprint IIcx, IIci, and then the IIsi. The IIsi is perhaps most notable for being intentionally hobbled. Slowed down with limited expansion, the IIsi was a modest utility player that filled a gap in Apple’s lineup. I…

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Apple iMac G4

Apple iMac G4

Published on March 29, 2020

The iMac G4 was the memorable follow-up to Apple’s revolutionary iMac. Upon the return of Steve Jobs in 1997, he boldly transformed Apple’s products and inspired a historic line of devices. This “Flat Panel” iMac was built to highlight its attractive LCD monitor, which turned the traditional Macintosh all-in-one design on its head. I first encountered an iMac G4 when I helped a friend set one up in 2002. Every experience was new. From taking the alien-looking device out of the box, to seeing OS X, to launching Safari, it was my first exploration of a now common-place world. The Bondi Blue iMac released in 1998 demonstrated Apple’s renewed prowess. It ushered in a series of bold decisions, including using…

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Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch Unibody

Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch Unibody

Published on January 15, 2020

This is not a satisfying tale. I was asked to repair a damaged MacBook Pro. Made in 2009, it is not exactly retro, but it’s also not something easily serviced at your local Genius Bar. When I received it, the laptop would not close properly as the screen housing was damaged, and the display cable was popping out when the notebook was open. More troubling, the display showed odd color patterns, shifting certain blacks to green and inserting pink lines over some white areas. This MacBook Pro belongs to my sister. It was given to her by a friend, and its had a hard life. Obviously dropped, spilled on, and used regularly, it is still fairly capable of handling daily…

Apple Macintosh SE/30

Published on September 15, 2019

I suppose I should thank YouTube’s recommendation algorithm for getting this started. Sometime in 2018, I ran across several vintage computer repair videos that got me thinking about the great computers of the past. The videos both scratched a nostalgic itch and fed a need. I’d been looking for a hobby to get my mind off the daily grind, but I couldn’t think of anything that didn’t feel silly or uninteresting. Then I saw YouTubers explaining and repairing computers I’d spent countless hours hunched over in my youth and many others I only saw in magazines. As these things go, a few videos turned into a series of weekend binges, and before I knew it, I was on eBay bidding…

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