{"id":63092,"date":"1986-01-16T08:52:54","date_gmt":"1986-01-16T13:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/?p=63092"},"modified":"2025-05-06T08:59:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T12:59:12","slug":"mac-plus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/1986\/mac-plus\/","title":{"rendered":"Mac Plus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Introduced in January 1986, two years after <a title=\"Mac 128K\" href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/1984\/macintosh-128k\/\">the original Macintosh<\/a>, the Mac Plus shipped with 1\u00a0MB of RAM, a new double-sided 800 KB floppy drive, and a built-in SCSI port (the first Mac so equipped). Not only was 1\u00a0MB more RAM than PC-class machines could handle, but the Plus could be expanded to 4\u00a0MB total RAM! (Earlier Macs came with a fixed amount of memory with no upgrade path.)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/mac-plus-and-laserwriter.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11602\" src=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/mac-plus-and-laserwriter.jpg\" alt=\"Mac Plus with LaserWriter\" width=\"640\" height=\"448\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-121 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/platinum-plus-240.jpg\" alt=\"Macintosh Plus\" width=\"192\" height=\"192\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The SCSI bus on the Mac Plus is officially rated at 1.25 MBps\/10 Mbps by Apple, although real world testing shows it to be barely over 0.26 MBps\/2.1 Mbps \u2013 which is still 4x the speed of Apple\u2019s earlier floppy port hard drive.<\/p>\n<p>The Plus does not support high density floppies, but it can be used with an external high density floppy drive as long as the disks used are 800K floppies.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/beige-mac-plus-240.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-112 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/beige-mac-plus-240.jpg\" alt=\"Macintosh Plus\" width=\"192\" height=\"154\" \/><\/a>The original Plus came in Apple beige; during 1987 the case color was changed to platinum, the same color used for almost all post-1986 desktop Macs until the iMac arrived in 1998 (there were a couple black Macs). There are persistent rumors that the power supply in the beige Plus was less reliable and more prone to failure with 4\u00a0MB configurations, a problem addressed with an improved power supply in the \u201cplatinum\u201d Plus.<\/p>\n<p>The Mac Plus was bundled with <a href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/2006\/macwrite-1-defining-word-processing-for-graphical-user-interface\/\">MacWrite<\/a> and MacPaint, and Apple began to bundle HyperCard and MultiFinder in August 1987.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/beige-plus.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-114 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/beige-plus.jpg\" alt=\"Macintosh Plus\" width=\"179\" height=\"166\" \/><\/a>Until the air cooled iMacs came out, all desktop Macs following the Plus and 512Ke up until <a href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/1999\/350-mhz-imac-late-1999\/\">the slot-loading iMacs<\/a> have included a fan to reduce internal heat. Because the Mac Plus is convection cooled, you should never block the vents on the side or top of the computer.<\/p>\n<p>Those used to newer Macs will find several keys missing from the keyboard: <em>Esc<\/em> and <em>Ctrl<\/em>, along with the <em>Cmd<\/em> and <em>Option<\/em> keys to the right of the space bar are simply not there. Neither is the power key, which existed on all Apple ADB keyboards and the first-generation USB keyboard.<\/p>\n<p>The Plus and <a title=\"Mac 512Ke\" href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/1986\/mac-512ke\/\">512Ke<\/a> were the last Macs <em>not<\/em> to use ADB ports for the keyboard and mouse \u2013 and the first to use mini DIN-8 serial ports. Discontinued in 1990, the Mac Plus had the longest product life of any Macintosh.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-caption alignright\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/compact\/st-plus.jpg\" alt=\"Mac Plus in Star Trek IV\" width=\"167\" height=\"127\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mac Plus in Star Trek IV<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Mac Plus had a minor role in <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/6305609721\/lowendmac00-20\">Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>On March 17, 1987, Apple pulled six units and declared them \u201cthe one millionth Macintosh\u201d, giving these to Jef Raskin, Steve Wozniak, and others. (<em>Apple Confidential 2.0,<\/em> p. 98)<\/p>\n<p>The Plus can become a reasonable Web server, as the Macintosh Plus Web Server demonstrated until it was retired in October 2001.<\/p>\n<p>You can convert a non-working compact Mac into a <a title=\"So You Wanna Build a Macquarium\" href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/2013\/so-you-wanna-build-a-macquarium\/\">Macquarium<\/a>. (Please, don\u2019t even think of converting a working one \u2013 you can always find someone interested on the Classic Macs or Vintage Macs lists.)<\/p>\n<h3>Tips<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>If you have less than 4 MB installed, upgrade to 4\u00a0MB. You can often find pulled 1 MB SIMMs (removed from other Macs during upgrade) inexpensively.<\/li>\n<li>The Plus cannot use 2-chip 1 MB SIMMs.<\/li>\n<li>Memory permitting, set the disk cache to 128k.<\/li>\n<li>When a Plus is started-up, it loads the first system it finds in this order: floppy; SCSI ID 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. If you have a drive partitioned, and both partitions have a System Folder, it loads the partition that comes first alphabetically.<\/li>\n<li>To use HD floppies, look into the Applied Engineering AE HD+ external floppy drive. They are sometimes available on the used market. Note that the \u201cplus\u201d is important \u2013 the AE HD will not do the job.<br \/>\nYou can download drivers for the HD+ drive from the <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20140209164443\/http:\/\/www.macdrivermuseum.net\/disk.shtml\">Mac Driver Museum<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Rapport, a device called by Kennect Technology, allows you to access 720K DOS disks on a Plus. It attached to the drive port.<\/li>\n<li>Because of limited SCSI throughput, older hard drives with no buffer should normally be formatted with a 3:1 interleave for use with the Plus. (Unfortunately, other Macs may find it difficult or impossible to work with this interleave.) This is not an issue for newer drives with data buffers.<\/li>\n<li>If you use FWB Hard Disk Toolkit to format your hard drive, be sure to turn off command linking. \u201cThe Plus can go a little daft with it on.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Cautions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Never connect an Apple II 5.25\u2033 floppy drive to the Mac\u2019s floppy port. Doing so can ruin the floppy controller, meaning you can\u2019t even use the internal drive any longer.<\/li>\n<li>That monitor packs a lot of voltage. Read <a href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/2007\/the-truth-about-crts-and-shock-danger\/\">Compact Mac CRT Energy<\/a> before working inside.<\/li>\n<li>The Mac Plus does not provide SCSI termination power, depending on external SCSI devices to provide it. For more details, see <a href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/1999\/scsi-termination-power\/\">SCSI Termination Power<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Macs with black-and-white only displays (1-bit, no grays) may find Netscape Navigator 3 makes it impossible to view some pages and sites. The workaround is to use Navigator 2.<\/li>\n<li>Reliably supports <a href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/1998\/macintosh-serial-throughput\/\">serial speeds<\/a> to 19.2 kbps, although default is 9600 bps. May have better throughput at 28.8 kbps despite some dropped and retransmitted packets. Throughput with a 56k modem may be limited. See <a href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/2015\/the-hype-about-56k-modems\/#serial\">56k modem page<\/a>. For more information on Mac serial ports, read <a href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/1998\/macintosh-serial-throughput\/\">Macintosh Serial Throughput<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Zip drives can be used with a Mac Plus, but you have to use Iomega Driver 4.2. Anything newer will not load properly.<\/li>\n<li>Apple discontinued support and parts orders for the Plus on 1998.08.31. You may be able to find dealers with parts inventory either locally or on our <a href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/dealers\/service.shtml\">parts and service list<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>keywords: #macplus #macintoshplus<\/p>\n<p>Short link:\u00a0http:\/\/goo.gl\/vOsLER<\/p>\n<p><em>searchwords: macplus,macintoshplus<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Details<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>introduced 1986.01.16 at $2,600; discontinued 1990.10.15 \u2013 at 4 years and 10 months, Apple\u2019s longest lived Macintosh<\/li>\n<li>code name: Mr. T<\/li>\n<li>Gestalt ID: 4<\/li>\n<li>Order no.: M0001A<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Mac OS<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>requires System 3.2 (System 3.0 and Finder 5.1) to 7.5.5<\/li>\n<li>addressing: 24-bit only<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Core System<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>CPU: 8 MHz 68000 CPU<\/li>\n<li>ROM: 128 KB<\/li>\n<li>RAM: 1 MB, expandable to 4 MB using pairs of 256 KB or 1 MB 150ns 30-pin SIMMs (memory upgrade requires clipping one or two resistors \u2013 <a href=\"http:\/\/macplus.mia.net\/installram.html\">details online at mia.net<\/a>; cannot use two-chip 1 MB SIMMs)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Performance<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Performance: 0.87, Speedometer 3 ; 0.7 MIPS (see <a href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/2000\/mac-plus-benchmarks\/\">benchmarks<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Graphics<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>9\u2033 b&amp;w screen, 512 x 342 pixels<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Drives<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>floppy drive: 800 KB double-sided<\/li>\n<li>floppy connector on back of computer<\/li>\n<li>Hard drive: external SCSI<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Expansion<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>last Mac with keyboard attached via coiled telephone-like cable<\/li>\n<li>last Mac with mouse attached via DB-9 connector<\/li>\n<li>serial ports: 2 mini DIN-8 RS-422 ports for printer and modem<\/li>\n<li>SCSI ports: 1 DB-25 connector on back of computer, slow implementation limited to 2,104 kbps<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Physical<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>size (HxWxD): 13.6\u2033 x 9.6\u2033 x 10.9\u2033<\/li>\n<li>Weight: 16.5 lb.<\/li>\n<li>PRAM battery: 4.5V PX 21 (a.k.a. Eveready 523, ANSI 1306AP, IEC 3LR50)<\/li>\n<li>power supply: 60W<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Accelerators<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>MicroMac <a href=\"http:\/\/www.micromac.com\/products\/multispeed.html\">Multispeed<\/a> (16, 25, or 32 MHz 68030), optional 32 MHz 68882 FPU<\/li>\n<li>MicroMac <a href=\"http:\/\/www.micromac.com\/products\/performer.html\">Performer<\/a> (16 MHz 68030), optional 25 MHz 68882 FPU<\/li>\n<li>MicroMac <a href=\"http:\/\/www.micromac.com\/products\/performerpro.html\">Performer Pro<\/a> (32 MHz 68030), 64 KB cache, optional 32 MHz 68882 FPU<\/li>\n<li>Radius Accelerator 16 (16 MHz 68020 with 68881)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some accelerators have onboard SIMM slots, allowing them to use more than 4 MB of RAM.<\/p>\n<p>Discontinued accelerators (68030 unless otherwise noted) include the <a href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/2000\/mac-plus-with-16-mhz-brainstorm-upgrade-benchmarked\/\">Brainstorm Accelerator Plus<\/a> (16 MHz 68000), Dove Marathon Racer 030 Plus (16 MHz), MacProducts Railgun (33 MHz), and Novy ImagePro (16, 25, 33 MHz).<\/p>\n<p>Color display? Aura Systems made <a title=\"ScuzzyGraph and ScuzzyGraph II\" href=\"http:\/\/lowendmac.com\/2013\/scuzzygraph-and-scuzzygraph-ii\/\">ScuzzyGraph II<\/a>, a SCSI peripheral that provided 8-color video for people who didn\u2019t want to buy (or couldn\u2019t afford) a Mac II. 1989 cost was $995 to $2,495, depending on resolution.<\/p>\n<h3>Online Resources<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>See: <a href=\"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/mac-plus-online-resources\/\">Online resources and links for the Mac Plus<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-57446 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/roundedgraphic.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"50\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/roundedgraphic.png 720w, https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/roundedgraphic-320x22.png 320w, https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/roundedgraphic-640x44.png 640w, https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/roundedgraphic-160x11.png 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/compact-macs\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-57643 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/CompactIndex-320x62.png\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/CompactIndex-320x62.png 320w, https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/CompactIndex-640x124.png 640w, https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/CompactIndex-160x31.png 160w, https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/CompactIndex.png 720w\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"62\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/680x0-mac-index\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-57903 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/68KMacIndex-320x62.png\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/68KMacIndex-320x62.png 320w, https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/68KMacIndex-640x124.png 640w, https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/68KMacIndex-160x31.png 160w, https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/68KMacIndex.png 720w\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"62\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/low-end-macs-tech-specs-index\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-56312 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/return-320x62.png\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/return-320x62.png 320w, https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/return-640x124.png 640w, https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/return-160x31.png 160w, https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/return.png 720w\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"62\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduced in January 1986, two years after the original Macintosh, the Mac Plus shipped with 1\u00a0MB of RAM, a new double-sided 800 KB floppy drive, and a built-in SCSI port (the first Mac so equipped). Not only was 1\u00a0MB more RAM than PC-class machines could handle, but the Plus could be expanded to 4\u00a0MB total [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":714651,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5823,22,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-compact-macintosh","category-articles","category-tech-specs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mac Plus - Low End Mac<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lowendmac.com\/1986\/mac-plus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mac Plus - Low End Mac\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Introduced in January 1986, two years after the original Macintosh, the Mac Plus shipped with 1\u00a0MB of RAM, a new double-sided 800 KB floppy drive, and a built-in SCSI port (the first Mac so equipped). 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