iFixit goes back to the future, tears down original 128k Mac

While Apple celebrates the Mac's 30th anniversary, repair specialists iFixit waxed nostalgic as they took their screwdrivers to a 1984-vintage Macintosh 128k.

As noted by iFixit, the first-generation Mac sported an 8 megahertz Motorola 68000 processor, 128 kilobytes of DRAM, 400 kilobytes of total storage —  on a 3.5-inch floppy disk —  and a 9-inch, 512 pixel by 342 pixel black and white CRT. The beige box sold at retail for $2,495 —  $5,594 today.

Input and output capability came in the form of then-high speed serial ports. Both the roller ball mouse —  which was notable for its relative lack of electronics —  and mechanical keyboard connected via bulky DE-9 plugs.

iFixit awarded the Macintosh 128k a 7 out of 10 repairability score, though the crew made no mention of which decade the score applied to —  some components, presumably, being easier to acquire in 1984. They dinged the machine for its soldered-on RAM and lack of internal expandability, as well as the possibility of a high-voltage electric shock from the display.

The computer was loaned to iFixit by The Vintage Mac Museum, a private collection of Apple computers and memorabilia run by historian Adam Rosen.