Macintosh SE/SE FDHD

Introduced: March 1987
Terminated: October 1990

Description

The Macintosh SE was cased in the platinum color that was first seen in later versions of the Macintosh Plus.  Like earlier models, the Macintosh SE was enclosed in a single case.  It was the first Macintosh with an internal hard drive.  Users could choose to have a dual floppy drive as an alternative.  The Macintosh SE was the first Macintosh to contain an expansion slot.  The “SE” in the name stands for “System Expansion.”

The Macintosh SE used the same Apple Desktop Bus that had been used in the Apple IIGS, which allowed for a number of devices to be connected to it. 

The Motorola 68000 processor could run at speeds of up to 8MHz.  The 1MB of RAM was expandable to 4MB.  In 1988, the Macintosh SE was replaced with the Macintosh SE FDHD.  The only difference in the new model was that it contained the new SuperDrive, a floppy disk drive that could handle 3.5” high-density 1.4MB disks.

History

The Macintosh SE succeeded the Macintosh Plus and offered a number of technical advancements.  The Macintosh SE and the SE FDHD were also noted for improved reliability and a longer life expectancy. 

Specifications

Processor: Motorola 68000
Processor Speed: 8 MHz
Cache: None
System Bus: 8 MHz
Hard Drive: None - 20 MB (SE) 40 MB (SE FDHD)
Media: 1 or 2 - 800k (SE) or 1.44 MB (SE FDHD) Floppy
Weight and Dimensions (US): 17 lbs., 13.6” H x 9.69” W x 10.9” D
Weight and Dimensions (Metric): 7.7 kg, 34.5 cm H x 24.6 cm W x 27.7 cm D
Original Mac OS: System File 4.0, Finder 5.4
Maximum Mac OS: System 7.5.5
Firmware: Macintosh ROM
Model Number: M5010 (SE) M5011 (SE FDHD)
Logicboard RAM: None
Maximum RAM: 4 MB
Type of RAM Slots: 4 - 30 pin SIMM (Groups of 2)
Minimum RAM Speed: 150 ns
Interleaving Support: No
Graphics Card: None
Graphics Memory: None
Built-in Display: 9” 1 bit 512 x 342
Display Connection:—
Expansion Slots: 1 - SE PDS
Hard Drive Bus: SCSI
Backup Battery: 3.6 V Lithium
Max Watts: 100 W
Ethernet: None
Modem: None
ADB: 2
Serial: 2
SCSI: 1 - DB-25
USB: None
FireWire: None
Audio In: None
Audio Out: 8 bit mono

Timeline

Introduced in March of 1987, the Macintosh SE and SE FDHD capitalized on the existing Macintosh market until it was replaced with the Macintosh Classic in 1990.

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