Mac Portable

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You might not believe the cover from the November 1989 MacUser. They considered the Mac Portable so sexy it was photographed with a swimsuit model for the front cover! (Or maybe so unsexy it needed this treatment.)

Overview

It was portable, but no lightweight. The 16-17 pound Mac Portable never set the world on fire. It had a crystal clear 9.8" 1-bit 640x400 pixel active matrix screen, a 16 MHz 68000 CPU, and a front-mounted handle (which doubled as a lock to keep the lid down). The best thing about the Portable was probably the five-to-ten-hour lead-acid (no memory effect!) battery. Options included an internal modem and either a numeric keypad or trackball.

The huge size and massive weight of the otherwise-impressive Portable earn it a Road Apple.

The Portable was the first Mac to ship with a preformatted hard drive (and the only portable Mac with a 3.5" hard drive) and a preinstalled operating system. Along with the Mac IIci, it was one of the first Macs to user surface mount technology.

MacUser commented that this was "by far the most complex piece of machinery devised by sale by Apple computer" (Nov. 1989). Benchmarks showed it significantly faster than the SE, and nearly as fast as the Mac II on some tests.

The Portable was upgraded with a backlit screen; more, less-expensive RAM (2-4 MB standard); and a lower price in February 1991.

Details

introduced September 1989 at $6,500, $7,300 with hard drive, discontinued February 1991
requires System 6.0.4 to 7.5.5 (see caution on wake up crashed caused by newer drivers)
CPU: 16 MHz 68HC000
performance: 2.0 (relative to SE); 2.15, Speedometer 3; 1.3 MIPS
see Benchmarks: Portable for more details
ROM: 256 KB
RAM: 1 MB, expandable to 9 MB using a special 30ns SRAM card (only one slot)
display: 9.8" 1-bit 640x400 pixel
40 MB 3.5" hard drive standard
ADB port for keyboard and mouse
DIN-8 serial ports on back of computer
DB-25 SCSI connector on back of computer
batteries: 9V "transistor" battery for PRAM, 6V 5Ah sealed lead-acid for power (over 2 lb.)
proprietary modem slot
Gestalt ID: 10
Size (HxWxD): 4.05" x 15.25" x 14.83"
weight: 15.8 lb.

Tips

You can use a PowerBook 100-series AC adapter to run the Portable without the internal lead-acid battery. However, you will lose PRAM settings if you unplug the power (date, time, cache size, etc.)
Godwin <godwin@unixg.ubc.ca> says, "If the acid battery dies, one can bypass it and convert the Portable into a luggable. One needs 2 AC adapters -- the original one and a 9V DC adapter. Take out the 9V DC battery and replace it with a 9V 1A power adapter. Then remove the battery and cover (there is a switch at the battery cover which we need to disable). Plug the two adapters in and viola! one of the sleekest Macs on anyone's desktop!"

Online Resources

Cybermuseum@HongKong. Slow site, but interesting. Registration required.
Review: Power-Sonic PSG-650 battery
1-800-Batteries stocks the Portable battery at $65
Allied Electronics carries a much less expensive battery, part number 621-5015, that is supposed to be a direct replacement -- I have two on order to verify this
Faster browsing on older Macs, Mac Online Technical Journal
Old Macs on the internet, The Web Toolbox
Replacing the battery in a Mac Portable, JAG's site
Email lists: PowerBooks, Classic Macs Digest, Vintage Macs
Links to System 6.0.8 and 7.0.1
Software Compatible with 68000 CPU
Mac Portable FAQ
Portable Macintosh Page
Uncle Roger's Mac Portable Page
Apple Specs for Mac Portable
Specifications, Apple TIL 4487
Get your compact Mac on the web with JAG's Mac Tips.
Dynamic Engineering has RAM, batteries, and other Portable accessories.

Cautions

Never use a version of Apple HD SC Setup newer than 7.3.1 (which comes with System 7.0.1) or your Portable will crash while waking from sleep mode.
The Mac Portable does not provide SCSI termination power, depending on external SCSI devices to provide it. For more details, see SCSI Termination Power.
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.
Battery becomes unusable if discharged below 5.4V; keep it charged!
Hard drive will not spin up without a charged battery installed.
Serial port limited to 57.6 kbps; use of a 56k modem may be limited. See 56k modem page.
Apple has discontinued support and parts orders for this model. You may be able to find dealers with parts inventory either locally or on our parts and service list.

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