The Macintosh Classic was a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from October 1990 to September 1992. It was the first Macintosh to sell for less than US$1,000.[3]
Production of the Classic was prompted by the success of the Original Macintosh, then the Macintosh Plus and finally the Macintosh SE. The system specifications of the Classic are very similar to its predecessors, with the same 9-inch (23 cm) monochrome CRT display, 512 × 342 pixel resolution, and 4 megabyte (MB) memory limit of the older Macintosh computers.[2][4] Apple’s decision to not update the Classic with newer technology such as a newer CPU, higher RAM capacity or color display resulted in criticism from reviewers, with Macworld describing it as having “nothing to gloat about beyond its low price”[5] and “unexceptional”.[6] But, it ensured compatibility with the Mac’s by-then healthy software base as well as enabled it to fit the lower price Apple intended for it. Nevertheless, the Classic featured several improvements over the aging Macintosh Plus, which it replaced as Apple’s low-end Mac computer. It was up to 25 percent faster than the Plus[1] and included an Apple SuperDrive 3.5-inch (9 cm) floppy disk drive as standard.
The Classic is an adaptation of Jerry Manock‘s and Terry Oyama’s 1984 Macintosh 128K industrial design, as had been the earlier Macintosh SE. Apple released two versions. The price and the availability of education software led to the Classic’s popularity in education. It was sold alongside the more powerful Macintosh Classic II in 1991 until its discontinuation the next year.
The low-end model was sold with 1 MB of memory, a 1.44 MB floppy drive, no hard disk, and included a keyboard for $999.[5] The $1,500 model used 2 MB memory and a 40 MB hard disk. The Classic features several improvements over the Macintosh Plus, which it replaced as Apple’s low-end Mac computer: it is up to 25 percent faster than the Plus,[1] about as fast as the SE,[6] and includes an Apple SuperDrive 3.5″ floppy disk drive as standard.[20] The SuperDrive can read and write to Macintosh, MS-DOS, OS/2, and ProDOS disks.[20]
The Classic uses the System 6.0.7 operating system with support for all versions up to System 7.5.5. A hidden Hierarchical File System (HFS) disk volume contained in the read-only memory (ROM) includes System 6.0.3.[21] The Mac Classic can be booted into System 6.0.3 by holding down the ⌘ Command+⌥ Option+X+O keys during boot.[21]
Some dealers included a software bundle called Smartbundle with the Classic.[22] Also sold separately for $349, this includes T/Maker‘s WriteNow word processor, Ashton-Tate‘s Full Impact spreadsheet program, RecordHolderPlus database, and Silicon Beach Software‘s SuperPaint 2.0 paint and draw program.[22]
Video:
Here’s the actual item in my museum
The Mac Classic basics:
Color: Beige | Graphics: 1 Bit (B/W) | HDD: 40 MB | Purchased: eBay | Ram: 1 MB
