Apple Macintosh SE

Apple Macintosh SE

[Vin68]

The Apple Macintosh SE, released in 1987, was notable for being the first compact Mac to offer an internal hard drive bay, an expansion slot, and support for the Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) for connecting keyboards and mice, making it far more versatile than its predecessors. Its claim to fame was this new expandability and reliability, which allowed users to add hard drives, extra memory, and even networking cards.The SE represented Apple’s first serious attempt at making the compact Mac expandable and business-ready, earning it the nickname as the “flagship” compact Macintosh of its era.

Manufacturer: Apple Computer Inc.

• Released: 1987
• Type: Personal Desktop Computer
• Cost at release: USD $2,900 (CAD ~$9,000 adjusted for inflation)
• MIPS: 0.7 (700 KIPS)

Hardware Specifications

• CPU: Motorola 68000, 8 MHz
• RAM: 1 MB standard, expandable to 4 MB (4 × 30-pin SIMM slots, 150 ns)
• ROM: 256 KB
• Display: 9-inch built-in monochrome CRT, 512 × 342 pixels
• Storage Options:
  • Dual 800 KB 3.5″ floppy drives, or
  • One 800 KB floppy drive plus 20 MB or 40 MB SCSI hard drive
• Video Memory: Uses main RAM for video; no dedicated VRAM
• Sound: Mono speaker, sound out port
• Weight: 17 lbs (7.7 kg)

Operating System & Programming Languages 

• O/S: Macintosh System Software (Mac OS) versions 3.3 through 7.5.5
• Programming Languages:
  • Pascal: Widely used in the 1980s for Mac development, with compilers like THINK Pascal and Borland Turbo Pascal.
  • C: Supported by several compilers, including LightSpeed C (later THINK C), Hippo-C, and others.
  • Assembly (68k): Direct Motorola 68000 assembly programming was possible, especially using Apple’s Macintosh Programmer’s Workshop (MPW).
  • BASIC: Early Macs supported Microsoft BASIC and other variants, though it became less common over time.
  • HyperTalk: The scripting language of HyperCard, a popular application for creating interactive software.
  • Other Languages: Some support existed for Forth, Lisp, and Modula-2 via third-party tools, though these were less common.

Notables

• “SE” officially stands for “System Expansion”
• First compact Mac with an internal hard drive bay and expansion slot
• First Mac to support Apple Desktop Bus (ADB), which remained Apple’s standard until the iMac G3 in 1998
• Bridge computer: Marked the transition from closed, non-expandable Macs to more open, upgrade-friendly systems
• MS-DOS capability: One of the first expansion cards was an MS-DOS card, allowing it to run PC software
• Transparent prototypes: Apple produced only ten SEs with transparent cases as prototypes for promotional shots and employees—extremely rare collector’s items today
• Signed case: The SE has signatures of the development team, including Steve Jobs, molded into the inside of the back case
• First noisy Mac: The SE was the first Mac with a cooling fan, which was cheap and made a “terrible racket,” beginning Apple’s long line of noisy computers
• Despite using the same 8 MHz 68000 processor as the Mac Plus, the SE was 15-20% faster due to improved RAM access and system optimizations

 Donated by: Arlen Michaels