As you may already know, 30 years ago today saw the release of the Mac 128K. It was the original Macintosh computer and helped to usher in a new era of computing. If you want to read more about its history, check out what Apple had to say about it.
For the rest of us, the guys at iFixIt are celebrating the Mac’s birthday by tearing it apart. I don’t think any of us are looking to repair a Mac 128K anytime soon, but the teardown guide gives us an interesting look at the guts of a 30 year old computer. As you might expect, everything was bigger and consisted of more parts. For example, the 1024 KB of RAM in the original Mac was made up of 16 64KB sticks.
Interestingly enough, iFixIt awards the Mac 128K a repairability score of 7 out of 10. They found that the inner components were relatively easy to replace and that the clock battery could be replaced by the user. Unfortunately, the RAM is soldered to the board and can’t be replaced. They also note that taking apart the Mac may be dangerous due to some areas of high voltage.
So, how does the Mac 128K compare to its modern brethren in repairability? The newest iMac scored lower than the original Mac with a score of five out of 10. The machine is completely modular, unlike the original Mac, but the addition of a built-in LCD panel complicates repairs in a way that was unheard of with CRT displays.
Despite having a higher repairability score, you might not want to attempt repairs on your Mac 128K. It’s better off in a museum or with a collector. Someone will likely pay a high price for it.
Image via iFixIt