Macintosh 128 model M0001 The worlds First Mac

The Macintosh M0001 Computer

In 1984 Apple Computers came out with the first of their new line of computers the Apple Macintosh 128 Model number M0001. This unit included a 9 inch black and white monitor one floppy drive and the computer itself all housed in one compact unit. The keyboard connects to the front of the unit via what looks like a small phone plug. While the mouse connects to the rear with a nine pin connector much like the later serial mice used on DOS computers. However, the Macintosh mouse only had one button and connected via a male plug while the DOS mouse had two or three buttons and a female connector plug.

This unit is serial number F4142LQM0001 which according to Mac Serial Number identifier tells us:

It was manufactured in Fremont, California, USA

Year of production: 1984

Week of production: 14

Production number: 2LQ => 3016

Modell ID: M0001 => original Macintosh 1984 (128k)

Your original Macintosh 1984 (128k) was the 3016th Mac manufactured during the 14th week of 1984 in Fremont, California, USA.

This MAC is displaying the sad Mac face indicating an error with the system the code under the sad Mac would tell the technician what the problem is. 041CB0 the first two numbers is the Class code in this case 04 tells us that Memory test–Mod3 test failed the last four numbers are the sub code. In this case telling me it is bit 8 location G5 which is bad. More information on Error codes can be found at Apple Error Codes

Macintosh Case Tool

Apple sold a special tool to open the early Macintosh cases. It was in fact a long T-15 torque bit

Macintosh M0001 Main Board

The 128 K of RAM is shared between the processor and the video and soldered on to the motherboard. This will make replacing the defective chip difficult.

There are only two internal connectors to the motherboard, one to the floppy drive, the other to the video/power board. The motherboard is held in place by two of the case screws with the back off all that is needed is to unplug the two connectors and gently pull the board out of the system.

Macintosh M0001 video/power board

The only other real board in the unit serves as a video and power supply. It should be noted that a high voltage line runs to the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT). The CRT will hold a high voltage even for weeks after it is turned off and unplugged. Though this will not kill you it will give you quite a shock. Watch out if you are inside the unit a grounded probe should be used to dis charge the CRT before removing the wire. For more info check out Discharge your CRT. In all honesty if you don’t know doing STAY OUT. One Person said the M0001 was the only Macintosh that has ever bitten him.

A neat fact about this computer is that the designers all signed a template which was then printed on the inside of the back cover.