Macintosh Plus

Apple's third-generation Macintosh, launched January 16, 1986. First Mac with standard SCSI port and expandable RAM (up to 4 MB without board swap). $2,599 retail.

Specs

• Motorola 68000 CPU, 8 MHz
• 1 MB RAM standard (expandable to 4 MB via SIMM sockets)
• 800K internal 3.5" floppy (double-sided)
• 9" black-and-white CRT
• SCSI port (Apple's first standardized peripheral bus)
• Numeric-keypad keyboard with cursor keys
• HFS (Hierarchical File System) introduced via System 3.0

Pi coverage

• 1986-02 — V08 N02 — ★★ Launch coverage: Mac+ and LaserWriter+ Announcements
• 1986-03 — V08 N03 — Macintosh Plus Connectors (Jonathan E. Hardis); HFS Follies Update (Tom Warrick)
• 1986-04 — V08 N04 — 512K Mac and Single Disk Drive (Lloyd B. Swift)

Upgrade path

Mac 128K and Mac 512K owners could upgrade to Mac Plus capability via swap-board services. Clinton Computer (Pi's main dealer) offered the upgrade with 25% Pi-member discount.

Successors

• Macintosh SE (March 1987) — Plus with one internal expansion slot
• Macintosh II (March 1987) — open NuBus expansion architecture

Connections

• Mac Plus Launch — topic page
• LaserWriter Plus — companion product
• HFS Filesystem — introduced together
• Apple Desktop Publishing — Mac Plus enabled this category