Mac II + Mac SE Launch

Apple announced both at AppleWorld '87 on March 2, 1987 — the biggest Mac product event since the original launch.

Mac II

• First open, expandable Macintosh with 6 NuBus expansion slots
• Motorola 68020 CPU (16 MHz) — first Mac without an integrated display (could drive 1-bit through 32-bit color monitors)
• Up to 8 MB RAM
• $3,898 base
• Aimed at creative/CAD/scientific markets

Mac SE

• Compact-Mac form factor (like the 128K/512K/Plus) but with one internal PDS expansion slot
• 68000 CPU (Plus-speed) with faster ROMs
• Hard-disk capable (internal 20 MB SCSI option)
• $2,899 base
• The mainstream "all-in-one" Mac for the rest of the 1980s

Pi coverage

• 1987-04 — V09 N04 — ★★ AppleWorld '87 Special Report: Part 1 (Tom Warrick) + "The New Macs in England" (Peter Trinder)
• 1987-06 — V09 N06 — "Development Team for the Mac SE" (Paul N. Jenner) — Mac SE engineering team profile
• Mac II + Mac SE coverage threads through Vol 9 (1987) into Vol 10 (1988)

Significance

Mac II opened the Mac to slot-card expansion for the first time — display cards, hard-disk controllers, video-capture cards, accelerators. Mac SE became the dominant compact-Mac workhorse. Together they signaled Apple's shift to the Mac as a multi-segment product family, not a single device.

Connections

• Macintosh II reference
• Macintosh SE reference
• AppleWorld 87 — launch event
• Mac Plus Launch — previous Mac generation
• Apple Mac II Family
• HyperCard Launch — same year (Aug 1987)