Mac84: Unboxing a Vintage Apple Macintosh Plus from 1987

Today I have the pleasure to unbox a vintage Apple Macintosh Plus from 1987. In addition the Macintosh Plus, we also have an Apple External 3.5" 800K Floppy Drive and an Apple ImageWriter II dot matrix printer. So sit back, relax, and let's take a trip back to 1987...

[Steinbacker]

So very good to see this video. I operated a Mac for several years right at the beginning of software like Pagemaker. The first demo I saw, I knew it was curtains for traditional publishing. The doors were being flung open to authors and artists - freed from the egos and hoops of "THE PUBLISHERS". I also saw the end fast-coming for the photographic "plates" and the photo-paper and "past-up" layout and design with the Xacto knives and wax or rubber cement. I often think about trying to get a MacPlus again - but likely it is about as it is with me - the best days are far in the past. But this was a great time - sincere thanks to you.

[denniskirschbaum]

I had this exact set up. It was my first computer. 1987 Mac Plus, ImageWriter, and External Disk Drive! Growing up in the 70s, I had learned to program in High School in Fortran on a big ole IBM mainframe using punch cards. I never imagined that I would be able to afford or own my own computer. I loved that Mac Plus. The set up cost around $3, 300 in 1987 dollars. That was a huge amount of money for me at that time. That computer changed my life though. So fun to see one again. Thank you for the trip down memory lane.

[theedxqboi]

Watching these videos always makes me long for those days.

[X-OR_]

God, I love the sound of an imagewrite in the morning.

[scifisurfer]

I got a Macintosh Plus for my birthday in 1986 as a going to high school present. I had to have mine recapped a couple years later, but I finally got a Kensington System Saver Mac fan unit for it, which was pretty awesome. I also got an EMac MD 2400 modem, a Thunderscan scanner, and an original MacRecorder digitizer. I also had (I don't remember the brand any longer) a third-party external 800K floppy drive.

I really loved that little computer. Ultimately I sold it to help defray the expense of a Macintosh II, which was quite the upgrade, and I've had many since.

This video brought back many awesome and distant memories, so thank you so much for that. The sights and the sounds were amazing.

[cjripka]

I sold Macintosh computers from 1984-1993. The ImageWriter and ImageWriter II printers did not include the serial cables. The Apple ][, ][ plus and //e required a Super Serial Card that required a DB-25 connector. The Lisa and Macintosh XL also used the DB25 connector. the Apple //c used a DIN 5 connector. The Macintosh and Macintosh 512K used a DB-9 connector. The Macintosh Plus in January of 1986 was the first Apple product to use the Mini DIN-8 connector that would be the standard until the iMac. The cable was always a separate purchase because there were 4 cable types. The ImageWriter II could also be connected to an Apple LocalTalk network with the addition of a network option, that would then connect using a LocalTalk or PhoneNet style connected through the printer's port, but using AppleTalk instead of Serial communications.

[NfxNet]

Oh, wow. Hearing the ImageWriter II initializing at power-on brought back memories that I didn't know I had! That extra little buzz when it homes the color ribbon positioner sets it apart from most other dot-matrix printers.

[k.r.]

Oh, wow, I just got transported back to my College Computer Lab days...! The sights and the sounds! Thank you so much for this much-needed pleasant trip down Memory Lane...!

[ArnoLouwagie]

Very Jealous!!😍 It's in such great condition as well!

[MrLurchsThings]

All cleaned up, with all those perfect accessories. That is an absolute thing of beauty. I hope it’s still kicking.
If I was to only own 1 Mac, my heart would say it’d have to be a Plus.

[Marcarr]

I didn’t have one of these Mac’s, but I had the chance to use this machines back in high school late 80’s thanks for the video brings me back memories.

[DandyDriver]

Imagine. My dad’s classmates would be jealous when someone got this for their birthday.

[Magnedyne]

125 $ dangn that was a bargain here where I live a broken Macintosh without any stuff included just the Mac for around 200€

[stepheneyles]

The Drawing Office had two of these during my apprenticeship in the 1980s! How anyone could do CAD on such a small screen amazes me now but they managed to produce lots of drawings used in our company's printed manuals. Great memories come flooding back when I see these machines, thanks for sharing your excitement!

[carlspeelman]

Thank you for the time and effort you put in to this. I enjoyed to see the unboxing off this Mac!

[ewkalt]

i'm really sorry for all the "A E S E T H E T I C X D" comments you're gonna get

[jiahjulieveinot]

My first computer was a MacPlus back in the 90's. I also upgraded the memory to 4MB, used both SCSI Zip and external HD, and an Apple Stylewriter (inkjet) printer.

[shrink]

I had one of these as a teenager back in the 90's... It was creaky and old, but I loved it.

[TheLordOfNothing]

I just got a Apple 2 in box, working with all software for just $500!

[MichaelAStanhope]

Steve, they actually did not include the cable with the Imagewriter printers because it was compatible with so many different computers that all had their own interface port types back then. The Apple II, II+, and IIe had one cable, the PC had like 3 different options, the Mini DIN-8 that the IIgs and the Mac Plus onwards, the DB9 style of the 128 and 512k. I think there were like 12 different cable options, but the ones for the Apple machines were actually pretty cheap, I think like $10-$15 or so (early 90's money!).


The label you scanned was a tracking label. Basically when scanned, it told them what machine to put in the box with what, if any, options. The one you scanned is actually part of the serial number if I remember. The 1MB P is of course 1 meg RAM Platinum, essentially the basic model. You need to find the matching HD 20SC to go with that sucker and have the entire, enviable setup from 1987. The box was cheapened because at the same time this was being sold, the SE was also being sold, so the Plus was basically the Toyota Corolla where the SE was the Cadillac Deville :). They reduced the price significantly on the Plus so everything else got cheap.


Awesome find though, beautiful machine!