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NAME  

MACINTOSH Portable M5120

MANUFACTURER  

Apple

TYPE  

Portable Computer

ORIGIN  

U.S.A.

YEAR  

1989

END OF PRODUCTION 

1991

BUILT IN LANGUAGE 

None

KEYBOARD  

Typewriter style, 80-key with numeric keypad

CPU  

Low power version of Motorola 68000

SPEED  

16 MHz

RAM  

1 MB (up to 9 MB)

ROM  

256 KB

GRAPHIC MODES 

640 x 400

COLORS  

Monochrome

SOUND  

8-bit stereo

SIZE / WEIGHT 

33.8 x 37.7 x 10.3 cm / 7.1 kg

I/O PORTS 

Serial, Parallel, SCSI, ADBx2

BUILT IN MEDIA 

One 3.5'' FDD 40 MB HDD (optional)

OS  

MAC OS 6.0.4 to 7.5.5

POWER SUPPLY 

Internal lead-acid battery 6.5V

PRICE  

$6500

 

Macintosh Portable M5120

Macintosh Portable M5120 was Apple's first attempt to produce a portable version of a desktop computer. It was partially engineered by Alan Kay (designer of the Dynabook), and was the first laptop computer with a GUI interface, along with Atari Stacy.

Apple launched Mac Portable at the same time as the Mac IIci. This marketing tactic could be considered questionable given the fact that the IIci featured a 68030 processor running at 25 MHz while the Portable


version offered a 68000 (in actual fact, a low-power 68HC000) running at 16 MHz.

This is likely the reason that Portable sales never reached the volume that Apple was hoping for; this despite the fact that the machine was twice as fast as a Mac SE and nearly as fast as a Mac II.

Despite its weight, the Mac Portable was well-designed. It featured an advanced active-matrix LCD screen, up to 9 MB of SRAM, a 1.44MB floppy disk drive and an optional 40MB 3.5-inch hard disk drive. Its lead-acid battery -- responsible for most of the machine's weight -- offered 8 to 10 hours of autonomy which was quite an achievement at that time.

18 months after the Portable was first launched, Apple released Mac Portable M5126 with backlit LCD screen, less expensive SDRAM, and lower retail price. The machine was eventually discontinued six months later, but the system icon made for this computer became the icon for all Mac portables for several years to come.


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