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Apple’s efforts to develop portable computers date back to the late 1980s. The prototype of the original Macintosh Portable M5120, released in September 1989, has been restored and unveiled.
This photo was released by Sonny Dickson, an expert in Apple internal intelligence, sent to Apple-related information site McRumor. Unlike the version released in beige, the prototype Apple originally made is made of transparent plastic. It is one of the six generations confirmed to exist.
The Macintosh Portable was priced at $7,300 at launch. It is true that the first Mac with a built-in battery can be physically transported without cables, but it weighed a whopping 7.2kg. Nevertheless, it can be said to be more portable than standard computers at the time. It was also a product designed to be disassembled only by hand without screws. This is unthinkable on current laptops, and is difficult to imagine on the recent MacBook series, which gets 1 or 2 points from iFixit.
In terms of hardware, a 9.8-inch monochrome TFT-LCD, SRAM that can increase up to 9MB, a 1.44MB floppy disk drive, and a typewriter-style keyboard and trackball can be mounted on either side. Also, when not in use, the display can be closed on the keyboard, which is the same as the current laptop. The handle for carrying and the internal battery used lead-acid batteries, so the continuous use time was 8-10 hours.
The Macintosh Portable was praised by critics at the time, but sales were sluggish due to the high price. Afterwards, the model M51126, which reduced the price of the backlight, was released, but sales of this product stopped half a year later as the battery time was halved. Aside from being able to carry it, it is a Macintosh portable that doesn’t seem to have been handed down to the MacBook series from the PowerBook, but it might be a symbol that shows that even if it’s an Apple brand, it doesn’t matter if the price is recklessly increased. Related information can be found here .
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