Apple Macintosh 128K vs Apple Macintosh 512Ke

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Macintosh 128K compared with Macintosh 512Ke

	AppleMacintosh 128K	AppleMacintosh 512Ke
Overview
Released
Released	January 1984	–
Performance
Processor
Processor	68000 8 MHz (Macintosh 128K)	68000 8 MHz (Macintosh 512Ke)
CPU cores
CPU cores	1	1
Memory
Memory	128 KB	512 KB (better)
CPU
CPU	8 MHz 68000; maker lists no PMMU, FPU, cache or second processor	Motorola MC68000, nominally 8 MHz with the exact 7.8336 MHz clock frequency published in the original owner guide and technical library; 32-bit internal architecture and 16-bit external data path. No PMMU, FPU, CPU cache or second processor.
Memory type
Memory type	Fixed 128 KB RAM and 64 KB ROM, Apple's original SE/30 owner manual Macintosh product-line appendix and contemporaneous reviews. Retained Apple support sheet incorrectly labels RAM 0.125 MB; no built-in expansion, with third-party upgrades described separately	Fixed 512 KB RAM and 128 KB ROM; no RAM slots or built-in memory expansion. The enhanced model has the larger ROM and double-sided floppy drive, without the Macintosh Plus’s expandable memory or SCSI connector.
Storage type
Storage type	Built-in 400 KB removable floppy drive, manually loaded and automatically ejected; no internal hard drive or hard-drive interface. Floppy capacity remains removable-media detail, not main internal storage	One internal 800 KB double-sided 3.5-inch floppy drive, with optional external 400 KB or 800 KB drive. No fixed internal storage or internal CD-ROM. Apple Hard Disk 20 is an optional external device attached through the disk interface, not an internal or SCSI drive.
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	None	None; no standard internal memory expansion. A separately included programmer’s switch can be fitted for reset and interrupt functions by application developers.
Display
Screen size
Screen size	9″	9″
Resolution
Resolution	512 × 342	512 × 342
Panel
Panel	CRT	CRT
Display type
Display type	9-inch monochrome CRT, 512 × 342 pixels; 9-inch diagonal confirmed in Apple's original SE/30 owner manual, Macintosh product-line appendix; generic maker table 512 × 384 conflicts with its explicit note 512 × 342	Built-in 9-inch monochrome bit-mapped CRT, 512 × 342 pixels. Original owner guide and technical-library sheet agree; the current Apple table’s generic 512 × 384 entry is expressly corrected by its own screen-size note. Native refresh rate unpublished in these exact sources.
Display features
Display features	One-bit black-and-white bitmap display; no separate text mode, as described in BYTE	–
Connections
Ports
Ports	Headphone jack	Headphone jack
Back ports
Back ports	External floppy DB-19, printer and modem serial ports, keyboard, mouse and speaker/headphone output; no USB, ADB, SCSI, Ethernet, FireWire or external video. Maker warns serial ports lack handshaking and synchronous modem support	DB-9 mouse connector, RJ11 synchronous serial keyboard bus, two DB-9 RS-232/RS-422 serial connectors, external floppy DB-19 and sound output for amplifier/headphones. No ADB, USB, FireWire, Ethernet, external video or SCSI connector. Current Apple support warns that the serial ports do not support handshaking or synchronous modems.
Speakers
Speakers	–	Built-in sound system; original maker guide specifies four-voice sound with 8-bit digital-to-analogue conversion at 22 kHz. No built-in microphone.
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	–	Original guide describes a separate 58-key detachable keyboard, mouse, System Tools disk, Guided Tour disk and audio cassette, plus a programmer’s switch. Maker cover shows an extended keyboard with numeric keypad; gallery photos can include optional external drives, keyboards, printers and other separately supplied equipment. These are labelled rather than treated as standard computer hardware.
Design and power
Type
Type	All-in-one	All-in-one
Weight
Weight	–	7.5 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	–	246 × 276 × 346 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Maker 16.5 lb and 13.6 in height × 9.6 in width × 10.9 in depth; original units retained	Main figures use later exact Apple technical-library metric values: 346 mm high × 246 mm wide × 276 mm deep and 7.5 kg main-unit weight. Original 1986 owner guide instead gives 344 mm height; current support retains 13.6H × 9.6W × 10.9D inches. These small maker rounding differences are retained explicitly. Keyboard and mouse excluded; original guide separately lists 1.2 kg keyboard and 0.2 kg mouse.
Power supply
Power supply	Maker maximum 60 W, 105–125 V, 50–60 Hz, 0.5 A; 4.5 V alkaline	Exact technical-library sheet specifies 105–125 V AC, 50–60 Hz and maximum 60 W for this documented voltage version; no universal-voltage claim. User-replaceable 4.5 V Eveready No. 523 or equivalent clock battery.
In the box
In the box	Separate keyboard and mouse; initial MacWrite/MacPaint bundle described by LA Times. Apple introduction 24 January 1984; January retail month supported by actual 29 January LA Times review, not inferred exact first-sale day. BYTE identifies Motorola 68000; support sheet omits supplier	Exact original guide is titled Macintosh 512K enhanced, the long name of Macintosh 512Ke. Current maker support lists introduction 14 April 1986 and discontinuation 1 September 1987; a distinct first retail-sale date has not been established, so released is omitted. The guide names Macintosh 512K enhanced System Tools; the current support table’s retrospective original-system-software entry is not adopted as a verified launch disk version. Photographs are original maker owner-guide images of this exact model, with scan colour casts and period screen contents retained.