Apple Macintosh LC 580 vs Apple Macintosh SE FDHD
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacintosh LC 580 | AppleMacintosh SE FDHD | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | 1995 | 1989 |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Motorola 68LC040 33 MHz (Macintosh LC 575) | 68000 8 MHz (Macintosh SE) |
| CPU cores | 1 | 1 |
| Memory | 8 MB (better) | 1 MB or 2 MB |
| Storage | 500 MB (better) | 20 MB to 40 MB |
| CPU | Original Motorola 68LC040 at 33 MHz, without an integrated floating-point unit. Apple catalogue gives 66/33 MHz internal/bus clock; optional PowerPC upgrade is excluded from this configuration. Shared Service Source describes it as an updated LC 575 | MC68000 with 32-bit internal architecture at 7.83 MHz in the original exact FDHD brochure and service manual. Current Apple support rounds the clock to 8 MHz and specifies a 16-bit data path; the existing nominal 8 MHz SE chip record is reused. No FPU, PMMU, L1 or L2 cache, or second processor. |
| GPU | Built-in video uses 1 MB DRAM soldered to the logic board, displaying 32,768 colours at 640 × 480 | – |
| Memory type | 8 MB standard in the maker catalogue: 4 MB soldered plus one 4 MB SIMM, with a second socket free. Two 72-pin 80 ns SIMM sockets, expandable to 52 MB; the single-bank socket accepts only 1, 4 or 16 MB modules. 1 MB ROM in original service specifications | Exact ordering configurations have 1 MB for dual-FDHD and 20 MB hard-disk systems, or 2 MB for the 40 MB hard-disk system; expandable to 4 MB. Four 30-pin SIMM sockets, 150 ns or faster, using 256 KB or 1 MB modules installed in pairs; two-chip 1 MB SIMMs are unsupported. No soldered system RAM. 256 KB ROM includes the FDHD drive routines, Hierarchical File System, QuickDraw, Macintosh Toolbox, AppleTalk, ADB and SCSI support. 256 bytes of parameter memory. |
| Storage type | 500 MB internal IDE hard disk in the catalogue configuration, plus manual-inject Apple SuperDrive floppy. Double-speed tray-loading internal CD-ROM is optional or included in some regional configurations; the separately marketed Performa 580CD has its own software and hardware bundle | Original August 1989 maker brochure explicitly offers M0029LL/A with 1 MB RAM and two 1.4 MB FDHD floppy drives; M0028LL/A with 1 MB, one FDHD drive and 20 MB internal SCSI hard disk; M0031LL/A with 2 MB, one FDHD drive and 40 MB internal SCSI hard disk. Current support calls the FDHD capacity 1.44 MB. Drive reads and writes 400 KB and 800 KB Macintosh disks as well as high-density Macintosh disks, and exchanges MS-DOS, OS/2 and ProDOS-format disks with Apple File Exchange. Capacities are retained in their original units; fixed-storage headline is omitted for the floppy-only configuration. No CD-ROM included. |
| Expansion slots | One 114-pin LC processor-direct slot, one communications slot for optional Ethernet or fax modem, one video-input slot for optional capture hardware and an internal connector for optional external video | One SE-Bus processor-direct expansion slot with a 96-pin Euro-DIN connector and accessory access opening. Original exact brochure explicitly says SE/30 and NuBus cards are incompatible with this slot. Compatible optional accelerator, network, coprocessor and external-display adapter cards require their own software and hardware. |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 14″ | 9″ |
| Resolution | 640 × 480 (better) | 512 × 342 |
| Panel | CRT | CRT |
| Refresh rate | 66.67 Hz | – |
| Display type | Built-in 14-inch diagonal shadow-mask colour CRT, 0.28 mm dot pitch. The exact service manual calls the viewable image 11.5 inches and gives a nominal 240 × 180 mm active raster; these maker descriptions are retained separately | Built-in 9-inch, one-bit monochrome CRT at 512 × 342. Exact brochure, service manual and current support's explicit note agree; the generic current support table's 512 × 384 row is not adopted. No refresh rate is published in the sources read. |
| Display features | 640 × 480 at 66.67 Hz in the exact timing table (66.7 Hz rounded elsewhere in the same manual); 16-bit colour | – |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | Headphone jack | Headphone jack |
| Front ports | Stereo headphone socket; front brightness and contrast controls | – |
| Back ports | One ADB port; one DB-25 SCSI port supporting six external devices; two RS-232/RS-422 serial ports, with 9-pin mini-DIN modem and 8-pin mini-DIN printer connectors; mono sound input and stereo sound output | Two ADB ports; printer and modem RS-232/RS-422 serial ports with mini-DIN-8 connectors and up to 230.4 Kbaud in the original brochure; external DB-25 SCSI; DB-19 external floppy connector; sound output for an external amplifier or speaker. AppleTalk/LocalTalk networking uses the serial ports. No built-in Ethernet, USB, FireWire, microphone input or computer-monitor video connector. |
| External displays | Optional external video connector supports mirroring on compatible 640 × 480 and 800 × 600 monitors, as listed in the shared service manual; no external video socket as standard | No built-in external-video output. An optional compatible SE-Bus external-display adapter is required; its display modes and limits are not assigned to the standard machine. |
| Speakers | Two integrated speakers; 8-bit stereo playback and mono recording at 11 or 22 kHz. Optional CD-ROM supports audio-CD playback | Built-in sound with a four-voice generator, 8-bit digital-to-analogue conversion and 22 kHz sampling rate. One miniature sound-output port for an external amplifier; no stereo or measured loudness claim assigned. |
| Microphones | Integrated microphone for monaural sound input | – |
| Keyboard and mouse | Supports Apple Desktop Bus keyboards and the ADB Mouse II. Maker photograph shows a keyboard and mouse; regional education bundles vary | Exact ordering brochure supplies the mouse, system software, HyperCard, Guided Tour disk, owner's guide, Getting Started guide and warranty statement. Apple Keyboard or Apple Extended Keyboard is packaged and sold separately, not assumed included. The primary is the original FDHD-labelled maker brochure photograph of the single-floppy/hard-disk housing. |
| Design and power | ||
| Type | All-in-one | All-in-one |
| Weight | 18.3 kg | – |
| Width × depth × height | 343 × 419 × 455 mm | 244 × 276 × 345 mm |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Size and weight detail | Apple catalogue: 455 × 343 × 419 mm (height × width × depth), 18.3 kg, varying with installed devices. Service Source rounds the same 17.9 × 13.5 × 16.5 inch case to 455 × 344 × 420 mm and 18.4 kg; headline follows the catalogue’s published metric values | Exact original FDHD brochure and shared service manual give 34.5 × 24.4 × 27.6 cm (height × width × depth), also printed as 13.6 × 9.6 × 10.9 inches. Current exact support instead prints a 9.69-inch width; original maker metric values are used without converting the differently rounded inch values. Weight is 7.7–9.5 kg / 17–21 lb depending on fitted hard disk or second floppy drive; no one configuration-specific weight is established, so headline mass remains omitted. |
| Power supply | Automatically configured 100–240 V AC mains; service supply operating range 90–264 V rms, 50–60 Hz ±3 Hz | Exact original brochure and shared service specify 100 W maximum, regional 90–140 or 170–270 V AC, 47–63 Hz. Current support summarises 90–270 V and 0.83 A. Maximum input is not typical operating consumption. Brochure describes a CMOS clock/calendar with a seven-year lithium battery; no guessed battery chemistry capacity is added. |
| Noise | – | Original exact brochure rates the cross-flow fan at 10 CFM and 38 dB without acoustic distance or weighting; this is not a measured whole-computer noise figure. |
| Power use | Service Source: 120 W maximum for all line and load conditions. Current support article describes a PowerPC-upgraded configuration and lists 60 W, so that figure is not transferred to the original model | – |
| In the box | Original 68LC040 model is offered in Apple’s April and October 1995 catalogues; the latter identifies US education-only sales and varying worldwide configurations. Current Apple support article describes an installed PowerPC 601 upgrade card. It records introduction on 3 April 1995, while contemporary Macworld says education shipping was planned for that day; exact actual first retail delivery is unconfirmed, so release retains supported year precision | System Tools 6.0.3 or later with Finder 6.1 or later, printer drivers, Apple File Exchange, HD SC Setup, Disk First Aid and Font D/A Mover; HyperCard included. Exact August 1989 current ordering brochure establishes sale in 1989, without proving first-sale month or day; Apple's introduction date is 1 August 1989. This is the FDHD hardware revision, distinct from the published original 1987 SE with 800 KB drives. Linked 1988 SE owner's guide covers the earlier 800 KB edition and must be read with the separately linked FDHD supplement; it is not specification evidence for this revision's drive capacity. No unsupported official predecessor link assigned. |
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