Vintage Macs: Mac II Series

Mac IIx

code names: Spock, Stratos

Got a Mac II or other vintage Mac? Join LEM's Vintage Macs Group.
LEM's System 6 Group is for anyone using Mac System 6.

Overview

Macintosh IIx with RGB display

Building on the success of the Mac II, the 1988 IIx housed a 68030 CPU and 68882 FPU (floating point unit) in the same case. Breakthrough features included the DOS-compatible 1.4 MB SuperDrive (a.k.a. FDHD for floppy disk, high density) and virtual memory. Although advertised as a 32-bit computer, the Mac IIx ROMs were "dirty," containing some 24-bit code. Running in 32-bit mode requires Mode32 (search the page for "mode32").

The IIx requires special PAL SIMMs when using 4 MB or larger SIMMs. With these it can support 128 MB.

There is a ROM SIMM slot on the Mac IIx which must be filled with a IIx ROM. Without this ROM, the computer will not function.

Upgrade Advice

If you want more speed, consider upgrading to a IIfx instead of adding an accelerator. You can easily move your video card and other accessories (but not RAM) to the new computer.

If you're content with performance but run out of memory, move to 8 MB ($10 or so depending on how much RAM you already have).
Consider a Mac IIfx motherboard ($10-25). You will need to buy 64-bit SIMMs, quite possibly making this more expensive than buying a used IIfx.
LOW END MAC BEST BUY Buy a used Mac IIfx (starting at less than $50 depending on configuration). This provides almost 3x the speed and usually 8-16 MB RAM and an 80-160 MB hard drive. Since you only have 2-8 MB in your IIx, the fact that the IIfx uses 64-bit SIMMs isn't a big factor. You may well get an accelerated video card in the bargain.
A newer hard drive will be larger and faster than the one Apple shipped with the computer, but you won't be able to take full advantage of that speed on such an old computer.
If you want to run a larger monitor, support other bit depths, or have accelerated video, check out our Guide to NuBus Video Cards. There are lots to choose from, and many of them are dirt cheap on the used market.

The Upgrade Box

Details

introduced 1988.09.19 at $7,769 ($9,269 with 40 MB hard drive); discontinued 1990.10.15
part no.: M5480
Gestalt ID: 7
upgrade path: IIfx

Mac OS

requires System 6.0.2 to 7.5.5
addressing: 24-bit, 32-bit requires Mode32

Core System

CPU: 40 MHz 68030
CPU: 16 MHz 68030
FPU: 16 MHz 68882
ROM: 256 KB
RAM: 1 MB, expandable to 128 MB using both 4-SIMM banks of 120ns 30-pin memory; supports 256 KB, 1 MB, 4 MB, and 16 MB SIMMs; 4 MB and 16 MB must be PAL SIMMs

Performance

2.9 (relative to SE); 3.4 (Speedometer); 3.9 MIPS

Graphics

video: requires video card - see our Guide to NuBus Video Cards for more information.

Drives

hard drive: 40 or 80 MB 5.25"
floppy drive: 1.4 MB double-sided
internal bay for second floppy drive

Expansion

ADB ports: 2
serial ports: 2 DIN-8 RS-422 ports on back of computer
SCSI ports: DB-25 connector on back of computer
sound: 8-bit stereo
NuBus slots: 6

Physical

size (HxWxD): 5.5" x 18.7" x 14.5"
weight: 24 lbs.
PRAM battery: 3.6V half-AA
power supply: 230W

Accelerators & Upgrades

Apple Macintosh IIfx motherboard (40 MHz 68030, uses 64-pin SIMMs)
Daystar Turbo 040 (33 MHz, 40 MHz 68040), discontinued
MicroMac Diimo/030 (50 MHz 68030), 64 KB cache, optional 50 MHz 68882 FPU
MicroMac Carrera (33 MHz and 40 MHz 68040), optional 128 KB cache
MicroMac 90 MHz Carrera (45 MHz 68040)
Sonnet Technologies Allegro IIx (33 MHz 68030), discontinued

Accelerator Reviews

Radius Rocket

Online Resources

Low End Mac's best classic Mac OS deals. Best online prices for System 6, 7.1, 7.5.x, Mac OS 7.6, 8.0, 8.1, 8.5, 9.0, 9.2.2, and other versions.
Environmentally responsible retirement for old Macs, Rick Lawson, Pioneers in Mac Development, 2008.06.13. After you've scavenged what useful parts you can from your old Mac, what's the most environmentally friendly way to dispose of the rest?
Know your Mac's upgrade options, Phil Herlihy, The Usefulness Equation, 2008.08.26. Any Mac can be upgraded, but it's a question of what can be upgraded - RAM, hard drive, video, CPU - and how far it can be upgraded.
Creating Classic Mac boot floppies in OS X, Paul Brierley, The 'Book Beat, 2008.08.07. Yes, it is possible to create a boot floppy for the Classic Mac OS using an OS X Mac that doesn't have Classic. Here's how.
The compressed air keyboard repair, Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2008.07.24. If your keyboard isn't working as well as it once did, blasting under the keys with compressed air may be the cure.
Tales of old Mac data retrieval, Adam Rosen, Adam's Apple, 2008.06.13. Getting apps and documents off 400K floppies, old disk images, and a Mac running System 5.
A vintage Mac network can be as useful as a modern one, Carl Nygren, My Turn, 2008.04.08. Old Macs can exchange data and share an Internet connection very nicely using Apple's old LocalTalk networking.
Vintage Mac networking and file exchange, Adam Rosen, Adam's Apple, 2007.12.19. How to network vintage Macs with modern Macs and tips on exchanging files using floppies, Zip disks, and other media.
Vintage Mac video and monitor mania, Adam Rosen, Adam's Apple, 2007.12.17. Vintage Macs and monitors didn't use VGA connectors. Tips on making modern monitors work with old Macs.
Getting inside vintage Macs and swapping out bad parts, Adam Rosen, Adam's Apple, 2007.12.14. When an old Mac dies, the best source of parts is usually another dead Mac with different failed parts.
Solving Mac startup problems, Adam Rosen, Adam's Apple, 2007.12.12. When your old Mac won't boot, the most likely culprits are a dead PRAM battery or a failed (or failing) hard drive.
Why you should partition your Mac's hard drive, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2008.12.11. "At the very least, it makes sense to have a second partition with a bootable version of the Mac OS, so if you have problems with your work partition, you can boot from the 'emergency' partition to run Disk Utility and other diagnostics."
Know your Mac's upgrade options, Phil Herlihy, The Usefulness Equation, 2008.08.26. Any Mac can be upgraded, but it's a question of what can be upgraded - RAM, hard drive, video, CPU - and how far it can be upgraded.
Better and safer surfing with Internet Explorer and the Classic Mac OS, Max Wallgren, Mac Daniel, 2007.11.06. Tips on which browsers work best with different Mac OS versions plus extra software to clean cookies and caches, detect viruses, handle downloads, etc.
Simple Macs for simple tasks, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 2007.10.19. Long live 680x0 Macs and the classic Mac OS. For simple tasks such as writing, they can provide a great, low distraction environment.
Interchangeabilty and compatibility of Apple 1.4 MB SuperDrive floppy drives, Sonic Purity, Mac Daniel, 2007.09.26. Apple used two kinds of high-density floppy drives on Macs, auto-inject and manual inject. Can they be swapped?
Macintosh IIx: Apple's flagship gains a better CPU, FPU, and floppy drive, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2007.09.19. 20 years ago Apple improved the Mac II by using a Motorola 68030 CPU with the new 68882 FPU. And to top it off, the IIx was the first Mac that could read DOS disks with its internal drive.
Vintage Macs provide a less distracting writing environment, Brian Richards, Advantage Mac, 2007.09.18. A Mac OS X user finds an old Macintosh IIsi and discovers the joy of writing undisturbed by music, messaging, and streaming content.
Mac System 7.5.5 can do anything Mac OS 7.6.1 can, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2007.06.04. Yes, it is possible to run Internet Explorer 5.1.7 and SoundJam with System 7.5.5. You just need to have all the updates - and make one modification for SoundJam.
Format any drive for older Macs with patched Apple tools, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2007.04.25. Apple HD SC Setup and Drive Setup only work with Apple branded hard drives - until you apply the patches linked to this article.
Making floppies and CDs for older Macs using modern Macs, Windows, and Linux PCs, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2007.03.15. Older Macs use HFS floppies and CDs. Here are the free resources you'll need to write floppies or CDs for vintage Macs using your modern computer.
The legendary Apple Extended Keyboard, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 2006.10.13. Introduced in 1987, this extended keyboard was well designed and very solidly built. It remains a favorite of long-time Mac users.
30 days of old school computing: No real hardships, Ted Hodges, Vintage Mac Living, 2006.10.11. These old black-and-white Macs are just fine for messaging, word processing, spreadsheets, scheduling, contact management, and browsing the Web.
Jag's House, where older Macs still rock, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 2006.09.25. Over a decade old, Jag's House is the oldest Mac website supporting classic Macs and remains a great resource for vintage Mac users.
Vintage Macs with System 6 run circles around 3 GHz Windows 2000 PC, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2006.07.06. Which grows faster, hardware speed or software bloat? These benchmarks show vintage Macs let you be productive much more quickly than modern Windows PCs.
Floppy drive observations: A compleat guide to Mac floppy drives and disk formats, Scott Baret, Online Tech Journal, 2006.06.29. A history of the Mac floppy from the 400K drive in the Mac 128K through the manual-inject 1.4M SuperDrives used in the late 1990s.
Moving files from your new Mac to your vintage Mac, Paul Brierley, The 'Book Beat, 2006.06.13. Old Macs use floppies; new ones don't. Old Macs use AppleTalk; Tiger doesn't support it. New Macs can burn CDs, but old CD drives can't always read CD-R. So how do you move the files?
System 7.5 and Mac OS 7.6: The beginning and end of an era, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2006.02.15. System 7.5 and Mac OS 7.6 introduced many new features and greater modernity while staying within reach of most early Macintosh models.
Turning an LC or other ancient Mac into a webcam with a QuickCam, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2006.01.25. As long as it has 4 MB of RAM and a hard drive, any 16 MHz or faster Mac that supports color can be configured as a webcam.
System 7: Bigger, better, more expandable, and a bit slower than System 6, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2006.01.04. The early versions of System 7 provide broader capability for modern tasks than System 6 while still being practical for even the lowliest Macs.
Web browser tips for the classic Mac OS, Nathan Thompson, Embracing Obsolescence, 2006.01.03. Tips on getting the most out of WaMCom, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, iCab, Opera, and WannaBe using the classic Mac OS.
The Joy of Six: Apple's fast, svelte, reliable, and still usable System 6, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2005.12.06. System 6 was small enough to run quickly from an 800K floppy yet powerful enough to support 2 GB partitions, 24-bit video, and the Internet.
The legendary DayStar Turbo 040 hot rods 68030 Macs, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2005.11.29. DayStar's vintage upgrade can make an SE/30 and most models in the Mac II series faster than the 'wicked fast' Mac IIfx.
Which system software is best for my vintage Mac?, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2005.11.22. Which system software works best depends to a great extent on just which Mac you have and how much RAM is installed.
Macintosh II Family Technical Overview, darknerd, Angelfire. Some excellent, rarely discussed technical details on the whole Mac II lineup.
NuBus Video Cards. Profiles of Apple, Radius, SuperMac, and other NuBus video cards for Macs.
Games for '030s, Brian Rumsey, Low End Mac Gaming, 5/26. A look at games that run nicely on the old 68030-based Macs.
The Once and Future Mac286 Page on the Web, John Rushmeyer. All about the AST Mac286 card.
Why System 6 for Mac IIs?, Manuel Mejia, Mac Daniel. If they can use System 7, why use System 6?
System 6 for the Macintosh, Ruud Dingemans. If you have an older, slower, memory-limited Mac, System 6 is fast, stable, and still very usable.
Mac IIx Upgrade Page, MacSpeedZone
Faster browsing on older Macs, Online Tech Journal
Information on 32-bit addressing
Email lists: Classic Macs Digest, Vintage Macs
System6, the email list for those who choose to use System 6.0.x.
Memory upgrade guide
Links to System 6.0.8 and 7.0.1
Apple Macintosh IIfx (includes info on Mac IIx)
Macintosh IIx Technical Specifications, Apple Knowledge Base Archive

Cautions

Never connect an Apple II 5.25" floppy drive to the Mac's floppy port. Doing so can ruin the floppy controller, meaning you can't even use the internal drive any longer.
Mode32 or Apple's 32-bit Enabler required to access more than 8 MB RAM. (Mode32 v7. works with System 7.5; Apple's enabler does not.)
Internal video on the IIci and IIsi, and the Mac II mono and color video cards, will not work with multisync monitors, whether Apple or PC style. Griffin Technology made the Mac 2 Series Adapter, which works with Apple's Multiple Scan monitors and most Mac compatible monitors. There was also a version for using VGA-type monitors on older Macs.
Serial port normally restricted to 57.6 kbps; throughput with a 56k modem may be limited. See 56k modem page. For more information on Mac serial ports, read Macintosh Serial Throughput on the Online Tech Journal.
Apple discontinued support and parts orders for the IIx on 1998.08.31. You may be able to find dealers with parts inventory either locally or on our parts and service list.

Go to the Mac II index.

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