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Blackbird Prototype AKA PowerBook YYY

mcdermd

Well-known member
I'm sure there are many that don't read my "My Latest" thread so I figured I'd link up to this find I procured the other weekend. It came from a former Apple employee and is fairly well worn. But what can you say, it's a prototype. I figured it's interesting enough to put a heads-up for pictures.

DSC06961.JPG

DSC06978.jpg

Here's the full page

 

Byrd

Well-known member
Nice PB! Thanks for posting up the pics. Does the motherboard itself have any unusual markings or writing etc, or is the flash EEPROM chip the main difference? Noting the YYY moniker wasn't the Powerbook XXX a prototype PB 5300/Mustang?

Most PB 5x0 units I've come across have looked very worn, even though they probably weren't as thrashed out as you'd think. They looked amazing when new but the plastics on these tend to scratch, fade and discolour easily over time. The plastics also tend to snap easily with a minor drop. Still, a souped up PB540c is my idea of the ultimate retro Powerbook, in terms of design and power under the hood for its day.

JB

 

mcdermd

Well-known member
I'm thinking it's fairly late in the design process. But here's a large pic of the logic board:

http://www.applefool.com/applefool/Blackbird_Prototype_files/Media/DSC06924/DSC06924.jpg

There appears to be a dearth of resistors under the floppy area and the chips are different than the production design.You can eagle eye the rest of the pics and tell me if you find anything ;) I like the power button with the standard circle line instead of the ADB-standard triangle.

 

mcdermd

Well-known member
Heh, yeah.

And Byrd, the 'Book is actually in fairly good condition - the plastics are all in decent shape. It's really just the rubberized top case that's beat up. Not much I can do about that either.

 
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