Were manual floppies even available in that time frame? Listing the ROMs as being made in 1986 is more than a tad misleading, 64k ROMs/EPROMs go back a ways. Date on the MoBo would be nice to have.
But it's still a VERY interesting prototype:
1) Looks like it may have had vampire video in early development. It's crazy that the low end LC was introduced with dedicated VRAM on a 256k (512k upgrade capable) SIMM on the same day as the mid-range IIsi with with its accursed Vampire Video limited to 64k-320k!
2) To add injuries to that first IIsi injury, the LC had 2MB on the board and the IIsi had only 1MB. Looks like this prototype has the four 512k DRAM ICs of the shipping model and pads for another four. Evil Apple further lamed the IIsi by implementing 8 256k chips on the motherboard to prevent easily upgrading the board's memory. Was it 4MB that uniserver hacked onto the IIsi board? Has anyone hacked the missing DRAM onto an LC board?
3) Note the missing FDD opening, I wonder if the LC was in the works before the IIe was being phased out in the schools and the IIe card/Dual FDD price point options were then deemed a necessity for the Mac to compete with WinTel machines in that market?
4) That wonderful floppy slot hearkens back to the Lisa 1 and TwiggyMac designs with their squarish, sloped indent for 5.25" floppy handling. That's pure Snow White goodness as compared to the MEH Espresso KissyLips of the later 475/605 designs.
Love this prototype LC. What a wonderful glimpse into the design/marketing shenanigans that transpired within the Infinite Loopiness. I'd never thought to compare the LC and IIsi head to head before this popped up.
