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Neat (RED) Macintosh Plus With a Interesting History

jajan547

Well-known member
I purchased this red Macintosh Plus that I'm sure a few of you may have seen on eBay. As it turns out there is more to the story than what one would imagine. I had first thought that this Macintosh Plus was one of two things, either a very rare and very strange prototype from Apple or a normal Macintosh Plus someone had spray painted some time in the past. As it turns out neither guess was correct. This Macintosh Plus has no paint drips and all areas of white, even inside the case are red. It appears dyed this way. There is also no "Macintosh Plus" badging and no serial number. There was a serial number of some sort "STC HW-0022" on the back and a very strange and professional looking "ae" logo on the rear of the case. Before I continue this is in fact colored this way as in areas that are scuffed are a lighter red or have black marks, there is no white or beige coloring that shows through nor under the rubber feet. Now back to the story I asked the seller how about they came into possession of this item. Well as it turns out it had quite a strange history in that it was used as a display item (promotionional maybe) by Apple at a developers conference in the late 1980's right before the release of the Macintosh SE. Remember this because the "Apple Events Developer Association" used the exact same "ae" logo. As it turns out sometime after the event it was gifted to a SUN Microsystems high ranking individual (can't get a name). He held onto the machine and sometime in 2009 after Oracle bought SUN Microsystems he decided to retire to the Charlotte, North Carolina area. A few years later he decided to get into an assisted living facility due to age related complications and sold off some of his items to clear space. The seller I bought it from told me that this man was very wealthy and that he lived in a very nice home in very upscale area ( I added this to reflect the individuals past and furthermore back what I am sharing). I then purchased the machine from this seller just a few months ago and am now the third owner if you don't count Apple. Thankfully Charlotte isn't far from me so shipping took a day and now it is with me. I wanted to add some photos below for you to see what I mean about the "Apple Events Developer Association" and just to share something that some may overlook, either way it has such a unique and interesting history.

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tecneeq

Well-known member
May i ask what the financial damage was? Any more hardware info or is it just a regualr Plus otherwise?

A really cool conquest, i'd bet there aren't 22 of them still around. :giggle:
 

jajan547

Well-known member
Just seems to be a normal plus aside from a red color and strange label. Didn’t cost too too much with keyboard believe I’m after shipping it came out to $200.
 

LaPorta

Well-known member
Did it come with that keyboard? It appears to be a legit Plus front bezel (correct, non-128k/512k Apple). Are there any indications on the logic board as to what date/revision logic board it has (assuming it wasn’t replaced)? I see that the battery door is also red: I think one real deal-sealer for a factory-type job would be red on the inside of the door, with the foam padding applied over it: no one would go so far as to remove padding, paint, then install new padding unless really OCD.
 

jajan547

Well-known member
Padding is black and has no paint over it. As for the logic board I think it’s a C revision just a standard board. But may I add that board was dirty ! I cleaned it up and it works great looks to have very low hours judging by the CRT.
 

Andrew

Well-known member
Congratulations for the neat Plus! The rear case moulding near the top vents seems different than the normal beige case. It is more rounded.
 

jajan547

Well-known member
Congratulations for the neat Plus! The rear case moulding near the top vents seems different than the normal beige case. It is more rounded.
Thanks! You think so? Maybe the color just makes it pop I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a bit different I mean it’s already red haha.
 

Andrew

Well-known member
Look at the circle in a random picture I pulled off the internet. It is a 128k but plus is similar. It is clearly different in shape.
Very interesting!!!

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unity

Well-known member
Good eye on those rear edges/corners. But it's not just there, the front corners are soft too. The inner most lines around the CRT are the same, but the outer corners are softened up a lot.

Pretty nifty! I think we all saw that one but I myself did not have a huge interest. Now I kinda do! :D
 

jajan547

Well-known member
Good eye on those rear edges/corners. But it's not just there, the front corners are soft too. The inner most lines around the CRT are the same, but the outer corners are softened up a lot.

Pretty nifty! I think we all saw that one but I myself did not have a huge interest. Now I kinda do! :D
I'll pop it apart maybe someone will notice something I don't.
 

jajan547

Well-known member
Well sorry for the delay analog board caps decided to die so I have replacements on the way, then I’ll post.
 
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