Curious 128K Auction

[Mac128]

The seller claims this Mac 128K was upgraded to a 512K by Apple, who also changed the rear bucket! This is news to me. Did Apple actually do this? Clearly this guys Mac was once a 128K Mac with a front serial number dated 29th week of 84. However, the rear case bucket not only ha the 512K badge, but also the M0001W agency label. I can sort of see the badge update, but the whole agency label? This looks more like an entire bucket upgrade. Could it be that Apple actually di go to this much extra expense? I've seen loads of 128Ks filled with 512K boards, but this is the first I've heard of like this.

 

[shred]

Apple were very thorough with their upgrades. I never did a 128k -> 512k upgrade, however I performed many 512k -> Plus upgrades.

The upgrades always included all stickers and everything to make the upgraded machine almost indistinguishable from the "real thing". In the case of the 512->Plus, the rear case had to be replaced to accommodate the Mini-DIN serial ports and SCSI connector. The 128k and 512k both shared the same rear case, IIRC, so I'd only expect the stickers to be replaced.

 

[Mac128]

Apple were very thorough with their upgrades. ... The upgrades always included all stickers and everything to make the upgraded machine almost indistinguishable from the "real thing". In the case of the 512->Plus, the rear case had to be replaced to accommodate the Mini-DIN serial ports and SCSI connector.

In the case of the 512K-Plus, the back was complete from the factory, no other way to do it because the ports were custom. However, are you saying Apple provided a "Macintosh Plus" sticker for the front of the 512K? Obviously the front could not be completely indistinguishable if only because the Apple logo could not change without a whole new bezel. What I am saying is that I have never seen a 512K Mac with a mismatched serial number, i.e. a pre August '84 serial number with a 512K label an I have seen quite a few 512K upgraded 128Ks. Of course that doesn't mean much, perhaps Apple did not supply the new badging and labels until later. Or perhaps many authorized service centers didn't apply the new labels, or the units I have seen were done by the user years after the upgrade kits were no longer available. FYI, the seller confirms that this is in fact what Apple did. I wonder if the customer could request they not be changed?