Did Apple ever offer an official Mac II/IIx to IIfx upgrade?

[olePigeon]

Just curious if Apple ever offered a II/IIx to IIfx upgrade like they'd done with several other model computers.  Go to an Authorized Apple Reseller, trade in the II mobo and get a IIfx mobo, power supply, and a new sticker badge.

 

[unity]

Yes. And surprisingly this info is still on their servers.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA33185?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

 

[Concorde1993]

I bought an upgraded Mac II from Beachycove a couple of months back. It has a IIfx board, and IIfx badging on the bottom cover (only the front cover still has the "Macintosh II" badging). I also have the Apple Upgrade Kit guide for the IIfx. I can scan it if you like. 

 

[olePigeon]

Nope, was just curious.  I almost bought a Macintosh II.  If I had, I'd've probably put a IIfx mobo in it at some point.

 

[jsarchibald]

http://www.stevenmatarazzo.com/oldmac/AppleGuides/Macintosh_CPUs_and_Expansion_Cards/Macintosh_IIfx_Logic_Board_Upgrade.pdf

This.

Doesn't look like you get a badge, which would explain the Mac II that I have that has a IIfx board.  Came from a stash not used since the 90's, so I'm thinking it would have been a genuine upgrade.

 

[bear]

I have one. It says "Macintosh II" on the front, has a IIfx board and an injection molded plastic plate that says "Macintosh IIfx" with the corresponding model number, copyright and FCC info, etc. stuck over the place where the original bottom tub molding says "Macintosh II" and the rest of it. Just like Concorde1993 describes.

Mine also has a Microsoft property tag on it. But that's another story. 

 

[Unknown_K]

I have an original II with IIfx upgrade (sticker on the bottom). A stock Mac II is pretty rare these days.

 

[jsarchibald]

I only have 6 or so...

Reminds me that I need to test and sell off the excess.

 

[unity]

I almost bought another Mac II form Ebay a couple weeks ago, but it had evil caps. I am glad I have the first revision, only a couple motherboard caps that may go bad. Wonder why they switch to the tony tin trash can caps.

 

[Quadraman]

Most of the "IIfx" machines that you see for sale on ebay are actually upgraded II/IIx machines. You can see in the photos accompanying the listings that the cases have Macintosh II or IIx on the case fronts. A "real" IIfx is harder to find. Upgrading an older machine to a IIfx by swapping motherboards was cheaper than buying an actual IIfx so many users of the older machines opted to go that route instead. It was like upgrading an Apple IIe to a IIGS, but in that case the upgraded IIe's are actually more than rare than actual IIGS's because not many people saw the advantage and the Macintosh was already on the horizon at that time. 

I bought a IIfx not long ago even though I figured the board would be destroyed by cap and battery rot just because it was in an actual IIfx case. 

 

[Unknown_K]

I figured all those early adapter Mac II buyers had a good reason to upgrade to a IIfx motherboard (superdrives being a good reason since software was no longer coming out in DD disks). IIx's were not sold that long compared to the original II.

Both of my IIfx were original IIfx cases. One of them was kind of yellowed so I purchased a IIfx case which was actually a II upgraded to IIfx (liked the novelty of it). Still have the yellowed case in the garage.

Replacing caps on the II series is easy, much easier then a Classic II compact that for sure.