Macintosh Portable
- Muirium
- µ
- Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Main keyboard: HHKB Type-S with Bluetooth by Hasu
- Main mouse: Apple Magic Mouse
- Favorite switch: Gotta Try 'Em All
- DT Pro Member: µ
Back in the late 1980s, Apple made its first Mac laptop: the Macintosh Portable. The only one before the PowerBook introduced the ubiquitous modern laptop look with a wrist rest at the front and keyboard at the back. The only one with a trackball on the right. And the only one to feature a mechanical keyboard…
I bumped into this teardown, and found the following pictures of the naked switches:
Does anyone know what switches these are? Regular complicated Alps? The only mention of this keyboard that I've found in the wiki is about its ISO version's Return key: which was on a narrow 2/3rds linear Alps switch.
I bumped into this teardown, and found the following pictures of the naked switches:
Does anyone know what switches these are? Regular complicated Alps? The only mention of this keyboard that I've found in the wiki is about its ISO version's Return key: which was on a narrow 2/3rds linear Alps switch.
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- Location: Stockholm, Sweden
- DT Pro Member: 0011
The local recycling place had the heart to save one of these and put it on display behind the counter.
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- Location: geekhack ergonomics subforum
- Favorite switch: Alps plate spring; clicky SMK
- DT Pro Member: -
I got 2 separate macintosh portable keyboards (one ANSI and one ISO), and both are salmon Alps switches http://deskthority.net/wiki/Alps_SKCM_Salmon, just like the ones in the pictures in this thread. Except the ISO enter uses a skinny green linear switch instead: http://deskthority.net/wiki/Alps_SKCL_Compact
- Muirium
- µ
- Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Main keyboard: HHKB Type-S with Bluetooth by Hasu
- Main mouse: Apple Magic Mouse
- Favorite switch: Gotta Try 'Em All
- DT Pro Member: µ
How do these boards feel, by the way? The machine has a reputation as a boat anchor, but I suspect Apple might have made the keyboard a bit light and flexible anyway.
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- Location: Stockholm, Sweden
- DT Pro Member: 0011
Hmm... Is this the only vintage Apple keyboard with a 1.75 ANSI Return key?
The AEK/AEKII and the AAK have a 2.25 ANSI key, and the M0116 has a backwards-L key that is 1.75 wide. The AKII has a 2u key.
The AEK/AEKII and the AAK have a 2.25 ANSI key, and the M0116 has a backwards-L key that is 1.75 wide. The AKII has a 2u key.
- bhtooefr
- Location: Newark, OH, USA
- Main keyboard: TEX Shinobi
- Main mouse: TrackPoint IV
- Favorite switch: IBM Selectric (not a switch, I know)
- DT Pro Member: 0056
- Contact:
The Apple ///, //e, //c, Lisa, and original Mac all had 1.75 ANSI enters.
- Muirium
- µ
- Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Main keyboard: HHKB Type-S with Bluetooth by Hasu
- Main mouse: Apple Magic Mouse
- Favorite switch: Gotta Try 'Em All
- DT Pro Member: µ
Now there's a thought! Anyone got a broken Mac Portable?jacobolus wrote: ↑Very sturdy. Same kind of plate you find in an M0115 or M0116, but smaller so even more rigid. Put it in a new case and it would make a nice 60%-ish Alps board.
Other than this guy…
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-Macinto ... 0365021341
- urbancamo
- Location: Windermere, UK
- Main keyboard: HHKB PRo 2
- Main mouse: Kensington Pro
- Favorite switch: Topre
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
That is *mega* cool. I love this kind of re-purposing of vintage hardware - taking the best bits and modernising. It's like me using the wyse terminal keyboard as my main work drive but on acid.
- Muirium
- µ
- Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Main keyboard: HHKB Type-S with Bluetooth by Hasu
- Main mouse: Apple Magic Mouse
- Favorite switch: Gotta Try 'Em All
- DT Pro Member: µ
The Mac Portable's still a stylish machine, I like to think. Helps that you can stuff a whole desktop inside of one these days. I have similar plans for my broken SE/30, but the CRT is hard to drive (truly black and white, the electronics hate greyscale I'm told) and 9" is a funny size to find an LCD, which would have to go behind curved glass to keep the look anyway.
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- DT Pro Member: -
Somebody did something like that here.Muirium wrote: ↑I have similar plans for my broken SE/30, but the CRT is hard to drive (truly black and white, the electronics hate greyscale I'm told) and 9" is a funny size to find an LCD, which would have to go behind curved glass to keep the look anyway.
And there's always this option:
- scottc
- ☃
- Location: Remote locations in Europe
- Main keyboard: GH60-HASRO 62g Nixies, HHKB Pro1 HS, Novatouch
- Main mouse: Steelseries Rival 300
- Favorite switch: Nixdorf 'Soft Touch' MX Black
- DT Pro Member: -
You know you can buy Retina iPad displays for about €50-75, and then pretty cheaply buy a board to break it out to DisplayPort. It's something I've wanted to do for a while. You could put a little mITX computer in there! Or in your case, Mu, maybe the guts of a Mac Mini or similar.
That video is hilarious, mr_a500 - I'm amazed that it's such a perfect fit!
That video is hilarious, mr_a500 - I'm amazed that it's such a perfect fit!
- Muirium
- µ
- Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Main keyboard: HHKB Type-S with Bluetooth by Hasu
- Main mouse: Apple Magic Mouse
- Favorite switch: Gotta Try 'Em All
- DT Pro Member: µ
Yep, saw that when I investigated the project a while ago. HHKB is to M0110 what iPad is to Macintosh.
I have a 2007 Intel Mac Mini spare that could go inside and be a fully functional system, with DVI video output. Tell me more about these retina displays, Scott!
I have a 2007 Intel Mac Mini spare that could go inside and be a fully functional system, with DVI video output. Tell me more about these retina displays, Scott!
- scottc
- ☃
- Location: Remote locations in Europe
- Main keyboard: GH60-HASRO 62g Nixies, HHKB Pro1 HS, Novatouch
- Main mouse: Steelseries Rival 300
- Favorite switch: Nixdorf 'Soft Touch' MX Black
- DT Pro Member: -
Sure! You can get the screens on eBay and the usual places. Check out this one, for example. Looks like about £50 shipped to the UK. That's the 9.7" full iPad version, though, so it may be slightly big for the SE. The 7.9" Mini version might work better, if it's supported!
There's an article about the converter on hackaday, and you can buy a complete set of assembled converter + display from the creator in Southampton for £110 here. It's supposed to be open source, but it doesn't look like the creator has released it yet because the schematics are still a gift on Kickstarter.
It uses the all-too-familiar ATmega 32u4, so you could probably save most of the money by just using a Pro Micro and doing it all yourself.
On the Kickstarter page, it does say the following:
There's an article about the converter on hackaday, and you can buy a complete set of assembled converter + display from the creator in Southampton for £110 here. It's supposed to be open source, but it doesn't look like the creator has released it yet because the schematics are still a gift on Kickstarter.
It uses the all-too-familiar ATmega 32u4, so you could probably save most of the money by just using a Pro Micro and doing it all yourself.
On the Kickstarter page, it does say the following:
Which might be an issue for a C2D-era Mac Mini.kickstarter wrote: "PLEASE NOTE: OSCAR is ONLY compatible with DisplayPort / mini DisplayPort and Thunderbolt"
- Muirium
- µ
- Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Main keyboard: HHKB Type-S with Bluetooth by Hasu
- Main mouse: Apple Magic Mouse
- Favorite switch: Gotta Try 'Em All
- DT Pro Member: µ
Bugger. Didn't think I'd be able to pull off retina with DVI anyway, but thanks for the info. 2048x1536 could be beyond DVI's reach, and then there's the problem of getting retina scaling working on older versions of OS X, as the old Minis were ditched by Moutain Lion onwards.
I also doubt I could drive a simple 1024x768 iPad 2 screen either, as Displayport and DVI are quite different things far as I know. Pity, as my old 12 inch PowerBook was that resolution and that would add a second order of nostalgia to the result!
I also doubt I could drive a simple 1024x768 iPad 2 screen either, as Displayport and DVI are quite different things far as I know. Pity, as my old 12 inch PowerBook was that resolution and that would add a second order of nostalgia to the result!
- scottc
- ☃
- Location: Remote locations in Europe
- Main keyboard: GH60-HASRO 62g Nixies, HHKB Pro1 HS, Novatouch
- Main mouse: Steelseries Rival 300
- Favorite switch: Nixdorf 'Soft Touch' MX Black
- DT Pro Member: -
I don't think that the normal non-retina iPad screens are supported by the adapters anyway, and I've have absolutely no idea about how to go about using them. Shame!
- bhtooefr
- Location: Newark, OH, USA
- Main keyboard: TEX Shinobi
- Main mouse: TrackPoint IV
- Favorite switch: IBM Selectric (not a switch, I know)
- DT Pro Member: 0056
- Contact:
The non-retina screens are probably FPD-Link internally, so you could (with lots of rewiring) probably use a controller out of a 15" desktop LCD (which was 1024x768 as well).
And the iPad fitting in the Mac like that is intentional on Apple's part, I think. See, today's Mac isn't the successor of the classic Mac, it's the successor of the NeXT machines. There's a recording of Steve Jobs from 1983... and he's describing the iPad as his target: http://lifelibertytech.com/2012/10/02/t ... app-store/
And the iPad fitting in the Mac like that is intentional on Apple's part, I think. See, today's Mac isn't the successor of the classic Mac, it's the successor of the NeXT machines. There's a recording of Steve Jobs from 1983... and he's describing the iPad as his target: http://lifelibertytech.com/2012/10/02/t ... app-store/
- alh84001
- v.001
- Location: EU-HR-ZG
- Main keyboard: unsaver
- Main mouse: logitech m305 / apple trackpad
- Favorite switch: BS
- DT Pro Member: -
Where did you get the ISO one? Canibalised it from a machine? I'm looking for one, but all I can find is full machines and their prices are through the roof.jacobolus wrote: ↑I got 2 separate macintosh portable keyboards (one ANSI and one ISO), and both are salmon Alps switches http://deskthority.net/wiki/Alps_SKCM_Salmon, just like the ones in the pictures in this thread. Except the ISO enter uses a skinny green linear switch instead: http://deskthority.net/wiki/Alps_SKCL_Compact
Edit: holy necro! I just now realised the posts were from 2014, not from 2017
- ideus
- Location: Fun but dangerous: Based in Mexico now.
- Main keyboard: GON60
- Main mouse: Logitech
- Favorite switch: Ergo Clears.
- DT Pro Member: 0200
I am afraid that very few real life samples of this model look as cool as the one in the picture, most should need retrobrithing and cleaning, but, well, it is a super nice vintage computer. It was pretty much a market failure, though, overpriced and underpowered.
- alh84001
- v.001
- Location: EU-HR-ZG
- Main keyboard: unsaver
- Main mouse: logitech m305 / apple trackpad
- Favorite switch: BS
- DT Pro Member: -
Just putting a soarer's controller for my board here.
- Attachments
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- mac_portable_2.sc.zip
- (712 Bytes) Downloaded 166 times
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- mac_portable.sc.zip
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Last edited by alh84001 on 21 Dec 2017, 07:59, edited 2 times in total.
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- Location: --
- Main keyboard: --
- Main mouse: --
- Favorite switch: --
- DT Pro Member: -
Why not try to repair it? The 8-Bit Guy (Youtube) has great videos on restoring similar old compact macs. I'd at least try.Muirium wrote: ↑The Mac Portable's still a stylish machine, I like to think. Helps that you can stuff a whole desktop inside of one these days. I have similar plans for my broken SE/30, but the CRT is hard to drive (truly black and white, the electronics hate greyscale I'm told) and 9" is a funny size to find an LCD, which would have to go behind curved glass to keep the look anyway.
- alh84001
- v.001
- Location: EU-HR-ZG
- Main keyboard: unsaver
- Main mouse: logitech m305 / apple trackpad
- Favorite switch: BS
- DT Pro Member: -
This is a pinout for the 34-pin headers.
Keyboard and keypad map to a raw matrix (with some special keys), but trackball is an ADB device on pins 27, 28, 29 and 30.
Keyboard and keypad map to a raw matrix (with some special keys), but trackball is an ADB device on pins 27, 28, 29 and 30.