That’s actually a good question with regard to these prototypes. The demo unit they used for the January 1984 event was a fat Mac. This could easily have 512k.
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Rare Apple Macintosh Prototype From 1983 Could Break Auction Records
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Initially, yes... but they came out with high density 5.25" floppy disks that stored 1.2GB on each one. I owned several PCs that used those.
True, but 1.44 was better than 1.2MB... I wish it was 1.2GB !
I had a Tandy 1000 and it ordered with 1.44 MB Floppies Drives: one for DOS and the other one for Data.. lol..
Oops... yeah. Typo. Kind of hard to type MB after numbers like that, when you work in I.T. and everything is in GB or TB these days!
I thought my second Tandy 1000 had the 1.44 disks already, and it was before 1989. but I could be wrong, that was a long time ago.
My Dad bought me a Tandy 1000 with 16-Color Monitor and an Epson 132-Column Dot Matrix Printer back in 1984 or so, and I remember he spent over $10K.There's a lot of money in nostalgia. I can't afford a hundred grand, but I'm sure I spend a lot more than most folks would consider reasonable for old junk from my childhood.
I today's money I could have bought a very nice car.
Remember we could punch the other side of the floppy and turn it around to double our storage on Single Sided Drives?Oops... yeah. Typo. Kind of hard to type MB after numbers like that, when you work in I.T. and everything is in GB or TB these days!
I didn't remember Apple experimenting with the twiggy drives. I only remember them or something similar from the old DEC (Digital Equipment Corp) PCs, though the DEC PCs may have had a "flippy" driver rather than a "twiggy".
Not sure if you're aware of this site:
But it's an absolute goldmine for interesting stories regarding the development of the original Mac.
Here are some photos from 11 years ago of Woz behind a Mac with a Twiggy disk drive:
http://www.mac30th.com/blog/2132
https://www.cnet.com/pictures/macintosh-creators-rekindle-the-twiggy-mac-pictures/7/
http://www.mac30th.com/blog/2132
https://www.cnet.com/pictures/macintosh-creators-rekindle-the-twiggy-mac-pictures/7/
Also, who didnt love the Command -E keyboard auto eject instead of manually twisting a latch and manually removing. 😊
Yes, that's likely --
[Corrected to account for the Macintosh IIx, September 1988. It came to the Macintosh SE/30 in January 1989, which I mistakenly thought was the first Mac to get it.]
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That was the 2.88MB drive, right? I don't recall ever using one in the PC world.
No, just a regular 1.44MB drive. I think Marketing called it a "SuperDrive" because it could handle all three of the Macintosh disk/file formats to date, 400K MFS disks, 800K HFS disks, and the new HD disks.
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Additional fun facts: The original 400K MFS (Macintosh File System) disks could be formatted as HFS (Hierarchical File System) disks, but you couldn't use them as startup disks.
Also, it's not recommended, but in practice you can format HD disks as DD, but only if they have never been formatted as HD.
Over $10,000? In 1984, a Tandy 1000 computer was around $1,200 including DeskMate office software. A 16-color monitor and Epson 132 column dot matrix printer would've added perhaps $400 to $500 each for a total of around $2,000 to $2,200 plus tax.
I should auction mine. Mine is fully operation with an Apple printer included and excelerator card that can be removed. I also have it in a travel bag. Any offers?
A rare Apple Macintosh prototype from 1983, featuring the "Twiggy disk" drive, is expected to sell for over $100,000 at auction (via New Atlas).
The piece of Apple history is set to go under the hammer at Bonhams in New York. The Macintosh prototype, model #M0001, is one of the few surviving pre-production units from 1983.
This version of the Macintosh originally used a 5.25-inch floppy disk drive known internally as the "Twiggy" drive. It proved to be unreliable, leading Apple co-founder Steve Jobs to order the destruction of the remaining pre-production units before the final commercial release. The use of this drive sets it apart from the first commercially available Macs, which would ultimately ship in 1984 with the more compact 3.5-inch floppy disk system.
This particular prototype not only survived Jobs's directive but remains in very good condition. Included with the unit are several other prototype accessories, including a keyboard with a handwritten serial number, a prototype version of Apple's M01000 mouse featuring a unique connector, and a dual-density Twiggy diskette labeled "Mac Word." The prototype's software adds further intrigue to the lot; it runs early, unfinished versions of key Macintosh applications, and some of the notifications and instructions in the system are attributed to Steve Jobs himself.
The Bonhams auction is expected to reach a final selling price of $80,000 to $120,000. Given the rarity of Twiggy Mac prototypes and the historical interest surrounding Apple's early products, it is possible the final sale price could exceed expectations and become one of the most expensive Apple computers ever sold. A similar Twiggy model sold at auction in 2019 was fully functional and achieved a record price of $150,075. The auction is set to run from October 13 to October 23.
Article Link: Rare Apple Macintosh Prototype From 1983 Could Break Auction Records
Winchester, now that's a name I haven't heard of in a very long time...
DOS user: HOW am I ever going to fill up a 10 MB hard drive, for God's sake??
We lived in another Country... and there were a lot of taxes (18%) besides everything costing double.
Further to that, the "Twiggy" disks held 871k so, in capacity terms, were superior to even the Mac Plus' 800k disks.
Now that you mentioned it. I remember seeing those floppies for a short time, these had a few more tracks, reason why these could hold a little more information.
EDIT: I think I was confusing these with a different kind of 5-1/2 floppies that had more tracks than their standard version.
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