Apple Computer, Inc

A PROTOTYPE APPLE MACINTOSH MOTHERBOARD IN A CUSTOM-BUILT DISPLAY CASE

The Apple Macintosh, released on January 24, 1984, was the first successful personal computer from Apple Computer, following the creation of the Apple-1 in 1979. Introduced to the world during Super Bowl XVIII with the famous "1984" commercial directed by Ridley Scott, the New York Times said at the time at the Macintosh "presage[d] a revolution in personal computing." The Macintosh would popularize a number of innovations, including the graphical user interface (GUI), the mouse, and the 3 1/2 inch floppy disk drive, and would go on to become one of the most iconic computer designs of all time.

This final pre-production, prototype logic board was created before the first production release of the Apple Macintosh (later rebranded as the Macintosh 128k). It includes the red LED test light, found only on certain prototype boards, but which does not exist on production models. Similarly, one finds the Motorola SC87839L microprocessor, a proprietary version of the MC68000 that can be seen on very few prototype models of the Apple Macintosh logic board created before the production release.

The vast majority of chips on the board date from 1981 to 1983, with the exception of the 6522 VIA bridge chip (located at C/D 15) which looks to have been replaced with a later chip manufactured in 1984. In addition, there is a handwritten serial number to the bottom left of the board, C296, a feature that one sees on other pre-production prototype logic boards.