Unboxing a 30-year-old Macintosh 128K

Editor’s note: The following article is reprinted from Macworld U.K. Visit Macworld U.K. for the latest Mac news from across the Atlantic.

Thirty years ago the Macintosh 128K first went on sale. The Macintosh didn’t just come in any old brown box—Steve Jobs showed his flair for packaging all those years ago. He wanted the Macintosh to be an experience nobody would ever forget. It’s exquisite.

The pride that the team at Apple felt upon developing and releasing the Macintosh is apparent when you first glance at the box. The whole Macintosh package is clearly a labor of love.

On eBay, gdavis6610 has been selling classic Apple equipment for a few years. In 2012, he sold a Macintosh 128K for $3519.84, over $1000 more than the original launch price. Fortunately, he takes pretty detailed photographs of his eBay kit. Here are some photos from his memorable unboxing of the original Macintosh 128K.

Photo: gdavis6610

The box is surprisingly colourful for a computer box from 1984. We like the way Apple has suggested the playful creativity of the Mac right from the start.

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Inside the box, we can see a polystyrene tray containing a case for the disks and manuals.

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Underneath the manuals is the Macintosh 128K computer itself.

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Here is the keyboard and other items all laid out on display. We’re surprised at how much paraphernalia came with the Macintosh.

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We also like this stylish box that contains the disks and manuals.

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The manual itself is full-color and includes dazzling lifestyle photography.

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A letter asking readers to subscribe to Macworld was included in the box.

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The system and program disks included inside the Macintosh.

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Color manuals came with the Macintosh 128K.

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The manual shares the same stylish design as the Macintosh box.

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More lifestyle photography. We're not sure how he’ll get anything done with that working posture.

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The first word processor for the Mac.

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It may seems strange that you’d need guidance for a mouse. But at the time, it could be confusing for people who’ve never seen one before.

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The drawing, done in MacPaint, was by Susan Kare. She also designed many of the Macintosh icons.

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Packaging for an audio tape that describes how to use the Macintosh.

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This audiotape gives a guided tour of the Macintosh. You can listen to the tape.

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Apple stickers with the original Apple Macintosh.

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The keyboard is in its own container.

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Steve Jobs wanted to ensure everybody used the mouse, so he ordered the arrow keys removed.

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The Macintosh Mouse box shares the same design as the keyboard and computer.

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Opening up the Mouse box reveals the Apple M0100 mouse.

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The Apple M0100 Mouse is a design classic. This was the first mouse that many people ever used.

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And here it is, a 30-year-old Apple Macintosh computer.

The Macintosh 128K had rear ports for a mouse and floppy drive, as well as two RS-422 serial ports.

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This label has model number information, an FCC ID, and more.

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Here is the Macintosh powered up to prove that it’s still in working condition.

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On the inside of the Macintosh computer, you see the signatures of everybody who worked on it.

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Here is Steve Jobs’s signature.

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Here is the final look at the Macintosh 128K and all of the items that were included in the box.

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