Macintosh SE/30

Description

In 1988, Apple introduced the Macintosh IIx. This successor to the II was the first to feature the new Motorola 68030 processor. That processor made it the fastest Mac Apple had ever produced at the time. In addition to its powerful processor, the IIx also included a SuperDrive, allowing users to store up to 1.44 MB of data on floppy disks. Finally, its fast graphics card enabled graphic professionals and designers to connect a color display to the computer.

The IIx was a technological marvel, but it was also a large machine. Not everyone wanted a bulky, modular Mac with a color monitor. There was a large group of enthusiastic Mac users who longed for a fast and compact Mac. At Apple, the unusual idea emerged to create a Mac that combined all of these user wishes. The Macintosh SE/30 was the result of the ambition to bring together Apple’s best technology in the compact and elegant case of the Macintosh SE. It became the first compact Mac equipped with a 68030 processor running at 16 MHz.

The SE/30 was so fast that even its successor, the Macintosh Classic II, with the same processor speed, was still about 40% slower. Although the SE/30 came standard with 4 MB of RAM, this could be expanded up to a maximum of 128 MB — an enormous amount in 1989. At the time, not many programs truly benefited from that much memory. Perhaps only graphic professionals using the first version of Adobe Photoshop. However, that target audience would more likely choose a Macintosh IIx or Macintosh IIcx because of their greater expandability.

In addition, having a large amount of RAM also resulted in long startup times, because every time the Mac booted up it performed a RAM check. With 128 MB installed, startup could take as long as a minute and a half. The SE/30 configuration on which I am writing this article has a much more modest 8 MB — more than enough to run all the applications and games released for the Macintosh between 1989 and roughly 1995.

Finally, the SE/30 featured an internal SuperDrive for floppy disks, a 40 MB hard drive, and a PDS slot that allowed users to add expansion cards such as network cards or accelerators.

Although the internal display was monochrome, the SE/30 supported QuickDraw, meaning it could be connected to a color monitor. This did require an additional video card. At the time, it was incredible that so much technology could fit into such a small enclosure, but it appealed people for a long time after. To extend the lifespan of an SE/30, several third-party processor upgrades were available. With a 68040 upgrade, it was possible to run Mac OS 8.1. The Xceed Gray-Scale 30 video card from Micron Technology enabled the internal display to show grayscale.

Alongside the Macintosh Quadra 700, the SE/30 remains one of the most sought-after Macs among enthusiasts to this day.

Price

The SE/30 had a relatively high starting price of $4,369, which could rise to $6,569 for the top model with 4 MB RAM and an 80 MB hard drive — roughly $17,000 in today’s money. In many countries, import duties could drive the price even higher. Due to this relatively high cost, combined with its popularity both then and now, the computer is relatively rare, especially in good condition.

SE/30 today

If you decide to buy one, you will not be disappointed. It is still an amazing machine, if you don’t expect to run modern programs. However, make sure to replace the battery. The SE/30 used a 3.6-volt 1/2 AA lithium PRAM battery. These are notorious for leaking and even exploding (“battery bomb”), which can cause irreparable damage to the motherboard. In addition, the SCSI hard drives are known to fail over time. For that reason, many users opt for a BlueSCSI SD card solution, on which the operating system is installed. It is faster, offers more storage space, and is less likely to fail.