Can we REPAIR Apple's FIRST EVER laptop?

[@Mac84]

👋Thanks for giving me the opportunity to fix up this Mac! I'm so glad it's a happy Mac once again. I look forward to seeing what you do with it next! 👍

[@paulmuaddib451]

The man, the myth, the legend! Love your content as well, sir, thank you for the entertainment and education these past few years.

[@jaws10278]

@Mac84 whats the trick to replace the batteries in the battery pack? Ive been reading that you cant run these computers without the battery back.

[@rezafouladian6817]

@@jaws10278 You can find a slim 6V SLA battery that will fit in the original pack, or 3D print a case. I personally use more modern 6V LiFePO4 batteries in mine.

[@devaniehowarth7156]

Stop beatbox

[@Xe4ro]

I have an old Power Macintosh 8100 & Power Mac G4 from my dad that I might be trying to revive as I grew up with those machines. I might have to check out your content :D

[@bt77414]

Can we appreciate the absolute JAM of a beat the Macintosh Portable layed down the first time Luke tried to start it at 1:19 ?

[@TheGlitchyMario]

My thoughts exactly.

[@definitelyaraven]

What a banger

[@jonathanharvey2156]

YES!!! Gonna sample it!

[@charliesretrocomputing]

@@jonathanharvey2156 “the old Mac beat” 😂😂

[@jonathanharvey2156]

@@charliesretrocomputing I’ll use that, thanks!

[@vmhanlon]

My signature is one of those in the bottom case as I was the chief software engineer on the Portable. Among other responsibilities on the project, I wrote the ROM code, the Power Manager embedded micro code, and the code for the keyboard controller. As one of the primary team members I received (and still have) a clear plastic Portable.

[@Blindtechnician]

Heads up, the first reply that’s trying to give you a gift is a scam. But that’s awesome! About the Mac portable of course.

[@vmhanlon]

@@Blindtechnician Yep. Didn't bite. Thanks.

[@Blindtechnician]

@@vmhanlon nice, I reported the account just to be safe so hopefully that gets taken care of.

[@jesper99]

So interesting! Is there any way you could make a short video of the clear case portable?

[@vmhanlon]

@@jesper99 I could do that. Unfortunately it doesn't work, but I could at least show it off. It will be a few days before I can get to it.

[@Pixcuber]

1:20 the Macintosh potable making a beat🔥🔥

[@dennisud]

I'm glad you took the hint from me and many others to contact Steve! I'm glad you're rediscovering the Geekiness of Vintage Macs!👍

[@laserwizard2]

Once again you show why you are the best MAC resource out there - not a breathy hyperbolic clown like many who coo and giggle over every rumor - and you are a class act with vintage hardware as well. Keep up the great work!

[@jacksonnovick1733]

Luke, I am so happy you are doing a video on the Mac Portable! I can't believe your original hard drive is working, as the Connor units in these actually fail quite frequently. I also have a Mac Portable, and I'm planning on converting it to flash storage with BlueSCSI. Keep up the amazing work!

[@MacinMindSoftware]

Before you said it I was thinking to myself, "this is a perfect video", including the sponsor integration. I've been watching yours and Mac84's channel for a while so it was great to see you both together. Saw his short, glad you escaped.

[@lorensims4846]

At work, I saw one of our in-house consultants using one of these and I was interested enough, he showed me what he had learned so far. He said he was testing it to see if it could be useful to us. A few months later our purchasing department went all Mac so they could easily share files and a laser printer over an AppleTalk network.

[@rodrigomuller]

1:18 sick beat bro

[@TechVidK]

13:57 Luke: NO NO! The other guy: MMMMMMM!

[@thelorax9622]

Thanks to Steve for helping you out, Luke. I think the Mac Portable just might be the peak of the Snow White era of Apple design, even at about 16 pounds for a "laptop". It's a bit nuts how easy it was to disassemble, given the possible fragility of 30+ year old plastic.

[@tscotom]

Hmmm, SCSI, haven't heard that since I used my Apple Laserwriter 16/600 PS. I even had an extra paper 'whatzit' under the whole printer that allowed me to print a whole ream of stuff !!! Best laser printer I've ever had. Cheers Luke, good to go back to those great "Apple" days. 😉🙃🙂😊

[@MightyJabbasCollection]

Nice to see Steve on the channel! I tried recapping a Mac Portable a while back and was somewhat less successful, although I wonder now if my hybrid module might also be part of the problem.

[@Mac84]

I feel your pain! Mac Portables are beasts to get going, if your system boots (but complains of the battery power) it may be the hybrid module. There are a few threads online that help diagnose it. The traces and vias are very problematic on these systems, so that's also another thing working against you.

[@cjsebes]

The legendary Steve doing his thing. Nicely done on both sides.

[@duringthemeanwhilst]

so glad you found Steve's channel, he's one of the good guys :-) watch the video where he has his dad on, it's well worth it

[@rivereee]

So much joy seeing this little guy come back to life fully functional! Steve is a true hero

[@Mac84]

🙂

[@Mac84]

🙂I do love saving vintage Macs!

[@RetroTechChris]

Steve is a miracle worker! He's repaired a board or two for me. Glad to have him as a friend!

[@bobgrimes8618]

Love your new "retro" videos! I am also into retro computing, IBM PS/2 s and running OS/2. Keep all the old tech alive and well.

[@mancavehobbies6213]

Really enjoyed that Luke MORE VINTAGE APPLE STUFF PLEASE.

[@davewhite7182]

I must be vintage to as I remember using one of these in 1990. We had one in the office in Paris and I had to lug it home on the metro when there was going to be a strike. It was amazing to be able to work on a computer at home and not have to join the 30km traffic jams caused by frequent metro strikes. It was definitely a luggable rather than a portable but a great piece of tech for the time.

[@Xaltar_]

What a brilliant machine, I have always loved these early "portables". I had an Amstrad PPC640 back in the day, hours and hours of fun even with it's non backlit monochrome LCD, wish I still had it.

[@PetsoKamagaya]

I love the retro stuff. Luke is now working on stuff older than he is, probably. Time to get that soldering iron and another trip to Akihabara to buy the electronics parts he needs!!!!

[@MIKEDOMO]

That man is a big leaguer , that beautiful machine came alive!!! :) great collaboration Luke.

[@virgomunoz]

The crossover we didn’t know we needed until we got it! Great video

[@DanLoudShirts]

First used one in 1990 and my dad let me take it in to school so I could show my computer studies class. For five minutes I was the coolest kid in school!

[@jonglass]

The really amazing thing about this Portable is that they somehow fit all its innards into the PowerBook 100! (miniaturized of course)

[@VicTheVicar]

Great video! Also, I'm so proud of my boy Steve!

[@Mac84]

😍

[@jvinot60]

Those were really great at the time. Very heavy to tote around but so were the few other Laptops around. I sold a few in the day for a cool $9K, which, for $6K - $7K you could get a DOS running desktop with a green or amber display and WordPerfect & Lotus. Let’s just say I worked with more Mac users then PC users.

[@krunge]

Great video and love the new direction with the vintage mac's theme! By the way, please use your normal mic in the studio. The Anker ones are okay, but there's a clear difference in quality and your normal one is much clearer.

[@emmaline.]

everyone in this video comes across as so genuinely passionate, its really great to see.

[@MrDemonsushii]

I like this retro angle you've been taking lately

[@wielku]

You're absolutely killing it lately such a fantastic mix of content viariance I hope your metrics reflect that

[@ickledotco]

What a hero you are Luke (and Steve of course). I hardly understood anything of what you did but it was hugely entertaining and nostalgic. If you do make the video you mentioned at the end, how about carrying out one of its minor involved tasks, eg writing a script or bulleted to do list, on the portable? Thank you!

[@ken1w]

The first “true” laptops from Apple were PowerBook 100, 140, and 170. The PB 100 was a miniaturized version of that Mac Portable. Apple outsourced the technical redesign work to Sony, and the result is quite compact and elegant. It has the keyboard forward, pointing device (small trackball) in the middle between palm rest area. These first PB models were the first laptops with this now “obvious” layout, another Apple innovation. It didn’t have a built-in floppy drive (came with external floppy drive), making it noticeably thinner and lighter than its larger more powerful brothers. I used one (to do actual work), my first laptop! Maybe PowerBook 100 can be your next vintage project.

[@TheMetalMag]

I knew it, apple used to do nice devices, great job! I love to do that but I haven't got the gear to go that deep! well done mate! this is a dream place!!!

[@macpb2892]

You will need the backlight model, glad this one was recapped. When dealing with 90's apple, you must recap them before powering them on.

[@KamiKitsuneVA]

I've met Steve once, he's a really nice guy and great to talk about Macs with 🙂

[@cosmokramer4585]

Not sure if you’re interested, but I have a working 5126 backlit portable that I have gone through and recapped. Works great. Nice video btw, Steve does great work!!

[@Mac84]

Thanks 🙂 Aren't the backlight models great? I still have to get mine up and running

[@trulyirrelevant17]

Love the surge in vintage mac content

[@geneg3]

Love the vintage Mac content! Keep it up!

[@Hard_7_Iron]

The flip capable between track ball and keyboard is an amazing idea. As a “lefty” who has always used the mouse with the left hand, can REALLY appreciate the thought process… ❤ Nice job Steve! 😊

[@JordanOrlando]

Steve was gone - fired; at NeXT. This was a Sculley project through and through.

[@IkarusKommt]

The problem is that no one ever changed the trackpad position, but everyone had to pay for an extra connector on the keyboard module. Typical apple.

[@mengai1967]

We had several Mac Portables in the early 90s. We had a saying the only place the Mac Portable was portable was in space 🙂. Great video!!!

[@lukemiani_7]

!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! inbox me to claim prize 🎁

[@Fifury161]

Another point - they used a PP9 9V battery as a clock/pram backup. If you removed the main lead acid battery it would try to start up from that PP9 battery - that's why you see the blinking screen at the start of this video...

[@walpoleandworcester]

Don’t you love it when these old Apple products hold up after all this time? Wow. Very good condition on this!

[@aiapaimei]

That was so awesome to watch the repair. Brought me back to good ol technical skills. Love it

[@moeskido]

"No. No. No!" Don't eat the PCB! That was my favorite part. Also, Steve's a wizard.

[@jacksontint]

Hey Luke, love the video, but please don't accept sponsorships from Anker. They do not respect people's privacy and have (under their eufy brand) lied about their product's capabilities for their smart home cameras. I know these microphones likely do not share these issues but this is a company that needs to feel some repercussions from their actions.

[@virgomunoz]

Damn that’s wild, I didn’t know that. This kind of thing is pretty common for KZbin sponsorships. Everyone’s sponsored by raycon, but raycon is notoriously a scammy company who lies about their products. I wish more creators did sufficient research on what they’re promoting

[@rartolak]

Smart cameras I don't even trust to start with and is this the same company "AnkerWorks" as "Anker" that makes bluetooth speakers, cables, and power banks?

[@ghost-user559]

@@virgomunoz It’s not really their fault at all though. Like honestly the company YOU work for is probably terrible and has scandalous history. Literally every form of employment except for working for yourself or a small local business involves you in scummy behavior. So I don’t really understand people virtue signaling against KZbinrs trying to make rent, but then you go work at target or McDonald’s or a bank or something lol. Look the reality is customers should look out for ourselves and let the people make rent.

[@rartolak]

​@@ghost-user559 how do i deflect 101

[@ghost-user559]

@@rartolak Except it’s literally not deflecting it’s reality? In fact you not acknowledging I’m completely right is deflecting lol. Please, I’d love to hear it. What virtuous company do you work for?

[@Apeman_king_of_apes]

One of the only times ive seen a youtuber go above and beyond to show off a useful sponsored product, and one of the only times ive been convinced to take a look at said sponsored item

[@catsanarchy]

1:19 Fun Fact, that sound is the sad Mac chime repeatedly occurring

[@jacobmarx1994]

This video was REALLY cool. I’m learning so much from these new vintage Mac videos! Keep going!

[@pafawag5b6b5b]

if you want to learn more about them i recommend you watch steve's channel or action retro

[@Sevenfeet0]

When I was an Apple employee in the late 80s, I used to have one of these. And they were tough. Big but tough.

[@megatronskneecap]

Luke be producing news level videos at this pint

[@HoJoGoGo]

One of the modular features of these was the trackball can be replaced by a numeric keypad, and you then use a standard ADB external mouse with it. Since it's an Apple Desktop Bus mac, you can also use an ADB keyboard / mouse with it, there were joysticks and a few other ADB peripherals made as well, such as graphics tablets and even the Teleport modem.

[@vmhanlon]

And you can also swap the position of the trackball/keypad to the left side and the keyboard to the right.

[@NineteenEightyFive]

Fun video! Definitely hope to see more vintage Mac videos from you in the future. Just curious, how tall are you?

[@Errcyco]

I love Anker.. been the best cables and bricks ever. Solved all my issues.

[@godozo]

I actually owned this back in the mid-nineties. It was quite fun for an overweight "portable" (I called it a "socket buster" as in it would bust your elbow socket if carried long enough).

[@richardziolkowski7973]

That was awesome! Looking forward to the retrospective.

[@thumbtak123]

Maybe you can use a port on the back of the computer, and pass it to another computer that can be picked up by OBS. Kind of like a capture card.

[@Norieu]

bro u got that cursor at the sponsor segment at 3:09 I thought it was mine lol

[@BollingHolt]

I've got one of these but have not been able to get it running... had the logic board recapped, made a retro-fit battery, but nothing... I want to get it up and running. I'll probably end up shipping it to someone to repair it for me who knows more about them than I do!

[@AlexvanMeerbekeD]

One my favorite classic Macintosh models congrats!!

[@FrankConforti]

Short personal story. Many years ago I had a Mac Portable I was carrying across the country in my job. I got this idea to write a book and while flying from the UK to Florida, I spent that entire creating a detailed outline that later became my second book, “INSIDE MicroStation”. During that long trip home, the Mac Portable was running the entire time on it’s battery. When we landed I think it had about 10% left. Unfortunately, I sold that Mac way back when. Thirty some years later and more than 60,000 books sold (and recently retired) I need to find a repairable portable given how important it was to the success of my career. Hopefully I’ll get lucky on that.

[@Fifury161]

Worth pointing out that whilst it does sport a SCSI interface the hard drive is a unique design for the Portable - it is a low power model. I wonder how that will effect any after market SCSI devices such as BlueSCSI? Will they be able to get enough power?

[@rezafouladian6817]

The hard drive is supplied with +12V and +5V, the BlueSCSI only needs the +5V. It runs without issue.

[@johnlarro6872]

Back in the day when Apple made computers, not consumer disposables... My first Mac portable came just over 10 years later - the Pismo... which I still feel is the ultimate Mac laptop. The keyboard easily popped off too, it had 2 bays you could hot swap things in, infra-red, wifi... But seeing this piece of history - and as you say - 30 years later and it's still running! Beautiful, and content I'll come back for. (And now wanted to go power up my Pismo and play around in Classic OS... :)

[@carlchikigak8352]

Hey Luke. I got a iMac from one of my friends. Tried to fix it and was wondering how much you’d charge to fix it. Love your videos btw! The mac I got is 08 imac

[@catonthemoon5481]

Steve seems like a good guy!

[@neil9251]

6:40 - When you realize the interchangeable idea is genius for Apple, but Linus literally demonstrated this yesterday on the newest Framework laptops.

[@Wii1235]

Thats in really good condition!

[@romella_karmey]

This was the tech back then… Now I’m sooooo excited about the tech in the future 😊😊😊

[@onigvd77]

i got to see one of these in person at uni, they had taken out the battery and the leads were hanging out the back, would have been nice to be able to buy it off them, but it was in the electronics lab as an example of technology, at the time the machine was about 10 or so years old.

[@mustasheolll2020]

1:19 Nice remix 🔥

[@johnlarro6872]

Dog Cow! I have to share... I was going through some of my old 90s era Mac stuff, and found a business card. It was for Mark "The Red" Harlan, who gave the dog-cow the name "Clarus". The reverse of the card had a hand-written "Enjoy!". I have no idea any more what I was meant to be enjoying... But I still have the card.

[@bobweiram6321]

The Apple IIc was the first portable/laptop. The Mac Portable wasn't any more of a laptop the IIC. Apple actually sold a small LCD for it. It was also capable of being powered using a car 12V outlet with an adapter.

[@nicholashein1238]

I just realized why there are those two square or rectangular indentations on the screen bezel, one on the left and one on the right. It is to make additional clearance room for the ball in the trackball for left or right configurations

[@TheThaiLife]

Wow man, this video really pushes the boundaries... Of ad length.

[@DavidRavenMoon]

I own one of these. The backlight model. Finding a battery is the hard part. I replaced the original with a nicad. I need to replace it again. It won’t start without the battery, at least not with its own charger. It doesn’t produce enough current.

[@theflippestside]

haha just thinking about pulling that out at a coffee shop to get some work done is hilarious. Would legit be wicked with an ipad replacing the display, and getting the keyboard and trackball to connect to it.

[@MurseyMan]

Such a great watch! Go Luke!

[@stpworld]

If you pul the cover while it’s running it makes a fun sound.

[@WashCommoner]

I went to the launch of this product in the UK at Apple’s headquarters at Stockley Park.

[@Rabbit_AF]

I think doing vintage Apple stuff is a natural progression, forhe can only do so much with Apple Silicone. Like when you can't switch parts, there's not much he can do besides benchmarking.

[@ervinstark1354]

Hi. Any vids about 2011 13” macbook pro upgrade and repaste? Thank you! Love ur vids :)

[@lemarcheur2359]

great video…very happy for you!👍🏻

[@noahderrington5156]

Love the design of this machine

[@Ericius_01]

16:52 triggered my echo dot twice (yes I actually hit rewind) 🤣🤣

[@alexanderkomanov4151]

Wow! It is amazing!

[@lucasRem-ku6eb]

i used them in 1986, for school project, printing on the laser printers. very good system in the days, the best ! PC could not do postscript fonts on laser printers this good, DTP, WOW, the best !

[@bmwloco]

Remember seeing one "in the wild" back in the 80's in a Wendy's in Athens, GA. Thought "Wow, luggable" but too big. I later bought a Duo 210...

[@racecar_spelled_backwards868]

0:16 as one contemporary magazine put it, "Apple's first laptop... if you're Paul Bunyan."

[@macbear4768]

Thank u 4 the great Videos! Best regards from germany / Bamberg

[@scottscottsdale7868]

Great video. An Apple IIe got me through college and law school. I wonder how much those cost and compared with this portable computer.

[@WorldRenownedProductions]

Luke said 4:20 👍

[@nekohuntress99]

loved the "just be careful with the plastic" yea old brittle plastic is the actual Devil hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[@jennika753]

I wonder if there's a replacement lcd screen? How cool would that be?

[@alexdylan04]

*stares at cursor during spornsor segment b roll*

[@DrVimto]

its incredible how apple have designed things over the years, even when they use older parts which dont really need upgrading, i forget the part but it was audio based, because software does most the real work, But the machines themselves have become smaller and more faster/powerful than competitors machines which are colossal, & they could take a leaf out of macs book and condense systems far smaller, because theres no excuse no more, the tech to do it all exists, Even with a.i around now to help ehere due. On another note, those anker mics look impressive, especially with the camera adaption option.

[@antariksavvan]

Is it possible to take out the keyboard and make a case for it to make a standalone mechanical keyboard? Cz that keyboard is really beautiful

[@Mooooooof]

Turn it into a sleeper laptop, put an m1, screen and massive battery in it 😁

[@kyleboss]

I was about to say that

[@RealtyWebDesigners]

Fun videos Luke~