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Fri, 18 Sep 2009 Very first Macintosh Plus given to Star Trek's creator up for auction

The Macintosh Plus came with 1 Mb RAM, upgradeable to 4Mb

Nick Spence

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The very first Macintosh Plus 1Mb personal computer - serial number F4200NUM0001 - is up for auction.

The computer was given to screenwriter and producer Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, by Apple as a gift.

The Macintosh Plus came with 1 Mb RAM, upgradeable to 4Mb, and supported the double-sided floppy disk format and was the first Mac with a SCSI port for fast data transfer to and from an external hard drive.

Released in 1986, the Macintosh Plus introduced RAM expansion from 1MB to 4MB and the SCSI peripheral bus. It came two years after the original Macintosh, which was released in 1984.

The Macintosh Plus featured a not so stylish beige-coloured case with 9 inch display, 3.5 inch floppy drive that included the short keyboard, external floppy drive, mouse and Apple logo padded carrying case, for those with the strength to carry the computer around.

"An incredible artifact with a wonderful association between the visionary computer designer/manufacturer and legendary Star Trek creator. Accompanied by a signed letter of provenance from Gene Roddenberry’s son, Rod," the online auction listing can be found here.

Roddenberry developed Star Trek in 1964, it went on to have worldwide success, spawning several hit spin-off shows and big screen film outings. He died in 1991 of heart failure, his ashes, along with those of Timothy Leary, launched into orbit aboard the Pegasus XL rocket.

The current bid for Roddenberry's Macintosh Plus is $1,600 (around £980), plus premiums, taxes, fees and shipping.

The auction ends on 9 October 2009. Happy bidding.

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Comments received


Fred said on Fri, 18 Sep 2009

I'm a little puzzled by this, the original Macintosh had 256 or 512 k of memory, the Mac Plus was not the original Mac but an upgraded model, so how can this have that serial number, unless of course it was upgraded. The early machines have all the names of the people responsible for its design etched into the case mould so they can be read on the inside of the case.

MadAxeMan said on Fri, 18 Sep 2009

The Mac was release to the general public on 24 Jan 1984, not 1986.

Mark Hattersley said on Fri, 18 Sep 2009

Have made the text clearer. The Macintosh Plus came out in 1986 and the original Macintosh in 1984.

This is the first Macintosh Plus to roll off the production line, so I guess that's why it has that serial number. Maybe all product lines had original SN starting with 0001 back then.

Gordon said on Fri, 18 Sep 2009

Sorry guys but the report says that this is the first "Macintosh Plus", not the first Macintosh.

vader said on Fri, 18 Sep 2009

is that the new imac?

Daniel said on Fri, 18 Sep 2009

@Vader - LOL yes "the wait is finally over" - I heard roumours it has a touchscreen

Mark said on Fri, 18 Sep 2009

That is not serial 001, that is the model number, which back in the 80's apple put at the end of their serial numbers.. the serial is F4200nu They had 6 digit serial numbers until much later in life..

robinson said on Sun, 20 Sep 2009

search Google... other sites have explained that this is NOT a Mac Plus and definitely NOT the first one!

Joe Anonymous said on Sun, 20 Sep 2009

Sorry, it's a Macintosh 128 which was later replaced with the fat Mac (512 K) and the Mac Plus was even later.

http oldcomputers.net / macintosh.html

artHarris said on Tue, 22 Sep 2009

My Macintosh has the model M0001AP; it is an original and was upgraded 'commercially' to a MacPlus with the first upgrade kit brought to Europe by a friend who moved to Apple Paris in 1986. It still works, with OS 7

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