Macintosh Classic II
This model also holds a lot of memories for me. Back then, it was often used for DTM, and compared to earlier entry-level Macs, the Classic II was much easier to handle. Its only real drawback was the small hard drive capacity. A friend of mine, who was in charge of Mac sales and repairs, often spent his time clearing out unnecessary files from customers’ hard drives.
Personally, I used mine mostly for DTP. At the time, I was involved in selling indie CDs and tapes, so I worked hard designing jackets on that tiny screen. There weren’t many upgrade options available, but even in its stock configuration, it was still a very enjoyable machine.
People often compare it with the SE/30, both then and now. Of course, the two models were sold at completely different price points, and being a low-cost Mac, the Classic II inevitably came with plenty of cost-cutting. That said, if you don’t get too caught up in nerdy details, you can use it in much the same way as an SE/30.
I haven’t said too many good things about it, but one point worth praising is its cooling design. Just like the Classic, it exhausts heat downward from the case, so thermal issues were extremely rare. Nothing inside ever had to be sacrificed to overheating.
Recommended Hardware Mods
FPU Card
This is what’s commonly called a coprocessor card. Since the Classic II doesn’t have a built-in FPU, you can add one with an expansion card. What this means is that without an FPU, floating-point calculations are done in software, forcing the CPU to handle them with integer math—painfully slow. With an external FPU (such as the MC68882), the work is done directly in hardware, resulting in a dramatic speed boost.
Although you rarely need FPU support today, many professional applications of the time—CAD, 3D graphics, simulations, and numerical software (for example: Mathematica, MacSYMA, Excel’s advanced functions, CAD programs, RayDream Designer, etc.)—were designed to take advantage of it. With an FPU installed, performance could feel several times faster.
We also make our own FPU card design, "SMC Mac Classic II FPU Card". Unlike the SE/30, the Classic II is limited by a 16-bit data bus, so overall performance is held back. But with the FPU installed, even though the bus limitation remains, the Classic II can approach SE/30-like efficiency in heavy math workloads. The SMC Mac ClassicII FPU Card is an excellent product designed specifically for Classic II users and modding enthusiasts—compact in design, equipped with advanced clock tuning, priced reasonably, and offering a big performance boost.
Additional RAM Card
The Classic II can take two 4MB SIMMs, bringing the maximum to 10MB when combined with its onboard memory. If you happen to have a 16MB 72-pin SIMM lying around, you can use our 4MB RAM SIMM DIY Kit instead. It’s an $8 upgrade and a solid little hardware hack.
BlueSCSI
The Classic II works fine with BlueSCSI V2—whether the desktop or DB25 version. Since this model was released after the SE/30, it can run later versions of the OS, but it’s a bit on the slow side, so I recommend sticking with System 7.1. Running System 7.5.3 or later really requires at least 16MB of RAM, otherwise things get rough. Of course, I also recommend SCSI Rider as a BlueSCSI riser card.
Beleth’s Drum
Like the Classic, the Classic II lacks a front-panel activity LED, so you can’t tell when the hard drive is busy. That’s where Beleth’s Drum comes in handy. It’s a hard drive noise emulator that picks up the LED signal from BlueSCSI and outputs sound. The sound source is a small 5V relay—so while it doesn’t perfectly mimic a spinning hard drive, it does produce a nice, authentic-sounding click-clack.
Closing Thoughts
The Classic II has fairly limited upgrade paths, but as a black-and-white CRT Macintosh, it’s second only to the SE/30 in usability. Because of that, most users didn’t go overboard with mods; they just used it as-is. In fact, I rarely saw major failures aside from analog board capacitor leaks or the dreaded battery bomb. That’s a testament to how sturdy the machine is. Occasionally you’ll see the screen display a checkerboard pattern—that’s usually fixed by reseating the ROM chips.
My direct supervisor at the time also owned a Classic II. He’s been a close friend for many years. Both of us were forced to leave the company due to corporate politics—though I had already decided to strike out on my own about a year earlier. Afterward, he also left and later joined me, and we worked together for over a decade. These days he’s mostly retired and teaches guitar lessons. Whenever I see a Classic II, I think of him.
Every now and then, he visits me only when one of his watches breaks—since I also do watchmaking and repairs on the side. In return, he brings me vegetables and fruit. Honestly, I like that kind of relationship!
