Macintosh
Color Classic,
Color Classic II
Around 1997 here in Japan, there was a boom surrounding the Color Classic. That was thanks to a magazine called Doping Mac, by Tak Imai and his geeky friends team. When I first came across that magazine, I had already been away from Macintosh for a while. I knew about the existence of the Color Classic, but my only impression was that, compared to earlier compact Macs, its shell case was awkward—you couldn’t stack them, couldn’t put things on top, and it just looked short and stubby.
Later, when I actually bought one, I realized the case design was brilliant. Someday I’d like to explain its ties to the original 128K design and how it follows the golden ratio.
That magazine was full of hardware hacks, starting with Color Classic mods. For example, one big improvement was expanding the CRT display area to 640×480, which made it possible to run software that was previously unusable on the CC. But that was only the beginning. By swapping the logic board, you could upgrade it into a Performa 575 (known as “Mystic”), and with further case modifications, even install Power Mac logic boards like the Alchemy series. These kinds of mods really spoke to our inner geeks.
One reason board-swapping was feasible was because the Color Classic and the Performa 5xx series used a socket-in type logic board, making replacements relatively easy.
What’s unusual for a low-cost Mac is that the Color Classic wasn’t stripped of all expandability in the name of cost-cutting. Even in its stock form, it holds a lot of potential for upgrades and power-ups.
From here on, I’ll use CC for Color Classic and CCII for Color Classic II.
Recommended Hardware Mods
Memory Expansion — RAM and VRAM
The CC can take two 4MB memory cards, giving it up to 10MB when combined with onboard RAM. One of the main reasons the original CC feels slow is because it’s built on the same platform as the LC II, which uses a sluggish 16MHz bus. As a result, it actually feels slower than the Classic II.
If you happen to have a 16MB 72-pin SIMM, you can use our 4MB RAM SIMM DIY card instead. That means you can upgrade for just $8 — a pretty solid hardware hack.
The CC can also be expanded with one 256KB VRAM module, enabling 32,768 colors. With a Hi-Res analog board mod(explained below), it can manage 640×480 in 16 colors, so yes — you can play Pac-Man!
The CC II accepts one 72-pin SIMM card and supports up to 36MB combined with onboard memory and 32MB RAM card, which is more than enough for any 68K Mac setup. It also supports a 512KB VRAM module, giving 768KB total, allowing 640×480 in 32,768 colors when paired with a Hi-Res mod!
MC68882 FPU Expansion
This doesn’t help unless you’re running software that supports it, but as mentioned earlier, certain graphics and business apps really do benefit. Since there’s already a socket on the logic board, installation is just a matter of dropping in the chip — just be sure to align it correctly.
BlueSCSI
BlueSCSI V2 works without issue, whether connected internally or via DB25. Since the CC came late in the 68030 era, it generally can’t boot OS 7.1 — unless you use a System Enabler, which is recommended because 7.5.3 and later versions run painfully slow.
On the CC II, 7.5.3 and 7.6 run fine, and even OS 8 can boot, though it feels a bit heavy.
Because the CC’s analog board can get stressed by extra load, BlueSCSI — which runs entirely on 5V bus power and doesn’t draw from +12V — is especially recommended. Back when people ran spinning SCSI hard drives, the heavier the drive, the more stress it put on +12V, often dimming the front LED during disk access. That’s why adding expansion boards that also draw +12V is not recommended at all.
Is Auxiliary Power Necessary?
In the old days, people sometimes added an auxiliary power supply controlled by a relay to make up for the CC’s weak +12V. But with BlueSCSI and other solid-state options, this is no longer necessary. I used to run large, power-hungry hard drives that really pushed the PSU, but those days are gone — now there’s little risk of running out of power capacity.
Hi-Res Mod
- Monitor License ID and Horizontal Deflection Voltage
To get 640×480, the CC needs to be switched into “13-inch mode.” This involves boosting the horizontal deflection voltage from 60V to 84V. At the stock 10-inch (512×384) mode, the horizontal sync frequency is 24.48kHz, but in 13-inch mode it must be 35.0kHz.
The mod involves lifting ZP1 pin 8 (normally tied to GND) and instead wiring it in series with pin 10 (24V), creating 84V (60V + 24V). Vertical sync remains compatible, so no change is needed there.
Important note: Don’t confuse 13-inch mode with VGA. While they share the same resolution, the standards and monitor license IDs differ. The CC/CC II logic boards don’t support VGA, so VGA output simply won’t work. Later machines like the Mystic(LC575 logicboard), however, do support VGA/SVGA (license ID 001), but a VGA-modded CC cannot display properly even with DIP-switch adapters. Enthusiasts who’ve experimented with monitor adapters will already understand this nuance.
The mod process is two simple steps:
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ID change: On the analog board’s edge connector, move the jumper from J78 (0 ohm) to J79. If your board lacks J78/J79 (on very early revisions), cut the trace between pin 20 and GND, then connect pin 20 to +5V through a 4.7k ohm pull-up resistor.
2. Voltage change: Isolate ZP1 pin 8 and connect it to pin 10.
Detailed guides are available online, so I won’t go deeper here — but feel free to ask if you have questions.
Accelerators
Not everyone can find a Mystic board or an LC 520 (same logic as CC II). And honestly, it’s not worth destroying a working Mac just for the board swap — they’re rare enough as it is.
The CC’s 16MHz memory bus is a bottleneck, but since the CPU sits on a PDS socket, it can be “hijacked” fairly easily. By doubling the clock with a new driver, the 16MHz CPU can be pushed to 33MHz. Interware once sold such a card.
I loved the simplicity of that design, so I reverse-engineered and made my own. Even though it’s a relatively simple accelerator, tracing the CPU connections was complex enough to require a 4-layer PCB. By the time I finished, I had wrecked my shoulder — and it still hurts today!
This card is sold in my store under the name "CC-Booster 33", and part of the sales go toward my shoulder treatment lmao.
While the CPU speed doubles, the overall performance gain falls short of expectations. Still, it’s noticeably faster than stock — enough to save you 10 minutes in a session.
Closing Thoughts
This time I focused on the CC. It’s a very versatile Mac with many ways to enjoy it, standing apart from other compact models not only because of its color CRT but also thanks to many unique traits.
The case proportions are perfect and rock-solid, and even after nearly 30 years since 1993, CC cases aren’t as fragile as LC575s, which often crack during shipping.
Mystic and Takky upgrades, which swap the logic board entirely, are essentially different computers reusing the CC’s case and analog board — so I’ll upload those separately as their own resources. Stay tuned!
It may be hard to tell from the pic above, but I used a hole punch to a drill and use it like a hole saw to isolate the 8 pin pads. So I wanted to keep a nice shape.
