Hi again,
I'm sorry I didn't include this before -- it was buried in the SE folder for some reason. Thank god for Spotlight. Here is the original photo Mac128 is referring to. This is definitely the machine with the 1987 M0001E label on the back. I don't think there is any question that it is platinum, given the location of the Apple logo:
The only thing that really needs explanation is the box. It is either not original to the machine, or they didn't bother to take new photos for the box. I suppose the attitude might have been that the cover art and everything in the owner's guide is off, so why bother to change the image on the box? As I've shown above, the box did change at some point, and most likely it was when the Plus box changed in 1987 (and I'd be willing to bet a very small sum that the extended keyboard will fit in that box -- yet another reason why I should have bought it).
Also, a note on the 512K/800 -- look at the location of the Apple logo on the machine in the 512K/800 box image above -- the truth is I have never seen a 512K/800 like this 1987 512Ke -- both examples I have in my files have the Apple logo in the old style/position (like the box image) and are thus almost certainly beige.
Indeed, this brings me to a point that I think Mac128 knew already, which is that it is probably not possible to have a platinum machine with the Apple logo in the old style/position. It just makes no sense. So I find myself wondering if platinum 512K/800s existed at all. They might have all been badged with "Macintosh ED" in Europe, etc. or had the M0001ED label in Australia, etc.
The easiest way to find answers is probably in old issues of MacWorld or other places where retailer's ads and the like for these machines would have run...
I'm sorry I didn't include this before -- it was buried in the SE folder for some reason. Thank god for Spotlight. Here is the original photo Mac128 is referring to. This is definitely the machine with the 1987 M0001E label on the back. I don't think there is any question that it is platinum, given the location of the Apple logo:
The only thing that really needs explanation is the box. It is either not original to the machine, or they didn't bother to take new photos for the box. I suppose the attitude might have been that the cover art and everything in the owner's guide is off, so why bother to change the image on the box? As I've shown above, the box did change at some point, and most likely it was when the Plus box changed in 1987 (and I'd be willing to bet a very small sum that the extended keyboard will fit in that box -- yet another reason why I should have bought it).
Also, a note on the 512K/800 -- look at the location of the Apple logo on the machine in the 512K/800 box image above -- the truth is I have never seen a 512K/800 like this 1987 512Ke -- both examples I have in my files have the Apple logo in the old style/position (like the box image) and are thus almost certainly beige.
Indeed, this brings me to a point that I think Mac128 knew already, which is that it is probably not possible to have a platinum machine with the Apple logo in the old style/position. It just makes no sense. So I find myself wondering if platinum 512K/800s existed at all. They might have all been badged with "Macintosh ED" in Europe, etc. or had the M0001ED label in Australia, etc.
The easiest way to find answers is probably in old issues of MacWorld or other places where retailer's ads and the like for these machines would have run...