This page contains every external drive in the collection compatible with Macintosh computers. This page will be updated as we obtain more drives. Some of these drives may also be compatible with Apple II computers. See Apple II Drives page for drives in the collection compatible only with Apple II computers. Appropriate care should be taken when connecting any drives on this page to any of the computers or cards listed as compatible. Connecting a drive to a card or built-in port that is incompatible could result in damage to the computer and the drive. Consult Apple.com support pages to collaborate information posted here or on any other third-party or hobbyist site before you use your Apple drive.
The Macintosh 400K external disk drive was introduced in 1984 with the original Macintosh. It is capable of using 3.5-inch 400K SSDD (Single-Sided/Double Density) disks. It can also use 800K DSDD (Double-Sided/Double Density), but will only record to one of the 400K sides of the disk. In other words, you can use an 800K DSDD disk with one 400K side formatted by this drive, but you cannot use DSDD-formatted disks. This drive will work with all first generation Macs, but Apple advises against using it with later Macs that use FDHD (Floppy Drive, High Density) controllers. The case is beige colored to match the color of the original Macintosh.
Apple introduced the 800K External Drive about the same time as the Macintosh Plus in 1986. The drive can use 800K DSDD (Double-Sided/Double Density) or 400K SSDD (Single-Sided/Double Density), but it was designed explicitly to take advantage of the higher capacity 800K disks compatible with the Plus and 512Ke. The drive can be used with any Macintosh that doesn't have an FDHD controller, which includes the Macintosh Plus, Macintosh SE, and Macintosh 512Ke. The drive will work with a Macintosh 512K, but in order to use it, you have to use the drive as a second drive with the HD20 INIT installed on the internal 400K boot floppy. This drive cannot be used with the original Macintosh because it lacks enough memory to support it. The 800K External Drive is not intended to be used with Apple II computers. The 800K External Drive does not have a manual eject button. Inject and eject are automatic. This drive originally shipped with a beige case to match the original Macintosh Plus and Macintosh 512Ke. Later versions shipped with a platinum (blue-gray) case.
Disk Medium:
3.5-inch floppy disks, 800K DSDD (can use 400K SSDD, but this drive does not have automatic formatting to correct disk capacity)
The Apple 3.5 Drive is an 800K drive that is compatible with any Macintosh with an external 19-pin floppy disk drive connector. It is also compatible with the built-in drive port on the Apple IIgs. This drive will work with an Apple IIe Enhanced, Apple IIe Platinum, or Apple IIgs with an Apple SuperDrive Controller Card. The Apple 3.5 Drive has a daisy chain connector that can be used to daisy chain another Apple 3.5 Drive or 5.25-inch Drive. You should only daisy chain this drive when it is connected to the Apple IIgs' drive port. For the Apple IIgs only, the Apple 3.5 Drive provides flexibility by allowing connection of up to three extra drives (3.5-inch or 5.25-inch) to the first drive; users can mix a 3.5-inch and 5.25-inch drive in the same system. 3.5 drives must come first in the chain. The Apple 3.5 Drive has a platinum (blue-gray) finish that matches the Apple IIgs, later versions of the Macintosh Plus, the SE, the SE FDHD, the SE/30, the Classic, and the Classic II.
Disk Medium:
3.5-inch floppy disks, 800K DSDD (can use 400K SSDD, but this drive does not have automatic formatting to correct disk capacity)
Compatible Apple Cards:
SuperDrive Controller Card (also called Apple II 3.5 Controller Card)
Compatible Apple Computers:
All Macs with a 19-pin drive port, Apple IIgs (built-in drive port or Apple SuperDrive Controller Card), Apple IIe Enhanced (Apple SuperDrive Controller Card), Apple IIe Platinum (Apple SuperDrive Controller Card)
The Apple SuperDrive can use 400K (SSDS), 800K (DSDD), and 1.4 MB (FDHD) 3.5-inch floppy disks. It is officially compatible with every Macintosh with a 19-pin drive port that has or has been upgraded with ROMs to support an internal SuperDrive. We have tested it briefly with a Macintosh 512Ke and noted no issues, but cannot guarantee it will work with the first generation Macs (Macintosh 128K, Macintosh 512K, and Macintosh 512Ke) without damage to the drive or the Mac. Use at your own risk in Macs without an FDHD controller. However, Apple states explicitly the SuperDrive is compatible with the Apple IIgs' built-in drive port, which does not have an FDHD controller. In order to use 1.4 MB floppies, the Macintosh has to have an FDHD controller. Otherwise, the drive can only use up to 800K DSDD disks. This disk drive has a high-density disk detector that allows the drive to automatically format to the correct disk capacity (800K or 1.4 MB). The drive will work with 800K and 1.4 MB disks with the SuperDrive Controller Card on the IIgs, IIe Enhanced, and IIe Platinum. The SuperDrive can be attached directly the Apple IIgs' drive port, but in this configuration, it is only capable of using 800K DSDD disk. For the Apple IIgs only, the SuperDrive provides flexibility by allowing connection of up to three extra drives (3.5-inch or 5.25-inch) to the first drive; users can mix a 3.5-inch and 5.25-inch drive in the same system. 3.5 drives must come first in the chain. The Apple SuperDrive used with a Macintosh computer makes it possible for you to exchange information between Macintosh and MS-DOS, OS/2, and ProDOS systems. Using the Apple File Exchange utility or third-party translators, the Apple SuperDrive works with files stored in many different formats. For example, it can read from and write to Macintosh 400K disks, Apple II and Macintosh 800K and 1.4 MB disks, as well as MS-DOS and OS/2 720K and 1.4 MB disks. The SuperDrive has a platinum (blue-gray) case. Early versions may have a "FDHD" label stenciled on front. The drive pictured here is a later model with no label. Disk Medium:
SuperDrive Controller Card (also called Apple II 3.5 Controller Card)
Compatible Apple Computers:
All Macs with a 19-pin drive port that have or have been upgraded with ROMs to support an internal SuperDrive, Apple IIgs (built-in drive port or Apple SuperDrive Controller Card), Apple IIc Plus (built-in drive port), Apple IIe Enhanced (Apple SuperDrive Controller Card), Apple IIe Platinum (Apple SuperDrive Controller Card)
Macintosh HDI-20 External 1.4 MB Floppy Disk Drive (M8061) Back to Index
Released along with the PowerBook 100 in 1991, the Macintosh HDI-20 external drive is a 1.4 MB disk drive designed to use an HDI-20 floppy disk port. The PowerBook 100 is one of Apple's original PowerBooks and it does not have a built-in floppy disk drive. Subsequent PowerBooks of the era shipped with an internal floppy drive and without an HDI-20 port except for the PowerBook Duo line of subnotebooks. The Duos have few ports and that includes the lack of an HDI-20 port, but they can be configured to use the drive by attaching a PowerBook Duo Floppy Disk Adapter or a PowerBook Duo MiniDock. Both Duo attachments have an HDI-20 port. The HDI-20 external drive is the same gray color as the earlier PowerBooks. It has a cover over its disk slot that doubles as a means to angle it. The cover also serves to protect the disk drive mechanism during transport for those busy early 1990s executives on the go. The drive mechanism is similar to the 1.4 MB FDHD "SuperDrive" and like that drive it can use (read and write) 400K (SSDS), 800K (DSDD), and 1.4 MB (FDHD) 3.5-inch floppy disks. It can format 800K and 1.4 MB floppies. Unlike the SuperDrive, inject is manual. Disk Medium:
The AppleCD SC is an audio-capable CD-ROM (Compact Disc - Read Only Media) device with Apple SCSI ports. This peripheral device reads compacts discs up to 630 MB capacity. It supports five formats for information on CDs:
The AppleCD SC uses a front-loading caddy for standard-size compact discs. The example pictured here is an original AppleCD SC manufactured in 1987. It includes a fan to keep the system cool. In 1990, Apple removed the fan because it attracted a large amount of dust onto the optical read head.
The player accommodates stereo headphones or speakers through either the mini-phono jack in front or through the line level audio output ports on the back. The AppleCD SC has a front-panel volume control knob for external audio. The AppleCD SC uses second-generation CD hardware, which contains better error checking in the firmware, a 64K RAM buffer, half-height size, better small-block handling capabilities, and better CD-audio results than earlier CD-ROM players. The AppleCD SC does a full-stroke seek and read in 500 ms; its mode transfer rate is 154K per second. The hardware can recognize three compact disc data modes:
Mode 1 (with a 2048-byte data block size)
Mode 2 (with 2352-byte data blocks)
Audio
Since Apple systems request 512-byte data blocks, and Mac OS drivers interpret the data correctly in either case, the differences between mode 1 and mode 2 are indistinguishable to the user. The AppleCD SC does not perform oversampling of the audio section. The drive mechanism was manufactured by Sony (Sony CDU-8001 mechanism). The Sony CDU-8001 is a 1x drive. The drive case is similar to Apple's external xSC hard drive case. It can be used as a platform for the early compact Macs.
The AppleCD SC can be used with both the Apple II and Macintosh families with the appropriate software drivers. It can also be used on an AppleShare File Server to provide network access to workstations. SCSI cabling is required to use the unit. An Apple II SCSI Interface Card is needed to connect the AppleCD SC to an Apple IIe or Apple IIgs computer. It has a SCSI pass through port that will allow the connection of another SCSI device. The SCSI ports use two Centronics 50-pin connectors, one to connect to the computer and one for daisy-chaining other SCSI devices. An external terminator is required if the drive is the only SCSI device connected to the computer or the last device in a chain. This drive requires a standard external power cable.
The AppleCD 300e Plus is an external version of the AppleCD 300i Plus. It is a tray-loading drive that can use CD-ROM compact discs up to 748 MB capacity. Normal speed is 1x or 360 ms, double speed is 2x or 290 ms. It supports the following formats:
Multisession Kodak Photo CD
ISO 9660/High Sierra
Macintosh HFS
CD-ROM XA
CD+G
CD+MIDI
Standard audio CDs
CD digital audio data export via SCSI bus
The player accommodates stereo headphones or speakers through either the mini-phono jack in front or through the line level audio output ports on the back. The AppleCD 300e Plus has a front-panel volume control knob for external audio. The 300e Plus has a SCSI bus transfer burst rate (over one CD-ROM block) of 2.5 MB per second and a buffer size of 256K. The hardware can recognize three compact disc data modes: mode 1, mode 2, and audio. Mode 1 and mode 2 have the following play back characteristics:
Normal Speed (1x)
Mode 1: 150 KB per second
Mode 2: 171 KB per second
Double Speed (2x)
Mode 1: 300 KB per second
Mode 2: 342 KB per second
The 300e Plus has a long metal case, painted platinum. It is compatible with any Macintosh with a DB-25 SCSI port with Mac OS system software version 6.0.7 or later. It has a SCSI pass through port that will allow the connection of another SCSI device. The SCSI ports use two Centronics 50-pin connectors, one to connect to the computer and one for daisy-chaining other SCSI devices. SCSI cabling is required to use the unit. This drive requires a standard external power cable.
The AppleCD 600e is a quad-speed (4x) external CD-ROM drive. It is a tray-loading drive that can use CD-ROM compact discs up to 748 MB capacity. Data streaming rate single speed is 1x, double speed is 2x, and quad speed is 4x. It supports the following formats:
Multisession Kodak Photo CD
ISO 9660/High Sierra
Macintosh HFS
CD-ROM XA
CD+G
CD+MIDI
Standard audio CDs
CD digital audio data export via SCSI bus
The player accommodates stereo headphones or speakers through either the mini-phono jack in front or through the line level audio output ports on the back. The AppleCD 600e has a front-panel volume control knob for external audio. The 600e has a SCSI bus transfer burst rate (over one CD-ROM block) of 5.1 MB per second and a buffer size of 256K. The hardware can recognize three compact disc data modes: mode 1, mode 2, and audio. Mode 1 and mode 2 have the following play back characteristics:
Single Speed (1x)
Mode 1: 150 KB per second
Mode 2: 171 KB per second
Double Speed (2x)
Mode 1: 300 KB per second
Mode 2: 342 KB per second
Quad Speed (4x)
Mode 1: 600 KB per second
Mode 2: 684.4 KB per second
The 600e has a long metal case, painted platinum. It is compatible with any Macintosh with at least a 25 MHz 68030 processor and a DB-25 SCSI port, with Mac OS system software version 7.1 or later. It has a SCSI pass through port that will allow the connection of another SCSI device. The SCSI ports use two Centronics 50-pin connectors, one to connect to the computer and one for daisy-chaining other SCSI devices. SCSI cabling is required to use the unit. This drive requires a standard external power cable.
The Hard Disk 20SC is an external SCSI hard drive compatible with all Macs with a SCSI port. It is also compatible with Apple IIgs, Apple IIe, and Apple II Plus. All Apple II computers require the Apple II SCSI Interface Card. The "20SC" portion of this drive's name denotes "20 MB - SCSI". The drive has a 20 MB hard drive. It has a SCSI pass through port that will allow the connection of another SCSI device. The 20 MB hard drive has a data transfer rate of 1.25 MB per second, which is considerably faster than Apple's previous external drives that did not use SCSI. The 20SC was Apple's first SCSI-based external hard drive. It was released in 1986 along with the Apple IIgs. The SCSI ports use two Centronics 50-pin connectors, one to connect to the computer and one for daisy-chaining other SCSI devices. An external terminator is required if the drive is the only SCSI device connected to the computer or the last device in a chain. Apple used the same case on three other models released the following year: 40SC, 80SC, and 160SC, each offering respective storage capacities denoted by their names. The case is constructed of molded plastic, platinum (blue-gray) in color. It can be used as a platform for the early compact Macs. SCSI cabling is required to use the unit. This drive requires a standard external power cable.
Disk Medium:
3.5-inch SCSI hard disk drive (can accommodate a 5.25-inch internal hard drive)
