SE/30 Forever

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Pricing

Apple announced several configuration options and pricing at launch in January 1989. The price of the upgrade option for SE owners was not announced at launch.

Price adjustments at launch

Upon launching the SE/30, Apple also adjusted (mostly reduced) the price of several existing models.

  • Macintosh SE, 2MB RAM/40MB internal hard disk - $4369 (old price, $5069)
  • Macintosh II, 4MB RAM/40MB internal hard disk - $7369 (old price, $8069; before September, $7269)
  • Macintosh IIx, 4MB RAM/FDHD - $6969 (old price, $7769)
  • Macintosh IIx, 4MB RAM/80 MB internal hard disk - $7869 (old price, $9369)

Configurations

Apple offered three configurations of the SE/30:

  • The Macintosh SE/30 CPU includes the main unit, 1 megabyte of RAM, one 1.4-megabyte FDHD floppy disk drive, and mouse (base configuration).
  • The SE/30 Hard Disk 40 CPU includes the main unit, 1 megabyte of RAM, an internal 40-megabyte hard disk, one 1.4-megabyte FDHD floppy disk drive, and mouse.
  • The SE/30 Hard Disk 80 CPU includes the main unit, 4 megabytes of RAM, an internal 80-megabyte hard disk, one 1.4-megabyte FDHD floppy disk drive, and mouse.
  • The keyboard and other peripheral devices were packaged and sold separately.

Mentions of 40SC or 80SC denote the size in megabytes of the Internal SCSI Hard Disk, e.g. 40MB and 80MB.

United States

  • SE/30 CPU with 1MB RAM - $4369 (Base configuration)
  • SE/30 Hard Disk 40SC with 1MB RAM - $4869
  • SE/30 Hard Disk 80SC with 4MB RAM - $6569

United Kingdom

In the UK, the pricing was as follows at launch.

  • SE/30 Hard Disk 40SC with 2MB RAM - £3420
  • SE/30 Hard Disk 40SC with 4MB RAM - £3935

Both options shipped with Apple System Software 6.0.3 and HyperCard and were available from authorised Apple dealers from March 1989.

Australia

Discounts (from Macworld September 1989 issue)

Macs could be bought at significant discounts from third party resellers. One such reseller, Kiwi Computers (Los Angeles, CA), listed the following Mac SE/30 systems in the September 1989 issue of Macworld:

  • SE/30 CPU - $3095
  • SE/30 40MB - $3495
  • SE/30 80MB/4MB - $4395

At the time, a Plus cost $1295 and an SE with 40MB drive cost $2745 from the same reseller.

The advert also listed the following peripherals, monitors and printers:

  • Apple color monitor - $750
  • Apple Keyboard - $100
  • Apple Extended Keyboard - $175
  • ImageWriter II - $450
  • ImageWriter LQ - $995
  • LaserWriter NT - $3595

SE to SE/30 Logic Board Upgrade

In May 1991, Apple reduced the price of an SE to SE/30 upgrade, from $1699 to $999. This allowed you to exchange the logic board in your SE to the one in an SE/30, effectively making your SE into an SE/30.

Used prices dropped dramatically in the late 90s

As the SE/30 was discontinued and better alternatives at cheaper prices arose, the SE/30's value dramatically decreased in the 90s. The 4th edition of Mac Secrets, published in 1997 stated the current value of an SE/30 as $350. The 5th edition, published 1998, stated the value at the time as just $100!

Price Guide (July 2020)

The price guide is in progress. Check back soon.