Apple Floppy Drive Manual insert

Unlike the auto-inject mechanism, the user must fully insert the floppy disk into the mechanism. For this reason, machines designed for manual-inject mechanisms have two wide oval depressions for fingers atop and beneath the floppy, as shown in the first photo on this page. The echoey metallic “kerchunk” is replaced by a milder “click” as the disk seats on the drive’s motor spindle. The mechanical emergency eject button of the manual-inject drives lies beneath the floppy slot a bit right of center.It is not a coincidence that this is the same location for manual eject buttons on standard desktop Wintel machines. Apple’s mid-1990s changeover from auto-inject to manual-inject was at least in part a cost-cutting measure to both stay solvent and attempt to more effectively compete with the (then) lower-priced Wintel systems. There have also been rumors regarding deteriorations in the relation between Apple and Sony (examples: Apple was uncomfortable with a single-source for floppy drives; Sony was angered by Apple’s mind-changing regarding clone licensing and manufacture). It was one of many moves from Apple-only to personal computer industry-wide mass storage devices.I am aware of the following manual-inject floppy drives, all sharing the same Apple 661-0121 part number: • Sony MPF 42A • Mitsubishi MF355F-592MA • Mitsubishi MF355F-2592MA • Mitsubishi MF355F-3592MAAs with the auto-inject drives, all of these appear to be 100% electrically and mechanically interchangeable with each other in Apple Macintosh computers.