Originally, the case was identical to its predecessor, except for the model number listed on the rear bucket's agency approval label. It used the same beige-like color as well. Later in its lifespan, the 512Ke was discounted and offered to the educational market, badged as the
Macintosh ED (M0001D & later M0001ED). The 512Ke shipped with the original short
Macintosh Keyboard, but the extended
Macintosh Plus Keyboard with built-in numeric keypad could be purchased optionally. A version of the 512Ke sold only outside of North America included the full keyboard and was marketed as the
Macintosh 512K/800. Later, the larger keyboard would be included as standard in North America as well. Although the 512Ke includes the same 128K ROMs and 800K disk drive as the Mac Plus, the 512Ke retains the same port connectors as the first two models. For this reason, 512Ke users' only hard disk option is the slower floppy-port-based
Hard Disk 20, or similar products for the serial port, even though the 512Ke ROMs contain the SCSI Manager software that enables the use of faster
SCSI hard disks (because the ROMs are the same as those used in the Mac Plus, which does have a SCSI port). Apple did point users to certain third-party products which could be added to the 512Ke to provide a SCSI port. ==Official upgrades==