Macintosh: Pram Battery

Getting Started With Your Vintage Macintosh – Garrett Fuller

Later Power Macintosh models often require a working PRAM battery to function properly. MACINTOSH PRAM BATTERY

Thankfully, for many vintage Mac models, a working PRAM battery is not strictly required for the computer to start. The machine will boot, but it will lose settings—a small price to pay for keeping a piece of computing history alive. Getting Started With Your Vintage Macintosh – Garrett

Many early Macintosh computers, such as the Mac SE, have soldered PRAM batteries. While designed to last for many years, these batteries are now decades old and prone to leakage. Many early Macintosh computers, such as the Mac

Without a working PRAM battery, a vintage Macintosh (like the Plus, SE, or early Power Macs) "forgets" its settings every time it is unplugged. This means losing time, date, and sometimes custom SCSI settings, which can hinder the boot process.