October 1991 saw the introduction of the firest Macs using Motorola’s high-octane 68040 CPU. The Quadra 700, built in the same chassis as the Mac IIci, was built as a minitower, although with no front accessible hard drive bays. The Quadra 700 and 900 were the first Macs with built-in ethernet, using Apple’s AAUI connector.
Author Archives: LEM Staff
Introduced in 1991, the LaserWriter IIf was a big step forward from the LaserWriter IINTX. It had a much more powerful CPU, a 20 MHz 68030 instead of a 16 MHz 68000, and its 2 MB of memory could be expanded as high as 32 MB. It was one of the first printers with Postscript […]
Although the LaserWriter IIf was a big step forward from the LaserWriter IINTX., the IIg was also a big step forward from the IIf. It was the first LaserWriter with ethernet, and it included two technologies to improve output. FinePrint reduced jaggies on text while PhotoGrade supported over 65 levels of gray in printed output. […]
The Personal LaserWriter LS was a low cost 4-page-per-minute QuickDraw printer similar to the Personal LaserWriter SC, but it connected to Apple’s serial port instead of usings SCSI and retailed for $700 less. It is not networkable and does not have Postscript. As a QuickDraw printer, it depends on the host computer to render the […]
What was the smallest desktop Mac prior to the Mac mini? Apple’s LC series, which measures just under 3″ tall, although it has as big a footprint as four minis. The Mac LC, introduced in October 1990, was the first of the family.
Introduced as the first sub-$1,000 Macintosh in October 1990, the basic Classic came with 1 MB of RAM, a SuperDrive, and space to mount an internal SCSI hard drive. The hard drive version came with 2 MB of memory and a 40 MB hard drive. RAM expansion was via a 1 MB daughter card with two open slots, […]
The IIsi shares some features with the SE/30, some with the LC series, and some with the Mac II series. Like the SE/30, it has a 68030 PDS (Processor Direct Slot) for expansion. Like the LC, it has no built-in NuBus slot, is quite short, and has a curved front. But with an adapter, the […]
The Personal LaserWriter SC was a lower speed, lower cost replacement for the LaserWriter IISC. Like the IISC, it connects to a single Mac using SCSI. It is not networkable and does not have Postscript. It is a QuickDraw printer that depends on the host computer to render the page before sending it to the […]
The Personal LaserWriter NT was a networkable 4-page-per-minute Postscript laser printer designed as a lower cost alternative to the LaserWriter IINT.
Six months after moving from 16 MHz to 25 MHz with the IIci, Apple introduced the “wicked fast” 40 MHz IIfx. This was the Mac of choice for graphic designers, offering nearly three times the performance of the IIx – thanks to a lightning fast CPU, a new type of RAM, and special SCSI DMA […]
The Macintosh Display Card 8•24 GC is an accelerated 12″ NuBus video card compatible with 68020– and 68030-based Macs. Acceleration is not available if the card is installed in a 68040-based Mac – in fact, the 8•24 GC control panel will bomb the computer.
The Macintosh Display Card 8•24 (sometimes called the Macintosh Display Card 670) is a 12″ NuBus video card compatible with most 680×0-based NuBus Macs, with the exception of the Centris and Quadra 660AV models. It was introduced in March 1990.
The Macintosh Display Card 4•8 is a 12″ NuBus video card compatible with most 680×0-based NuBus Macs, with the exception of the Centris/Quadra 660AV. It was introduced in March 1990.
You might not believe the cover from the November 1989 MacUser. They considered the Mac Portable so sexy it was photographed with a swimsuit model for the front cover! (Or maybe so unsexy it needed this treatment.)
Building on the success of the Mac IIcx, the IIci offers 56% more power in the same compact case. A new feature was integrated video. The big advantage: Users no longer needed to buy a separate video card. The big disadvantage: The built-in video uses system memory (this is sometimes called “vampire video”).
The Macintosh II High Resolution Video Card is a 12″ NuBus card compatible with 68K- and PowerPC-based Macs running up to Mac OS 8.1. It is not compatible with the Centris/Quadra 660AV.
Building on the success of the Mac IIx, the 1989 IIcx offered the same horsepower in a smaller case. This was made possible by eliminating 3 NuBus slots and using a smaller (90W) power supply.
The Macintosh Two-Page Monochrome Video Card is a 12″ NuBus card originally designed to work with the Macintosh Two-Page Monochrome Display. It was introduced at the same time as the Mac IIcx. It is compatible with 680×0- and PowerPC-based Macs running up to Mac OS 7.6.1. It may be compatible with higher versions of the Mac […]
The Macintosh II Portrait Video Card is a 12″ NuBus card designed for use with the Macintosh Portrait Display. It was introduced at the same time as the Mac IIcx. It is compatible with 680×0- and PowerPC-based Macs running up to Mac OS 7.6.1. It may be compatible with higher versions of the Mac OS, but […]
Rolled out in January 1989, the SE/30 was the first compact Mac to come standard with the FDHD 1.4 MB floppy drive (a.k.a. SuperDrive) and support more than 4 MB of RAM. It was essentially a IIx in an SE case.
Building on the success of the Mac II, the 1988 Mac IIx housed a 68030 CPU and 68882 FPU (floating point unit) in the same case. Breakthrough features included the DOS-compatible 1.4 MB SuperDrive (a.k.a. FDHD for floppy disk, high density) and virtual memory. Although advertised as a 32-bit computer, the Mac IIx ROMs were […]
The LaserWriter IINTX was the top end of Apple’s first generation LaserWriter II family and a more powerful successor to the LaserWriter Plus. It was considered the best laser printer on the market at the time. The LaserWriter II family of printers all used the same 8 page-per-minute 300 dot-per-inch Canon LBP-SX engine, but each […]
The LaserWriter IINT the core of Apple’s LaserWriter II family and a worthy successor to the LaserWriter Plus. The LaserWriter II family of printers all used the same 8 page-per-minute 300 dot-per-inch Canon LBP-SX engine, but each model had a different logic board. The LaserWriter IINT was the middle of the line and the least […]
The LaserWriter IISC was a bit of an oddity. It was the low end of the LaserWriter II family, and to keep costs down Apple left out LocalTalk networking and Postscript. The IISC connects to a single Mac using a SCSI cable. QuickDraw images are rendered in the computer and then sent to the printer.
The Macintosh II Video Card (a.k.a. Toby) is a 12″ NuBus card compatible with 680×0-based NuBus Macs running up to Mac OS 7.6.1. It was introduced at the same time as the Mac II. It is not compatible with the Centris/Quadra 660AV and only partially compatible with the Quadra 840AV.
Rolled out in March 1987 along with the compact Mac SE, the Mac II was the first modular Mac – a revolutionary change in the Macintosh line (so revolutionary that it had to be kept secret from Steve Jobs, who loved the simplicity of all-in-one designs). Options include two 800K floppy drives and a hard […]
Introduced along with the Mac II in March 1987, the SE came with 1 MB of RAM, one or two double-sided 800K floppies, and space to mount an internal SCSI hard drive (the second drive bay held either a hard drive or second floppy – no room for both, although that didn’t stop some people from […]
The Macintosh II Monochrome Video Card is a 1-bit 7″ NuBus card compatible with 680×0-based NuBus Macs running up to Mac OS 7.6.1. It was introduced at the same time as the Mac II. It is unsupported with the Quadra 840AV and is not compatible with the Centris/Quadra 660AV.
Apple replaced the Mac 512K with a model supporting double-sided 3.5″ disks, just like the Mac Plus. Unlike the Plus, the 512Ke used RAM chips rather than SIMMs, just like the 128K and 512K. This precluded upgrading RAM beyond 512 KB by simply plugging in higher capacity chips, although some companies did make memory upgrade […]
The LaserWriter Plus, introduced on January 16, 1986 along with the Mac Plus, built on the success of the networkable, Postscript-based, 300 DPI LaserWriter by adding 22 more fonts to the 13 included with the original LaserWriter.
