Apple introduced a new case design with the Quadra 800, one later used by the Quadra 840av and two Power Macs, the 8100 and 8500. Perhaps the most frustrating case to work with, it has three front accessible drive bays. One is for the floppy drive; the others may hold CD-ROM, a DAT drive, a SyQuest mechanism, etc.
Category Archives: Tech Specs
- 500 Series
- All-in-One Hardware profiles of all-in-one Macs prior to the iMac.
- Apple Displays
- Apple TV
- DayStar Digital
- Dynamac
- eMac
- iBook
- iMac Hardware profiles of Apple iMac computers.
- Apple Silicon iMac
- iMac G3
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- iMac G5
- Intel iMac
- iPad
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- iPhone
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- Classic iPod
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- LCs
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- Mac mini Hardware profiles of Apple Mac mini computers.
- Mac Pro Hardware profiles of Apple Mac Pro computers.
- Mac Processor Upgrades
- Mac Studio
- Mac Video Cards
- AGP Video Cards
- NuBus Video Cards
- PCI Video Cards
- MacBook Hardware profiles of Apple MacBook computers.
- MacBook Air Hardware profiles of Apple MacBook Air computers.
- Apple Silicon MacBook Air
- MacBook Pro Hardware profiles of Apple MacBook Pro computers.
- Apple Silicon MacBook Pro
- MacBook Pro with Retina Display Profiles of MacBook Pro models with Retina Display.
- MaxxBoxx
- Motorola StarMax
- Performa
- Power Computing
- Power Mac
- PowerBook
- PowerBook Duo
- PowerBook G3
- PowerBook G4
- 12" PowerBook G4
- 15" PowerBook G4
- 17" PowerBook G4
- Printers
- LaserWriter
- Quadra
- Radius
- SuperMac
- Xserve
“With double its predecessor’s speed and more than triple the RAM capacity, the LC III is a significant entry into the low end of Apple’s line.” MacUser, April 1993
Essentially a PowerBook 180 with a color display, the 165c brought the first color screen to the PowerBook line. It was also the first notebook computer from any manufacturer with 256 colors on its internal display.
The end of the Classic line in the North American market, the Color Classic (a.k.a. Performa 250) shared the motherboard design of the LC II – equally limited in RAM expansion, constricted by a 16-bit data bus, and able to use 16-bit PDS cards designed for the LC. The only significant difference is the presence […]
Creating a midpoint between the Mac II line and the Quadra series, the short-lived Centris models were introduced in February 1993. The Centris 650 uses the same chassis as the IIvx, IIvi, and Performa 600.
Creating a midpoint between the Mac II line and the Quadra series, the short-lived Centris models were introduced in February 1993. The Centris 610 introduced a new case style, one that would later be used for the Centris 660av and Power Mac 6100.
The LaserWriter Select 310 was something of an anomaly for Apple, a PostScript printer without network support. The 310 is part of Apple’s low end 5 page-per-minute LaserWriter Select family that replaced the earlier Personal LaserWriter series.
The LaserWriter Select 300 was a QuickDraw laser printer without network support and part of Apple’s low end 5 page-per-minute LaserWriter Select family that replaced the earlier Personal LaserWriter series.
The LaserWriter Pro 630 was the high end of LaserWriter 600 family, which brought the LaserWriter to 600 dpi resolution.
The LaserWriter Pro 600 was the low end of LaserWriter 600 family and the second LaserWriter with a parallel port (the 1992 Personal LaserWriter NTR was the first).
Models are sorted by processor speed, then date of introduction. Note that the Performa 600 and Mac IIvx were crippled with a 16 MHz data bus (half of CPU speed), earning them the Road Apple label. Model II IIx IIcx IIvi IIsi IIci Performa 600 IIvx IIfx Introduced 3/87 9/88 3/89 10/92 10/90 9/89 9/92 3/90 Price […]
The PowerBook 180 was the first portable Mac with a 4-bit (16-shade) active matrix display. With a 33 MHz CPU and improved screen, it replaced the 25 MHz PowerBook 170 and was in very high demand through its six-month life.
The PowerBook 160 introduced grayscale video to the PowerBook line with its 4-bit (16 shade) internal grayscale video and support for 8-bit (256-color) video on an external monitor with up to 832 x 624 resolution.
Along with the 25 MHz PowerBook Duo 210, the Duo 230 was the first dockable Mac. By eliminating the internal floppy drive (as with PowerBook 100) along with other size and weight saving measures, Apple got this one down to 4.2 pounds.
The PowerBook Duo 210 was the first dockable Mac. By eliminating the internal floppy drive (as Apple had done with the PowerBook 100) along with other size- and weight-saving measures, Apple got it down to 4.2 pounds.
The Mac IIvx was an okay computer, but a big “Huh?” for Mac IIci users. Where the LC and LC II had been compromised by using a 32-bit processor on a 16-bit data bus, the IIvx ran a 32 MHz CPU on a 16 MHz bus. This gave it slower performance than the IIci, which […]
The Mac IIvi is a slower version of the Mac IIvx, running a 16 MHz 68030 CPU on a 16 MHz bus. The IIvi was never sold in the United States. Unlike the IIvx, the IIvi cannot accept a level 2 (L2) cache, although it can accept an accelerator.
The Performa 600 was an okay computer, but a big “Huh?” for Mac IIci users. Where the LC and LC II had been compromised by using a 32-bit processor on a 16-bit data bus, the Performa 600 ran a 32 MHz CPU on a 16 MHz bus. This gave it slower performance than the 25 […]
The PowerBook 145 replaced the 16 MHz PB 140, using a 25 MHz 68030 CPU that made it significantly faster than the previous model.
Apple replaced the Quadra 900 with the 950, boosting CPU speed from 25 MHz to 33 MHz. Because Apple removed some “wait states” from the video section, the 950’s internal video is about 20% faster than the 900’s – and the faster CPU helps things along even more. The 950 can display 16-bit video on […]
What was the smallest desktop Mac prior to the Mac mini? Apple’s LC series, which measured just under 3″ tall, although it had as big a footprint as four minis.
The Personal LaserWriter NTR was a networkable 4-page-per-minute Postscript laser printer designed to work with PCs (via parallel port) as well as Macs. It was the first LaserWriter to use an AMD CPU instead of a Motorola 68000 or 68030.
The Radius Rocket was more than just another Macintosh accelerator* – it was essentially a 68040-based Mac on a NuBus card. With RocketShare, it is possible to put multiple Rockets in a NuBus Macintosh, each Rocket running its own copy of the Mac OS and handling its own set of tasks – or sharing a distributed […]
The PowerBook 170 was the only first generation PowerBook to sport an active matrix screen. With a 25 MHz 68030, it was 2/3 faster than the PowerBook 140. Between the faster CPU, faster screen, and addition of a floating point unit, the 170 was nearly twice as fast as the 140. It was replaced by […]
The PowerBook 140 had a physically larger passive-matrix screen than the PowerBook 100 (although it displayed the same 640 x 400 pixels), a more efficient CPU, and a 2-hour NiCad battery (the same one used on all PowerBook models from the 140 to the 180). It was replaced by the 25 MHz PowerBook 145 in […]
The PowerBook 100 was a big step forward from the Mac Portable. First and foremost, it was just one-third as heavy at 5.1 pounds. Secondly, it was several thousand dollars less expensive.
Introduced in October 1991, the Classic II (a.k.a. Performa 200) was both an upgraded Classic and a replacement for the venerable SE/30. Based on a modified LC motherboard, the Classic II shares a 16-bit data path and a RAM ceiling of 10 MB (the Classic II is slower than the SE/30, even though both use […]
October 1991 saw the introduction of Macs using Motorola’s high-octane 68040 CPU. The Quadra 900 was a full-fledged tower design, although it had only a single front accessible drive bay. The Quadra 700 and 900 were the first Macs with built-in ethernet, using Apple’s AAUIs connector.
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.
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 […]
