The first cable-ready Macintosh! No, not ready for a cable modem – ready for cable TV. More or less a black LC 520 (complete with a black mouse and black keyboard), Macintosh TV lets you watch 16-bit TV or use 8-bit computer graphics. (Assuming you were in the US, Canada, or some other country using […]
Category Archives: Tech Specs
- 500 Series
- All-in-One Hardware profiles of all-in-one Macs prior to the iMac.
- Apple Displays
- Apple TV
- Compact Macintosh
- CPUs
- Apple Silicon CPU Specs
- Intel CPU Tech Specs
- Dynamac
- eMac
- iBook
- iMac Hardware profiles of Apple iMac computers.
- Apple Silicon iMac
- iMac G3
- iMac G4
- iMac G5
- Intel iMac
- iPad
- iPad Air
- iPad mini
- iPhone
- iPod
- Classic iPod
- iPod shuffle
- iPod touch
- LCs
- Mac II
- 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
- LC PDS Video Cards
- NuBus Video Cards
- MacBook Hardware profiles of Apple MacBook computers.
- MacBook Air Hardware profiles of Apple MacBook Air computers.
- Apple Silicon MacBook Air
- MacBook Air with Retina display
- 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
- Online Resource Page
- Performa
- Power Mac
- PowerBook
- Printers
- LaserWriter
- Quadra
- Radius
- SuperMac
First available in Canada (1993), and then Asia and Europe (and never sold in the home US market), the Colour Classic II (also known as the Performa 275) shares the motherboard design of the LC III. Running at a relatively fast 33 MHz, memory can be expanded as far as 36 MB. The CC II/Performa […]
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. And the Quadra 605 (also known as the LC 475 and Performa 475 or 476) was the most powerful model in this diminutive line. Apple […]
At 33 MHz, the LC III+ (also known as the Performa 460) was the fastest 68030-based computer in the LC series. The 460/LC III+ was essentially an LC III running the motherboard and CPU at 33 MHz instead of 25 MHz. In fact, with a small modification to the motherboard, the LC III can run […]
The LC 550 replaced the LC 520, increasing CPU speed from 25 MHz to 33 MHz. It was released at the same time as the 68LC040-based LC 575. The Performa/LC 550 uses the same motherboard as the relatively rare Colour Classic II. For those with original Color Classics, dropping in a 550 motherboard is the […]
Take an LC III and graft on a 14″ Trinitron monitor along with stereo speakers. That’s what Apple did to create the 520. With the all-in-one design, these were especially popular in schools. It even had a built-in microphone, just like the Color Classic. The Performa version was not sold in the US. The 520 […]
“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 The LC III (a.k.a. Performa 450 and code named Elsie III and Vail) is a significantly faster computer than the LC II. Running at 25 MHz […]
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 […]
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. In terms of performance, on some […]
The Performa 600 was an okay computer, but a big “Huh?” for Mac IIci users. Where the LC and LC IIhad 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 MHz […]
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 LC II (a.k.a. Performa 400-430 and code named Foster Farms) was a slightly less crippled version of the LC. Still running a 32-bit CPU […]
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 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 […]
CPU-intensive applications really take off with the new Radius Rocket 68040 accelerator for NuBus machines.
Apple took the “underwhelming” Mac Portable, replaced the non-backlit 9.8″ 1-bit 640 x 400 pixel active matrix screen with a backlit display, increased base RAM to 2 MB or 4 MB, lowered the memory ceiling to 8 MB, and replaced expensive the SRAM (static RAM) chips with less-expensive pseudo-SRAM.
I found this one mentioned in the July 1991 MacUser magazine, although the Dynamac IIsf had been announced in January 1991. Where the original Dynamac (1987) was essentially a portable Mac Plus, and the short-lived Dynamac SE/30 (1988) was an Mac SE/30 with a 640 x 480 8-bit video card that also supported the 1152 […]
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.
The Macintosh Monochrome Display was Apple’s second 640 x 480 grayscale display for the Macintosh. It was introduced with the Mac IIsi and Mac LC in October 1990 and uses a 12″ grayscale CRT. The display was designed to perfectly match the width and curved front of the IIsi and LC.
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 Macintosh 12″ RGB Display was Apple’s first lower-cost color display for the Macintosh. It was introduced with the Mac LC in October 1999 to make Apple’s first low-cost color Mac system more affordable
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 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 (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.
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”). “…may be the best […]
The Macintosh Two-Page Monochrome Display was Apple’s first 2-page monitor for the Macintosh. The 21″ Two-Page Display was introduced with the Mac IIcx and the Macintosh Two-Page Monochrome Video Card in March 1989.
The Macintosh Portrait Display was Apple’s first full-page monitor for the Macintosh, a field Radius had pioneered with its Radius Full Page Display and matching video card in 1987.
The Apple High-Resolution Monochrome Monitor was Apple’s first 640 x 480 grayscale display for the Macintosh. It was introduced with the Mac IIcx in March 1989 and uses a 12″ grayscale CRT.
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. Although advertised as a 32-bit computer, the Mac IIx ROMs were “dirty,” containing some 24-bit code. Running in 32-bit mode […]
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 SEcase. Although advertised as a 32-bit computer, the SE/30 ROMs were “dirty,” containing some 24-bit code, meaning […]
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 13″ AppleColor High-Resolution Monitor was Apple’s first color display for the Macintosh. It was introduced with the Mac II in March 1987 and uses a 13″ Sony Trinitron CRT, which is curved horizontally but flat vertically.
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 […]
