The 5000-series was Motorola’s second generation Mac clone. Based on the Tanzania II motherboard with a 50 MHz bus, these tower computers provide excellent performance at a reasonable price. All models include an EDI hard drive, ATAPI CD-ROM player, and five-year warranty. The StarMax 5000 and 5500 use the same tower case as the StarMax […]
The Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (or TAM) was a radical change from existing computers. The slim unit (just 2.5″ deep) uses the same kind of LCD screen usually found in laptops. Bose Acoustimass stereo speakers surround it, along with a large subwoofer in the base power unit, for really exceptional sound. 20th Anniversary Mac 20th […]
The PowerBook 3400c, running a PowerPC 603e processor at 180 to -240 MHz, was designed as a no compromise laptop and was billed as the world’s fastest notebook computer when it was introduced in early 1997. It was also the basis for the first PowerBook G3. The 3400c was the first PowerBook based on Intel’s […]
The Power Mac 9600 was the last Mac with six PCI expansion slots. It also has 12 memory sockets and no onboard video, so one PCI slot must be occupied by a video card. It shipped from the factory with an ixMicro TwinTurbo video card especially adapted for Apple. The 300 and 350 MHz versions […]
The Power Mac 6500 replaced the slower 6400 and uses the same tower configuration. It was available in 225 MHz to 300 MHz configurations. The logic board of the 6500 is based on the “Gazelle” architecture, which is shared by the 20th Anniversary Mac and Power Mac 5500, the latter being essentially the same computer with […]
The Power Mac 5500 was the second PCI-bus Power Mac with an integrated monitor; it replaced the slower 5400. It shipped in 225, 250, and 275 MHz versions. Xemplar distributed a 225 MHz educational version in the UK as the Power Macintosh One. A black 275 MHz “Director’s Edition” was available in Australia. The 5500 was […]
The Power Mac 7300 is pretty much the same computer as the 7600, except that it has a faster CPU and a special cover that makes it harder to dismantle the case (important in settings where users might steal memory, drives, etc.).
Although it uses the same cleverly designed case as the Power Mac 9600, the 8600 was a less costly, less expandable machine. It has 8 DIMM sockets for memory, four less than the 9600, and three PCI slots, down from six in the 9600. The 250 and 300 MHz versions sometimes had an extra powerful […]
After 12 years making Macs using the Motorola 680×0 family of processors (and one year with Lisa before that), Apple discontinued that last 680×0-based Mac in 1996, marking the end of the Vintage Mac era.
The Power Mac 4400 (7220 in Australia) was Apple’s attempt to build an inexpensive Mac using more industry standard components, such as a chunky PC-like case. It was also available in a PC Compatible system with a 166 MHz DOS card with a 133 MHz Cyrix PR166+ 6×86 CPU (80486 class) and 16 MB RAM. […]
The 6400 replaced the Performa 6360 and used a new tower configuration. It was available in 180 MHz and 200 MHz configurations. The neatest feature: a built-in subwoofer for very rich sound. The 6400 was replaced by the Power Mac 6500. The Performa/Power Mac 5400 is virtually identical to the 6400 – but with a […]
The PowerBook 1400, the first CD-ROM equipped notebook computer, was available in several different configurations over its lifespan, including two screen types (dual-scan and active matrix) and three processor speeds (117, 133, and 166 MHz). The 1400c has an active matrix display, while the 1400cs model uses the less expensive dual-scan passive matrix technology. (That […]
The Performa 6360 replaced the 6320‘s 120 MHz 603e with a 160 MHz 603e CPU. Fortunately, it also had an improved motherboard design that overcame the most egregious failings of the Road Apple x200 series. Although it looks like the earlier models in this series, it’s a whole different machine under the hood – complete […]
The 4000-series was Motorola’s professional-level Mac clone. Based on the Tanzania motherboard with a Power PC 604e CPU, these provide top performance at a reasonable price. All models include an EDI hard drive, an ATAPI CD-ROM player, and an unprecedented (at least in the Mac OS world) five-year warranty. Tanzania-based computers will not boot with […]
The 3000-series was Motorola’s entry-level Mac clone. Based on the Tanzania motherboard with a Power PC 603e CPU, they provided good performance at a lower price than the 604-based 4000-series. All models include an EDI hard drive, an ATAPI CD-ROM player, and an unprecedented (at least in the Mac OS world) five-year warranty. The most common […]
The Village Tronic MacPicasso 320 card is a 7″ NuBus card compatible with 680×0- and PowerPC-based Macs running Mac OS 7.5 up to Mac OS 9.0.4. The MacPicasso 320 and 340 may be the only NuBus video cards to include a VGA port.
The SuperMac C600 (Apus 3000 series in Europe and Asia) was Umax’s least expensive minitower. Introduced at 160 MHz in August 1996, Umax was selling 280 MHz models by mid-1997. The C600 was designed around a modified Tanzania motherboard with a daughter card for 3 PCI slots and 1 Comm-2 slot. The C600 was the first […]
The PowerBase was available in low profile and minitower configurations, with speed ranging from 180-240 MHz using the PPC 603e processor. The CPU was on a daughter card for ease of upgrade. Tanzania-based computers will not boot with a dead PRAM battery. Try replacing the battery before attempting to replace the power supply on a […]
The Genesis MP+ arrived in August 1996 in dual- and quad-processor versions based on the PowerPC 604e processor, an improved version of the 604 CPU found in the earlier Genesis MP. Note that many of these were introduced only two weeks before DayStar chose to discontinue producing Mac OS computers on 25 August 1997. DayStar sold […]
The SuperMac C500 (known as the Apus 2000 series in Europe and Asia) was Umax’s entry level computer, perhaps the model that best met their corporate goal of making quality Mac OS computers at prices that could give PCs a run for their money. It may have been the least expensive Mac OS computer of its […]
The PowerTower Pro came in a tower configuration with speed ranging from 180 to 250 MHz using the PPC 604e processor. The CPU was on a daughter card for ease of upgrade. The PowerTower Pro was the first computer to use the PowerPC 604e CPU, and its 225 MHz speed when the model debuted made […]
The SuperMac J700 (Centauri in Europe and Asia) was Umax’s least expensive computer based on the PowerPC 604e processor. Very expandable, it has 4 PCI slots, 5 drive bays, 8 DIMM sockets, and a replaceable CPU. The J700 uses the same CPU daughter cards as Apple’s Power Macs from the same era, giving the SuperMac J700 […]
The SuperMac S900 (known as the Pulsar in Europe and Asia) was Umax’s first Mac clone and would remain Umax’s most powerful, most expandable computer and the last production Mac clone with 6 expansion slots until the S910 arrived. The S900 in unique in that it has a second CPU slot, but only accepts a Umax SuperMac […]
The PowerTower came in a tower configuration with speed ranging from 166-200 MHz using the PPC 604 or 604e processor. The CPU was on a daughter card for ease of upgrade. Thanks to Steve Kahng’s connections to IBM from his days with Leading Edge, Power Computing was able to acquire higher-speed PowerPC CPUs before other […]
The PowerCenter was available in low profile, desktop, and tower configurations, with speed ranging from 120-180 MHz using the PPC 604 processor. The CPU was on a daughter card for ease of upgrade. Got a Power Computing machine? Join LEM’s Powerlist Group. Got a PCI Power Mac? Join our PCI PowerMacs Group. Variants PowerCenter 120. […]
Essentially a Power Mac 7200 repackaged in Apple’s mini-tower case, the 8200 came in 100 and 120 MHz versions. Because the CPU is not on a daughter card, the only upgrade is replacing the motherboard with one from a Power Mac 8500 and adding a daughter card. As with the 7200, increasing VRAM to 2 […]
The Power Mac 7600 is identical to the 7500 – except for the processor card. The 7500 shipped with a 100 MHz PowerPC 601 CPU; the 7600 with a 120 MHz or 132 MHz PPC 604 or a 200 MHz 604e. Thanks to its daughter card design, it can be upgraded with a faster 604e, […]
The 120 MHz Power Mac 6300 and Performa 6320 replaced the 100 MHz Performa 6300‘s 100 MHz 603e CPU with a 120 MHz 603e. To save money, Apple based the x200 motherboard on the Quadra 605 with its 25 MHz system bus and 32-bit memory, even though the 603 is a 64-bit chip. Apple also used an […]
The 5400 was the first PCI-bus Power Mac with an integrated monitor. It was available in black in the UK, the first black desktop Mac since Mac TV. This model was sold as the Power Mac 5400 in the education market and under the Performa 5400 name in the consumer market. Speeds ranged from 120 […]
The Performa 5260 was the third PowerPC (PPC) Mac with an integrated monitor, sharing the design of its predecessors, the 5200 and 5300. Although the PPC 603e CPU was superior to the older 601, the computer architecture kept performance of this 100-120 MHz model comparable to an 80 MHz Power Mac 7100. To save money, Apple based the […]
The PowerCurve was a desktop computer with a 120 MHz PPC 601 processor. The CPU is on a daughter card for easy upgrade. It was the first Power Computing clone to use PCI slots instead of NuBus. It was also the first to use VGA instead of Apple’s larger 15-pin video connector. Tanzania-based computers will […]
In early 1995, Apple announced that it had shipped one million Power Macs within one year of their introduction, showing an overwhelming acceptance of the new technology.
The PowerWave was a desktop computer with a 120 to 150 MHz PPC 604 processor. The CPU is on a daughter card for easy upgrade, just like the Power Mac 7500, 8500, and 9500. Got a Power Computing machine? Join LEM’s Powerlist Group. Got a PCI Power Mac? Join our PCI PowerMacs Group. Details introduced: […]
The DayStar Genesis MP was the first multiple processor Mac OS computer, introduced in October 1995 in a four processor version. It came in dual- and quad-processor versions based on the PowerPC 604 processor. There are three different versions of the MP 528, which uses four 132 MHz 604 CPUs, based on different Apple motherboard […]
The Performa 6300 (a.k.a. 6260, 6290, 6310) replaced the 6200‘s 75 MHz 603 with a faster 100 MHz 603e CPU. The 6300 was replaced with a 120 MHz model in April 1996. To save money, Apple based the x200 motherboard on the Quadra 605 with its 25 MHz system bus and 32-bit memory, even though the 603 […]
