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 […]
In March 1990, Apple extended its warranty from 90 days to a full year, finally bringing it to parity with the majority of the computer industry.
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.
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. Details The 4•8 is an unaccelerated card, but it supports NuBus slave block transfers, so it will benefit from the installation of an 8•24 GC […]
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 card’s driver version 1.0 software is required to enable acceleration with […]
In January 1989 – January has always been one of Apple’s favorite months for new product releases – Apple unveiled the best ever compact Mac with a 9″ b&w display, the Macintosh SE/30.
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 […]
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.) When the Mac Portable was introduced, it had the same clock speed as the fastest prior Mac (it […]
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. Details The Mac II High Res Video Card is unaccelerated. It supports resolutions of 640 x 480 and 512 x 384, which was the […]
SCSI Accelerator 2.1 is a set of INITs that work with a Mac Plus running a Mac OS earlier than System 7 and allows improved SCSI throughput. As a former Mac Plus owner, I will attest to the fact that SCSI Accelerator really does work. It’s been a few years, but I believe I had […]
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 […]
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 […]
1988 was not a year of breakthroughs for Apple. It was a year of evolution.
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 […]
March 1987 was a milestone month for Apple: Apple built the one-millionth Macintosh, AppleShare file server software was introduced, the Mac SE and Mac II were introduced, ADB came to the Mac, and platinum replaced beige as the color for all new Mac gear.
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. Details The Macintosh II Video Card is unaccelerated. […]
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. Details The card will drive the […]
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 […]
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 […]
After a whole year without a new model (unless you count repackaging the Lisa 2 as the Macintosh XL), Apple announced the Macintosh Plus, the first expandable Macintosh, on January 16, 1986.
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 […]
Introduced in January 1986, two years after the original Macintosh, the Mac Plus shipped with 1 MB of RAM, a new double-sided 800 KB floppy drive, and a built-in SCSI port (the first Mac so equipped). Not only was 1 MB more RAM than PC-class machines could handle, but the Plus could be expanded to 4 MB total […]