List of Macintosh all-in-ones

iMac is a family of all-in-one Macintosh desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple’s consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms.

In its original form, the iMac G3 had a gumdrop or egg-shaped look, with a CRT monitor, mainly enclosed by a colored, translucent plastic case, which was refreshed early on with a sleeker design notable for its slot-loaded optical drive. The second major revision, the iMac G4, moved the design to a hemispherical base containing all the main components and an LCD monitor on a freely moving arm attached to it. The third and fourth major revisions, the iMac G5 and the Intel iMac respectively, placed all the components immediately behind the display, creating a slim unified design that tilts only up and down on a simple metal base.

The fifth major revision (mid 2007) shared the same form as the previous model, but was thinner and used anodized aluminum and a glass panel over the entire front. The sixth major revision (late 2012) uses a different display unit, omits the SuperDrive, and uses different production techniques from the older unibody versions. This allows it to be thinner at the edge than older models, with an edge thickness of 5.9 mm (but the same maximum depth). It also includes a dual microphone setup and includes solid-state drive (SSD) or hard disk storage, or an Apple Fusion Drive, a hybrid of solid-state and hard disk drives. This version of the iMac was announced in October 2012, with the 21.5-inch (55 cm) version released in November and the 27-inch (69 cm) version in December; these were refreshed in September 2013, with new Haswell processors, faster graphics, faster and larger SSD options and 802.11ac Wi-Fi cards.

In October 2014, the seventh major revision of the 27-inch (69 cm) iMac was announced, whose main feature is a “Retina 5K” display at a resolution of 5120 × 2880 pixels. The new model also includes a new processor, graphics chip, and IO, along with several new storage options. The seventh major revision of the 21.5-inch (55 cm) iMac was announced in October 2015. Its main feature is a “Retina 4K” display at a resolution of 4096 × 2304 pixels. It has the same new processor, graphics chip, and I/O as the 27-inch iMac, along with several new storage options.

On June 5, 2017, Apple announced a workstation-class version called the iMac Pro, which features Intel Xeon processors and standard SSD storage. It shares the design and screen of the 5K iMac, but is colored in Space Gray rather than silver. Apple began shipping the iMac Pro in December 2017. The iMac Pro was discontinued in 2021.

On April 20, 2021, Apple announced a 24″ iMac (actual diagonal screen size is 23.5 in.) with an Apple M1 processor, its first as part of its transition to Apple silicon It comes in 7 colors (Silver, Blue, Green, Orange, Yellow, Purple, and Pink) with a 4.5K Retina display. On the base configuration, the M1 iMacs come with two Thunderbolt 3/USB 4 ports, and two USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 2 ports on the higher configurations. Apple claims that the M1 iMac offers up to 85% faster CPU performance than the previous 21.5” iMac models. This iMac is the thinnest being only 11.5mm thin due to the entire logic board and speakers being housed in the bottom “chin” of the iMac.

The announcement of iMac in 1998 was a source of controversy and anticipation among commentators, Mac fans, and detractors. Opinions were divided over Apple’s drastic changes to the Macintosh hardware. At the time, Apple had suffered a series of setbacks as consumers increasingly opted for Wintel (Windows PCs) machines instead of Apple’s Performa models. Many in the industry thought that “beleaguered” Apple would soon be forced to start selling computers with a custom interface built on top of one or more potential operating system bases, such as Taligent, Solaris, or Windows 98.

The designer behind iMac’s case was Jonathan Ive.

Ken Segall was an employee at an L.A. ad agency handling Apple’s account who came up with the name “iMac” and pitched it to Steve Jobs. After Jobs’ death, Segall claimed Jobs preferred “MacMan” for the name of the computer, but after Segall pitched “iMac” to him twice, the name was accepted. Segall says that the “i” stands for “Internet”, but also represents the product as a personal and revolutionary device (‘i’ for “individuality” and “innovation”). Apple later adopted the ‘i’ prefix across its consumer hardware and software lines, such as iPod, iBook (later MacBook), iPhone, iPad and various pieces of software such as the iLife suite and iWork and the company’s media player/store, iTunes.

Attention was given to the out-of-box experience: the user needed to go through only two steps to set up and connect to the Internet. “There’s no step 3!” was the catch-phrase in a popular iMac commercial narrated by actor Jeff Goldblum. Another commercial, dubbed “Simplicity Shootout”, pitted seven-year-old Johann Thomas and his border collie Brodie, with an iMac, against Adam Taggart, a Stanford University MBA student, with an HP Pavilion 8250, in a race to set up their computers. Johann and Brodie finished in 8 minutes and 15 seconds, whereas Adam was still working on it by the end of the commercial.

eMac

The eMac, short for education Mac, is an all-in-one Macintosh desktop computer that was produced and designed by Apple Computer, Inc. Released in 2002, it was originally aimed at the education market, but was later made available as a cheaper mass-market alternative to Apple’s second-generation LCD iMac G4. The eMac was pulled from retail on October 12, 2005, and was again sold exclusively to educational institutions thereafter. It was discontinued by Apple on July 5, 2006, and replaced by a cheaper, low-end iMac that, like the eMac, was exclusively sold to educational institutions.

The eMac design closely resembles the first-generation iMac, though the eMac is slightly larger in size, and heavier than the preceding G3, weighing 50 lb (23 kg). The unique shape of the computer was also similar to the 17 inch CRT Studio Display from 2000 (the last standalone CRT monitor Apple made). The Apple eMac features a PowerPC 7450 (G4e) processor that is significantly faster than the previous-generation PowerPC 750 (G3) processor, as well as a 17-inch flat CRT display, which was aimed at the education market, as LCD screens would be expensive.

iMac (Intel-based)

The Intel-based iMac is a series of Macintosh desktop computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Inc. since 2006. It is one of three desktop computers in the current Macintosh lineup, serving as an all-in-one alternative to the Mac Mini, and sits below the performance range Mac Pro. It was sold alongside the Xeon-based iMac Pro from 2017 to 2021.

Pre-2009 iMac models featured either a white polycarbonate enclosure or an aluminum enclosure. The October 2009 iMac model featured a unibody aluminum enclosure, a version of which can still be seen on the current model. The current iMacs released since October 2012 also feature a much thinner display, with the edge measuring just 5 mm.

The Intel-based iMac was succeeded by the iMac with Apple silicon beginning in 2021 as part of the Mac transition to Apple silicon. On April 20, 2021, Apple discontinued the 21.5-inch Intel iMac with 4K Retina Display following the release of a 24-inch model based on the Apple M1 processor.

iMac G3

The iMac G3, originally released as the iMac, is a series of Macintosh personal computers developed by Apple under the tenure of Apple’s interim CEO and cofounder Steve Jobs after his return to the financially troubled company.

The iMac was a huge success for Apple, revitalizing the company and influencing competitors’ product designs. It played a role in abandoning legacy technologies like the floppy disk, serial ports, and Apple Desktop Bus in favor of Universal Serial Bus. The product line was updated throughout 1998 until 2001 with new technology and colors, eventually being replaced by the iMac G4 and eMac.

iMac G4

The iMac G4 (often called Lamp or Sunflower) is an all-in-one personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from January 2002 to August 2004. It replaced the iMac G3 and was succeeded by the iMac G5.

The iMac G4 featured an LCD mounted on an adjustable arm above a hemisphere containing a full-size, tray-loading optical drive and a fourth-generation PowerPC G4 74xx-series processor. The internals such as the hard drive and motherboard were placed in the “dome” instead of the LCD panel as it would be too heavy. The arm allowed the display to hold almost any angle around the dome-shaped bottom. The iMac G4 was sold only in white, and was not translucent like the iMac G3. The machine was sold with the Apple Pro Keyboard and Apple Pro Mouse, which were later redesigned and renamed the Apple Keyboard and Apple Mouse, respectively. Optional Apple Pro Speakers, which were better quality than the internal speakers, were also available. The Apple Pro Speakers used a unique adapter, designed to work only with a select few Apple Macintosh models.

The iMac G4 originally included both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, due to the machine being released the year Mac OS 9 was discontinued. When running newer versions of Mac OS X (Tiger and Leopard), the iMac G4’s GeForce4 MX GPU was not capable of Core Image rendering. This causes some minor graphical issues. One such issue would be the lack of the Dashboard ripple effect when a widget is introduced. Another would be an opaque menu bar in Mac OS X Leopard.

It was originally known as the New iMac, while the existing iMac G3 continued to be sold for several months. During this time, Apple had all but eliminated CRT displays from its product line. However, the LCD iMacs were unable to match the low price point of the iMac G3, largely due to the higher cost of the LCD technology at the time. The iMac G3 was obsolete by this point, but low-cost machines were particularly important for the education market. Because of this affordability issue, Apple created the eMac in April 2002 and ended production of the iMac G3. The iMac G4 was then marketed as the “iMac” until its discontinuation, then was retroactively labeled iMac G4 to distinguish itself from the succeeding iMac G5 in August 2004.

Apple advertised the iMac G4 as having the adjustability of a desk lamp, and was nicknamed the “iLamp”, similar to “Luxo Jr.”, who was featured in a short film produced by Pixar, another venture of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. One of the advertisements for the machine featured it sitting in a store window “reacting” to every move made by a passer-by on the street. At the end, when the man sticks out his tongue, the iMac responds by opening its optical drive. It was also known as the “Sunflower”.

The internal components are housed in a 10.6″ half-sphere, ice white case with a chromed stainless steel neck that supports a 15″ TFT active matrix LCD display. This model shipped with Mac OS X 10.1 and Mac OS 9.2 installed with Mac OS X selected as the default, as well as an ice white Apple Pro Keyboard, Mouse, and Speakers. Unlike some earlier iMac models that are convection-cooled, the iMac “Flat Panel” series is cooled by a quiet internal fan.

The Gateway Profile was one of the few Wintel competitors to the iMac G4 in the all-in-one LCD computer market. A reviewer noted that the Profile had better processing power, due to its Intel Pentium 4, whereas the iMac was hampered because its G4 chip lacked the 1 MB L2 cache found on the higher-end Power Mac. The iMac had clear advantages in LCD screen quality (it uses a digital LCD as opposed to an analog LCD), ergonomics (particularly the flexible monitor arm), and multimedia. The reviewer concluded that the iMac worked well as an introduction to the Macintosh ecosystem, but noted that their relatively high prices were approaching that of laptops, which were portable and had higher resolution LCD screens.

Macintosh LC 500 series

The Macintosh LC 500 series is a series of personal computers that were a part of Apple Computer’s Macintosh LC family of Macintosh computers. It was Apple’s mid-1990s mainstream education-market Macintosh, featuring an all-in-one desktop design with a built-in 14″ CRT display, CD-ROM drive, and stereo speakers. Designed as a successor to the compact Macintosh family of computers, the case is similar to the then recently introduced Macintosh Color Classic, but considerably larger and heavier due to its larger screen and a bulging midsection to house the larger electronics.

The 500 series included four main models, the 520, 550, 575, and 580, with the 520 and 550 both using different speeds of the Motorola 68030, and the 575 and 580 sharing the 33MHz Motorola 68LC040 processor but differing on the rest of the hardware. All of these computers were also sold to the consumer market through department stores under the Macintosh Performa brand, with similar model numbers. The LC models, in particular, became very popular in schools for their small footprint, lack of cable clutter, and durability. The Macintosh TV, while not branded as an LC, uses the LC 520’s case (in black instead of platinum) and a logic board similar to the LC 550. The compact Color Classic series shares many components, and is able to swap logic boards, with the early 500 series machines.

The Macintosh LC 520 was introduced in June 1993. The case design was larger than the compact Macintosh models that precede it, due in large part to the significantly larger screen.

The LC 520 got its start as a design project codenamed “Mongo”. Following the success of the Color Classic, The Apple Industrial Design Group (IDg) began exploring the adaptation of the Color Classic’s design language, dubbed Espresso, for a larger display version that would also include a CD-ROM drive. However, IDg hated the design so much that they permanently shelved the final concept. In 1992, Apple CEO John Sculley demanded a large screen all-in-one design to fill out his market strategy in less than 6 months. Over IDg’s objections, Apple’s engineering team retrieved the shelved design and promptly put it into production. Because IDg universally detested the design, they immediately began the re-design project that would become the Power Macintosh 5200 LC series less than two years later. The logic board of the 520 is broadly the same as the Macintosh LC III, with a Motorola 68030 CPU and an optional Motorola 68882 FPU.

A New York Times review of the LC 520 was generally positive, with columnist Peter Lewis noting that its $1,599 price point is “perhaps the best value in the entire Macintosh product line … it would be very difficult to put together a Windows-based PC with the same features for that price, and Windows computers are usually much less expensive than Macs.” Lewis also noted that the unit’s 40-pound weight would make it difficult to carry home at night — an attribute that Apple had previously marketed as a feature of compact Macintosh models in the 1980s. MacWEEK wrote that the timing of the LC 520’s release coincided with purchasing timelines for schools, and that the decision to market the computer exclusively to the education market was part of a strategic shift to move the LC brand away from the retail market

The 520 was discontinued in February 1994, when it was replaced by both the faster but otherwise essentially unchanged Macintosh LC 550 and the new, 68LC040-equipped Macintosh LC 575. Apple sold upgrade kits for the LC 520 that brought it to the same specifications as the LC 550 or 575.

Initially sold only in Japan and Canada, and to U.S. educational institutions. The computer was discontinued in February 1994. Featured a caddy-loaded CD-ROM drive.

Introduced June 28, 1993:

• Macintosh LC 520: 5 MB RAM, 80 MB HDD. U.S. educational institutions only. $1,599 USD.
• Macintosh Performa 520

Power Macintosh 5200 LC

The Power Macintosh 5200 LC and Power Macintosh 5300 LC are a line of personal computers that are a part of Apple Computer’s Power Macintosh, LC, and Performa families of Macintosh computers. When sold to the consumer market, the machines were marketed as variations of Performa 5200 and Performa 5300.

The Power Macintosh 5200 LC was introduced in April 1995 with a PowerPC 603 CPU at 75 MHz as a PowerPC-based replacement of the Macintosh LC 500 series. Later models switched to the PowerPC 603e CPU and used model numbers above 5300, but kept the same motherboard design. Unlike previous education models, which prepended the model number with “LC”, the 5200 / 5300 models use the Power Macintosh designation of Apple’s main workstation line of the time, with “LC” appended to the end.

The 5200 is closely related to the 6200, which use the same logic boards in desktop cases without integrated monitors.

In an editorial, MacWorld Magazine’s Editor-In-Chief, Adrian Mello, wrote of the 5200: “The all-in-one design exhibits a lot of the same spirit that Apple vested in the original Macintosh. A deceptive minimalism belies this machine’s utility and value. Apple has again figured out how to package a full-featured computer into the simplest possible shape. […] Its predecessors, which include the Performa 520, 550, 575 and now 580, all offer good functionality and value, but they lack the 5200’s design integrity. In comparison, their efforts to mimic the appearance of a conventional three-piece desktop computer just made them look clumsy.”

Production of the 5200 and 5300 models was discontinued in the first half of 1996, with the PowerPC 603e-based Power Macintosh 5260 (with Performa 5260CD and 5270CD variants) and Power Macintosh 5400 (with Performa 5400CD, 5410CD and 5420CD variants) being offered as replacements at different price points. The 5260 retained the overall design of the 5200 and was sold at a similar price point with similar features, but shared no parts other than the stand and lower faceplate. The more expensive 5400 was also visually similar but with a significantly different motherboard that offered PCI instead of NuBus expansion.

Power Macintosh 5260

The Power Macintosh 5260 is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from April 1996 to March 1997. It is a replacement for the Power Macintosh 5200 LC, retaining its all-in-one form factor while replacing its PowerPC 603 CPU with the newer and faster PowerPC 603e, and dropping the “LC” brand. As was standard practice at the time for Apple, the 5260 was re-branded as a number of Performa models and sold to consumer markets, while the 5260 itself was primarily sold to the North American education market as a Power Macintosh.

The Power Macintosh 5400, also an all-in-one model, was introduced at the same time but had a significantly different logic board that retired NuBus support in favour of PCI. The 5260 was discontinued when the Power Macintosh 5500 was introduced in early 1997.

Common to all models are a 14″ Shadow Mask RGB display at 640×480 at 16 bit, a single LC PDS slot, 2 RAM slots, and 1 MB of VRAM that cannot be upgraded. There are two serial ports on the back, but they do not support hardware handshaking, precluding the use of an external modem with speeds above 9600 bps.

Introduced April 15, 1996:

• Power Macintosh 5260/100: North American education model with 100 MHz CPU, 8 or 16 MiB of RAM, and an 800 MB hard disk
• Macintosh Performa 5260CD: The Power Macintosh 5260/100, also available with the smaller 800 MB hard disk
• Macintosh Performa 5270CD: Identical to the Performa 5260CD, but only sold in Europe and Asia.

Introduced October 1, 1996:

• Power Macintosh 5260/120: Later North American education model with 120 MHz CPU, 16 MiB of RAM and a 1.2 GB hard disk
• Macintosh Performa 5260/120: Consumer version of 5260/120, only sold in Canada and Australia.

Introduced November 12, 1996:

• Macintosh Performa 5280: Consumer version of 5260/120, only sold in Japan.

Power Macintosh 5400

The Power Macintosh 5400 (also sold under variations of the name Performa 5400) is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from April 1996 to March 1998. The 5400 is an all-in-one computer with an integrated monitor, and replaced the Power Macintosh 5200 LC in that role. It is largely identical to the Power Macintosh 6400 internally, which is essentially the same computer (the “Alchemy” platform) in a tower case. This is the first all-in-one Macintosh to support PCI expansion, replacing the Processor Direct Slot.

Unlike other Power Macintosh machines of the time, the 5400 was only sold to education markets.^[1] Macintosh Performa-branded variants were generally only sold in Europe, Asia and Australia while the less-powerful Performa 5300CD remained on sale in the Americas for much of 1996. This reflected a de-emphasizing of sales of all-in-one form factor computers into the consumer market, something Apple stopped doing altogether until the introduction of the iMac in the second half of 1998.

The more powerful Power Macintosh 5500 was introduced in April 1997, and both computers continued to be sold alongside each other. When the education-only Power Macintosh G3 All-In-One was introduced in early 1998, the 5400 and 5500 were both discontinued.

Introduced April 15, 1996:

• Power Macintosh 5400/120: Base education version with 16 MB RAM and a 120 MHz processor.

Introduced April 22, 1996:

• Macintosh Performa 5400CD: Consumer version of the 5400/120.
• Macintosh Performa 5410CD: Ethernet-less version of the 5400CD.
• Macintosh Performa 5420CD

Introduced August 5, 1996:

• Macintosh Performa 5400/160: Asia- and Europe-only version with a 160 MHz CPU.
• Macintosh Performa 5400/180 (DE): Asia- and Europe-only 180 MHz variant in a black case. The “DE” (Director’s Edition) was available only in Australia and had 24 MB of RAM, a built in TV tuner with remote control, and a bigger hard drive.

Introduced October 1, 1996:

• Power Macintosh 5400/180: Same, but with a 180 MHz processor.

Introduced November 12, 1996:

• Macintosh Performa 5430: Asia- and Europe-only variant of the 5400/160, but with 24 MB RAM.
• Macintosh Performa 5440: Asia- and Europe-only variant of the 5400/180, only in a normal grey case.

Introduced February 17, 1997:

• Power Macintosh 5400/200: Education version with 24 MB RAM and a 200 MHz processo

Power Macintosh 5500

The Power Macintosh 5500 is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from February 1997 to March 1998. Like the Power Macintosh 5260 and 5400 that preceded it, the 5500 is an “all-in-one” design, built around a PowerPC 603ev processor operating at 225, 250 or 275 megahertz (MHz).

Apple originally produced the Power Macintosh 5500 for the educational market as a replacement for the previous year’s Power Macintosh 5400. It is the last All-In-One from Apple to be housed in the Power Macintosh 5200 LC’s form-factor; its replacement, the Power Macintosh G3 All-In-One, introduced a significantly different design.

The 225 and 250 MHz models were produced in beige and black, whilst the rarer 275 MHz models were only black.

External ports: External ports include two LocalTalk/GeoPort serial ports, a DB-25 SCSI port, an ADB port, a stereo sound input port, a built-in microphone above the monitor, stereophonic sound output ports, a headphone jack on the front, a stereo miniphone jack on the back.

Memory: Unlike the 5400, the 5500 has no soldered on-board memory. There are two JEDEC-standard DIMM slots (168- pin, 60 ns or faster, 2K refresh rate, 5-volt buffered EDO DIMMs), which can support up to 64 MB each, for a total maximum memory of 128 MB, 8 less than the 5400.

Cache: The processor makes use of 32 kilobytes (KB)^[1] of L1 cache, with an option for a 256 or 512 KB L2 cache (the latter being available only on the 275 MHz model) cache operating at the stock 50 MHz bus speed.

Hard disk: The 5500 includes a larger ATA hard disk than its predecessor. The computer came stock with a 2 gigabyte (GB)^[2] hard disk, but the 275 MHz model came with a 4 GB drive; a faster SCSI CD-ROM drive (12x in early models and 24x in the top-end).

Video: An accelerated ATI Rage IIc graphics card, containing 2 megabytes (MB)^[1] of dedicated SGRAM and allowing for resolutions up to 832×624 at 32 bits per pixel, 1152×870 at 16 bpp, and 1280×1024 at 8 bpp. An optional video connector kit is available which adds a DB-15 output port to the back; the output of this display mirrors the main screen, suitable for presentations.

Floppy disk: The 5500 includes Apple’s standard SuperDrive 1.44 MB floppy drive.

CD-ROM: All 5500 configurations include either a 12x or 24x CD-ROM.

Multimedia: 5500s came with optional multimedia expansion cards, that connect via internal cables. In European models, these were an S-Video card and a Philips TV tuner card that also had an audio input. Black 5500s with this configuration were marketed as Director Edition in North America and Australasia and the 225 MHz version had the phrase printed on the case.

Expansion slots: The 5500 has one PCI card slot.

Operating system: The 5500 supports System Software versions 7.5.5 through 9.1 – Mac OS X is not officially supported on this machine. However, it can be run with XPostFacto but is not recommended, due to the 5500’s lack of a G3 processor and RAM ceiling of 128 MB. In the general case, 128 MB of RAM is the minimum required for OS X to run (a G3 iMac can run OS X with this amount of RAM), but only on machines with a G3 processor.

While Apple had by this point retired the “Performa” and “LC” brands as a way of distinguishing different build configurations, they still built different configurations for different markets.

• Power Macintosh 5500/225: 16 MB DRAM, 2 GB HDD, 12x CD-ROM. Sold worldwide.
  • Additional configuration for education customers: 32 MB DRAM, 24x CD-ROM, Ethernet
  • Additional configuration for Japan: 32 MB DRAM, 4 GB HDD, 33.6k modem, 24x CD-ROM, Ethernet
  • Additional configuration for Europe: 32 MB DRAM, 2 GB HDD, 33.6k modem, 24x CD-ROM, Ethernet
• Power Macintosh ONE/225: Same as the 5500/225, sold in the UK education market, through an agreement with a UK-based company called Xemplar. Aside from some original Macintosh units, this is possibly the only Apple-manufactured Macintosh to be sold with another company’s logo on the front.
• Power Macintosh 5500/250: Same as the 5500/225, sold in Japan and Australia.
  • Additional configuration for Japan and Australia: 32 MB DRAM, 4GB HDD, 24x CD-ROM, Video in, 33.6k modem
  • Additional configuration for U.S. education customers: 32 MB DRAM, 24x CD-ROM, Video in, NTSC out, Ethernet
  • In Australia, a black Directors Edition was sold.
• Power Macintosh 5500/275: Same as the 550/225 but with a 275 MHz CPU, sold in Europe.
  • Additional configuration sold: Graphite-colored exterior plastic parts, 32 MB DRAM, 4 GB HDD, 24x CD-ROM, TV/FM tuner, Video in, 33.6k modem

Power Macintosh G3

The Power Macintosh G3 (also sold with additional software as the Macintosh Server G3) is a series of personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from November 1997 to August 1999. It represented Apple’s first step towards eliminating redundancy and complexity in the product line by replacing eight Power Macintosh models (and the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh) with three: Desktop and Mini Tower models for professional and home use, and an All-In-One model for education. The introduction of the Desktop and Mini Tower models coincided with Apple starting to sell build-to-order Macs directly from its web site in an online store, which was unusual for the time as Dell was the only major computer manufacturer doing this. Apple’s move to build-to-order sales of the Power Macintosh G3 also coincided with the acquisition of Power Computing Corporation, which had been providing telephone sales of Macintosh clones for more than two years.

The Power Macintosh G3 is named for its third-generation PowerPC chip, and introduced a fast and large Level 2 backside CPU cache, running at half processor speed. As a result, these machines benchmarked significantly faster than Intel PCs of similar CPU clock speed at launch, which prompted Apple to create the “Snail” and “Toasted Bunnies” television commercials. Magazine benchmarks showed the G3/266 CPU outperforming the 350 MHz PowerPC 604ev chip in the Power Macintosh 9600 as well.

Two generations of the Power Macintosh G3 were released. The first generation, known colloquially as “Beige” was introduced at a special event on November 10, 1997. The second generation, known officially as “Blue and White”, was introduced at MacWorld San Francisco on January 5, 1999. Its replacement, the Power Mac G4, was introduced in August of the same year.

Macintosh TV

The Macintosh TV is a personal computer with integrated television capabilities released by Apple Computer in 1993. It was Apple’s first attempt at computer-television integration. It shares the external appearance of the Macintosh LC 500 series, but in black. The Macintosh TV is essentially a Performa 520 that can switch its built-in 14″ Sony Trinitron CRT from being a computer display to a cable-ready television. It is incapable of showing television in a desktop window, although it can capture still frames to PICT files.

It comes with a small credit card-sized remote control that is also compatible with Sony televisions. It was the first Macintosh to be made in black and comes with a matching black keyboard and mouse. Later Apple would issue a custom black Performa 5420 in markets outside the United States with many of the features of the Mac TV. Apple’s similar TV tuner card was a popular option for later LC, Performa series, and select models of Power Macintosh G3 beige computers. Only 10,000 were made in the model’s short time on the market.

Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh

The Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (or “TAM”) is a limited-edition personal computer released in 1997 to mark Apple’s 20th birthday. The machine was a technological showcase of the day, boasting a number of features beyond simple computing, and with a price tag aimed at the “executive” market.

April 1, 1996, marked 20 years since the day that Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne came together to form Apple Computer. As this milestone arrived and came to the attention of Apple’s then-current executives, the decision was made to release a limited edition Macintosh computer to celebrate—and so the “Spartacus” (or “Pomona”, or “Smoke & Mirrors”) project was born.

The normal time-span to develop a new Macintosh computer was 18+ months, although available time was less. However, the design team had already been working on several “dream” concepts, and soon settled on the most feasible of those: the (almost) “All-in-One” LCD-based design. To reduce development time, many off-the-shelf components were used on the new computer’s internals.

The TAM was announced almost 20 years to the day after Jobs and Wozniak incorporated the company, in January 1997 at MacWorld Expo, San Francisco. It was given a release date of March 20, 1997, with a retail price of US$7,499. Originally intended as a mainstream product, the marketing group turned it into a pricey special edition

Macintosh 128K

The Macintosh 128K, originally released as the Apple Macintosh, is the original Apple Macintosh personal computer. Its beige case consisted of a 9 in (23 cm) CRT monitor and came with a keyboard and mouse. It played a pivotal role in establishing desktop publishing as a general office function. A handle built into the top of the case made it easier for the computer to be lifted and carried.

It had an initial selling price of US$2,495 (equivalent to $6,215 in 2020). The Macintosh was introduced by the now-famous US$370,000 (equivalent to $921,682 in 2020) television commercial directed by Ridley Scott, “1984”, which aired on CBS during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII on January 22, 1984. Sales of the Macintosh were strong from its initial release on January 24, 1984, and reached 70,000 units on May 3, 1984. Upon the release of its successor, the Macintosh 512K, it was rebranded as the Macintosh 128K. The computer’s model number was M0001.

Macintosh 128K/512K technical details

The original Macintosh was a relatively simple machine, now of interest for its simplicity and for the fact that it was the first computer produced by Apple under the name Macintosh. The Macintosh used standard off-the-shelf components to the greatest extent possible, achieving a moderate price point by mixing complex LSI chips, readily customizable programmable array logic, and off-the-shelf components.

he Macintosh used the Motorola 68000. The 68000’s bus was wired directly to the other programmable components of the computer: the IWM floppy controller, the Zilog 8530 SCC, and the MOS Technology 6522.

The bus also connected the 68000 to the 128 or 512 KiB of main memory (DRAM), which was shared between the processor and the multimedia circuits in a direct memory access (DMA) arrangement. Either the processor or the video/sound engine could access the memory, but not both, resulting in up to a 10% loss in performance; the DMA circuit also performed necessary maintenance on the RAM which would otherwise add overhead, a trick previously used in the Apple II.

Precise timing information was relayed to the 68000 by interrupts. The 68000 provides three interrupt inputs, which in the Macintosh 128K/512K were connected to the 6522, the 8530, and a human input designed for programmers, in order of increasing priority. Thus typing on the keyboard (attached to the 6522) did not reduce serial data (8530) performance, yet the program controlling the serial bus could be debugged by the programmer.

To further reduce the cost of manufacture, as compared with its predecessor the Lisa, Apple did not include an MMU. As a result the Macintosh did not support protected memory, and this feature remained absent from the OS until 2001 with the Mac OS X operating system.

According to Andy Hertzfeld the Macintosh used for the introduction demo on January 24, 1984 was a prototype with 512k RAM, even though the first model offered for sale implemented just 128k of non-expandable memory. This prototype was used to provide adequate RAM to run the memory-intensive demo, which showcased speech synthesis software intended to impress the crowd

Macintosh 512K

The Macintosh 512K is a personal computer that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, inc. from September 1984 to April 1986. It is the first update to the original Macintosh 128K. It was virtually identical to the previous Macintosh, differing primarily in the amount of built-in random-access memory. The increased memory turned the Macintosh into a more business-capable computer and gained the ability to run more software. It is the earliest Macintosh model that can be used as an AppleShare server and, with a bridge Mac, communicate with modern devices.

The Mac 512K originally shipped with Macintosh System 1.1 but was able to run all versions of Mac OS up to System 4.1. It was replaced by the Macintosh 512Ke and the Macintosh Plus. All support for the Mac 512K was discontinued on September 1, 1998.

Macintosh 512Ke

The Macintosh 512K enhanced (512Ke) was introduced in April 1986 as a cheaper alternative to the top-of-the-line Macintosh Plus, which had debuted three months previously. It is the same as the Macintosh 512K but with the 800K disk drive and 128K of ROM used in the Macintosh Plus. Like its predecessors, it has little room for expansion. Some companies did create memory upgrades that brought the machine up to 2 MB or more.

Originally, the case was identical to its predecessor, except for the model number listed on the rear bucket’s agency approval label. It used the same beige-like color as well. But like the Macintosh Plus, in 1987 the 512Ke adopted the standard Apple “Platinum” color, as well as the same case-front design as the Plus (without the name), though keeping its original rear bucket. Later in its lifespan, the 512Ke was discounted and offered to the educational market, badged as the Macintosh ED (M0001D & later M0001ED).

The 512Ke shipped with the original short Macintosh Keyboard, but the extended Macintosh Plus Keyboard with built-in numeric keypad could be purchased optionally. A version of the 512Ke only sold outside of North America included the full keyboard and was marketed as the Macintosh 512K/800. Later, the larger keyboard would be included as standard in North America as well.

Although the 512Ke includes the same 128K ROMs and 800K disk drive as the Mac Plus, the 512Ke retains the same port connectors as the original Mac. For this reason, 512Ke users’ only hard disk option is the slower, floppy-port-based Hard Disk 20, or similar products for the serial port, even though the 512Ke ROMs contain the “SCSI Manager” software that enables the use of faster SCSI hard disks (because the ROMs are the same as the ones used in the Mac Plus, which does have a SCSI port). Apple did point users to certain third-party products which could be added to the 512Ke to provide a SCSI port (Apple copied the MacSCSI design in the Mac Plus logic board).

Macintosh Classic

The Macintosh Classic was a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from October 1990 to September 1992. It was the first Macintosh to sell for less than US$1,000.

Production of the Classic was prompted by the success of the Original Macintosh, then the Macintosh Plus and finally the Macintosh SE. The system specifications of the Classic are very similar to its predecessors, with the same 9-inch (23 cm) monochrome CRT display, 512 × 342 pixel resolution, and 4 megabyte (MB) memory limit of the older Macintosh computers. Apple’s decision to not update the Classic with newer technology such as a newer CPU, higher RAM capacity or color display resulted in criticism from reviewers, with Macworld describing it as having “nothing to gloat about beyond its low price” and “unexceptional”. But, it ensured compatibility with the Mac’s by-then healthy software base as well as enabled it to fit the lower price Apple intended for it. Nevertheless, the Classic featured several improvements over the aging Macintosh Plus, which it replaced as Apple’s low-end Mac computer. It was up to 25 percent faster than the Plus and included an Apple SuperDrive 3.5-inch (9 cm) floppy disk drive as standard. Unlike the Macintosh SE/30 and other compact Macs before it, the Classic does not have an internal Processor Direct Slot, making it the first non-expandable desktop Macintosh since the Macintosh Plus. Instead, it has a memory expansion/FPU slot.

The Classic is an adaptation of Jerry Manock’s and Terry Oyama’s 1984 Macintosh 128K industrial design, as had been the earlier Macintosh SE. Apple released two versions. The price and the availability of education software led to the Classic’s popularity in education. It was sold alongside the more powerful Macintosh Classic II in 1991 until its discontinuation the next year.

Macintosh Classic II

The Macintosh Classic II (also sold as the Performa 200, known as “Performa 1” in Europe, “Classic Mono” in Australia and as “Deluxe II” or “Deluxe 2” in Japan and other parts of Asia) is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from October 1991 to September 1993. Like the Macintosh SE/30, the Classic II was powered by a 16 MHz Motorola 68030 CPU and 40 or 80 MB hard disk, but in contrast to the SE/30, it was limited by a 16-bit data bus (the SE/30 had a 32-bit data bus) and a 10 MB memory ceiling. The slower data bus resulted in the Classic II being 30% slower than the SE/30.

While the Classic II shares a case with the earlier Classic, architecturally it is more similar to the Macintosh LC. The use of custom ICs, identical to those used in the LC, enabled the Classic II to have a lower component count than older Macs. Unlike the LC and the SE/30 before it, the Classic II does not have an internal Processor Direct Slot, making it the second slotless desktop Macintosh after the Classic.

The Classic II was one of the three machines Apple repackaged as a Macintosh Performa when the brand was introduced in September 1992. Called the “Performa 200”, it was sold with the same specifications as the original Classic II, with the addition of a speaker grille on the left side for enhanced sound. A number of changes to the packaged software were included, such as the At Ease desktop alternative which aimed to provide a simpler user interface than the standard Macintosh Finder. The exact software included tended to vary from one retailer to the next. It was initially offered at a retail price of about $1,250 USD

The Classic II is the last black-and-white compact Macintosh, and the last desktop Macintosh to include an external floppy disk drive port. Apple discontinued support for the Classic II on January 1, 2001.

Macintosh Color Classic

The Macintosh Color Classic (sold as the Macintosh Colour Classic in PAL regions and Macintosh Color Deluxe in Japan) is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from February 1993 to May 1995 (up to January 1998 in PAL markets). It has an “all-in-one PC” design, with a small, integrated 10″ Sony Trinitron display at 512 × 384 pixel resolution. The display is capable of supporting up to thousands of colors with a video memory upgrade.

The Color Classic is the final model of the original “compact” family of Macintosh computers, and was replaced by the larger-display Macintosh LC 500 series and Power Macintosh 5200 LC.

Macintosh Color Classic II

The Macintosh Color Classic (sold as the Macintosh Colour Classic in PAL regions and Macintosh Color Deluxe in Japan) is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from February 1993 to May 1995 (up to January 1998 in PAL markets). It has an “all-in-one PC” design, with a small, integrated 10″ Sony Trinitron display at 512 × 384 pixel resolution. The display is capable of supporting up to thousands of colors with a video memory upgrade.

The Color Classic is the final model of the original “compact” family of Macintosh computers, and was replaced by the larger-display Macintosh LC 500 series and Power Macintosh 5200 LC.

Macintosh Plus

The Macintosh Plus computer is the third model in the Macintosh line, introduced on January 16, 1986, two years after the original Macintosh and a little more than a year after the Macintosh 512K, with a price tag of US$2599.

 As an evolutionary improvement over the 512K, it shipped with 1 MB of RAM standard, expandable to 4 MB, and an external SCSI peripheral bus, among smaller improvements. Originally, the computer’s case was the same beige color as the original Macintosh, Pantone 453, however in 1987, the case color was changed to the long-lived, warm gray “Platinum” color. It is the earliest Macintosh model able to run System Software 5, System 6 and System 7.

Macintosh SE

The Macintosh SE is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, from March 1987^[1] to October 1990. It marked a significant improvement on the Macintosh Plus design and was introduced by Apple at the same time as the Macintosh II.

The SE retains the same Compact Macintosh form factor as the original Macintosh computer introduced three years earlier and uses the same design language used by the Macintosh II. An enhanced model, the SE/30, was introduced in January 1989; sales of the original SE continued. The Macintosh SE was updated in August 1989 to include a SuperDrive, with this updated version being called the “Macintosh SE FDHD” and later the “Macintosh SE SuperDrive”. The Macintosh SE was replaced with the Macintosh Classic, a very similar model which retained the same central processing unit and form factor, but at a lower price point.

Macintosh SE/30

The Macintosh SE/30 is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from January 1989 to October 1991. It is the fastest of the original black-and-white compact Macintosh series.

The SE/30 has a black-and-white monitor and a single Processor Direct Slot (rather than the NuBus slots of the IIx, with which the SE/30 shares a common architecture) which supported third-party accelerators, network cards, or a display adapter. The SE/30 could expand up to 128 MB of RAM (a significant amount of RAM at the time), and included a 40 or 80 MB hard drive. It was also the first compact Mac to include a 1.44 MB high density floppy disk drive as standard (late versions of the SE had one, but earlier versions did not). The power of the SE/30 was demonstrated by its use to produce the This Week newspaper, the first colour tabloid newspaper in the UK to use new, digital pre-press technology on a personal, desktop computer. In keeping with Apple’s practice, from the Apple II+ until the Power Macintosh G3 was announced, a logic board upgrade was available for US$1,699 to convert a regular SE to an SE/30. The SE would then have exactly the same specs as an SE/30, with the difference only in the floppy drive if the SE had an 800 KB drive. The set included a new front bezel to replace the original SE bezel with that of an SE/30.

This machine was followed in 1991 by the Macintosh Classic II, which, despite the same processor and clock speed, was only 60% as fast as the SE/30 due to its 16-bit data path, supported no more than 10 MB of memory, lacked an internal expansion slot, and made the Motorola 68882 FPU an optional upgrade.

Macintosh XL is a modified version of the Apple Lisa personal computer made by Apple Computer, Inc. In the Macintosh XL configuration, the computer shipped with MacWorks XL, a Lisa program that allowed 64 K Macintosh ROM emulation. An identical machine was previously sold as Lisa 2/10 with the Lisa OS only.

Source and All Images from Wikipedia Contributors, “Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia,” Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation, February 3, 2021), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page.