Apple computers (Macs)

In 80s Apple Macintosh computers were famous of their outstanding graphical capabilities. First Macintosh-like computer from 1983, Apple Lisa (later re-branded to Macintosh XL), was a commercial failure. Although it was the first small computer with mouse-driven graphical user interface (GUI), multi OS boot from disk, office suite, intelligent power management and external HDD upgrades it was just too expensive for an average office. Later models, Macintosh 128K, 512K, and later Plus were cheaper (but still too expensive as home computer) and gave similar graphics capabilities and user interface. In 1986 Apple introduced SCSI (instead of tricky ESDI-MFM-HPPI 532-bytes per sector mutation used with Lisa) allowing hard disks to be integral part of computers. In next models CPU was upgraded with better Motorola 68K chips, finishing with PowerPC units up to 2GHz. The new (from ca 2007) Macintosh computers have Intel multi-core CPUs.

In Poland, Macintosh computers started to appear in 1990s. In 1980s it was almost impossible to get a Mac, as exporting them from USA to Eastern Block was forbidden. Some units leaked through West Germany, usually as gifts for affiliated companies or universities. After 1989, Classic or Plus machines were used in schools for IT teaching, but lack of good (exactly: cheap) programming language/environment like Turbo Pascal or Turbo C for PCs made Macs useful only in office software teaching and graphics.

Graphics was another Macs domain. Over the years Macs had better and better graphics capabilities, in early 90s better than PCs, so they were used in DTP, newspapers, book pre-print processing etc.


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Model CPU RAM Disk Year
Macintosh Plus Motorola 68000 8MHz 1MB 800K FDD, External HDD 1987
Macintosh SE Motorola 68000 8MHz 4MB 1.4MB FDD, 20MB HDD 1988
Macintosh Classic Motorola 68000 8MHz 4MB 1.4MB FDD, 40MB HDD 1990
Macintosh IIvi Motorola 68030 16MHz 8MB 1.4MB FDD,CD,80M HDD 1992
Macintosh IIfx Motorola 68030 40MHz 8MB 1.4MB FDD,CD,80M HDD 1990
Macintosh Quadra 700 Motorola 68040 25MHz 20MB 1.4MB FDD,80M HDD 1992
Macintosh Quadra 950 Motorola 68040 33MHz 36MB 1.4MB FDD,2G+500M HDD, SQ 1992
Macintosh Quadra 800 Motorola 68040 33MHz 24MB 1.4MB FDD,500M HDD, CD 1993
Macintosh LC 475 Motorola 68LC040 25MHz 36MB 1.4MB FDD, 500MB HDD 1993
Macintosh Performa 475 Motorola 68LC040 25MHz 36MB 1.4MB FDD, 500MB HDD 1993
Macintosh Quadra 650 Motorola 68LC040 33MHz 64MB 1.4MB FDD, 500MB HDD 1993
PowerBook 165c Motorola 68030 33MHz 8MB 1.4MB FDD, 120MB HDD 1993
Macintosh LC 630 Motorola 68LC040 33MHz 36MB 1.4MB FDD,CD,256M HDD 1994
Power Macintosh 6100 PowerPC 601 66MHz / 486 8MB 1.4MB FDD,CD,500M HDD 1994
Workgroup Server 8150 Motorola PowerPC 601 80MHz 128MB 1.4MB FDD,CD,2GB HDD 1994
Power Macintosh 9500 PowerPC 604 120MHz 128MB 1.4MB FDD,CD,4GB HDD 1995
Macintosh Performa 5260 PowerPC 603e 100MHz 64MB 1.4MB FDD, CD, 1GB HDD 1996
Macintosh Performa 6400/200 PowerPC 603e 200MHz 136MB 1.4MB FDD, CD, 3GB HDD 1996
Power Macintosh 7220/200 PowerPC 603e 200MHz 128MB 1.4MB FDD, CD, 6GB HDD 1997
Power Macintosh 7300/166 PowerPC 604e 166MHz 64MB 1.4MB FDD, CD, 1GB HDD 1997
Power Macintosh 9600/350 PowerPC 604e 350MHz 256MB 1.4MB FDD, CD, ZIP, 2xHDD 1997
Macintosh Server G3 Minitower PowerPC G3 300MHz 448MB 1.4MB FDD, CD, 2xHDD 1998
Power Macintosh G3 (desktop) PowerPC G3 266MHz 64MB 14MB FDD, CD, 4GB HDD 1998
Power Macintosh G3 All-in-one PowerPC G3 266MHz 190MB 1.4MB FDD, CD, ZIP, 4GB HDD 1998
iMac G3 233 (tray-loading) PowerPC G3 266MHz 128MB CD, 8GB HDD 1998
iMac G3 500 (slot-loading) PowerPC G3 500MHz 128MB CD, 10GB HDD 2000
iMac 700MHz Flat-panel PowerPC G4 700MHz 512MB CD, 40GB HDD 2002
eMac G4 700 PowerPC G4 700MHz 256MB CD, 20GB HDD 2002
eMac G4 (ATI) 1GHz PowerPC G4 1GHz 768MB DVD, 40GB HDD 2003
Power Macintosh G4 Cube PowerPC G4 450MHz 512MB DVD, 40GB HDD 2001
Power Macintosh G3 Blue&White PowerPC G3 300 MHz 128MB CD, 10GB HDD 1999
Power Macintosh G4 450 PowerPC G4 450 MHz 256MB CD, 10GB HDD 2000
Power Macintosh G4 Quicksilver PowerPC G4 733 MHz 256MB CD, 40GB HDD 2001
Power Macintosh G4 MDD 2003 PowerPC G4 1.25GHz 2GB DVD, 120GB HDD 2003
Mac mini PowerPC G4 1.42GHz 512MB DVD, 80GB HDD 2005
iMac G5 PowerPC G5 1.6GHz 512MB DVD, 80GB HDD 2004
Power Macintosh G5 PowerPC G5 1.8GHz 2048MB DVD, 80GB HDD 2004

 

Peripherals and accessories

Name Type Computer
Focus EtherLAN AAUI 10Base-T Network adapter All Macs with Apple AUI network conn.
ADB to DB9 converter ?? ?Interface? ???
Mac 512K LocalTalk Adapter Network adapter Macintosh 512K
Apple Personal LaserWriter 320 Laser printer All with AppleTalk serial port
Apple Studio Display 17" Monitor All with VGA connector
Apple Studio Display LCD Monitor All with ADC connector
Apple GeoPort Telecom Adapter Modem All with modem serial port
Apple StyleWriter II Ink printer All with serial port
Apple Accessory kit Other Computer-specific
Final Cut keyboard Keyboard USB