Macintosh Quadra 630

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Macintosh Quadra 630 / LC 630 / Performa 630
Macintosh LC 630 front.jpg
A Macintosh LC 630
Also known as"Crusader", [1] "Show Biz", "Show & Tell"
Developer Apple Computer
Product family Macintosh Quadra, LC, Performa
Release dateJuly 18, 1994 (1994-07-18)
Introductory priceUS$1,199(equivalent to $2,367 in 2022)
DiscontinuedApril 17, 1995 (1995-04-17) (Quadra)
February 1, 1996 (1996-02-01) (Performa variants) March 2, 1996 (1996-03-02) (LC)
Operating system System 7.1.2P - Mac OS 8.1
With PowerPC upgrade Mac OS 9.1
CPU Quadra: Motorola 68040 @ 33 MHz
LC / Performa: 68LC040 @ 33 MHz
Memory4 MB, expandable to 36 or 52 MB depending on logic board (80 ns 72-pin SIMM)
DimensionsHeight: 4.3 inches (11 cm)
Width: 12.6 inches (32 cm)
Depth: 16.5 inches (42 cm)
Mass19 pounds (8.6 kg)
Predecessor Macintosh Quadra 610
Successor Power Macintosh 6300

The Macintosh Quadra 630 (also sold as the Macintosh LC 630 and Macintosh Performa 630) is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from July 1994 to October 1995. It was introduced as the replacement for the Quadra 610, and was the least-expensive computer in the Macintosh lineup with prices starting at $1,199 USD. [2]

Contents

While Apple's transition to PowerPC CPUs had already begun with the introduction of the Power Macintosh a few months prior, the 630 was built around the older Motorola 68040 and 68LC040 chips. Two reasons were cited for this: One, the older chips were less expensive; and two, PowerPC-native education software was almost non-existent at the time. Also, existing PowerPC software had yet to be translated to non-English languages. [2]

The 630 was the last new Macintosh Quadra introduced, though the earlier Quadra 950 remained available longer. It was discontinued with no direct replacement; the 630's form factor was retained with the Power Macintosh 6200 introduced a few months earlier, but with an entry price of $2,300 it cost nearly twice as much. The Power Macintosh 4400 was Apple's most inexpensive Power Macintosh, but at $1,725 [3] still cost several hundred dollars more than the 630.

Hardware

Rear view of a Macintosh LC 630 Macintosh LC 630 rear.jpg
Rear view of a Macintosh LC 630

Form factor: The Quadra 630 introduced a new case design to the Macintosh family. On the front, a headphone jack and volume up/down buttons are included, a first for the Macintosh. There is an infrared receiver, intended for use with the remote included with the TV tuner card included with the Performa 637CD and 638CD models. The case's motherboard is accessible by opening a cover at the bottom rear of the case and sliding out a drawer that the motherboard was mounted on; this similar to the LC 575. [2]

Memory: All 630 models have 4 MB of memory soldered on the logic board. Depending on which logic board is in the system, there is either one or two SIMM slots. In all cases, the first SIMM slot requires 80 ns non-parity chips, with a refresh rate of 2k or better, and 4, 8, 16 or 32 MB SIMMs will work. [4] The second slot supports single-sided SIMM cards only, up to 16 MB in size. Maximum memory is therefore 52 MB for two-slot systems, and 36 MB for one-slot systems. [5]

Hard drive controller: One of the big differences, when compared to some of the previous Macintosh models was the choice of the internal hard drive interface; conforming to the standards of the IBM PC compatible platform, cheaper but slower IDE drives were used instead of SCSI for the first time. An external SCSI port was still available, and the CD-ROM used SCSI internally, but the 630 used an older controller that was much slower than the ones used in higher-end Macs of the time. [6]

Video: One external monitor is supported through a DA-15 connector. A non-upgradeable 1 MB of DRAM is soldered to the motherboard; [4] this provides resolution of up to 640×480 with 16-bit color, and 832×624 with 8-bit color. [7] A separate video card is required for 24-bit color or higher resolutions. [2] The choice to use DRAM instead of VRAM saves money due to its commonality, but results in lower performance and increased chance of flickering. [8] In their testing, MacWorld described the video performance of the Quadra 630 as "mediocre". [2]

CD-ROM: Models equipped with a CD-ROM use the Apple CD 300i plus, a 2×-speed SCSI drive capable of reading 656 MB and 748 MB data CDs as well as audio CDs. The caddy tray from the Quadra 610 is replaced with a tray-based loading mechanism.

Remote control: Models equipped with the TV/video system included a Sony RMC-A1 remote control; consequently, the remote would control both the Macintosh and any compatible Sony television at the same time. [1]

Performance: MacWorld Magazine ran benchmarks at the time of the Quadra's release and reported that performance is similar to a Quadra 950 but slightly slower than the 800. [2]

Models

The Quadra 630 has different names depending on its target market: Macintosh Quadra 630 for professional and business use, Macintosh LC 630 for the K-12 educational market, and Macintosh Performa 630 for the consumer and higher-education markets. [2]

The Performa 630 was sold with several slightly different model numbers, depending on included hardware and software features. Some models included a 14" Shadow mask CRT called the Apple Performa Plus Display.

Introduced July 18, 1994:

Introduced November 3, 1994:

Introduced April 3, 1995:

Introduced May 1, 1995:

Introduced July 17, 1995:

Timeline

Timeline of Macintosh Centris, LC, Performa, and Quadra models, colored by CPU type
Macintosh Performa 6214Macintosh Performa 6210Macintosh Performa 6205Macintosh Performa 6230Macintosh Performa 6220Macintosh Quadra 840AVMacintosh Quadra 650Macintosh Quadra 610Macintosh Quadra 605Macintosh Quadra 660AVMacintosh Quadra 800Macintosh Centris 650Macintosh Centris 610Macintosh Quadra 950Macintosh Quadra 630Macintosh Quadra 900Macintosh Quadra 700Macintosh Performa 6420Macintosh Performa 6410Macintosh Performa 5440Macintosh Performa 5430Macintosh Performa 5280Macintosh Performa 6360Macintosh Performa 5260Macintosh Performa 6400Macintosh Performa 6400Macintosh Performa 5400Macintosh Performa 5400Macintosh Performa 6260Macintosh Performa 5400Macintosh Performa 5420Macintosh Performa 5410Macintosh Performa 5270Macintosh Performa 5260Macintosh Performa 6320Macintosh Performa 6310Macintosh Performa 6300Macintosh Performa 6290Macintosh Performa 5320Macintosh Performa 5300Macintosh Performa 6218Macintosh Performa 6216Macintosh Performa 6200Macintosh Performa 6116Macintosh Performa 5220Macintosh Performa 5215Macintosh Performa 5210Macintosh Performa 5200Macintosh Performa 640CDMacintosh Performa 580CDMacintosh Performa 588CDMacintosh Performa 638Macintosh Performa 637Macintosh Performa 636Macintosh Performa 635Macintosh Performa 631Macintosh Performa 630Macintosh Performa 578Macintosh Performa 577Macintosh Performa 575Macintosh Performa 476Macintosh Performa 475Macintosh Performa 560Macintosh Performa 550Macintosh Performa 275Macintosh Performa 6118Macintosh Performa 6117Macintosh Performa 6115Macintosh Performa 6112Macintosh Performa 6110Macintosh Performa 467Macintosh Performa 466Macintosh Performa 460Macintosh Performa 410Macintosh Performa 520Macintosh Performa 450Macintosh Performa 430Macintosh Performa 405Macintosh Performa 250Macintosh Performa 600Macintosh Performa 400Macintosh Performa 200Power Macintosh 5300 LCMacintosh LC 575Macintosh TVMacintosh LC IIIMacintosh LC 550Macintosh LC 580Macintosh LC 520Macintosh LC 630Macintosh LC 475Power Macintosh 5200 LCMacintosh LC IIIMacintosh LC IIMacintosh LCMacintosh Quadra 630

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