Macintosh II

Last updated

Macintosh II
MacII.jpg
Developer Apple Computer
Product family Macintosh II
Release dateMarch 2, 1987;37 years ago (1987-03-02)
LifespanMarch 2, 1987 – January 15, 1990 (2 years, 10 months, and 13 days) [1]
Introductory priceUS$5,498(equivalent to $14,750 in 2023)
DiscontinuedJanuary 15, 1990;34 years ago (1990-01-15)
Operating system 4.1–7.1.1 (Pro), 7.5–7.5.5 or with 68030 32-bit upgrade Mac OS 7.6.1, A/UX 1.0 - 3.1
CPU Motorola 68020 @ 16 MHz
Memory1 MB, expandable to 8 MB (128 MB via FDHD upgrade kit) (120 ns 30-pin SIMM)
Predecessor Macintosh 512Ke
Macintosh Plus
Successor Macintosh IIx
Macintosh IIcx
Related Macintosh SE
Macintosh SE/30

The Macintosh II is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from March 1987 to January 1990. Based on the Motorola 68020 32-bit CPU, it is the first Macintosh supporting color graphics. When introduced, a basic system with monitor and 20 MB hard drive cost US$5,498(equivalent to $14,750 in 2023). With a 13-inch color monitor and 8-bit display card, the price was about US$7,145(equivalent to $19,160 in 2023). [2] This placed it in competition with workstations from Silicon Graphics, Sun Microsystems, and Hewlett-Packard.

Contents

The Macintosh II was the first computer in the Macintosh line without a built-in display; a monitor rested on top of the case like the IBM Personal Computer and Amiga 1000. It was designed by hardware engineers Michael Dhuey (computer) [3] and Brian Berkeley (monitor) [4] and industrial designer Hartmut Esslinger (case). [5] [6]

Eighteen months after its introduction, the Macintosh II was updated with a more powerful CPU and sold as the Macintosh IIx. [7] In early 1989, the more compact Macintosh IIcx was introduced at a price similar to the original Macintosh II, [8] and by the beginning of 1990 sales stopped altogether. [9] Motherboard upgrades to turn a Macintosh II into a IIx or Macintosh IIfx were offered by Apple. [10]

Development

Two common criticisms of the Macintosh from its introduction in 1984 were the closed architecture and lack of color; rumors of a color Macintosh began almost immediately. [11]

The Macintosh II project was begun by Dhuey and Berkeley during 1985 without the knowledge of Apple co-founder and Macintosh division head Steve Jobs, who opposed expansion slots and color, on the basis that expansion slots complicated the user experience and that color did not conform to WYSIWYG, as color printers were not common. [12] Jobs instead wanted higher-resolution monochrome displays [13] such as the ones chosen for his own "BigMac" project begun in 1984 to develop a Macintosh successor. [14]

Initially referred to as "Little Big Mac", the Macintosh II was codenamed "Milwaukee" after Dhuey's hometown, and it later went through a series of new names. After Jobs was ousted by Apple in September 1985, the Milwaukee project could proceed openly (while Jobs' own BigMac project was cancelled). [14]

The Macintosh II was introduced at the AppleWorld 1987 conference in Los Angeles, [15] with low-volume initial shipments starting two months later. [16] Retailing for US $5,498, [17] the Macintosh II was the first modular Macintosh model, so called because it came in a horizontal desktop case like many IBM PC compatibles of the time. [18] Previous Macintosh computers use an all-in-one design with a built-in black-and-white CRT.

The Macintosh II has drive bays for an internal hard disk (originally 40 MB or 80 MB) and an optional second floppy disk drive. [19] It, along with the Macintosh SE, was the first Macintosh to use the Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) introduced with the Apple IIGS for keyboard and mouse interface. [20]

The primary improvement in the Macintosh II was Color QuickDraw in ROM, a color version of the Macintosh graphics routines. Color QuickDraw can handle any display size, up to 8-bit color depth, and multiple monitors. Because Color QuickDraw is included in the Macintosh II's ROM and relies on 68020 instructions, earlier systems could not be upgraded to display color. [21]

In September 1988, shortly before the introduction of the Macintosh IIx, Apple increased the list price of the Macintosh II by roughly 20%. [22] AnimEigo notably used the Macintosh II for subtitling their earliest releases, including MADOX-01 , Riding Bean , and Vampire Princess Miyu , [23] and Industrial Light & Magic used the Macintosh II for image processing on films such as The Abyss . [24]

Hardware

Macintosh II motherboard Apple Macintosh II motherboard.jpg
Macintosh II motherboard

CPU: The Macintosh II is built around the Motorola 68020 processor operating at 16 MHz, teamed with a Motorola 68881 floating-point unit. The machine shipped with a socket for an optional Motorola 68851 MMU, but an "Apple HMMU Chip" (VLSI VI475 chip) was installed by default and could not implement virtual memory (instead, it translated 24-bit addresses to 32-bit addresses for the Mac OS, which would not be 32-bit clean until System 7). [25]

Memory: The standard memory was 1 megabyte, expandable to 8 MB. [26] The Mac II had eight 30-pin SIMMs, and memory was installed in groups of four (called "Bank A" and "Bank B").

The original Macintosh II did not have a PMMU by default. It relied on the memory controller hardware to map the installed memory into a contiguous address space. This hardware had the restriction that the address space dedicated to Bank A must be larger than those of Bank B. Though this memory controller was designed to support up to 16 MB 30-pin SIMMs for up to 128 MB of RAM, the original Macintosh II ROMs had problems limiting the amount of RAM that could be installed to 8 MB. The Macintosh IIx ROMs that also shipped with the FDHD upgrade fixed this problem, though still do not have a 32-bit Memory Manager and cannot boot into 32-bit addressing mode under Mac OS (without the assistance of MODE32). [27] MODE32 contained a workaround that allowed larger SIMMs to be put in Bank B with the PMMU installed. In this case, the ROMs at boot think that the computer has 8 MB or less of RAM. MODE32 then reprograms the memory controller to dedicate more address space to Bank A, allowing access to the additional memory in Bank B. Since this makes the physical address space discontiguous, the PMMU is then used to remap the address space into a contiguous block. [25]

Graphics: The Macintosh II includes a graphics card that supports a true-color 16.7-million-color palette [28] and was available in two configurations: 4-bit and 8-bit. The 4-bit model supports 16 colors on a 640×480 display and 256 colors (8-bit video) on a 512×384 display, which means that VRAM was 256 KB. The 8-bit model supports 256-color video on a 640×480 display, which means that VRAM was 512 KB in size. With an optional RAM upgrade (requiring 120 ns DIP chips), the 4-bit version supports 640×480 in 8-bit color. [29] The video card does not include hardware acceleration of drawing operations.

Display: Apple offered a choice of two displays, a 12" black and white unit, and a more expensive 13" high-resolution color display based on Sony's Trinitron technology. More than one display could be attached to the computer, and objects could be easily dragged from one screen to the next. Third-party displays quickly became available. The Los Angeles Times reviewer called the color "spectacular." [19] The operating system user interface remained black and white even on color monitors with the exception of the Apple logo, which appeared in rainbow color.

Storage: A 5.25-inch 40 MB internal SCSI hard disk was optional, as was a second internal 800 kilobyte 3.5-inch floppy disk drive. [25]

Expansion: Six NuBus slots were available for expansion (at least one of which had to be used for a graphics card, as the Mac II had no onboard graphics chipset and the OS didn't support headless booting). It is possible to connect as many as six displays to a Macintosh II by filling all of the NuBus slots with graphics cards. Another option for expansion included the Mac286, which included an Intel 80286 chip and could be used for MS-DOS compatibility. [25]

The original ROMs in the Macintosh II contained a bug that prevented the system from recognizing more than one megabyte of memory address space on a Nubus card. Every Macintosh II manufactured until approximately November 1987 had this defect. This happened because Slot Manager was not 32-bit clean. [30] Apple offered a well-publicized recall of the faulty ROMs and released a program to test whether a particular Macintosh II had the defect. [30]

Accessories: The Macintosh II and Macintosh SE were the first Apple computers since the Apple I to be sold without a keyboard. Instead the customer was offered a choice of the new ADB Apple Keyboard or the Apple Extended Keyboard as a separate purchase. [19] Dealers could bundle a third-party keyboard or attempt to upsell a customer to the more expensive (and higher-profit) Extended Keyboard.

Audio: The Macintosh II was the first Macintosh to have the Chimes of Death accompany the Sad Mac logo whenever a serious hardware error occurred. [31]

The new extensions featured for the Macintosh II at the time were A/ROSE and Sound Manager. [32] [33]

Models

The Macintosh II was offered in three configurations. All systems included a mouse and a single 800 KB 3.5-inch floppy disk drive; a Motorola 68851 PMMU was available as an option and required for running A/UX. [34]

Timeline

Timeline of Macintosh II family models
Macintosh QuadraMacintosh LCMacintosh PortableMacintosh SE/30Apple IIc PlusMacintosh SEMacintosh PlusMacintosh IIvxMacintosh IIviMacintosh IIsiMacintosh IIfxMacintosh IIciMacintosh IIcxMacintosh IIxMacintosh IIMacintosh II

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amiga 500</span> Personal computer by Commodore

The Amiga 500, also known as the A500, was the first popular version of the Amiga home computer, "redefining the home computer market and making so-called luxury features such as multitasking and colour a standard long before Microsoft or Apple sold these to the masses." It contains the same Motorola 68000 as the Amiga 1000, as well as the same graphics and sound coprocessors, but is in a smaller case similar to that of the Commodore 128.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motorola 68020</span> 32-bit microprocessor

The Motorola 68020 is a 32-bit microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1984. A lower-cost version was also made available, known as the 68EC020. In keeping with naming practices common to Motorola designs, the 68020 is usually referred to as the "020", pronounced "oh-two-oh" or "oh-twenty".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple IIe Card</span> Compatibility card

The Apple IIe Card is a compatibility card, which through hardware and software emulation, allows certain Macintosh computers to run software designed for the Apple II. Released in March 1991 for use with the LC family, Apple targeted the card at its widely dominated educational market to ease the transition from Apple II-based classrooms, with thousands of entrenched educational software titles, to Macintosh-based classrooms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macintosh Plus</span> Third model of Apples Macintosh computer line

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$2,599. 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, up to System 7.5.5, but not System 7.5.2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macintosh SE/30</span> Personal computer released by Apple Computer

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macintosh IIci</span> Personal computer by Apple, Inc.

The Macintosh IIci is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from September 1989 to February 1993. It is a more powerful version of the Macintosh IIcx, released earlier that year, and shares the same compact case design. With three NuBus expansion slots and a Processor Direct Slot, the IIci also improved upon the IIcx's 16 MHz Motorola 68030 CPU and 68882 FPU, replacing them with 25 MHz versions of these chips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macintosh II family</span> Second generation of the Apple Macintosh computer line

The Macintosh II is a family of personal computers that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1987 to 1993. The Macintosh II was the initial model, representing the high-end of the Macintosh line for the time. Over the course of the next six years, seven more models were produced, culminating with the short-lived Macintosh IIvi and Macintosh IIvx models. Apple retired the Macintosh II name when it moved to Motorola 68040 processors; the Centris and Quadra names were used instead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple IIGS</span> 1986 personal computer

The Apple IIGS is a 16-bit personal computer produced by Apple Computer beginning in September 1986. It is the fifth and most powerful model of the Apple II family. The "GS" in the name stands for "Graphics and Sound", referring to its enhanced multimedia hardware, especially the state-of-the-art audio. It is compatible with earlier Apple II models, and Apple initially sold a kit for converting an Apple IIe into a IIGS. The system is a radical departure otherwise, with a WDC 65C816 microprocessor, initially 256 KB of random-access memory expandable to 8 MB, resolution and color similar to the Amiga and Atari ST, and a 32 channel Ensoniq wavetable synthesis chip. Bundled with a mouse, it is the first computer from Apple with a color graphical user interface and the Apple Desktop Bus interface for keyboards, mice, and other input devices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macintosh LC family</span> Family of lower-cost Macintosh computers by Apple, Inc.

The Macintosh LC is a family of personal computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1990 to 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Classic Mac OS memory management</span>

Historically, the classic Mac OS used a form of memory management that has fallen out of favor in modern systems. Criticism of this approach was one of the key areas addressed by the change to Mac OS X.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macintosh SE</span> Personal computer by Apple, Inc.

The Macintosh SE is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, from March 1987 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atari Falcon</span> 1992 personal computer

The Atari Falcon030, released in 1992, is the final personal computer from Atari Corporation. A high-end model of the Atari ST line, the machine is based on a Motorola 68030 CPU and a Motorola 56001 digital signal processor, which distinguishes it from most other microcomputers of the era. It includes a new VIDEL programmable graphics system which greatly improves graphics capabilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macintosh 512K</span> Revised version of the Macintosh 128K by Apple Computer

The Macintosh 512K is a personal computer that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macintosh Classic II</span> Personal computer by Apple

The Macintosh Classic II is a personal computer designed and manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from October 1991 to September 1993. The system has a compact, appliance design with an integrated 9" monitor, typical of the earliest of the Macintosh range. A carrying handle moulded into the case added a degree of portability at a time when laptops were still relatively uncommon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macintosh Quadra 950</span> Personal computer by Apple Computer

The Macintosh Quadra 950 is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from March 1992 to October 1995. It replaced the Quadra 900 that was introduced several months earlier, increasing the CPU clock rate of its 68040 CPU from 25 MHz to 33 MHz, and improving the graphics support. The two computers were otherwise identical, including the price. With a Macintosh Processor Upgrade Card installed, this computer is known as the Power Macintosh 950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macintosh Quadra 700</span> Personal computer by Apple Computer

The Macintosh Quadra 700 is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from October 1991 to March 1993. It was introduced alongside the Quadra 900 as the first computers in the Quadra series, using Motorola 68040 processor in order to compete with IBM-compatible PCs powered by the Intel i486DX. The Quadra 700 is also the first computer from Apple to be housed in a mini-tower form factor, which in 1991 was becoming a popular alternative to standard desktop-on-monitor cases that were common through the 1980s.

MODE32 is a software product originally developed by Connectix for certain models of the Apple Macintosh. It was published in June 1991 and originally cost US$169; however, on September 5, 1991, the software was made available free to customers under licensing terms with Apple Computer.

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, designed as a successor to the compact Macintosh family of computers for the mid-1990s mainstream education-market. The all-in-one desktop case is similar to the then recently introduced Macintosh Color Classic, but the LC 500 series is considerably larger and heavier due to its larger screen and a bulging midsection to house the larger electronics, including a 14" CRT display, CD-ROM drive, and stereo speakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PowerBook 170</span> Laptop by Apple

The PowerBook 170 is a laptop computer that was released by Apple Inc. in 1991 along with the PowerBook 100 and the PowerBook 140. Identical in form factor to the 140, it was the high end of the original PowerBook line featuring a faster 25 MHz Motorola 68030 processor with 68882 floating point unit (FPU) and a more expensive and significantly better quality 9.8 in (250 mm) active matrix display. It was replaced by the PowerBook 180 in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macintosh LC</span> Personal computer by Apple

The Macintosh LC is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from October 1990 to March 1992.

References

  1. ↑ Calculate Duration Between Two Years | March 2, 1987 to January 15, 1990. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  2. ↑ Edwards, Benj (June 7, 2012). "The Macintosh II celebrates its 25th anniversary". Macworld . Archived from the original on January 2, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  3. ↑ "iPod Inventor | Wisconsin Alumni Association". www.uwalumni.com. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  4. ↑ Werner, Ken (March 2021). "Brian Berkeley Reflects on His Career at Apple, Samsung, and SID". Information Display. 37 (2): 52–57. doi:10.1002/msid.1202. ISSN   0362-0972.
  5. ↑ Pavic, Vjeran (June 26, 2019). "A photo history of Frog, the company that designed the original Mac". The Verge. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  6. ↑ Levy, Steven (May 1987). "The Making of the Macintosh II". Macworld. San Francisco: PCW Communications. pp. 55–63. ISSN   0741-8647 . Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Apple Announces 68030 Macintosh IIx With High Density Compatible Drive". www.tech-insider.org. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  8. ↑ Magid, Lawrence J. (March 9, 1989). "Mac IIcx--the Core of the Future". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  9. ↑ Pogue, David; Schorr, Joseph (1999). Macworld Mac SECRETS. Internet Archive. Foster City, CA : IDG Books Worldwide. p. 22. ISBN   978-0-7645-4040-0.
  10. ↑ Pina, Larry (1991). Macintosh II Repair and Upgrade Secrets (PDF). New York: Brady Publishing. p. 171. ISBN   0-1 3-929530-5.
  11. ↑ Bartimo, Jim (February 25, 1985). "Macintosh: Success And Disappointment". InfoWorld . Vol. 7, no. 8. pp. 30–33. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  12. ↑ "The Color Convergence". Archived from the original on March 1, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  13. ↑ Webster, Bruce (December 1985). "Microcomputer Color Graphics-Observations". BYTE . Vol. 10, no. 13. pp. 405–418. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  14. 1 2 "Le prototype « Big Mac » d'Apple" [Apple's "Big Mac" prototype]. L'Aventure Apple (in French). Archived from the original on March 4, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Apple debuts two "open" Macintoshes, is developing a Mac Ethernet interface with 3Com". Local Area Networks Newsletter. Vol. 5, no. 4. April 1987. p. 1.
  16. ↑ "Apple Begins Shipments Of Macintosh II Computer". Wall Street Journal. May 8, 1987. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Mac GUI :: Macintosh II and Macintosh SE announced". macgui.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  18. ↑ "History of computer design: Macintosh II". www.landsnail.com. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  19. 1 2 3 Magid, Lawrence J. (March 2, 1987). "Apple's Two New Machines Are Dandy" . Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 20, 2019. ...the color is spectacular. Unlike most color monitors, it also displays very readable text.
  20. ↑ Apple Computer, Inc (1990). "Guide to Macintosh Family Hardware, second edition". p. 287-288. ISBN   0-201-52405-8.
  21. ↑ Surovell, David A.; Hall, Frederick M.; Othmer, Konstantin (1992). Programming QuickDraw: includes color QuickDraw and 32-bit QuickDraw. Macintosh inside out. Reading, Mass. u.a: Addison-Wesley. pp. 84–89. ISBN   978-0-201-57019-9.
  22. ↑ Michael Wang (September 13, 1988). "Apple price increases". Newsgroup:  comp.sys.mac. Usenet:   3642@Portia.Stanford.EDU.
  23. ↑ "The Secret History of AnimEigo". Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  24. ↑ MacWorld 8906 June 1989
  25. 1 2 3 4 Apple Computer, ed. (1990). Guide to the Macintosh family hardware (2nd ed.). Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. pp. 476–478. ISBN   978-0-201-52405-5.
  26. ↑ John Cook; Carol Cochrane (September 19, 1988). "Apple Announces 68030 Macintosh IIx With High Density Compatible Drive". Business Wire. Archived from the original on September 8, 2012. Retrieved September 20, 2009.
  27. ↑ Adam C. Engst (April 22, 1991). "Series: The 24-bit ROM Blues". Tidbits . Archived from the original on June 8, 2011. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  28. ↑ "OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum". www.old-computers.com. Archived from the original on April 4, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  29. ↑ "Macintosh II High Resolution Video Card". lowendmac.com. June 7, 1989. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  30. 1 2 Flynn, Laurie (October 26, 1987). "ROM Upgrade to fix bug in Mac II Bus". InfoWorld . Vol. 9, no. 43. p. 47.
  31. ↑ "Macintosh: "Sad Macintosh" Error Code Meaning". Apple. November 30, 2003. Archived from the original on June 17, 2009. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  32. ↑ Maurer, Joseph. "Inside The Macintosh Coprocessor Platform And A/ROSE". MacTech | The journal of Apple technology. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  33. ↑ "Sound Manager" (PDF). Apple Developer. May 23, 1990.
  34. ↑ "Macintosh II - Product Details" (PDF). Apple. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 19, 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2017.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.