March 2, 1987: Three years after releasing the original Macintosh 128K, Apple launches a correct sequel, the almighty Macintosh II.
Though 4 Mac fashions have already got been launched, the definitive, full-number identify of the Macintosh II makes clear that this can be a main improve for the product line. With a large {hardware} increase, non-obligatory coloration show (!) and a brand new open structure, it doesn’t disappoint!
Mac II brings open structure
By far the most important change with the Mac II? Its open structure, which permits customers to increase the pc. Greater than only a tech improve, this marked a basic shift in the way in which Apple engineers thought concerning the Macintosh.
The primary argument towards making the Mac expandable had come from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. In contrast to the hobbyist computer systems that got here earlier than it, Jobs’ imaginative and prescient for the Mac was for a pc that “simply labored.” Ideally, there could be no purpose for Mac homeowners to wish (or need) to open up their machines and tinker with their insides.
By the point the Mac II started growth, nevertheless, Jobs was out of Apple and dealing on his NeXT Computer on the startup he eventually sold back to Apple. With out Jobs’ enter, the Mac II’s philosophy owed far more to the open structure of the Apple II. (Even the usage of Roman numerals within the Mac II’s identify paid tribute to that long-lived pc).
With the Mac II, customers may increase their Macs with out voiding their guarantee for the primary time. Six NuBus slots allowed for part upgrades and the insertion of growth playing cards. Due to this expandability, some folks referred to the Mac II because the “Open Mac.”
Mac II: A coloration show and a few fairly spectacular {hardware}
In an age the place each pc show provides hundreds of thousands of colours as commonplace, it’s price reminding youthful readers that coloration wasn’t all the time taken without any consideration on house computer systems. The first-gen Macintosh was strictly monochrome.
So, the prospect of with the ability to translate the Mac’s graphical interface into coloration proved a fairly mouthwatering prospect.
Patrons may slum it by shopping for a less expensive Mac II with a monochrome show. Nonetheless, those that opted for the colour choice loved a brand new commonplace. The Mac II boasted a 16.7 million true coloration palette (though the pc may show solely 256 of them on-screen at anybody time).
Customers weren’t confined to the small, 9-inch displays that got here with earlier Macs, both. The Mac II’s freestanding 13-inch monitor may appear small in comparison with in the present day’s large iMac shows, but it surely felt extremely roomy to customers in 1987.
Mac II specs
These weren’t the one ahead-of-their-time options of the Mac II. In comparison with the underpowered unique, the Macintosh II excelled from a efficiency perspective. It packed a formidable 16 MHz Motorola 68020 processor, a 68881 floating-point coprocessor, as much as 4MB of RAM and as much as an 80MB exhausting drive.
The Mac II’s audio was additionally excellent for its day. The pc used a four-voice stereo customized sound chip for the primary time. It delivered a most frequency of seven.5 kHz and a pattern charge of 44.1 KhZ.
This all added as much as a hefty price ticket, nevertheless. Anybody complaining that in the present day’s Macs are expensive ought to take into account this: A completely kitted-out Macintosh II value $7,145 retail in 1987 {dollars}, the equal of $19,400 today. This was the period of Apple’s “high right” strategy for the Mac, the place it led the way in which on each efficiency and worth.
The thought behind providing a higher-priced Mac like this was that it would attraction to companies. And in reality, such a machine may seem to be a discount when it comes to worth versus efficiency when in comparison with the costly workstations it competed towards.
Do you keep in mind the Mac II? Depart your feedback under.
