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Power Macintosh

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The Power Mac G5, the current model of the series.
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The Power Mac G5, the current model of the series.

Power Macintosh, or Power Mac, is the name of a line of Apple Macintosh personal computers based on various models of PowerPC microprocessors. Apple Computer produced the first Power Macs in 1994, starting with the Power Macintosh 6100, which offered speeds of 60 and 66 MHz. Apple's previous high-end line of personal computers was the Quadra series.

Contents

Models

Old World ROM

The Power Macintosh 6100, the first Macintosh to use a PowerPC procesor
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The Power Macintosh 6100, the first Macintosh to use a PowerPC procesor

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id:lightline  value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9)
id:lighttext  value:rgb(0.5,0.5,0.5)
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id:performa   value:rgb(0.8,0.8,0.9) legend:Performa_xx00
id:performa2  value:rgb(0.85,0.85,0.9)
id:ppc2       value:rgb(0.8,0.9,1)
id:ppc        value:rgb(0.75,0.85,1) legend:Power_Macintosh_xx00
id:g3         value:rgb(1,0.85,0.85) legend:Power_Macintosh_G3
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color:performa from:04/03/1995 till:04/01/1996 text:"5200"
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color:ppc from:03/14/1994 till:05/18/1996 text:"6100"
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color:special from:03/20/1997 till:03/14/1998 text:"TAM*"
color:g3 from:03/31/1998 till:10/17/1998 text:"G3 all-in-one"
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color:ppc2 from:02/17/1997 till:03/17/1998 text:"9600"
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$skip
color:ppc from:02/17/1997 till:02/17/1998 text:"8600"
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color:g3 from:11/10/1997 till:01/05/1999 text:"G3 desktop"

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color:connection from:01/05/1999 till:end
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text:*Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh

New World ROM

The following are recent and current Power Macintosh lines based on the New World ROM.

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id:g32        value:rgb(1,0.9,0.9)
id:g4         value:rgb(1,0.85,0.65) legend:Power_Mac_G4
id:g42        value:rgb(1,0.9,0.7)
id:g5         value:rgb(1,0.85,0.45) legend:Power_Mac_G5
id:g52        value:rgb(1,0.9,0.5)
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color:g4 from:10/13/1999 till:07/18/2001 text:"G4 Graphite*"
color:special from:07/19/2000 till:07/03/2001 text:"G4 Cube"
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color:g42 from:07/18/2001 till:08/13/2002 text:"G4 Quicksilver"
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color:g4 from:08/13/2002 till:06/09/2004 text:"G4 Mirrored Drive Doors**"
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$skip
color:g5 from:06/23/2003 till:06/09/2004 text:"G5"
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color:g52 from:06/09/2004 till:10/19/2005 text:"G5 FX"
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text:*Architecture upgrade in January 2001 **Architecture downgrade in June 2003

Naming

All Power Macs prior to 1997 used PowerPC 60x-series processors, and 4-digit model numbers (e.g. Power Mac 8600). In 1997 the first third-generation ("G3") Power Macintosh was introduced, using the PowerPC 750 processor. From this model onward, Apple no longer used a numbering scheme to identify their Power Mac models, but instead referred to them by their PowerPC processor generation number (i.e. G3, G4, and G5). Later models based on the same generation of PowerPC processor relied on descriptive characteristics to differentiate them, e.g. the color scheme ("Power Macintosh G3 - Blue and White") or a technical feature of a particular model ("Power Mac G4 - Gigabit Ethernet"). This same identification scheme was used in the iMac, PowerBook, and iBook lines of Macintosh computers.

The marketing name was changed from Power Macintosh to Power Mac with the introduction of the G4 models, meaning all G3 and earlier models are Power Macintoshes, while all G4 and G5 models are Power Macs. Not all Apple documentation follows this rule, but the vast majority does.

Usage

As of 2005, the "Power Mac" brand name is used for Apple's high-end tower style computers, targeted primarily at businesses and creative professionals, in differentiation to their more compact "iMac" line (intended for home use) and the "eMac" line (for the education markets). These are usually equipped with Apple's newest technologies, and command the highest prices among Apple desktop models. Some Power Mac G4 and G5 models have been offered in dual-processor configurations. In June 2005, Apple announced that they would begin a transition to using Intel processors instead of the PowerPC line; it is not known how these machines will be named, whether retaining the "Power Mac" moniker with a suffix other than "G5", or switching to something different. However, with the release of MacBook Pro (the Intel version of PowerBook), it appears the entire Power Mac line may be renamed. (Apple has recently filed for a trademark on the name 'Mac Pro', suggesting an intention to use this name for the inevitable Intel-based professional Macs.) Other current and past Macintosh lines have used PowerPC processors, including the Macintosh Performa, iMac, iBook, and PowerBook 5300 and later models.

Advertising and marketing

Apple introduced the Power Macintosh series of high-end personal computers aimed at businesses and creative professionals in 1994 with an advertising campaign consisting of several television commercials and print ads. The television commercials used the slogan "The Future Is Better Than You Expected", featuring the first three Power Macintosh computers to showcase special features such as networking and MS-DOS compatibility.

Processor and software

The ROM and Mac OS operating system released with the new Power Mac machines included an emulator to enable programs written for Motorola 68k series CPUs, including nearly all prior Mac software, to run without changes. As the Power Mac was originally intended to be a part of the high end of Apple's product line, for a number of years the company continued to offer less expensive 68k-based computers alongside the more expensive Power Mac lineup. In April 1996, Apple discontinued the Macintosh LC 580 (released in 1995), the last remaining desktop model of the 68k-based Macintosh line. The PowerBook 190cs, the last 68k-based PowerBook, was discontinued in October of 1996. All subsequent Macintosh computers would be based on PowerPC processors until 2006, when Apple began a transition to Intel processors.

Future models

The new Intel-based successor of the Power Macintosh has been rumored to be named 'Mac Pro'.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
[Special]

References

External links

 

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