Macintosh II
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 around 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.
For the product family, see Macintosh II family.Developer
March 2, 1987
March 2, 1987 - January 15, 1990 (2 years, 10 months, and 13 days) [1]
US$5,498 (equivalent to $14,750 in 2023)
January 15, 1990
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
Motorola 68020 @ 16 MHz
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) and Brian Berkeley (monitor) and industrial designer Hartmut Esslinger (case).
Eighteen months after its introduction, the Macintosh II was updated with a more powerful CPU and sold as the Macintosh IIx. In early 1989, the more compact Macintosh IIcx was introduced at a price similar to the original Macintosh II, and by the beginning of 1990 sales stopped altogether. Motherboard upgrades to turn a Macintosh II into a IIx or Macintosh IIfx were offered by Apple.
Development[edit]
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.[3]
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 the former complicated the user experience and the latter did not conform to WYSIWYG—color printers were not common.[4] Jobs instead wanted higher-resolution monochrome displays, [5] such as the ones chosen for his own "BigMac" project begun in 1984 to develop a Macintosh successor.[6]
Initially referred to as "Little Big Mac", the Macintosh II was codenamed "Milwaukee" after Dhuey's hometown, and later went through a series of new names. After Jobs was fired from Apple in September 1985, the Milwaukee project could proceed openly (while Jobs' own BigMac project was finally cancelled).[6]
The Macintosh II was introduced at the AppleWorld 1987 conference in Los Angeles,[7] with low-volume initial shipments starting two months later.[8] Retailing for US $5,498,[9] 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. 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. 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.
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.
In September 1988, shortly before the introduction of the Macintosh IIx, Apple increased the list price of the Macintosh II by roughly 20%.[10] AnimEigo notably used the Macintosh II for subtitling their earliest releases, including MADOX-01, Riding Bean, and Vampire Princess Miyu.[11]
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.[18]