Macintosh II
 |
|
| Release date | March 2, 1987 |
|---|---|
| Introductory price | US$5,498 (equivalent to $11,590 in 2016) |
| Discontinued | January 15, 1990 |
| Operating system | 4.1–7.1.1 (Pro), 7.5–7.5.5 or with 68030 32-bit upgrade Mac OS 7.6.1 |
| CPU | Motorola 68020 @ 16 MHz |
| Memory | 1 MB, expandable to 8 MB (128 MB via FDHD upgrade kit) (120 ns 30-pin SIMM) |
The Apple Macintosh II is the first personal computer model of the Macintosh II series in the Apple Macintosh line, and the first Macintosh to support a color display. A basic system with 20 MB drive and monitor cost US$5,498 (equivalent to $11,590 in 2016). With a 13-inch color monitor and 8-bit display card the price was around US$7,145 (equivalent to $15,062 in 2016). This price placed it in competition with workstations from Silicon Graphics, Sun Microsystems, and Hewlett-Packard.
The Macintosh II was designed by hardware engineers Michael Dhuey (computer) and Brian Berkeley (monitor) and industrial designer Hartmut Esslinger (case).
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.
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 features like expansion slots and color, on the basis that the former complicated the user experience and the latter did not conform to WYSIWYG, since color printers were not common. Initially referred to as "Little Big Mac", it was codenamed "Milwaukee" after Dhuey's hometown, and later went through a series of new names, including "Reno", "Uzi" and "Paris" (after Jean-Louis Gassee, Apple's then products manager, who protected the semi-clandestine project from cancellation). After Jobs was fired from Apple in September 1985, the project could proceed openly.
...
Wikipedia