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The Power Mac G5, the last model of the series.
The Power Mac G5, the last model of the series. The Power Mac G5 is Apple 's marketing name for models of the Power Macintosh which contain the PowerPC G5 CPU.

Power Macintosh, later Power Mac, is a line of Apple Macintosh workstation-class personal computers based on various models of PowerPC microprocessors that was developed, marketed, and supported by Apple Inc. from March 1994 until August 2006. Macintosh, commonly nicknamed Mac is a Brand name which covers several lines of Personal computers designed developed and marketed by Apple Inc A workstation, such as a Unix workstation, RISC workstation or Engineering workstation, is a high-end Microcomputer A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated PowerPC is a RISC Instruction set architecture created by the 1991 Apple – IBM – Motorola alliance known as AIM A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a Central processing unit (CPU on a single Integrated Apple Inc, ( formerly Apple Computer Inc, is an American Multinational corporation with a focus on designing and manufacturing Consumer electronics Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The first models were the Power Macintosh 6100, 7100, and 8100, which offered speeds ranging from 60 to 110 MHz. The Power Macintosh 6100 was Apple Computer 's first computer to use the new PowerPC RISC type processor created by IBM and Motorola. The Power Macintosh 7100 was a high-end Apple Macintosh Personal computer that was designed manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from March 1994 The Power Macintosh 8100 (Codenames "Cold Fusion" "Flagship" also sold in Japan as the Power Macintosh 8115 and with bundled server software The hertz (symbol Hz) is a measure of Frequency, informally defined as the number of events occurring per Second. These machines replaced Apple's Quadra series of personal computers, and were housed in cases very similar to systems sold by Apple up to that point. The Macintosh Quadra series was Apple Computer 's product family of professional high-end Apple Macintosh Personal computers built using the Motorola The Power Mac went on to become the mainstay of Apple's top-end offerings for twelve years, through a succession of case designs, four major generations of PowerPC chips, and a great deal of press coverage, design accolades, and technical controversy. In August 2006, the Power Mac's retirement was announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference by Steve Jobs and Phil Schiller, making way for its replacement, the Mac Pro. Steven Paul Jobs (born February 24 1955 is the Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc and former CEO of Pixar Animation Philip W Schiller (born 1960 is the senior vice president of worldwide Product marketing at Apple Inc The Mac Pro is a Workstation computer manufactured by Apple Inc

Contents

Models

Old World ROM

Main article: Old World ROM
The Power Macintosh 6100/60, the first Macintosh to use a PowerPC processor.
The Power Macintosh 6100/60, the first Macintosh to use a PowerPC processor. Old World ROM Macintosh computers are the Macintosh models that use a Macintosh Toolbox ROM chip usually in a socket (but soldered to the motherboard in The Power Macintosh 6100 was Apple Computer 's first computer to use the new PowerPC RISC type processor created by IBM and Motorola.

Timeline of Old World ROM Power Macintosh models

See also: Timeline of Apple Macintosh models

New World ROM

The following are recent and current Power Mac lines based on the New World ROM. The Power Macintosh 4400 (also known as the Power Macintosh The Macintosh Performa 5200 LC series (also sold under variations of the name Performa 5200) is a series of all-in-one (meaning the cases feature an integrated monitor The Macintosh Performa 5200 LC series (also sold under variations of the name Performa 5200) is a series of all-in-one (meaning the cases feature an integrated monitor The Macintosh Performa 5200 LC series (also sold under variations of the name Performa 5200) is a series of all-in-one (meaning the cases feature an integrated monitor The Power Macintosh 5400 series (also sold under variations of the name Performa 5400 and Power Macintosh 5400 LC) is a range of lower midrange Personal computers The Power Macintosh 5500 – code-named "Phoenix" – was produced by Apple Inc The Power Macintosh 6100 was Apple Computer 's first computer to use the new PowerPC RISC type processor created by IBM and Motorola. The Power Macintosh 6200 (Codename "Crusader" / "Elixir" also sold under variations of the name Performa 6200, Performa 6300 and Power Macintosh The Power Macintosh 6200 (Codename "Crusader" / "Elixir" also sold under variations of the name Performa 6200, Performa 6300 and Power Macintosh The Power Macintosh 6400 (Codenames "InstaTower" "Alchemy" "Hacksaw" also sold under variations of the name Performa 6400) is a mid-range The Power Macintosh 6500 (Codename "Gazelle" is a mid-range Desktop computer in Apple Computer 's Power Macintosh series The Power Macintosh 7100 was a high-end Apple Macintosh Personal computer that was designed manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from March 1994 The Power Macintosh 7200 (Codename "Catalyst" the 90 MHz model was also sold in Japan as the Power Macintosh 7215, and the 120 MHz model with bundled The Power Macintosh 7300 (Codename "Montana" also sold with server software as the Apple Workgroup Server 7350) is a Personal computer that The Power Macintosh 7500 was one of the first PCI capable Macs manufactured by Apple Computer. The Power Macintosh 7600 was a PowerPC 604 based desktop computer sold by Apple in three speeds (120MHz 132MHz and 200MHz - the last model was not available in North The Power Macintosh 8100 (Codenames "Cold Fusion" "Flagship" also sold in Japan as the Power Macintosh 8115 and with bundled server software The Power Macintosh 8100 (Codenames "Cold Fusion" "Flagship" also sold in Japan as the Power Macintosh 8115 and with bundled server software The Power Macintosh 7200 (Codename "Catalyst" the 90 MHz model was also sold in Japan as the Power Macintosh 7215, and the 120 MHz model with bundled The Power Macintosh 8500 (the 120 MHz model is also known as Power Macintosh 8515 in Europe and Japan) was a High-end Macintosh The Power Macintosh 8500 (the 120 MHz model is also known as Power Macintosh 8515 in Europe and Japan) was a High-end Macintosh The Power Macintosh 8600 (Codename "Kansas" is a Personal computer that is a part of Apple Computer 's Power Macintosh series of Macintosh The Power Macintosh 9500 (the 132 MHz model is also known as Power Macintosh 9515 in Europe and Japan) is a high-end Macintosh Personal The Power Macintosh 9500 (the 132 MHz model is also known as Power Macintosh 9515 in Europe and Japan) is a high-end Macintosh Personal The Power Macintosh 9600 (Codename "Kansas" also sold with additional server software as the Apple Workgroup Server 9650) is a Personal computer The Power Macintosh G3, commonly called "beige G3s" or "platinum G3s" for the color of their cases was a series of Personal computers designed manufactured Wikipedia talkFeatured lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below -->This timeline of Macintosh models lists all major types of New World ROM Macintosh computers are the PowerPC Macintosh models that do not use a Macintosh Toolbox ROM on the motherboard but instead

Timeline of New World ROM Power Macintosh models

See also: Timeline of Apple Macintosh models

Naming

All Power Macs prior to 1997 used PowerPC 60x-series processors, and 4-digit model numbers (e. The Power Macintosh G3 series (commonly known as the " Blue and White G3 " or sometimes just the " B&W G3 " to distinguish it from the original The Power Mac G4 is a series of Personal computers that was designed manufactured and sold by Apple between 1999 and 2004. The Power Mac G4 Cube (or as Steve Jobs put it "more affectionately the G4 Cube " was a compact Macintosh Personal computer from The Power Mac G5 is Apple 's marketing name for models of the Power Macintosh which contain the PowerPC G5 CPU. Wikipedia talkFeatured lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below -->This timeline of Macintosh models lists all major types of 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 iMac is a desktop Macintosh computer designed and built by Apple Inc The PowerBook is a line of Macintosh Laptop Computers that was designed manufactured and sold by Apple Computer Inc The iBook is a line of Laptop computer that was developed and sold by Apple Computer Inc

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

The "Power Mac" brand name was 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). They were usually equipped with Apple's newest technologies, and commanded the highest prices among Apple desktop models. Some Power Mac G4 and G5 models were offered in dual-processor configurations. Multiprocessing is the use of two or more central processing units (CPUs within a single computer system Other past Macintosh lines that have used PowerPC processors include the Macintosh Performa, iMac, iBook, and PowerBook 5300 and later models. The Macintosh Performa series was Apple Computer 's Consumer product family of Apple Macintosh Personal computers from 1992 until 1997 when the The iMac is a desktop Macintosh computer designed and built by Apple Inc The iBook is a line of Laptop computer that was developed and sold by Apple Computer Inc The PowerBook 5300 series was the first generation of PowerBook Laptops manufactured by Apple Computer to use the PowerPC processor

Advertising and marketing

Apple introduced the Power Mac 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. An advertising campaign is a series of Advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC A television advertisement or television commercial (often just commercial or advert (US or ad (UK is a span of television programming produced 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. Computer networking is the Engineering Discipline concerned with communication between Computer systems or devices Networking routers MS-DOS (short for M icro' s' oft D isk O perating S ystem is an Operating system commercialized by Microsoft.

Processor and software

The ROM and Mac OS operating system released with the new Power Mac machines included an Mac 68K emulator to enable programs written for Motorola 68k series CPUs, including nearly all prior Mac software, to run without changes. Mac OS is the trademarked name for a series of Graphical user interface -based Operating systems developed by Apple Inc An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination The Mac 68K emulator was a Software Emulator built into all versions of the Mac OS for PowerPC. (A similar scheme is employed to run 68K software on modern x86 Alpha Microsystems machines. Alpha Microsystems is a computer company founded in 1977 by Dick Wilcox and Bob Hitchcock ) 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. However, for many of these so-called 68K transition Macs, Apple offered an upgrade path in the form of a PowerPC Macintosh Processor Upgrade Card and aggressively marketed it to assure a wary consumer of their investment. The generically named Macintosh Processor Upgrade Card was a Central processing unit upgrade card sold by Apple Computer, designed for many 68040 -powered In April 1996, Apple discontinued the Macintosh LC 580 (released in 1995), the last remaining desktop model of the 68k-based Macintosh line. Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) The Macintosh LC 500 series is a series of Personal computers that is a part of Apple Computer 's LC line of Macintosh computers The PowerBook 190cs, the last 68k-based PowerBook, was discontinued in October of 1996. The PowerBook 190 and its companion PowerBook 190cs are Laptop computers manufactured by Apple Computer as part of their PowerBook brand introduced All subsequent Macintosh computers would be based on PowerPC processors until 2006, when Apple switched to Intel processors. The Apple Intel transition was the process of changing the CPU of Macintosh Computers from PowerPC processors to Intel X86

Successor

The Intel-based successor of the Power Mac is named the Mac Pro, in line with the renaming of their professional notebooks from PowerBook to MacBook Pro. The Mac Pro is a Workstation computer manufactured by Apple Inc The PowerBook is a line of Macintosh Laptop Computers that was designed manufactured and sold by Apple Computer Inc The MacBook Pro is a line of Macintosh portable Computers by Apple Inc

See also

References

External links

This list of Macintosh models grouped by CPU type contains all CPUs used by Apple Inc The Mac Pro is a Workstation computer manufactured by Apple Inc
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