Mac: 25 Years in Pictures
On January 24, two days after Ridley Scott's now legendary 1984 commercial went to air during Super Bowl XVIII, Steve Jobs stepped onto the stage at De Anza College in Cupertino CA, and pulled a beige box out of a canvas bag. As the lights dimmed and the opening notes to Vangelis' Chariots of Fire filled the room, the excited audience got its first glimpse of the Macintosh (video embedded below).
Macs are known for the intuitive software that makes them great for non-geeks, and Apple has always been consistent in pioneering new technology, but the ability to bundle it all into one super sleek package has given Apple an edge over the rest. Today, as the Mac turned 25, we thought we'd take a look at how its changed over the years. Please enjoy
1984: Macintosh 128K $2495
Inspired by Lisa and originally called the Macintosh, it was renamed after a new version was released to differentiate it. This original Macintosh came with a keyboard, mouse and 3.5" floppy drive.
1987: Macintosh II $3898
This first modular model (all previous models were all-in-one) came with a color video card and expansion slots.
1989: Macintosh Portable $6500
The Macintosh portable was Apple's first attempt to make a battery-powered equivalent of the desktop Macintosh. Clunky now, in its day it was quite the prize.
1991: Quadra 700 $6000
The Quadra 700 was of the first Macs to use the Motorola 68040 processor and had built-in Ethernet networking capabilities.
1991: PowerBook 100 $2500
The PowerBook 100 was the low-end model of the first three simultaneously released PowerBooks and the first to really start resembling the notebooks of today.
1993: Macintosh Color Classic $1390
The Color Classic was the first color compact Mac and the last of the classic beige box Macs.
1998: iMac G3 $1299
The iMac G3 was the first model of the iMac line made by Apple Inc. and was an all-in-one computer originally released in a striking blue. With the return of Steve Jobs, Apple suddenly got sleeker.
1999: Power Macintosh G3 $1599
Power Mac was the first to use the PowerPC G3 (PPC750) microprocessor, replacing a number of earlier Power Macintosh models.
1999: iBook $1599
The 'iMac to go' was aimed at the consumer and education markets and was originally known to have a 'clamshell' design.
2001: PowerBook G4 $2599
Saying goodbye to the old plastic casing, the G4 had a sleek titanium body and black translucent keyboard.
2002: iMac G4 $1299
In yet another design update, the G4 replaced the bulky CRT screen with a flat panel.
2003: Power Mac G5 $1999
When it was introduced, Apple claimed the G5 was the fastest computer ever built. Today it is known as the Mac Pro, still sleek, still super fast.
2008: MacBook Air $1999
"Thinnovation" Apple calls it; the worlds thinnest notebook.
Steve Jobs Introduces the Mac
Video: thanks Dave Winer
Images thanks to Wikimedia Commons
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macfags, won't steve jobs just die already
There is a NYC that has permanent displays of those relics.
Some still work - and customers can test drive them ocassionally
There is a Mac store in NYC that has permanent displays of those relics.
Some still work - and customers can test drive them occasionally
Amazing post!!! I like posts with images!
dear Lidija Madam,
am bothered to see my iMac G5 all aluminum and glossy glass glory has been left out of this post :( are you sure about the quad core update to it and so...?
@AD PR NY - You'd think, would you not, that Apple would have a permanent display set up in Silicon Valley - I'd love to see it - and imagine test driving them - cool
@ dear macfan sorry for not including your iMac G5 - I'll have to remember to include it another time :) - I'm not sure what you mean about the quad core update - sorry - but I've put links to tech specs for each so hope that helps
The pictures for the original iMac and the PowerBook G4 are incorrect.
Your iMac image is of a Blueberry slot-loading iMac, which was not released until 1999. The original iMac was Bondi Blue.
The image you have for the PowerBook G4 is the PowerBook G4 aluminium, released 2 years after the original Titanium model.
I don't want to sound like a punk here, but the dates and picures are way off. From memory, the CRT iMac you have isn't the Bondi, it's most likely a DV Special edition. The G3 came out in 97, not 99. Apple made beige boxes through 99. The Powerbook pic you have is an Aluminium, not a Titanium. And you completely to mention the Cube.
thanks.
@ Rob You're right and I've updated the post :)Thank you for spotting it!
@ Dan - never a punk - if I muck it up, you have to tell me. The iMac wasn't the Bondi, but is now. :) But, I checked the specs and it says the G3 (iMac) came out in 1998 so I haven't changed that. Thanks for pointing it out
This post should be 25 "selected" years in the highest priced concept Macs that hardly anyone bought. A better article would actually have 25 Mac models and look for the ones that were the top sellers, not just showy models for the Mac Expos.
Great post Lidija. See, this is what happens when you do a post about ANYTHING Mac. Us Mac fanboys will pick it apart piece by piece :) It's a sickness we have and I apologize.
Just a couple more noteworthy things. The MacBook Air was and is $1799 and not $1999 (the base model anyway).
Also, I beleive the iBook deserves a bit more than the one sentence. It may not have been as significant as the original Macintosh, or the iMac that brought Apple back from the brink, but the iBook brought wireless computing mainstream (like the iMac did with USB) and changed the way everyone uses the internet.
Thanks again for a great article.
Who cares? What's the point in keeping a computer less powerful than a modern cell phone? Retards.
Put an Apple logo on anything shiny and the mindless zealots will flock to pay twice whatever it's worth. Hey morons, it's a computer, not a religion. Maybe if you idiots pray hard enough to the Great Jobs, Apple will release the iStrapOn (modeled after Steve's wank) and you can get on your knees and do exactly what you've been fantasizing about for years.
Those things were absolute junk until Apple finally got smart and let the open source community write their core OS.
Why Apple executives would participate in securities fraud is beyond me considering they should be making plenty from the idiots who buy their products so religiously.
What is really amazing is, there's been a computer platform available for 25 years that suffers from no viruses, has always been at the forefront of user friendliness, and continues to lead the industry in form AND function, and people like "MT" are too stupid to appreciate it.
This is coool
Please, everyone, look at computer code. 010121101022 or..011011101000...all computer code adds up to 6, or 12, and deduces back to six. All computers are evil. that is all you need to know. :D Computers cannot replace reality, nor enhance perfection. Who cares what OS it uses? Computers create isolation from face to face interaction, they take jobs and create an environment where people can "lie" to one another behind a screen. Sure, production increases, but is life really about capitalism and being better than everyone else? My advice to you, the audience, is to go out, look at a random stranger, and smile at them. Instead of playing Second Life or visiting one of the myriad pornography sites that the internet is used for.
joshua! what are you doing here then? go out and smile at the strangers, don't waste your time here on this site!:-)
(I know what you mean tho...)
i think Mac is just making a user friendly and cool desinged PC and that's good enough for me.
Macs Suck.
Defective by Design.
Choke and DIE on DRM, Safari Security Exploits, Market Lock-In, having to buy MORE EXPENSIVE parts just to enhance your already SHITTY system, that, btw, does NOT unlock its full hardware potential.
The world IS better. Get out of your white packaging and into something SMARTER.
Ps. if it were a pc, what it looks like, is UP TO YOU.
what it has in it, is ENTIRELY up to you.
What it can DO is entirely UP TO YOU.
What's permissible on it, IS UP TO YOU (including security).
For all those who shout out "M$ Sucks!":
--> Where did i mention anything made by Microsoft?
Linux, GNU, Opensource, Compiz, Unlimited Source Code, Package Management, Porting, You NAME it. It WILL outperform a mac ANY DAY.
PC's forever... stop supporting the company of death.
(Granted Microsoft's Trac record isnt much better... but money laundering is a SHARED flaw between apple and microsoft).
well nice post, a recap of the old releases, but why the MacBook Pro's are missing from the list and the Air is included?
Cheers!
Jean
why don't you ctrl+alt+del, mate? pcs are for printing invoices only. don't slag mac off only because you can't afford them, preferring to use open software and inferior components chucked together in an ugly moded tower with stupid lEDs etc.
The writer of this article forgot to mention the transition from color-coded ibooks to the plain white ibook. That was quite a dramatic shift, and I thought it deserved some notice. It was the first "book" that I drooled over, quite literally. They still use almost the same basic form to this day.
Such hate about Macs!! Well if you dont like them, dont buy them. I had PCs forever..and i fought with that damn PC so much I would break out in a sweat when some thing went wrong, which was all the time. Look at ANY major PC magazine and it will have on the cover "How to Fix..etc" . Since 2006 I bought two iMacs and my life is soo much simpler and fun. Come to the Dark Side (actually one is white and one cool metal color).
Mike in Florida
Wow this is pretty amazing. It is crazy to think how far technology has come just in my lifetime. I was born a few years after the first mac came out and since then, the advancements that have been made are incredible. It is actually quite funny to look back and remember most models of the mac in our classrooms throughout school and how amazed we were with the first few models. I am using a mac today and can't believe how much it has changed.
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I not only owned a 128K (and several since) but I still have a copy of MacWorld #1. Not only makes me feel old, means I am old.