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Developer | Apple Computer |
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Product family | Macintosh II |
Release date | March 2, 1987 |
Lifespan | March 2, 1987 – January 15, 1990 (2 years, 10 months, and 13 days)[1] |
Introductory price | US$5,498 (equivalent to $14,750 in 2023) |
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, A/UX 1.0 - 3.1 |
CPU | Motorola 68020 @ 16 MHz |
Memory | 1 MB, expandable to 8 MB (128 MB via FDHD upgrade kit) (120 ns 30-pin SIMM) |
Predecessor | Macintosh 512Ke Macintosh Plus |
Successor | Macintosh IIx Macintosh IIcx |
Related | Macintosh SE Macintosh SE/30 |
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 about 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.
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)[3] and Brian Berkeley (monitor)[4] and industrial designer Hartmut Esslinger (case).[5][6]
Eighteen months after its introduction, the Macintosh II was updated with a more powerful CPU and sold as the Macintosh IIx.[7] In early 1989, the more compact Macintosh IIcx was introduced at a price similar to the original Macintosh II,[8] and by the beginning of 1990 sales stopped altogether.[9] Motherboard upgrades to turn a Macintosh II into a IIx or Macintosh IIfx were offered by Apple.[10]