Apple Extends Its Macintosh Product Family to Reach More People Than Ever Before

LAS VEGAS, Nev., Oct. 21, 1991 -- PRNewswire -- In keeping with its goal to move the Macintosh personal computer into the mainstream of computing, Apple Computer Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) today introduced products in key high-growth market segments and nearly doubled the number of computers in its Macintosh product family. The announcements at COMDEX and at major events around the world represent Apple's single largest product introduction ever.

The announcement included: the Macintosh Quadra line -- new high performance computers; the Macintosh PowerBook line -- new trend- setting notebook-sized computers; and the Macintosh Classic II computer -- a more powerful version of the company's best selling CPU, the Macintosh Classic.

Apple has broadened its Macintosh product family to compete in two of its highest growth potential segments -- portable and large organizational computing. The announcements also build on Apple's traditional strengths in computing for individuals and tools for designers and publishers.

"A year ago, we said that Apple's goal would be to aggressively move Macintosh into the mainstream of computing," said John Sculley, Apple's chairman and chief executive officer. "During the last 12 months, we have taken significant actions to do just that. We have introduced lower cost Macintoshes, delivered System 7, introduced innovative scanners, printers and networking and communications products, and signed a technology agreement with IBM which boosts Macintosh integration into large organizations.

"Today's announcements mark the next major step in our efforts to deliver on this goal. These products are intended to reach millions of people, including those who have never used Macintoshes before, as well as current users who want Macintoshes with increased power, portability and other capabilities.

"Taken together, these announcements demonstrate our dedication to providing a broad range of customers with aggressively priced, innovative products. Never before has Apple been better equipped to carry forward its mission to reach new people with our technology," he said.

"In addition, we're bringing products to market faster than ever before. We can now measure product development cycles in terms of months rather than number of years," said Sculley. "It's clear to us that to be competitive in this industry we must continue to keep our product development machine running quickly and smoothly."

During the past three weeks alone, Apple has signed far-reaching technology agreements with IBM and Motorola, improved the quality of its scanning and printing technology, offered new levels of connectivity and introduced six new Macintosh models, including its first notebook-sized computers. Macintosh Quadra Line

Apple introduced two personal computers that represent the company's largest, single jump in computing performance since the introduction of the Macintosh II in 1987. The new Apple Macintosh Quadra line of personal computers are Apple's highest performance computers ever and deliver powerful technologies made easy-to-use. The Quadra computers, built around the latest Motorola 68040 microprocessor, are also among the highest performance computers in the PC industry.

The new top-of-the line Quadras consist of two models -- the Quadra 700, a high performance desktop Macintosh, and the Quadra 900, a high performance, "tower" design built with configurability and expandability in mind. Macintosh Classic II

Building on the success of the fastest selling computer in its history, Apple announced the new Apple Macintosh Classic II computer. The Classic II extends the capabilities of the original Macintosh Classic by incorporating more advanced features -- greater performance, virtual memory support under System 7, more memory expansion, and sound input capabilities -- while still maintaining affordability.

The Classic II has the same all-in-one design as the original Classic, yet features a number of higher performance features. Most notably, it is based on a 16MHz Motorola 68030 microprocessor. This provides double the performance of the Classic and gives users the power to run the most sophisticated applications. Macintosh PowerBook Line

Apple announced a new line of highly anticipated notebook-sized systems called the Apple Macintosh PowerBook computers. Equipped with all the traditional Macintosh features, each of these three new computers is designed to be convenient enough to fit in a briefcase, powerful enough for the most demanding computing tasks, and affordable enough for a wide range of users.

The Macintosh PowerBook line of computers includes the PowerBook 100, PowerBook 140, and PowerBook 170. All share several common characteristics. Most notable are the ergonomic advantages, which include an integrated trackball and palm rest, full-size keyboard, easy-to-read full page-width screen, and tilt adjustments.

All of the CPU announcements took place on the opening day of COMDEX, the world's largest personal computer exposition. The week- long show draws 100,000 attendees from all over the world with diverse computing interests. In keeping with its goal to reach more people with Macintosh, Apple introduced the six new computers here to attract new customers who haven't historically purchased Macintosh.

In addition to the products announced today, Apple has introduced three new imaging products and two new networking products previously this month. Apple OneScanner and LaserWriter IIf and IIg

At the Seybold Computer Publishing Conference and Exposition on Oct. 1, Apple announced three new products that give customers breakthrough scanning and printing capabilities with Macintosh ease- of-use. The Apple OneScanner features intuitive "one-button" scanning that allows customers to easily incorporate high-quality photographs and artwork into everyday documents. The new LaserWriter printers provide high quality grayscale output equivalent to that of 800 dpi (dots per inch) printers, as well as edge smoothing technology that improves the quality of text and line art. AppleShare Server 3.0 and AppleTalk Remote Access

At Networld on Oct. 14, Apple announced two new networking products -- AppleShare Server 3.0 and AppleTalk Remote Access. AppleShare Server 3.0 is a new version of Apple's server software for the Macintosh that meets the security, performance, and multitasking requirements of larger workgroups and departments within large organizations. It provides access to centralized shared storage for up to 120 concurrent users and queued access for up to five network printers. Product/Configuration MSRP Availability Quadra 700 4MB RAM/floppy $5,699 Immediate Quadra 700 4MB RAM/80MB Hard Disk $6,399 Immediate Quadra 700 4MB RAM/160MB Hard Disk $6,999 Immediate Quadra 700 4MB RAM/400MB Hard Disk $7,699 January 1992 Quadra 900 4MB RAM/floppy $7,199 Immediate Quadra 900 4MB RAM/160MB Hard Disk $8,499 Immediate Quadra 900 4MB RAM/400MB Hard Disk $9,199 January 1992 Quadra 700 Logic Board Upgrade $3,499 January 1992 Classic II 2MB RAM/40MB Hard Disk

$1,899 Immediate Classic II 4MB RAM/80MB Hard Disk $2,399 Immediate Classic II Logic Board Upgrade $699 November PowerBook 100 2MB RAM/20MB Hard Disk $2,299 Limited until late Nov. PowerBook 100 2MB RAM/20MB Hard Disk $2,499 Immediate with external floppy drive PowerBook 140 2MB RAM/20MB Hard Disk $2,899 Immediate PowerBook 140 2MB RAM/40MB Hard Disk $3,199 Limited until late Nov. PowerBook 140 4MB RAM/40MB Hard Disk $3,499 Limited until late Nov. PowerBook 170 4MB RAM/40MB Hard Disk $4,599 Limited until late Nov. LaserWriter IIg $4,599 Limited until Nov. LaserWriter IIf $3,599 Limited until Nov. Apple OneScanner $1,299 Immediate AppleTalk Remote Access $199 Immediate (Prices, configurations, and availability may vary outside the United States.)

Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, LaserWriter, AppleShare and AppleTalk are registered trademarks; and Macintosh Quadra, PowerBook and OneScanner are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. Classic is a registered trademark used under license by Apple Computer Inc.

CONTACT: John Cook of Apple Computer, 408-974-3145/ 08:16 EDT