Apple's New Power Macintosh Family Delivers Greater Performance and Value
Processor Upgrade Cards Available to Ramp Up Existing Power Macs to 132MHz; Systems Now Support Up to 200MHz
Cupertino, California--April 22, 1996--Expanding upon the breakthrough price and performance value offered in its award winning Power Macintosh line, Apple Computer, Inc. today introduced four new faster Power Macintosh models. The new line includes two machines with RISC-based PowerPC 604 microprocessors running at 150MHz; all new systems support up to 200MHz. Apple also unveiled standalone microprocessor cards that enable customers of previous Power Macs, with the innovative processor upgrade feature, to move up to 132 MHz performance.
Available today in most regions worldwide, the new line-up includes the Power Macintosh 9500/150, Power Macintosh 8500/150 and 8500/132, Power Macintosh 7600/120 and Power Macintosh 7200/120. The Power Macs offer new features that improve performance by as much as 50 percent over previous systems. In addition to increasing the clock speeds of the PowerPC processors, Apple also added PowerPC 604 performance to the mid-range product and a standard 256K level 2 cache to most models. Apple also increased the value of Power Macintosh systems by expanding the minimum entry-level hard drive configurations to 1.2GB.
"The ability to deliver this new round of powerful Power Macintosh systems clearly underscores the benefits Apple sought to realize when adopting a RISC-based platform," said H.L. Cheung, vice president of Apple's Desktop Products Division. "These new machines combine significant hardware performance improvements to the PowerPC chip and the new MacOS to provide Apple customers with a big boost in performance and the system stability they expect."
All new models ship with the industry's easiest-to-use operating system, System 7.5.3, preinstalled. The new operating system significantly enhances overall system stability, provides more PowerPC-native components and updated network communications via Open Transport 1.1, while delivering additional improvements to key Apple technologies including QuickTime, QuickDraw 3D and PlainTalk. All of the new Power Macs also come bundled with the Apple Internet Connection Kit, which includes Netscape Navigator 2.0 and Claris Emailer Lite, among other programs.
New Power Macs
Aimed at entry-level business users, the new Power Macintosh 7200/120 provides clock-speed improvements over the current Power Macintosh 7200/90 and Power Macintosh 7200/75, and is available with or without onboard L2 cache. For example, the new Power Mac 7200/120 with L2 cache provides up to a 50 percent performance improvement over the current Power Mac 7200/90.
Ideal for education, corporate applications and low-end publishing, the new Power Macintosh 7600/120 adds the PowerPC 604 microprocessor, a 256K L2 cache and clock speed improvements to provide up to a 50 percent performance improvement over the current Power Macintosh 7500/100.
Geared toward high-end publishing, multimedia applications and Internet authoring, the new Power Macintosh 9500/150, Power Macintosh 8500/150 and 8500/132 are higher clock-speed versions of the current Power Macintosh 9500/132, 9500/120 and Power Macintosh 8500/120. The new Power Mac 9500/150 and Power Mac 8500/150 both provide up to a 25 percent performance improvement over current models.
Some models are available in several RAM and hard disk configurations, including:
Model Configuration Apple Price*
Power Macintosh 9500/150 16/2GB/CD/Video/L2
$4,799
Power Macintosh 8500/150 16/2GB/CD/L2
$4,699
Power Macintosh 8500/132 16/1.2GB/CD/L2
$3,899
Power Macintosh 7600/120 16/1.2GB/CD/L2
$2,999
Power Macintosh 7200/120 16/1.2GB/CD/L2
$2,299
Power Macintosh 7200/120 8/1.2GB/CD
$1,899
*Expected U.S. Apple price (does not include monitor and keyboard); prices may vary in international markets
The new Power Macintosh line also includes the Power Macintosh 7200/120 PC Compatible, a system that runs MS-DOS, Windows and the Macintosh operating system to give customers access to more software applications than with any other desktop computer. The system is based on the Power Mac 7200/120, preconfigured with either a powerful Pentium 100MHz card or an entry-level 586 100MHz PC Compatibility card; U.S. prices are expected to start at $2,599.
Processor Cards and Logic Board Upgrades
Apple's new Power Macintosh Processor Upgrade Card 132MHz and Power Macintosh Processor Upgrade Card 120MHz, expected to sell in the U.S. for $899 and $599 respectively, are designed to protect the hardware investment of current customers. These PowerPC 604 processors provide significant performance increases over the PowerPC 601 processor that is standard in the Power Mac 7500/100. Processor cards are expected to be available in May.
"Apple introduced the innovative processor upgrade slot for the Power Macintosh last summer and we are now delivering fast and affordable processor upgrades that allow our Power Mac 7500 customer to move up to PowerPC 604 performance," said Byran Longmire, product manager for Power Macs. "In addition to many other advanced Power Mac features, most of the new Power Mac systems include processor upgradeability support of up to 200MHz, a feature that continues to protect our customers' investment for the future."
Also announced, the 8500 Logic Board Upgrade enables the upgrade of the Macintosh Quadra 800, Macintosh Quadra 840AV or Power Macintosh 8100 to a Power Mac 8500. A 7600 Logic Board Upgrade is also available for customers of the Power Mac 7200 who want to gain the processing power of the powerful PowerPC 604 chip and L2 cache capabilities of the new Power Mac 7600. The 8500 Logic Board Upgrade is expected to sell in the U.S. for $1,799, while the 7600 Logic Board Upgrade is expected to sell in the U.S. for $1,299. To allow customers flexibility in choosing processor clockspeed, logic board upgrades do not include a processor card. Logic board upgrades are also expected to be available in May.
Apple Computer, Inc., a recognized pioneer and innovator in the information industry, creates powerful solutions based on easy-to-use personal computers, servers, peripherals, software and personal digital assistants. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) develops, manufactures, licenses and markets products, technologies and services for the business, education, consumer, scientific and engineering, and government markets in over 140 countries.