1987 / Apple

Macintosh II

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 $15,580 in 2025). With a 13-inch color monitor and 8-bit display card, the price was about US$7,145 (equivalent to $20,250 in 2025). This placed it in competition with workstations from Silicon Graphics, Sun Microsystems, and Hewlett-Packard.

Technical specifications

Brand: Apple
Model: Macintosh II
Year: 1987
Architecture: Motorola 68k
CPU: Motorola 68020 at 16 MHz
Memory: 5 MB RAM
Graphics: NuBus graphics
Storage: 1GB Internal SCSI hard disk and 2 x 1.44 MB floppy drive
Operating system: A/UX 3.1.1

Collection record

Condition: Working connected to the lan
Restoration
Inventory

he 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)[4] and Brian Berkeley (monitor)[5] and industrial designer Hartmut Esslinger (case).[6][7]

Eighteen months after its introduction, the Macintosh II was updated with a more powerful CPU and sold as the Macintosh IIx.[8] In early 1989, the more compact Macintosh IIcx was introduced at a price similar to the original Macintosh II,[9] and by the beginning of 1990 sales stopped altogether.[10] Motherboard upgrades to turn a Macintosh II into a IIx or Macintosh IIfx were offered by Apple.[11]

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