The Macintosh II is a family of

personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...

s that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1987 to 1993. The

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 sys ...

was the initial model, representing the high-end of the

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

line for the time. Over the course of the next six years, seven more models were produced, culminating with the short-lived

Macintosh IIvi The Macintosh IIvi (also sold as the Macintosh Performa 600) is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from September 1992 to February 1993. The IIvi was introduced alongside the Macintosh IIvx, using a slower Mo ...

and

Macintosh IIvx The Macintosh IIvx is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from October 1992 to October 1993. It is the last of the Macintosh II family of Macintosh computers. The IIvx was introduced at the same time as the Ma ...

models. Apple retired the Macintosh II name when it moved to

Motorola 68040 The Motorola 68040 ("''sixty-eight-oh-forty''") is a 32-bit microprocessor in the Motorola 68000 series, released in 1990. It is the successor to the 68030 and is followed by the 68060, skipping the 68050. In keeping with general Motorola nami ...

processors; the

Centris The genus ''Centris'' contains circa 250 species of large apid bees occurring in the Neotropical and Nearctic realms, from Kansas to Argentina. Most females of these bees possess adaptations for carrying floral oils rather than (or in addition ...

and Quadra names were used instead.

Features

Unlike prior Macintosh models, which are "

all-in-one All in One or All-in-One may refer to: Computing * All-in-one PC, a desktop computer with the monitor and computer in the same case * All-in-one printer or multifunction printer * ALL-IN-1, an office automation software package from Digital Equipm ...

" designs, the Macintosh II models are "modular" systems which do not include built-in monitors and are expandable. Beginning with the

and culminating in the

Macintosh IIfx The Macintosh IIfx is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from March 1990 to April 1992. At introduction it cost from to , depending on configuration, and it was the fastest Macintosh available at the time. ...

, the Macintosh II family was Apple's high-end line from 1987 until the introduction of the

-based

Macintosh Quadra The Macintosh Quadra is a family of personal computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from October 1991 to October 1995. The Quadra, named for the Motorola 68040 central processing unit, replaced the Macintosh II family as ...

computers in 1991. Expansion was provided by way of

NuBus NuBus (pron. 'New Bus') is a 32-bit parallel computer bus, originally developed at MIT and standardized in 1987 as a part of the NuMachine workstation project. The first complete implementation of the NuBus was done by Western Digital for th ...

, which become the standard

expansion bus In computing, an expansion card (also called an expansion board, adapter card, peripheral card or accessory card) is a printed circuit board that can be inserted into an electrical connector, or expansion slot (also referred to as a bus slo ...

for the entire Macintosh line for almost a decade. The Macintosh II was the first to officially support color displays, and the first (apart from the

Macintosh XL Macintosh XL is a modified version of the Apple Lisa personal computer made by Apple Computer In the Macintosh XL configuration, the computer shipped with MacWorks XL, a Lisa program that allowed 64 K Macintosh ROM emulation. An identical ma ...

) to support a screen resolution larger than 512x384. The Macintosh II is also the first to use a

Motorola 68000 series The Motorola 68000 series (also known as 680x0, m68000, m68k, or 68k) is a family of 32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessors. During the 1980s and early 1990s, they were popular in personal computers and workstations and w ...

processor other than the

Motorola 68000 The Motorola 68000 (sometimes shortened to Motorola 68k or m68k and usually pronounced "sixty-eight-thousand") is a 16/32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, introduced in 1979 by Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector ...

. Except for the original

which launched the line with a

Motorola 68020 The Motorola 68020 ("''sixty-eight-oh-twenty''", "''sixty-eight-oh-two-oh''" or "''six-eight-oh-two-oh''") is a 32-bit microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1984. A lower-cost version was also made available, known as the 68EC020. In keepin ...

clocked at 16 MHz, they exclusively used the

Motorola 68030 The Motorola 68030 ("''sixty-eight-oh-thirty''") is a 32-bit microprocessor in the Motorola 68000 family. It was released in 1987. The 68030 was the successor to the Motorola 68020, and was followed by the Motorola 68040. In keeping with general ...

microprocessor, even after the

was introduced. Apple would eventually adopt the '040 with the introduction of the

Quadra 700 The Macintosh Quadra 700 was a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from October 1991 to March 1993. It was introduced alongside the Macintosh Quadra 900, Quadra 900 as the first computers in the Macintosh Quadra, ...

and

900 __NOTOC__ Year 900 ( CM) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Abbasid Caliphate * Spring – Forces under the Transoxianian emir Isma'il ibn Ahmad are ...

, positioning these models as high-end

workstation A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by a single user, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term ''workstat ...

-class machines for graphics and scientific computing, while positioning the Macintosh II family as a mainstream desktop computer.

Legacy

During the Macintosh II series' lifespan, they rose to become among the most powerful personal computers available. While the Macintosh II series itself was replaced by the

Macintosh Centris Macintosh Centris is a family of personal computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. in 1992 and 1993. They were introduced as a replacement for the six-year-old Macintosh II family of computers; the name was chosen to i ...

and Quadra, the

Macintosh LC The Macintosh LC is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from October 1990 to March 1992. Overview The first in the Macintosh LC family, the LC was introduced with the Macintosh Classic (a repackaging o ...

and

Performa The Macintosh Performa is a family of personal computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Inc., Apple Computer, Inc. from 1992 to 1997. The Performa brand re-used models from Apple's Macintosh Quadra, Quadra, Macintosh Centris, Centri ...

families continued to use the II's

68030 The Motorola 68030 ("''sixty-eight-oh-thirty''") is a 32-bit microprocessor in the Motorola 68000 family. It was released in 1987. The 68030 was the successor to the Motorola 68020, and was followed by the Motorola 68040. In keeping with general ...

technology long after the

68040 The Motorola 68040 ("''sixty-eight-oh-forty''") is a 32-bit microprocessor in the Motorola 68000 series, released in 1990. It is the successor to the 68030 and is followed by the 68060, skipping the 68050. In keeping with general Motorola nami ...

was introduced and the

PowerBook The PowerBook (known as Macintosh PowerBook before 1997) is a family of Macintosh laptop computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and r ...

continued to use the '030 into the

Power Macintosh The Power Macintosh, later Power Mac, is a family of personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer as the core of the Macintosh brand from March 1994 until August 2006. Described by ''MacWorld'' as "the most important te ...

era.

Models

Image:MacII.jpg,

, the first model introduced Image:Macintosh IIx.jpg,

Macintosh IIx The Macintosh IIx is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from September 1988 to October 1990. This model was introduced as an update to the original Macintosh II, replacing the 16 MHz Motorola 68020 CPU an ...

, a Macintosh II with a

CPU Image:Macintosh IIcx.jpg,

Macintosh IIcx The Macintosh IIcx is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from March 1989 to March 1991. Introduced six months after the Macintosh IIx, the IIcx resembles the IIx and provides the same performance, but is ...

, a compact model Image:Macintosh IIci.png, Macintosh IIci, a popular and long-lived model Image:Macintosh IIfx.jpg,

, with its 40 MHz '030, was the fastest II-series Mac Image:Macintosh IIsi 2.jpg,

Macintosh IIsi The Macintosh IIsi is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from October 1990 to March 1993. Introduced as a lower-cost alternative to the other Macintosh II family of desktop models, it was popular for ho ...

, one of the few Macs to use a unique case Image:Macintosh IIvi.jpg,

, the shortest-lived Macintosh model Image:Macintosh IIvx.jpg,

, the final II-series case design – also used for the Centris/Quadra 650

Macintosh II series memory map

Timeline

References