The Macintosh LC III is a

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 ...

designed, manufactured, and sold by

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...

from February 1993 to February 1994. It replaced the commercially successful

Macintosh LC II The Macintosh LC II is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from March 1992 to March 1993. The LC II is an update to the original Macintosh LC, replacing its Motorola 68020 processor with a 68030 and increasin ...

in Apple's lineup of mid-class computers, and was significantly faster, with MacWorld Magazine benchmarks showing 2x performance in all major categories - CPU, disk, video and maths. It was also significantly less expensive; the LC III with an 80 MB hard disk was priced at US$1,349 at introduction, $700 less than the LC II. The LC III was sold primarily (but not exclusively) to educational institutions, and a corresponding

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 ...

variant called the Performa 450 was sold to the consumer market. A speed-bumped version, called the Macintosh LC III+ was released in October of the same year, with a 33 MHz CPU. Three Performa variants of this model were released: the 460, 466 and 467. These faster models replaced the LC III and Performa 450, with sales of the original models continuing until the end of 1993 as dealers depleted their stocks. New sales of the LC III+ ended in early 1994 as Apple neared the completion of the transition away from 68030 processors. The

68LC040 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 ...

-based LC 475 and Performa 475 were their replacements.

Models

Introduced February 10, 1993: * Macintosh LC III: 25 MHz 68030 CPU, 80 MB HDD. * Macintosh Performa 450: 25 MHz 68030 CPU, 120 MB HDD. Introduced October 18, 1993: * Macintosh LC III+: 33 MHz 68030 CPU. * Macintosh Performa 460: 4 MB RAM, 80 MB HDD. * Macintosh Performa 466: 4 MB RAM, 160 MB HDD. * Macintosh Performa 467: 4 MB RAM, 160 MB HDD.

Timeline

References

External links

Mac LC III
an
Mac LC III+
at lowendmac.com. {{Apple hardware before 1998 III LC III LC III Computer-related introductions in 1993