The Motorola StarMax was a line of licensed

Macintosh clones A Macintosh clone, also known as a Clonintosh (a portmanteau of " Clone" and "Macintosh"), is a computer running the Mac OS operating system that was not produced by Apple Inc. The earliest Mac clones were based on emulators and reverse-engineere ...

produced by Motorola Information Systems Group in 1996 and 1997. They used versions of Apple's Tanzania motherboard, which was designed to use standard

IBM PC compatible IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM Personal Computer, IBM PC, IBM Personal Computer XT, XT, and IBM Personal Computer/AT, AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such ...

components in addition to Apple-proprietary components then in common use in 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 ...

family. StarMax computers featured

SVGA Super VGA (SVGA) is a broad term that covers a wide range of computer display standards that extended IBM's VGA specification. When used as shorthand for a resolution, as VGA and XGA often are, SVGA refers to a resolution of 800×600. History I ...

video ports rather than the proprietary port Apple used at the time, and PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports in addition to ADB. The motherboard was also capable of using manual-eject floppy drives, though Motorola disabled this functionality and shipped the computers with software-eject drives. The StarMax line was discontinued on 11 September 1997 after Apple terminated the Macintosh clone license program that year. The StarMax's termination resulted in strained relations between Motorola and Apple and later Motorola's expulsion from the AIM alliance.

Licensing

Shortly after Gil Amelio was appointed CEO of Apple in February 1996, Motorola Computer Group acquired a license for Mac OS 7.5 to ship with its own computer systems that it plan to release in China later that year. The license also allowed Motorola to sub-license

Mac OS Two major famlies of Mac operating systems were developed by Apple Inc. In 1984, Apple debuted the operating system that is now known as the "Classic" Mac OS with its release of the original Macintosh System Software. The system, rebranded "M ...

to its customers along with motherboards it would sell as

OEM An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...

. Ultimately Apple terminated the license in 1997. Reportedly, a heated telephone conversation between Jobs and Motorola CEO Christopher Galvin resulted in the contentious termination of Motorola's clone contract, and the long-favored Apple being demoted to "just another customer" mainly for PowerPC CPUs. Apple later expelled Motorola from the AIM alliance as retaliation, leaving IBM to make all future PowerPC CPUs.

Product line

The StarMax was sold in four different product lines. In addition, the StarMax 6000, based on the

PowerPC 750 The PowerPC 7xx is a family of third generation 32-bit PowerPC microprocessors designed and manufactured by IBM and Motorola (spun off as Freescale Semiconductor bought by NXP Semiconductors). This family is called the PowerPC G3 by its well-kno ...

processor was announced, but never shipped due to the termination of the Macintosh clone program. The StarMax 6000 would have been the first CHRP machine and the first machine with the

PowerPC G3 The PowerPC 7xx is a family of third generation 32-bit PowerPC microprocessors designed and manufactured by IBM and Motorola (spun off as Freescale Semiconductor bought by NXP Semiconductors). This family is called the PowerPC G3 by its well-kn ...

months before Apple released the

Power Macintosh G3 The Power Macintosh G3 (also sold with additional software as the Macintosh Server G3) is a series of personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from November 1997 to August 1999. It represented Apple's first step tow ...

. StarMax models numbers were derived using a standard system: (product line)/(CPU speed)(case type) *product line was 3000, 4000, 5000, or 5500 and designated the CPU used in the machine **3000 and 5000 used PowerPC 603e processors. **4000 and 5500 used

PowerPC 604e The PowerPC 600 family was the first family of PowerPC processors built. They were designed at the Somerset facility in Austin, Texas, jointly funded and staffed by engineers from IBM and Motorola as a part of the AIM alliance. Somerset was opened ...

processors. *cpu speed was the processor's

clock speed In computing, the clock rate or clock speed typically refers to the frequency at which the clock generator of a processor can generate pulses, which are used to synchronize the operations of its components, and is used as an indicator of the pro ...

, in megahertz *case type was either DT or MT and designated the type of case used **DT was a desktop case suitable for placing under a monitor **MT was a minitower case 5000 and 5500 models used an upgraded "Tanzania II" logic board featuring faster system bus speeds and improved integrated graphics based on the ATI 3D RAGE II+ chip.

References

External links

*{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961222141436/http://www.mot.com/, title=Official website of Motorola Information Systems Group, date=December 22, 1996
Motorola StarMax page
Low End Mac

(at EveryMac.com)
StarMax-talk YahooGroup
Macintosh clones

Starmax StarMax may refer to : * Motorola StarMax The Motorola StarMax was a line of licensed Macintosh clones produced by Motorola Information Systems Group in 1996 and 1997. They used versions of Apple's Tanzania motherboard, which was designed to ...

Products introduced in 1996 PowerPC computers