Macintosh Color Classic

The Macintosh Color Classic (sold as the Macintosh Colour Classic in PAL regions) is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from February 1993 to May 1995 (up to January 1998 in PAL markets). It has an all-in-one design, with a small, integrated 10″ Sony Trinitron display at 512 × 384 pixel resolution. The display is capable of supporting up to thousands of colors with a video memory upgrade.

Macintosh Color Classic / Color Classic II / Performa 250 / Performa 275
A Macintosh Colour Classic running an Italian version of System 7
DeveloperApple Computer, Inc.
Product familyCompact, Performa
TypeAll-in-one
Release dateFebruary 10, 1993 (1993-02-10)
Introductory priceUS$1,400 (equivalent to $2,800 in 2022)
DiscontinuedMay 16, 1995 (1995-05-16)[1] (CC II)
November 1, 1995 (1995-11-01) (Performa 275)
Operating systemSystem 7.1–Mac OS 7.6.1
With 68040 upgrade, Mac OS 8.1, or with PowerPC upgrade, Mac OS 9.1
CPUMotorola 68030 @ 16 or 33 MHz
Memory4 MB onboard, upgradable to 10 MB; With logicboard upgrade: 64 MB, unofficially supports 128 MB of RAM (100 ns 30-pin SIMM)
Display10 inches (25 cm), 512 x 384 (switchable to 560 x 384)
DimensionsHeight: 15 inches (38 cm)
Width: 10 inches (25 cm)
Depth: 12.66 inches (32.2 cm)
Mass10.2 kilograms (22 lb)
PredecessorMacintosh Classic II
SuccessorMacintosh LC 500 series
Power Macintosh 5200 LC

The Color Classic is the final model of the original "compact" family of Macintosh computers, and was replaced by the larger-display Macintosh LC 500 series and Power Macintosh 5200 LC.

Hardware

The Color Classic has a Motorola 68030 CPU running at 16 MHz and has a logic board similar to the Macintosh LC II.[2]

Like the Macintosh SE and SE/30 before it, the Color Classic has a single expansion slot: an LC-type Processor Direct Slot (PDS), incompatible with the SE slots. This was primarily intended for the Apple IIe Card (the primary reason for the Color Classic's switchable 560 × 384 display, essentially quadruple the IIe's 280 × 192 High-Resolution graphics), which was offered with education models of the LCs. The card allowed the LCs to emulate an Apple IIe. The combination of the low-cost color Macintosh and Apple IIe compatibility was intended to encourage the education market's transition from Apple II models to Macintoshes. Other cards, such as CPU accelerators, Ethernet and video cards were also made available for the Color Classic's Processor Direct Slot.

The Color Classic shipped with the Apple Keyboard known as an Apple Keyboard II (M0487) which featured a soft power switch on the keyboard itself. The mouse supplied was the Apple Mouse known as the Apple Desktop Bus Mouse II (M2706).

A slightly updated model, the Color Classic II, featuring the Macintosh LC 550 logic board with a 33 MHz processor, was released in Japan, Canada and some international markets in 1993, sometimes as the Performa 275. Both versions of the Color Classic have 256 KB of onboard VRAM, expandable to 512 KB by plugging a 256 KB VRAM SIMM into the onboard 68-pin VRAM slot.[3]

The name "Color Classic" was not printed directly on the front panel, but on a separate plastic insert. This enabled the alternative spelling "Colour Classic" and "Colour Classic II" to be used in appropriate markets.

Upgrades

Powered by a Motorola 68030 processor, the Color Classic can only go up to Mac OS 7.6.1. However, some Color Classic users upgraded their machines with motherboards from Performa/LC 575 units ("Mystic" upgrade),[4] while others have put entire Performa/LC/Quadra 630 or successor innards into them ("Takky" upgrade).[5] Another common modification to this unit was to change the display to allow 640 × 480 resolution, which was a common requirement for many programs (especially games) to run.[6]

With the Mystic mod, the Color Classic uses the motherboard of the Macintosh LC 575 which has a Motorola 68LC040 CPU (at a speed of 33 MHz instead of 25 MHz) and is pin compatible with the Color Classic. A Color Classic with the Mystic upgrade can go up to Mac OS 8.1 (Mac OS 8.6 and newer require PowerPC processors).

With the Takky mod, the case and connector need to be modded, but doing so will allow the use of a PowerPC 601, 603, or 604 equipped motherboard. A Color Classic with the Takky upgrade can go up to Mac OS 9.1 (Mac OS 9.2 and newer require a G3 processor). On Takky Color Classics, there is a way to upgrade the processor with a G3 CPU, but it will only go up to Mac OS 9.2.2 as Mac OS X isn't officially supported.[7]

Models

Introduced February 1, 1993 (Japan only): Macintosh Performa 250

  • Macintosh Performa 250[8]

Introduced February 10, 1993 (Japan, Asia, Americas) / March 16, 1994 (PAL regions): Macintosh Color/Colour Classic

  • Macintosh Color Classic[9]

Introduced October 1, 1993 (South Korea) / September 9, 1994 (Japan): Macintosh Performa 275

  • Macintosh Performa 275[10]

Introduced October 21, 1993 (Japan, Asia, Canada)[11] / December 3, 1994 (PAL regions): Macintosh Color/Colour Classic II

  • Macintosh Color Classic II[12]

Timelines
Timeline of Compact Macintosh models
Power MacintoshMacintosh LC 520PowerBookMacintosh LCMacintosh PortableMacintosh II seriesApple IIeMacintosh Color ClassicMacintosh Classic IIMacintosh SEMacintosh SE/30Macintosh ClassicMacintosh PlusMacintosh SEMacintosh PlusMacintosh XLMacintosh SEMacintosh 512KeMacintosh 128KApple LisaMacintosh 512KMacintosh 128K
See also: List of Mac models and Compact Macintosh
Timeline of Macintosh Centris, LC, Performa, and Quadra models, colored by CPU type
Macintosh Quadra 840AVMacintosh Quadra 650Macintosh Quadra 610Macintosh Quadra 605Macintosh Quadra 660AVMacintosh Quadra 800Macintosh Centris 650Macintosh Centris 610Macintosh Quadra 950Macintosh Quadra 630Macintosh Quadra 900Macintosh Quadra 700Macintosh Performa 6420Macintosh Performa 6410Macintosh Performa 5440Macintosh Performa 5430Macintosh Performa 5280Macintosh Performa 6360Macintosh Performa 5260Macintosh Performa 6400Macintosh Performa 6400Macintosh Performa 5400Macintosh Performa 5400Macintosh Performa 6260Macintosh Performa 5400Macintosh Performa 5420Macintosh Performa 5410Macintosh Performa 5270Macintosh Performa 5260Macintosh Performa 6310Macintosh Performa 6300Macintosh Performa 6290Macintosh Performa 6200Macintosh Performa 6116Macintosh Performa 5215Macintosh Performa 5210Macintosh Performa 640CDMacintosh Performa 580CDMacintosh Performa 588CDMacintosh Performa 636Macintosh Performa 635Macintosh Performa 630Macintosh Performa 578Macintosh Performa 577Macintosh Performa 575Macintosh Performa 476Macintosh Performa 475Macintosh Performa 560Macintosh Performa 550Macintosh Performa 275Macintosh Performa 6117Macintosh Performa 467Macintosh Performa 466Macintosh Performa 460Macintosh Performa 410Macintosh Performa 520Macintosh Performa 450Macintosh Performa 430Macintosh Performa 405Macintosh Performa 250Macintosh Performa 600Macintosh Performa 400Macintosh Performa 200Power Macintosh 5300 LCMacintosh LC 575Macintosh TVMacintosh LC IIIMacintosh LC 550Macintosh LC 580Macintosh LC 520Macintosh LC 630Macintosh LC 475Power Macintosh 5200 LCMacintosh LC IIIMacintosh LC IIMacintosh LC

See also: List of Mac models

References
  1. Paul Kunkel (August 24, 2000). "A Long-Discontinued Macintosh Still Thrills Collectors to the Core - New York Times". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 4, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  2. "Mac Color Classic". Low End Mac. February 10, 1993. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  3. "Macintosh Color Classic II / Performa 275" (PDF). Apple Service Source. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  4. ""Mystic" Upgrade Questions". Archived from the original on November 17, 2001. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  5. ""Takky" Upgrade Questions". Archived from the original on August 14, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  6. ""640x480" Screen Resolution Upgrade". Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  7. ""G3" CPU Upgrade". Archived from the original on February 28, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  8. "Macintosh Performa 250:Technical Specifications". Apple. Archived from the original on September 15, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  9. "Macintosh Color Classic: Technical Specifications". Apple. Archived from the original on August 6, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  10. "Macintosh Performa 275:Technical Specifications". Apple. Archived from the original on January 4, 2009. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  11. "Mac Colour Classic II (Performa 275) | Low End Mac". Archived from the original on October 9, 2008. Retrieved October 20, 2008.
  12. "Macintosh Color Classic II: Technical Specifications". Apple. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
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