From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Centris 660AV / Quadra 660AV
A Macintosh Centris 660AV
Also known as"Tempest" [1]
Developer Apple Computer
Product family Centris, Quadra
Release dateJuly 29, 1993 (1993-07-29)
Introductory priceUS$2,300 (equivalent to $4,851 in 2023)
DiscontinuedSeptember 12, 1994 (1994-09-12)
Operating system System 7.1 – Mac OS 8.1
With PowerPC upgrade Mac OS 9.1
CPU Motorola 68040 @ 25 MHz
Memory8 MB, expandable to 68 MB (60 ns 72-pin SIMM)
Successor Macintosh Quadra 630
Power Macintosh 6100/60AV
Related Macintosh Quadra 840AV

The Macintosh Quadra 660AV, originally sold as the Macintosh Centris 660AV, is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from July 1993 to September 1994. It was introduced alongside the Quadra 840AV; the "AV" after both model numbers signifies video input and output capabilities and enhanced audio.

The 660AV was discontinued a few months after the introduction of the Power Macintosh 6100/60AV. Apple sold a Power Macintosh Upgrade Card that upgrades the 660AV to match the 6100/60AV's specifications for US$1,399. [2] This and the Quadra 630 were positioned for users who were not ready to move to PowerPC.

Hardware

The 660AV uses the pizza box form factor of the earlier Centris 610. The 660AV has a full Motorola 68040 instead of the 610's FPU-less 68LC040. [3] Like the 840AV, the 660AV features video input/output capability and an onboard AT&T 3210 digital signal processor (here clocked at 55 MHz) to make the video handling less of a burden on the CPU.

The 660AV is the first Macintosh to include GeoPort; an optional GeoPort Telecom Adapter enables fax and modem capabilities. [1]

Some of the earliest Centris 660AVs have the older auto-inject floppy drive opening similar to the 610, but most of the Centris models and all of the Quadra models have a drive similar to the Power Macintosh 6100, lacking the auto-inject feature. These models have a deep round indentation at the center of the floppy drive slot to make it possible to fully insert the disk.

The Quadra AV Macs introduced a new universal ROM (codenamed SuperMario) that would later be used in all PowerPC systems. It includes SCSI Manager 4.3 and Sound Manager 3.0. It also is "vectorized", making it easier to patch. [4]

Models

Introduced July 29, 1993:

  • Macintosh Centris 660AV [5]

Introduced October 21, 1993:

  • Macintosh Quadra 660AV [3]

Reception

Jonathan Chevreau of the National Post said on August 7, 1993, that the Quadra 840AV and Centris 660AV were the next most interesting multimedia computers behind the new SGI Indy, putting Apple among the forefront of the birth of the major industry of desktop multimedia. [6] Byte magazine said in September 1993 that Apple and Silicon Graphics were trailblazers by setting audio and video input as default features of these two Macintosh and of the Indy desktop PCs, which "could change the way businesspeople communicate". [7]

Timeline of Macintosh Centris, LC, Performa, and Quadra models, colored by CPU type
Macintosh Performa 6214 Macintosh Performa 6210 Macintosh Performa 6205 Macintosh Performa 6230 Macintosh Performa 6220 Macintosh Quadra 840AV Macintosh Quadra 650 Macintosh Quadra 610 Macintosh Quadra 605 Macintosh Quadra 660AV Macintosh Quadra 800 Macintosh Centris 650 Macintosh Centris 610 Macintosh Quadra 950 Macintosh Quadra 630 Macintosh Quadra 900 Macintosh Quadra 700 Macintosh Performa 6420 Macintosh Performa 6410 Macintosh Performa 5440 Macintosh Performa 5430 Macintosh Performa 5280 Macintosh Performa 6360 Macintosh Performa 5260 Macintosh Performa 6400 Macintosh Performa 6400 Macintosh Performa 5400 Macintosh Performa 5400 Macintosh Performa 6260 Macintosh Performa 5400 Macintosh Performa 5420 Macintosh Performa 5410 Macintosh Performa 5270 Macintosh Performa 5260 Macintosh Performa 6320 Macintosh Performa 6310 Macintosh Performa 6300 Macintosh Performa 6290 Macintosh Performa 5320 Macintosh Performa 5300 Macintosh Performa 6218 Macintosh Performa 6216 Macintosh Performa 6200 Macintosh Performa 6116 Macintosh Performa 5220 Macintosh Performa 5215 Macintosh Performa 5210 Macintosh Performa 5200 Macintosh Performa 640CD Macintosh Performa 580CD Macintosh Performa 588CD Macintosh Performa 638 Macintosh Performa 637 Macintosh Performa 636 Macintosh Performa 635 Macintosh Performa 631 Macintosh Performa 630 Macintosh Performa 578 Macintosh Performa 577 Macintosh Performa 575 Macintosh Performa 476 Macintosh Performa 475 Macintosh Performa 560 Macintosh Performa 550 Macintosh Performa 275 Macintosh Performa 6118 Macintosh Performa 6117 Macintosh Performa 6115 Macintosh Performa 6112 Macintosh Performa 6110 Macintosh Performa 467 Macintosh Performa 466 Macintosh Performa 460 Macintosh Performa 410 Macintosh Performa 520 Macintosh Performa 450 Macintosh Performa 430 Macintosh Performa 405 Macintosh Performa 250 Macintosh Performa 600 Macintosh Performa 400 Macintosh Performa 200 Power Macintosh 5300 LC Macintosh LC 575 Macintosh TV Macintosh LC III Macintosh LC 550 Macintosh LC 580 Macintosh LC 520 Macintosh LC 630 Macintosh LC 475 Power Macintosh 5200 LC Macintosh LC III Macintosh LC II Macintosh LC

See also: List of Mac models

References

  1. ^ a b Pogue, David; Schorr, Joseph (1999). "Chapter 12: From 128K to Quadra: Mac to Mac". MacWorld Mac Secrets, 5th Edition. IDG Books. pp.  485 - 486. ISBN  0-7645-4040-8.
  2. ^ Gruman, Galen (June 1994). "Power Watch - The Latest Products for the Power Macs". Macworld. Vol. 11, no. 6. p. 43.
  3. ^ a b "Macintosh Quadra 660AV: Technical Specifications". Apple. Archived from the original on August 6, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  4. ^ "Centris 660AV & Quadra 840AV: 2MB ROM Information". Apple. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  5. ^ "Macintosh Centris 660AV: Technical Specifications". Apple. Archived from the original on August 6, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  6. ^ Chevreau, Jonathan (August 7, 1993). "The multimedia frontier". National Post. Toronto. Archived from the original on November 28, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Thompson, Tom; Smith, Ben (September 1993). "Apple, SGI blaze video trail". Byte. Vol. 18, no. 10. MultiMedia Healthcare Inc. pp. 81–82. ISSN  0360-5280. ProQuest  217797442. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via ProQuest.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Macintosh Quadra.
Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Macintosh_Quadra_660AV&oldid=1178063913"