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March 23, 1992: The “headless” Macintosh LC II arrives, wooing value-oriented prospects with a beguiling mixture of up to date internals and finances pricing.
Designed to take up minimal house beneath a monitor (offered individually), the Mac LC II is destined to change into a success. Looking back, the entry-level machine is roughly analogous to immediately’s Mac mini.
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Macintosh LC II: A finances Mac
The Mac LC II wasn’t Apple’s first “pizza field” laptop to come back with no monitor. It seemed very similar to its predecessor, the first-gen Mac LC (for “Low Value”), which Apple launched in October 1990 (and discontinued the identical day the LC II got here on the scene).
The unique LC was a closely crippled laptop that used the previous Motorola 68020 chip that Apple retired with the Mac II. Nevertheless, the LC offered 500,000 items inside its first yr, which made it a large success.
A sequel to the Mac LC
The Macintosh LC II measured about 3 inches excessive.
Photograph: Jonathan Zufi
The LC II served as a worthy sequel. It didn’t change a lot when it comes to the system, which was clearly working. Nevertheless it packed extra energy — and got here with a lower cost tag. At a time when Macs had been, adjusted for inflation, much more costly than immediately, the LC II value simply $1,699 for a base mannequin with 4MB of RAM and a 40MB exhausting drive. Nonetheless, that’s $3,779 in 2024 {dollars}.
This was $800 cheaper than its predecessor, though with each fashions you needed to shell out additional for a monitor. (A more-expensive model with an 80MB exhausting drive ran $1,849.)
Mac LC II and System 7
The Mac LC II boasted all the usual Apple ports you’d anticipate.
Photograph: Jonathan Zufi
As an alternative of the 16-MHz 68020 CPU of the unique, the LC II boasted a Motorola 68030 CPU. This supplied an on-board reminiscence administration unit, 256K knowledge cache and 32-bit knowledge path.
The low-cost machine (comparatively talking) let customers faucet into the digital reminiscence of Mac’s System 7 working system. Apple thought of {that a} large benefit on the time — and an vital promoting level.
Regardless of these enhancements, many velocity checks discovered that the LC II ran a bit slower than its predecessor.
One other ‘headless’ hit for Apple
Nonetheless, the pc received reviewers’ suggestions. The LC II wasn’t a pc you’d purchase when you had been in search of a top-of-the-range Macintosh with each characteristic beneath the solar. As an alternative, it supplied budget-conscious prospects an improved, entry-level machine that was extra inexpensive.
When you went to high school within the early Nineties, and used a Mac in your classroom, this might properly have been it.
Do you bear in mind the Macintosh LC II? Go away your feedback beneath.
The pictures of the Macintosh LC II had been supplied by Jonathan Zufi. His guide, Iconic: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation, is out there on Amazon.
The Mac LC II seen in profile.
Photograph: Jonathan Zufi
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