The Evolution of Apple.

Apple Inc. will celebrate its 31'st birthday this april and Steve jobs will be a proud man to have come this far from virtually no where.Here's a look at the evolution of Apple products.A journey through time from 1976 to 2007.

The Macintosh 128K marked the beginning of a legendary company.Introduced in January 1984 at the price of $2495 US, it had a beige case and was fully self-contained. An indentation in the top of the case allowed the computer to be lifted and carried.
The Macintosh 512K Personal Computer, the second of a long line of Apple Macintosh computers, was the first update to the original Macintosh 128K. It was virtually identical to the previous Mac, differing primarily in the amount of built-in memory, which quadrupled the original's. This large increase earned it the nickname Fat Mac.

The Macintosh XL was a modified version of the Apple Lisa personal computer made by Apple Computer. In the Macintosh XL configuration, the computer shipped with MacWorks XL, a Lisa program that allowed 64K Macintosh ROM emulation. An identical machine was sold as the Lisa 2/10 with the Lisa OS only.

The Macintosh Plus computer was the third model in the Macintosh line, introduced two years after the original Macintosh and a little more than a year after the Macintosh 512K. It originally had a beige case, but in 1987, the case color was changed to the long-lived "platinum" color.

The Macintosh SE was a personal computer manufactured by Apple. This computer marked a significant improvement on the Macintosh Plus design and was introduced by Apple at the same time as the Macintosh II. It had a similar case to the original Macintosh computer, but with slight differences in colour and styling.

The Macintosh II series (or sometimes simply Mac II series) was a series of personal computers in the Apple Macintosh line.The Macintosh II models were "modular" systems which did not include built-in monitors and were intended for business use. Beginning with the Macintosh II and culminating in the Macintosh IIfx, the Mac II series was Apple Computer's high-end line from 1987 until the introduction of the Motorola 68040-based Macintosh Quadra computers in 1991.

The Macintosh Portable was Apple Computer's first attempt at making a portable Macintosh personal computer that held the power of a desktop Macintosh and included the capabilities of a professional business Macintosh such as the Macintosh IIci.

The Macintosh Classic (code-named XO and Civic) was the first Apple Macintosh personal computer introduced at a price under US$1000. Demand for another "all-in-one"/"compact" Mac, such as the popular Macintosh Plus and the SE, spurred the introduction of the Classic.

The Macintosh LC (meaning low-cost color) was Apple Computer's product family of low-end consumer Macintosh personal computers in the early 1990s. The original Macintosh LC was released in 1990, primarily for the education and home markets, and notable for being the first affordable color Macintosh to the average first-time computer buyer. Together with the Mac IIsi, it introduced built-in audio input on the Mac.

The Apple Macintosh Classic II (also known as the Performa 200) replaced the Macintosh SE/30 in the compact Macintosh line in 1991. Like the SE/30, the Classic II was powered by a 16 MHz Motorola 68030 CPU and 40 or 80 MB hard disk, but in contrast to its predecessor, it was limited by a 16-bit data bus and a 10 MiB memory ceiling.

The Macintosh Quadra series was Apple Computer's product family of professional high-end Apple Macintosh personal computers built using the Motorola 68040 CPU from 1991 until the Power Mac was introduced in 1994. The product manager for the Quadra family was Frank Casanova who was also the Product Manager for the Macintosh IIfx. The first models were the Quadra 700 and Quadra 900, both introduced in 1991.

The PowerBook is a line of Apple Mac laptop computers that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and redesigns, often being the first to incorporate features that would later become standard in competing laptops. The PowerBook line was targeted at the professional market, and received numerous awards, especially in the second half of its life, such as the 2001 Industrial Design Excellence Awards "Gold" status, and Engadget's 2005 "Laptop of the Year".

The Macintosh Performa series was Apple Computer's consumer product family of Apple Macintosh personal computers from 1992 until 1997, when the introduction of the Power Macintosh x500 ended this product line. The Performa series was not in actuality a new line of computers per se but simply renamed models from Apple's regular line of computers sold in computer stores, such as Quadra, Centris, LC, Power Mac, and so on. The series was introduced in 1992 with the Performa 200, which was essentially a renamed Macintosh Classic II.

The PowerBook Duo was a line of small subnotebooks manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from 1992 until 1997 as a more compact companion to the PowerBook line. The duo came in seven different models. They were the Duo 210, 230, 250, 270c, 280, 280c, and 2300c, with the 210 and 230 being the earliest, and 2300c being the final incarnation before the entire line was dropped in early 1997.

The Macintosh Color Classic was the first color compact Apple Macintosh computer. It was essentially a Macintosh LC II with an integrated 10" Sony Trinitron color display with 512×384 pixel resolution. This integrated unit resembled the original Mac series, albeit slightly expanded, (see Macintosh Plus for an example), hence "Classic." In Japan and some other markets - but not the US - Apple later released the Color Classic II, which doubled the RAM and speed. The Color Classic was also sold to consumers in the United States as the Performa 250, and the Color Classic II as Performa 275. The Color Classic was the final model of the original "compact" Macintosh family of computers.

The Macintosh TV was Apple Computer's first attempt at computer-television integration. It shared the external appearance of the Macintosh LC 500 series, but in black. The Macintosh TV was essentially a Performa 520 which could switch its built-in 14" Sony Trinitron CRT from being a computer display to a cable-ready television. It was incapable of showing television feeds in a desktop window, although it could capture still frames to PICT files. Ironic for a system based around television, one of the big reasons cited for its failure was its sub-par (especially for Macs) graphics performance.

Power Macintosh, later Power Mac, was a line of Apple Macintosh workstation-class personal computers based on various models of PowerPC microprocessors that was developed, marketed, and supported by Apple Inc. from March 1994 until August 2006. The first models were the Power Macintosh 6100, 7100, and 8100, which offered speeds ranging from 60 to 110 MHz. These machines replaced Apple's Quadra series of personal computers, and were housed in cases very similar to systems sold by Apple up to that point.

The PowerBook 500 series (codenamed Blackbird) was a range of Apple Macintosh PowerBook portable computers first introduced by Apple Computer with the 520 model on 16 May 1994. The 500 series was the first computer to use a trackpad instead of a trackball as a built-in pointing device.

Apple released the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (often called simply TAM) in May of 1997 to mark the 20th anniversary of Apple Computer, not the Macintosh. The system was built to look state of the art, but used common components and technologies readily available at that time, and suffered from being overpriced and under-powered.

The Power Macintosh G3, commonly called "beige G3s" or "platinum G3s" for the color of their cases, is a series of personal computers that was designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from November 1997 to January 1999. It was the first Macintosh to use the PowerPC G3 (PPC750) microprocessor, and replaced a number of earlier Power Macintosh models, in particular the 7300, 8600 and 9600 models. It was succeeded by the Power Macintosh G3 (Blue & White), which kept the name but introduced a radically different design.

The PowerBook G3 was a professional line of laptop Macintosh computers made by Apple between 1997 to 2000. It was the first laptop to use the PowerPC G3 (PPC740/750) series of microprocessors. It was succeeded by the Titanium PowerBook G4 line in 2001, which used the PowerPC G4 (PPC74xx) series of microprocessors.

imac has been a large part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its introduction in 1998 and has evolved through three distinct forms.The machine enjoys a relatively high profile in popular culture due to its distinctive aesthetics and Apple's successful marketing. The iMac and other Macintosh computers can also be seen in various movies, commercials, and TV shows (both live action and animated) due to their wide use in video editing/film production.

The iBook is a line of laptop computers that was developed and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. between 1999 and 2006. It was targeted at the consumer and education markets, with fewer features and lower prices than the PowerBook, and more recently, the MacBook Pro. The MacBook replaced the iBook line in May 2006.

Power Mac G4 Cube (sometimes erroneously referred to as the Power Macintosh G4 Cube) was a quiet, fanless, compact Macintosh personal computer from Apple Inc. It was sold from 2000 to 2001.

By 2002, the iMac G3 needed to be superseded. The iMac G3's processor and 15-inch monitor were quickly becoming outdated. In January 2002, a flat panel iMac was launched with a completely new design. A 15-inch LCD was mounted on an adjustable arm above a hemisphere containing a full-size, tray-loading optical drive and a fourth-generation CPU (the PPC 74xx-series). Apple advertised it as having the flexibility of a desk lamp, similar to "Luxo Jr.", who was featured in a short film produced by Pixar, another venture of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Indeed, it was nicknamed the "iLamp". This LCD computer was known and sold as The New iMac throughout its production life, but after it was discontinued, it was retroactively labeled iMac G4.

The eMac, short for "education Mac", was a Macintosh desktop computer made by Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.). It was originally aimed at the education market, then available as a cheaper, mass market option over Apple's second generation iMac.The eMac was discontinued by Apple as of July 5, 2006 and replaced with a cheaper, low-end iMac originally sold exclusively to educational institutions, but later released to the general public in September 2006.

Between 2001–2003, Apple produced the Titanium PowerBook G4; between 2003–2006, the Aluminum models were produced. Both models were hailed for their modern design, long battery life and processing power. When the Aluminum PowerBook G4s were first released, however, only 12 and 17 inch models were available, so the Titanium PowerBook G4 remained available until the 15" PowerBook G4 was released in September of 2003.The PowerBook G4 line was the last generation of the PowerBook, and was phased out in favor of various Intel-powered MacBook Pro models in the first half of 2006.

The Mac mini is the smallest desktop computer marketed by Apple Inc. It is designed to attract owners of Windows computers, iPods, older Macintosh models, and anyone interested in a low budget, easy-to-use personal computer.Two models of the Mac mini were released in the U.S. on January 22, 2005 (January 29 worldwide).

The Macbook-a geek's dream machine.The MacBook replaced the iBook G4 series as well as the last of the PowerBook series, the 12" PowerBook G4. The original MacBook was built around the Intel Core Duo chip. Every model has a built-in iSight webcam, and a magnetic latch mechanism. The MacBook line is the companion to the higher-end MacBook Pro line.


[Source:Wikipedia]

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