Macintosh II

Macintosh II
Alexander Schaelss · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Name	Macintosh II
Developer	Apple Computer, Inc.
Family	Macintosh
Type	Personal computer
Release	March 2, 1987
Discontinued	January 1990
Cpu	Motorola 68020 @ 16 MHz
Memory	1–8 MB
Os	System Software (Mac OS), A/UX
Predecessor	Macintosh Plus
Successor	Macintosh IIx

Macintosh II The Macintosh II was a modular desktop personal computer introduced in 1987 by Apple Computer, Inc. as a higher-end member of the Macintosh family alongside products sold through John Sculley-era marketing and distribution. It combined a new chassis and expansion architecture with the Motorola 68020 microprocessor, aiming at professional users in markets served by Adobe Systems, Aldus Corporation, and broadcasters using frame‑buffer graphics. As a departure from prior all‑in‑one designs, it influenced workstation strategies at Apple Inc. and competed with machines from IBM and Sun Microsystems in the late 1980s.

Background and development

Apple's roadmap during the mid-1980s under Steve Jobs-era alumni and Jean-Louis Gassée included a shift toward modular systems to address demands from graphics studios such as MacPaint and publishing houses using The New York Times-style typesetting workflows. Engineering at Apple’s Cupertino, California campuses adapted designs after studying expansion buses like those in IBM PC/AT and workstation designs from Apollo Computer, integrating lessons from internal projects that involved the Motorola 68000 family. Management debates involving Michael Spindler and marketing plans coordinated with partners like Aldus Corporation for PageMaker adoption, while legal and corporate strategy interacted with product positioning relative to Lisa (computer) and the Apple II line.

Design and hardware

The unit introduced a modular tower case with a horizontally oriented desktop option, an internal architecture supporting NuBus expansion slots inspired by efforts between Apple and the IEEE standards community. It used a Motorola 68020 CPU with an optional 68881 floating-point coprocessor and supported 1–8 MB of RAM via 30-pin SIMMs; the architecture enabled color graphics with a frame buffer separate from ROM-based monochrome designs which were prevalent in earlier models like those used by National Geographic photo desks. Storage options included internal hard drives and external SCSI devices interoperable with peripherals from Seagate Technology and Quantum Corporation. The motherboard featured a memory controller, video RAM slot for framebuffer cards used frequently by customers such as Microsoft and Aldus for color desktop publishing, and I/O ports compatible with AppleTalk networking hardware and Centronics printers.

Models and variations

Apple released multiple configurations during the product cycle, including the original high-end model and subsequent refreshes culminating in the Macintosh IIx and IIcx families that used updated Motorola processors like the 68030. Third‑party vendors such as Radius and SuperMac Technology produced video cards and accelerators to exploit the machine’s NuBus slots; server and graphics house deployments frequently paired the unit with accelerators from DayStar Digital and storage from Fujitsu. Educational institutions like Harvard University and design houses running Adobe Systems software often purchased bundles that combined display devices from Sony and NEC with the computer chassis.

Software and operating system support

Out of the box the machine ran Apple’s System Software (Classic Mac OS) while attracting support for UNIX-like environments via ports such as A/UX developed by Apple and collaborators from the Open Software Foundation era. Desktop publishing suites including Aldus PageMaker and Adobe Photoshop and development tools from Symantec and Metrowerks harnessed the color graphics capabilities; database and spreadsheet applications from Microsoft and Lotus Development Corporation were ported or adapted for professional customers. Networking used AppleTalk and third‑party TCP/IP stacks to integrate into campus networks at organizations such as Stanford University and NASA research centers.

Reception and impact

Contemporaneous reviews from publications and reviewers comparing the machine to workstations from Sun Microsystems and business systems from IBM praised its color graphics and expandability while critiquing price and complexity relative to earlier compact Macintosh models popular in education markets. The product found strong adoption in graphic design firms, newspaper and magazine production workflows that relied on Adobe Systems and Aldus Corporation toolchains, and among scientific visualization groups at institutions like MIT and Caltech. Its market performance influenced Apple’s channel strategies managed by executives like Jean-Louis Gassée and led to legal and competitive discussions involving Microsoft partnerships over application availability.

Legacy and influence on future Macintosh designs

The introduction of a NuBus‑based, expandable architecture informed subsequent Macintosh desktops and tower designs such as those in the IIx/IIcx line and later in the Quadra and Power Macintosh series developed under leadership that included John Sculley and later Gil Amelio. Its support for color frame buffers accelerated the migration of professional graphics workflows toward Apple platforms used by companies like Adobe Systems and broadcasters such as CBS and NBC. Third‑party ecosystems that grew around the machine—vendors like Radius, DayStar Digital, and SuperMac Technology—helped establish a market for accelerators and peripherals that persisted into the PowerPC transition era. The engineering decisions behind its modularity influenced industrial design and motherboard standards in later Apple products developed at studios including the original Apple Industrial Design Group.

Category:Apple Macintosh computers