Macintosh II

Apple's first open, expandable Macintosh — launched at AppleWorld '87 on March 2, 1987. The Mac II's six NuBus slots made it the first Mac suitable for high-end creative/CAD/scientific work.

Specs

• Motorola 68020 CPU, 16 MHz
• 1 MB RAM standard (expandable to 8 MB)
• No integrated display (drove external 1-bit to 32-bit color monitors)
• Six NuBus expansion slots — display cards, accelerators, video capture, networking
• $3,898 base (without display)

Pi coverage

• 1987-04 — V09 N04 — ★★ AppleWorld '87 Special Report (Tom Warrick) — launch coverage
• Through Vol 9 — Mac II reviews + ecosystem build-up
• Sets up the Mac II family that includes Mac IIcx (Apr 1989, 1989-04 — V11 N04) + Mac IIx + Mac IIfx + Mac IIci etc.

Significance

The Mac II opened the Mac to graphics accelerators, video, networking expansion cards, and color displays. It's the architecture Apple committed to through Mac IIfx (1990) and beyond.

Connections

• Mac II Mac SE Launch
• Macintosh SE — sibling launch
• AppleWorld 87
• NuBus — the expansion bus