| Macintosh IIci | |
| Aka: | "Aurora II", "Pacific" |
| Family: | Macintosh II |
| Developer: | Apple Computer, Inc. |
| Cpu: | Motorola 68030 |
| Cpuspeed: | 25 MHz |
| Os: | System 6.0.4 - Mac OS 7.6.1 |
| Ram: | 1 MB or 4 MB, expandable to 128 MB |
| Ramtype: | 80 ns 30-pin SIMM |
| Dimensions: | Height: Width: Depth: |
| Predecessor: | Macintosh IIcx |
| Successor: | Macintosh Quadra 700 Macintosh Centris 650 Macintosh Quadra 800 |
| Related: | Macintosh SE/30 Macintosh Classic Macintosh Portable |
The Macintosh IIci is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from September 1989 to February 1993. It is a more powerful version of the Macintosh IIcx, released earlier that year, and shares the same compact case design. With three NuBus expansion slots and a Processor Direct Slot, the IIci also improved upon the IIcx's 16 MHz Motorola 68030 CPU and 68882 FPU, replacing them with 25 MHz versions of these chips.
The Macintosh Quadra 700 was introduced at the end of 1991 as Apple's mainstream workstation product to replace the IIci, albeit at a significantly higher price point: by this time, Apple authorized resellers were offering entry-level IIci systems for US$4,000 or less, whereas the Quadra 700 entered the market above US$6,000. Because of this, Apple continued to sell the IIci until early 1993 when the less expensive Quadra 650 and comparably priced Quadra 800 were introduced.
The IIci introduced several technical and architectural enhancements, some of which were important in preparing for System 7 (which was then called the Blue project) and would influence future Macintoshes, though some of them came at the cost of compatibility:
The IIci was one of the most popular and longest-lived Macintosh models of the 20th century. For much of its lifespan, it was the business "workhorse" of the Macintosh line.[2] For a short time in 1989, before the introduction of the 40 MHz Macintosh IIfx, the IIci was the fastest Mac available.
The IIci came with either a 40- or an 80-megabyte hard disk.
Possible upgrades include the 40 or 50 MHz DayStar PowerCache 68030, a 33 or 40 MHz DayStar Turbo 040, and the DayStar Turbo 601 PowerPC Upgrade running at either 66 MHz or 100 MHz. DayStar Digital, which was bought by XLR8, still holds the Daystar product logo and name for its line of products. 68030 and 68040 upgrades were also made by Sonnet, Diimo and other companies. The MicroMac DiiMO 030 accelerator was a 50MHz 68030 CPU with optional 68882 FPU, in a form factor which plugged directly into the IIci processor direct slot.
When the Quadra 700 was released in 1991, a logic board upgrade was made available for the IIci to upgrade it to the performance level of the Quadra.
An easter egg exists in the IIci ROM. If the system date is set to September 20, 1989 (the machine's release date) and the keys are held during boot time, an image of the development team will be displayed.[3]
The signatures of the product design team can be seen in the molded plastic of the case if one removes the motherboard.