The Macintosh Quadra 900 is a

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

designed, manufactured, and sold by

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Co ...

from October 1991 to May 1992. It was introduced alongside the

Quadra 700 The Macintosh Quadra 700 is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from October 1991 to March 1993. It was introduced alongside the Quadra 900 as the first computers in the Quadra series, using the Motorola 68040 ...

as the first computers in the Quadra family of

Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

computers using the

Motorola 68040 The Motorola 68040 ("''sixty-eight-oh-forty''") is a 32-bit microprocessor in the Motorola 68000 series, released in 1990. It is the successor to the 68030 and is followed by the 68060, skipping the 68050. In keeping with general Motorola ...

processor. It is also the first computer from Apple to be housed in an 18.6 inch (47 cm) tall mid-tower form factor, which by 1991 had gained momentum with PC manufacturers as a suitable design for departmental servers. The Quadra 900 had a short lifespan; it was discontinued about six months after the first shipments in favor of the more very similar Quadra 950; the 950 has a

68040 The Motorola 68040 ("''sixty-eight-oh-forty''") is a 32-bit microprocessor in the Motorola 68000 series, released in 1990. It is the successor to the 68030 and is followed by the 68060, skipping the 68050. In keeping with general Motorola ...

and improved graphics support.

Hardware

The Quadra 900 was more expandable than the Quadra 700 but cost US$7,200. The Quadra 900 could be upgraded to 256

megabyte The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Its recommended unit symbol is MB. The unit prefix ''mega'' is a multiplier of (106) in the International System of Units (SI). Therefore, one megabyte is one million bytes ...

s of RAM, an astronomical amount for the time, when a typical midrange system would come equipped with 2–4 MB. The standard, as-shipped configuration for the 900 was 4 MB. The high RAM and storage capacity, along with the expandability of five NuBus 90 slots and fast 25 MHz processor, made it a very useful computer for scientific or design work. The mid-tower case design features a single 5.25-inch

drive bay A drive bay is a standard-sized area for adding hardware to a computer. Most drive bays are fixed to the inside of a case, but some can be removed. Over the years since the introduction of the IBM PC, it and its compatibles have had many form f ...

initially intended to hold a tape backup drive, but was often repurposed to hold a CD-ROM or SyQuest drive during the model's operational lifespan. Featuring 16 slots for 30-pin SIMMs (installed in groups of four), Quadra 900s with full complements of RAM were exceedingly rare due to the high cost (many thousands of dollars) of the SIMMs at the time. A new three-mode key-lock system on the front panel can be set to Off, On, and Secure. When set to Off, the machine can't be powered up. In Secure mode, the floppy drive and ADB port are disabled, offering a degree of local protection. System 7.0.1 was included and supports up to Mac OS 8.1. It is the earliest Macintosh model with the ability to run Mac OS 8. Apple did sell a Quadra 950 logic board upgrade for $1899 USD, and a Workgroup Server 95 upgrade for $2499. With the Power Macintosh Upgrade Card installed, the Quadra 900 runs at and its name is reported in the System Profiler as the Power Macintosh 900.

Specifications

Source: * Processor: 25 MHz

* Processor Cache: 8 KB Level 1 * Bus Speed: 25 MHz * Hard Drive: 160 or 400 MB * Media drives: 1.44 MB floppy drive with one 5.25"

SCSI Small Computer System Interface (SCSI, ) is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices, best known for its use with storage devices such as hard disk drives. SCSI was introduced ...

drive bay available * Software: Mac OS 7.0.1 - 8.1 * Logicboard RAM: None * Maximum RAM: 256 MB * Type of RAM: 30-pin SIMM (16 slots) * Minimum RAM Speed: 80 ns * Interleaving Support: No * Graphics: Integrated * Display Connection: DB-15 * Graphics Memory: 1 MB standard, upgradable to 2 MB via 4

VRAM Video random-access memory (VRAM) is dedicated computer memory used to store the pixels and other graphics data as a framebuffer to be rendered on a computer monitor. It often uses a different technology than other computer memory, in order to ...

slots * Expansion Slots: 5 - NuBus, 1 - PDS * Hard Drive Bus: SCSI * Backup Battery: 3.6 V Lithium * Max Watts: 303 W * Ports: AAUI-15 Ethernet, 1 ADB, DB-25

, 2 Serial, 3.5-mm mono input jack, 3.5-mm stereo output jack

Timeline

References

External links

Everymac.com - Macintosh Quadra 900 specifications

{{Apple hardware before 1998

900 __NOTOC__ Year 900 ( CM) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Abbasid Caliphate * Spring – Forces under the Transoxianian emir Isma'il ibn Ahmad are victorious at Balkh (Northern Afghan ...

Quadra 900 Quadra 900 Quadra 900 Quadra 900 Computer-related introductions in 1991 Products and services discontinued in 1992