The Macintosh Quadra 650, originally sold as the Macintosh Centris 650, is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from February 1993 to September 1994. The Centris 650 was introduced alongside the smaller Centris 610 as the replacement for the Macintosh IIci and Quadra 700, and it was intended as the start of the new midrange Centris line of computers.[1] Later in 1993, Apple decided to follow an emerging industry trend of naming product families for their target customers – Quadra for business, LC for education, and Performa for home – and folded the Centris 650 into the Quadra family.[2]

Centris 650 / Quadra 650
DeveloperApple Computer
Product familyCentris, Quadra
Release dateFebruary 10, 1993 (1993-02-10)
Introductory priceUS$2,699 (equivalent to $5,693 in 2023)
DiscontinuedSeptember 12, 1994 (1994-09-12)
Operating systemSystem 7.1 to OS 8.1 or with PowerPC Upgrade OS 9.1, A/UX
CPUMotorola 68LC040 or 68040 @ 25 or 33 MHz
Memory4 or 8 MB onboard, expandable to 132 or 136 MB (80 ns 72-pin SIMM)
DimensionsHeight: 6 inches (15 cm)
Width: 13 inches (33 cm)
Depth: 16.5 inches (42 cm)
Mass25 pounds (11 kg)
PredecessorMacintosh IIci
Macintosh Quadra 700
SuccessorPower Macintosh 7100
Power Macintosh 8100
RelatedMacintosh Quadra 610

The Quadra 650 was discontinued without a direct replacement in September 1994, although the recently introduced Power Macintosh 7100, which has the same IIvx form factor as the 650, had a similar target audience and was sold in the same price range.

Models

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Rear view of a Macintosh Quadra 650

There are two versions of the Centris 650: One with 4 MB of RAM soldered to the logic board and an FPU-less Motorola 68LC040 CPU, and one with 8 MB of logic board RAM, a full Motorola 68040, and an onboard AAUI port for Ethernet. Each can be configured with an 80 MB, 230 MB, or 500 MB 3.5-inch hard drive. Standard equipment on all Centris 650 models includes onboard video (with VGA support via an adapter), 3 NuBus slots, a Processor Direct Slot, two ADB and two serial ports, an external SCSI connector, and a 5.25-inch drive bay. There are four SIMM slots that support 4, 8, 16, and 32 MB SIMMs, allowing for a maximum of 132 or 136 MB of RAM depending on the amount of soldered memory. System 7.1 was included as standard and is the minimum required version.[3]

The higher-end model also came with 1MB VRAM installed, enabling 16-bit color at 640x480 resolution.[3] The availability of 16-bit color was significant, as it was the standard bit depth of Apple's then-new QuickTime video standard.[citation needed]

As a way to promote the use of multimedia, Apple also sold a Centris 650 "CD-ROM bundle", which had 8 MB of RAM and 1 MB of video RAM, and included a microphone, an AppleCD 300i CD-ROM drive, and a System 7 install CD.[3]

Introduced February 10, 1993:

  • Macintosh Centris 650:[4] Sold in five configurations:[1]
    • 25 MHz 68LC040, 4 MB RAM (on board), 512 KB VRAM, 80 MB HDD, no Ethernet
    • 25 MHz 68040, 8 MB RAM (on board), 512 KB VRAM, 80 MB HDD, Ethernet
    • 25 MHz 68040, 8 MB RAM (on board), 512 KB VRAM, 230 MB HDD, Ethernet
    • 25 MHz 68040, 8 MB RAM (on board), 1 MB VRAM, 230 MB HDD, Ethernet, AppleCD 300i and microphone
    • 25 MHz 68040, 24 MB RAM (including 8 MB on board), 1 MB VRAM, 500 MB HDD, Ethernet

Introduced October 21, 1993:

  • Macintosh Quadra 650:[5] 33 MHz 68040.

Timeline

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Timeline of Macintosh Centris, LC, Performa, and Quadra models, colored by CPU type
Macintosh Performa 6214Macintosh Performa 6210Macintosh Performa 6205Macintosh Performa 6230Macintosh Performa 6220Macintosh Quadra 840AVMacintosh Quadra 650Macintosh Quadra 610Macintosh Quadra 605Macintosh Quadra 660AVMacintosh Quadra 800Macintosh Centris 650Macintosh Centris 610Macintosh Quadra 950Macintosh Quadra 630Macintosh Quadra 900Macintosh Quadra 700Macintosh Performa 6420Macintosh Performa 6410Macintosh Performa 5440Macintosh Performa 5430Macintosh Performa 5260Macintosh Performa 6360Macintosh Performa 5260Macintosh Performa 6400Macintosh Performa 6400Macintosh Performa 5400Macintosh Performa 5400Macintosh Performa 6260Macintosh Performa 5400Macintosh Performa 5420Macintosh Performa 5410Macintosh Performa 5270Macintosh Performa 5260Macintosh Performa 6320Macintosh Performa 6310Macintosh Performa 6300Macintosh Performa 6290Macintosh Performa 5320Macintosh Performa 5300Macintosh Performa 6218Macintosh Performa 6216Macintosh Performa 6200Macintosh Performa 6116Macintosh Performa 5220Macintosh Performa 5215Macintosh Performa 5210Macintosh Performa 5200Macintosh Performa 640CDMacintosh Performa 580CDMacintosh Performa 588CDMacintosh Performa 638Macintosh Performa 637Macintosh Performa 636Macintosh Performa 635Macintosh Performa 631Macintosh Performa 630Macintosh Performa 578Macintosh Performa 577Macintosh Performa 575Macintosh Performa 476Macintosh Performa 475Macintosh Performa 560Macintosh Performa 550Macintosh Performa 275Macintosh Performa 6118Macintosh Performa 6117Macintosh Performa 6115Macintosh Performa 6112Macintosh Performa 6110Macintosh Performa 467Macintosh Performa 466Macintosh Performa 460Macintosh Performa 410Macintosh Performa 520Macintosh Performa 450Macintosh Performa 430Macintosh Performa 405Macintosh Performa 250Macintosh Performa 600Macintosh Performa 400Macintosh Performa 200Power Macintosh 5300 LCMacintosh LC 575Macintosh TVMacintosh LC IIIMacintosh LC 550Macintosh LC 580Macintosh LC 520Macintosh LC 630Macintosh LC 475Power Macintosh 5200 LCMacintosh LC IIIMacintosh LC IIMacintosh LC

References

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  1. ^ a b Gruman, Galen (April 1993). "Centris 610 & 650 - Two new midrange performers replace the venerable Mac II line". Macworld. Vol. 10, no. 4. pp. 106–113.
  2. ^ Sieter, Charles (December 1993). "New 040 Macs - We sort out the complex new lineup". Macworld. Vol. 10, no. 12. pp. 92–98.
  3. ^ a b c Pogue, David; Schorr, Joseph (1999). "Chapter 12: From 128K to Quadra: Mac to Mac". MacWorld Mac Secrets, 5th Edition. IDG Books. pp. 481-482. ISBN 0-7645-4040-8.
  4. ^ "Centris 650: Technical Specifications". Apple.
  5. ^ "Macintosh Quadra 650: Technical Specifications". Apple.
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