Macintosh Quadra 605

“One machine, four names, four feet, and no case screw — Apple's cheapest way in never had to shout.”

The Quadra 605 was Apple's least expensive new computer when it arrived in October 1993, a pizza-box machine that also moonlighted as the LC 475, Performa 475, and Performa 476. It was a shape-shifter for its era: the same computer sold to businesses, schools, and homes depending on the name on the box, with the Performa versions appearing at department stores and Circuit City while the Quadra stayed with authorized

The Quadra 605 was quietly discontinued in October 1994, but it didn't really go anywhere — the LC 475 variant continued to be sold afterward, and the Performa 475/476 kept the family going into 1996. It left behind a modest design quirk as its signature: four feet to sit flat on a desk, and famously, no case screw. For a machine sold under four different names, that's a fine way to be remembered — retired, not gone.

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