???? – 1994retired
Macintosh LC 500 series
“It bulged so your classroom didn't have to.”
“Half the price of its big brother, somehow faster. Classic overachiever move.”
The Macintosh Quadra 800 arrived in February 1993 as the first genuinely new Quadra in two years, priced at half the flagship Quadra 950 yet somehow outperforming it thanks to interleaved RAM, an enhanced video system, and a better SCSI bus. It also humbled the newer Quadra 650 and 630, despite sharing the same Motorola 68040 running at 33 MHz. Small wonder it also moonlighted, bundled with server software, as the Ap
Later that year it gained a multimedia sibling, the Quadra 840AV, which borrowed the same chassis, power supply, and storage assemblies. By 1994 the Quadra 800 was discontinued, stepping aside after just a year and a half of quietly beating machines that cost more. It left behind a tower design its siblings were proud to share.
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“It bulged so your classroom didn't have to.”
“Twice the speed, $700 less — it left before the students even noticed.”
“One machine, four names, four feet, and no case screw — Apple's cheapest way in never had to shout.”