Macintosh LC 550
From 68kMLA Wiki
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| Macintosh LC 550 Performa 550, 560 |
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| CPU: | 33 MHz Motorola MC68030 |
| RAM Type: | 72-pin SIMM |
| Maximum RAM: | 36 MiB |
| Expansion slots: | Enhanced LC-PDS |
| Supported OS: | System 7.1 - Mac OS 7.6.1 |
| Introduced: | October 18 1993 |
| Discontinued: | March 23 1995 |
| MSRP: | $1200 (US) |
| Full Specifications | |
Replacement to the LC 520, the LC 550 may have been faster but it certainly didn't win any awards for innovation.
History
Apple's decision to launch a new all-in-one (AIO) machine in the guise of the LC 520 had been commendable; especially as they acknowledged the passing of time – unlike the, quite frankly, lamentable Mac Classic – but a lot of the machine had been 'recycled'. From a technical perspective, the 520 had been an LC III with a 14" colour monitor bolted on the top and a CD-ROM drive sandwiched in between. The new LC 550 simply had to be better...didn't it?
From a purely specification perspective, the only change that the new machine offered over the old one was speed; 33 MHz instead of 25 MHz. Elsewhere the two machines were identical: same memory, same processor, same hard drive, same display, &c. This wasn't brilliant but even this minor change was done in a cost-cutting way as, rather than modify the existing motherboard (which had already been recycled from the LC III), the 550 ditched it altogether and simply used the motherboard from the Colour Classic II. (N.B. As the Colour Classic II is considered to be 'ultra-rare' in collectors' circles, a 550 is a great motherboard source for anyone looking to upgrade their Colour Classic).
In technical terms the 550 was hardly a massive leap forward but where it did score highly was price: a machine with 8 MHz more speed...for $800 less. Now that was something that buyers sat up and took notice of.
Full Specifications
- General
- CPU: 33 MHz Motorola MC68030
- ROM: 1 MiB
- Bus Speed: 33 MHz
- Data Path: 32-bit
- RAM Type: 72-pin SIMM (80 ns)
- Standard RAM: 5 MiB
- RAM Onboard: 4 MiB
- RAM Slots: 1
- Maximum RAM: 36 MiB
- Cache: ½ KiB (L1)
- I/O & Expansion
- ADB: 1
- Serial: 2
- SCSI: 1 (DB-25)
- Audio In: Mini-jack
- Audio Out: 8-bit 22 KHz stereo (mini-jack)
- Built-in Speaker: Stereo
- PDS Slot Type: Enhanced LC
- Storage
- Hard Drive: 80 MiB - 160 MiB
- Hard Drive Type: SCSI
- Floppy Drive: One 1.44 MiB SuperDrive
- Optical Drive: 1
- Optical Drive Type: CD-ROM (2x speed SCSI)
- Video
- Built-in Display: 14" Colour CRT
- Max Resolution: 640×480 (8-bit)
- Standard VRAM: 512 KiB
- VRAM Onboard: 512 KiB
- VRAM Slots: 1
- Maximum VRAM: 768 KiB
- Miscellaneous
- Codename: Hook 33
- Gestalt ID: 80
- PRAM Battery: 3.6V Half-AA
- Case Style: LC 520
- Dimensions: 13.5" x 16.5" x 17.9" (W x D x H)
- Weight: 40.5 lbs.
- Mac OS Support: System 7.1 - Mac OS 7.6.1
- System Enabler: System Enabler 065
- Introduced: October 18 1993
- Introduced: March 23 1995
- MSRP: $1200 (US)
