Vintage Mac Archive

Explore our collection of Vintage Macs on display in our Waiting Room. Discover fascinating details and facts about each classic model below! Each Mac represents a significant piece of computing history, showcasing the evolution of technology and design.

PowerBook 100

Release Date: 21st October 1991

Retail Price: £2,300 (£5,128.53 in 2024)

The PowerBook 100 was best known for its innovation and portability.

It uses a built-in trackball, which was a novel design choice and set the standard for future laptop designs.

The PowerBook 100 had a 2 to 3-hour battery life, which was impressive for the time and ran on Macintosh System 7.

The PowerBook 100 was co-developed with Sony allowing Apple to achieve the compact and lightweight design. This collaboration was crucial in creating a powerful and portable laptop for its time.

PowerBook 145

Release Date: August 1992

Retail Price: £2,150 (£4,599.41 in 2024)

The PowerBook 145 continued the trend of portable and powerful computing and offered improved performance and features.

It was equipped with a 25MHz Motorola 68030 processor which provided a significant performance boost. It also featured a 9″ monochrome backlit LCD screen with a 640×400 pixel resolution. This was a clear and crisp display for its time.

The PowerBook 145 had a socketed ROM, which made it possible for users to upgrade the ROM chip. This was an unusual feature for laptops at the time, as it provided a degree of future-proofing and customization.

PowerBook 1400cs

Release Date: 28th October 1996

Retail Price: £2,500 (£4,865.01 in 2024)

The PowerBook 1400cs was praised for its performance and expandability options, making it a popular choice among professionals and students.

It was powered by a 117MHz or 133MHz PowerPC 603e processor and allowed for up to 64MB of RAM, allowing for enhanced performance.

The PowerBook 1400cs was notable for its customizable “BookCover” panels, which allowed users to personalise their laptop by inserting custom covers under the clear plastic lid.

It was one of the first laptops to offer a built-in CD-ROM drive, allowing users to easily install software and giving them access to multimedia content without having an external drive.

Macintosh 128K

Release Date: 24th January 1984

Retail Price: £2,495 (£7,878.40 in 2024)

The Macintosh 128K is remembered as a groundbreaking computer that shaped the future of personal computing with its innovative design, user-friendly interface, and powerful capabilities for its time.

It was one of the first PCs to feature an all-in-one design that integrated the monitor and computer into a single compact unit.

The Macintosh 128K was bundled with innovative software including MacPaint and MacWrite which showcased the capabilities of the customer user interface.

The Macintosh 128K gets its name from the 128KB of RAM, which it has. While modest by today’s standards, this was a significant amount for a PC in 1984.

Macintosh SE

Release Date: 2nd March 1987

Retail Price: £3,900 (£10,937.15 in 2024)

The Macintosh SE was a popular and versatile computer in its time, known for its expandability and reliable performance. It offered many features that appealed to both personal and professional users.

It has a compact all-in-one design similar to earlier models but includes several significant enhancements.

One of these enhancements was the inclusion of an internal expansion slot. This allowed for greater flexibility and upgradability. It also included an SCSI port, which allowed for the connection of external devices like printers and scanners.

“SE” stands for “System Expansion” which highlights the expansion slot feature. This was a huge selling point of the Macintosh SE as it allowed users to customize and expand its capabilities.

Macintosh Classic II

Release Date: 21st October 1991

Retail Price: £1,900 (£4,236.61 in 2024)

The Macintosh Classic II is remembered as a cost-effective and reliable machine. It played an important role in making Macintosh computers more accessible to a broader audience.

It was powered by a 16MHz Motorola 68030 processor and up to 10MB of RAM. This provided a significant performance boost and the ability to run more demanding applications.

It featured a 9″ monochrome display with a 512×342 pixel resolution and ran on System 7, which offered a more modern and user-friendly interface.

The Macintosh Classic II was very popular in the education market. Its relatively low cost, ease of use, and reliability made it a great option for educational institutions helping to introduce a generation of students to Apple Computers.

iMac G3

Release Date: 15th August 1998

Retail Price: £1,299 (£2,444.49 in 2024)

The iMac G3 is credited with helping to turn around Apple’s fortunes in the late 1990s. Its bold design, ease of use and internet-ready features made it a landmark in the history of PCs.

Its unique and eye-catching design was available in a variety of colours, which became iconic.

It was one of the first computers to exclusively feature USB ports, eliminating older legacy ports like serial and ADB ports. This move helped popularise USB as a standard for peripherals.

The iMac G3 was launched with the iconic “Hello (again)” ad campaign referencing the original Macintosh’s “Hello” greeting. The campaign emphasized the Mac’s user-friendly design and internet capabilities helping to attract a new generation of users.

iMac G4

Release Date: 7th January 2002

Retail Price: £1,299 (£2,334.82 in 2024)

The iMac G4 is remembered for its innovative and stylish design, which combined functionality with aesthetic appeal. It continued Apple’s tradition of creating visually striking and user-friendly computers.

The iMac G4 featured a groundbreaking design with a hemispherical base and a flat-panel LCD display mounted on an adjustable arm. This design allowed for easy adjustment of the screen’s position and provided a sleek, modern look.

It was powered by a PowerPC G4 processor, starting at 700 MHz and going up to 1.25 GHz in later models. The iMac G4 shipped with Mac OS X, which provided a modern operating system.

Because of its distinctive design with the hemispherical base and adjustable arm, the iMac G4 was often affectionately referred to as the “iLamp”.

QuickTake 150

Release Date: 1995

Retail Price: £700 (£1,395.24 in 2024)

The Apple QuickTake 150 is remembered as an early and important step in the evolution of digital photography. It helped to introduce the concept of digital cameras to a broader audience.

The QuickTake 150 was one of the first consumer digital cameras building on the success of its predecessor.

The camera could store up to 16 photos at its highest resolution of 640×480 using the built-in 1MB flash memory.

It featured an LCD screen that displayed essential information about the camera like the number of photos taken and battery status.

The QuickTake 150 was used by NASA astronauts on the space shuttle missions in the mid-1990s. Its compact design and digital functionality made it suitable for capturing images in the challenging environment of space.

Vintage Mac Archive