- Family
- Macintosh Centris
- Architecture
- 68K
- CPU
- 20 MHz 68LC040
- Clock speed
- 20
- Introduced
- February 1993
- Discontinued
- October 1993
Creating a midpoint between the Mac II line and the Quadra series, the short-lived Centris models were introduced in February 1993. The Centris 610 introduced a new case style, one that would later be used for the Centris 660av and Power Mac 6100 . “Going along with the auto-marketing trend toward meaningless names that sound important, Apple’s new Centris line will serve as the company’s mainstream, midlevel computers.” MacUser, April 1993 (Apple names included Quadra, Performa, and Centris.) Unlike either the Mac II or previously existing Quadra models, this Mac has a power switch on the front and cannot be turned on or off using the power key on the keyboard. (Many users more familiar with DOS hardware mistook the power switch for a floppy eject button – although it didn’t take long to discover what the button really did.)
Specs (via Low End Mac)
- Cpu: 20 MHz 68LC040
- Fpu: none, 68LC040 can be replaced with 68040 CPU
- Performance: 9.7 est., relative to SE; 0.80, Speedometer 4
- Ram: 4 MB on motherboard, expandable to 68 MB using 80ns 72-pin SIMMs; motherboard has 2 SIMM slots, which can be filled independently; can use 4 MB, 8 MB, 16 MB, and 32 MB SIMMs. If SIMMs are not the same speed, faster SIMM should be in bank 0 (frontmost slot).
- Rom: 1 MB
- L2 Cache: optional, PDS
- Hard Drive: 80 or 230 MB
- Video: 512 KB VRAM, expandable to 1 MB 512 x 384 @ 16-bit 640 x 480, 800 x 600, 832 x 624: 8-bit @ 512 KB, 16-bit @ 1 MB 832 x 624, 1024 x 768, 1152 x 870: 4-bit @ 512 KB, 8-bit @ 1 MB
- Addressing: 24-bit or 32-bit
- Gestalt Id: 52
- Upgrade Path: Quadra 610 , Power Mac PDS card , Power Mac 6100 (requires some case modification)
- Adb Ports: 2
- Scsi: DB-25 connector on back of computer
- Pram Battery: 3.6V half-AA
- Weight: 14 lb.
- Din-8 Serial Ports: 2
- See: Online resources and links for the Centris 610
- Family
- Macintosh Centris
- Architecture
- 68K
- CPU
- 25 MHz 68040 or 68LC040
- Clock speed
- 25
- Introduced
- February 1993
- Discontinued
- October 1993
Creating a midpoint between the Mac II line and the Quadra series, the short-lived Centris models were introduced in February 1993. The Centris 650 uses the same chassis as the IIvx , IIvi , and Performa 600 . Some models came with a 68LC040 (no math coprocessor), only 4 MB RAM, and no ethernet. Most use the full 68040 and have ethernet, as well as 8 MB of motherboard RAM. “Going along with the auto-marketing trend toward meaningless names that sound important, Apple’s new Centris line will serve as the company’s mainstream, midlevel computers.” MacUser, April 1993 (Apple names included Quadra, Performa, and Centris.)
Specs (via Low End Mac)
- Cpu: 25 MHz 68040 or 68LC040
- Performance: 12.0, relative to SE; 0.99, Speedometer 4; 22 MIPS
- Ram: 4 MB or 8 MB on motherboard, expandable by 128 MB using four 80ns 72-pin SIMMs; motherboard had 4 SIMM slots which can be filled individually but should ideally be filled in neioghboring pairs to take advantage of interleaved memory; can use 4 MB, 8 MB, 16 MB, and 32 MB SIMMs
- Rom: 1 MB
- L2 Cache: optional, PDS
- Hard Drive: 80, 230, or 500 MB
- Video: 512 KB VRAM, expandable to 1 MB 512 x 384 @ 16-bit 640 x 480, 800 x 600, 832 x 624: 8-bit @ 512 KB, 16-bit @ 1 MB 832 x 624, 1024 x 768, 1152 x 870: 4-bit @ 512 KB, 8-bit @ 1 MB
- Addressing: 24-bit or 32-bit
- Gestalt Id: 30
- Upgrade Path: Quadra 650 , Power Mac PDS card, Power Mac 7100
- Adb Ports: 2
- Scsi: DB-25 connector on back of computer
- Pram Battery: 3.6V half-AA
- Weight: 25 lbs.
- Din-8 Serial Ports: 2
- Nubus 90 Slots: 3
- See: Online resources and links for the Centris 650
- Family
- Macintosh Centris
- Architecture
- 68K
- CPU
- 25 MHz 68040 CPU
- Clock speed
- 25
- Introduced
- July 1993
- Discontinued
- September 1994
Initially introduced as the Centris 660av (the two models are identical except for the nameplate), the Quadra 660av shares the same case design as the Centris 610 . In addition to a faster 25 MHz 68040 CPU, the 660av includes a 55 MHz AT&T digital signal processor, introduces the GeoPort high speed serial port, has a new audio-video connector on rear, and can digitize video using built-in ports. (For even more AV horsepower, look into the 40 MHz Quadra 840av .) A dead or low-voltage PRAM battery can temporarily kill off built-in video – see Macintosh Computers: Low Battery Can Cause No Video for more information.
Specs (via Low End Mac)
- Cpu: 25 MHz 68040 CPU
- Performance: 12.4, relative to SE; 0.89, Speedometer 4 see Benchmarks: 660av for more details
- Ram: 8 MB, expandable to 68 MB using 70ns 72-pin SIMMs; motherboard has 2 SIMM slots which can be filled independently. Cannot use 64 MB SIMMs
- Rom: 2 MB
- L2 Cache: optional
- Hard Drive: 230 or 500 MB
- Vram: 1 MB
- Addressing: 24-bit or 32-bit
- Gestalt Id: 53
- Upgrade Path: Power Mac 6100
- Adb: 2 ports for keyboard and mouse
- Scsi: DB-25 connector on back of computer
- Serial: 2 DIN-8 RS-422 ports on back of computer
- Pram Battery: 3.6V half-AA
- Weight: 14 lb.
- Dsp: 55 MHz 3210
- See: Online resources and links for the Centris 660av (Quadra 660av)
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