Macintosh IIx

The Macintosh IIx was the first Macintosh to ship with a Motorola 68030 processor. The IIx was introduced in September 1988 and discontinued in October 1990. The IIx is not a 32-bit clean Macintosh.

• Full 32-bit 68030 microprocessor with built-in Paged Memory Management Unit (PMMU)
• 68882 floating-point coprocessor
• Six NuBus expansion slots

General Information

Introduced in September 1988, the Mac IIx was essentially the same as a Mac II, but had a Motorola 68030 processor with a Motorola 68882 FPU (it was the first Mac with either). The IIx sold for $7,769. The IIx was discontinued in October 1990.

Codename: Spock, Stratos. The IIx originally shipped with system software 6.0.1.

CPU

Motorola 68030 processor clocked at 16MHz. The IIx also featured a 68882 math co-processor.

• Separate instruction and data caches provide significantly faster processing.
• Built-in PMMU supports virtual, shared, and protected memory in operating systems that have been designed for it (such as Apple's A/UX).

Expansion

Six NuBus expansion slots. NuBus provides a multiplexed 32-bit address bus and data bus on a single 96-pin connector. NuBus is self-configuring: Cards can be plugged into any slot and the system will automatically identify and configure each card, without any DIP switches or jumper wires. The NuBus architecture supports data transfer rates of up to 37.5 megabytes per second.

Overview

The Macintosh IIx is ideal for people who require maximum expandability, disk storage capacity, and the flexibility of a modular Macintosh personal computer system. The performance of the Macin­tosh IIx results primarily from its advanced 68030 microprocessor. And to accelerate the processing of complex math functions, the Macintosh IIx comes standard with a 68882 coprocessor.

To meet the demands of the growing number of powerful Macintosh applications available today, the memory of the Macin­tosh IIx can be expanded incre­mentally to 8 megabytes of RAM. And virtually any type of Macin­tosh IIx configuration can be created, because the system in­cludes six internal NuBus expansion slots to add cards (such as additional network interfaces), as well as six exter­nal ports to accommodate periph­erals (such as hard disks and printers) and LocalTalk network connections.

The Macintosh IIx also offers advanced color and gray-scale graphics capabilities, and can be used with a wide range of monitors. For floppy disk storage, the Macintosh IIx uses the unique 1.4-megabyte Apple FDHD SuperDrive, which allows it to read from and write to not only 3.5-inch Macintosh floppy disks, but also the 3.5-inch disks used in many other types of personal computers. An internal Apple hard disk-with up to 160 mega­bytes of capacity-can also be installed, as well as a second SuperDrive. The Macintosh IIx is compatible with virtually all Macintosh applications, and comes standard with Apple's MultiFinder operat­ing system and HyperCard, a tool for custom software solutions.

Schematics

Documentation

• Macintosh II/IIx/IIfx Service Source

Gallery

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See Also

• Apple Computer

The Macintosh II Series from Apple Computer

Macintosh II -- Macintosh IIx -- Macintosh IIcx -- Macintosh IIci -- Macintosh IIsi -- Macintosh IIvx -- Macintosh IIvi -- Macintosh IIfx

Paged Memory Management Unit