Collection › Power Macintosh G3

D128 · Apple Heritage Museum · Lugano

Power Macintosh G3

● Obsolete 1997 · Mac era Power Macintosh

Introduced

1997

Original price

$ 1999

Processor

PowerPC 750 (G3)

Original OS

Mac OS 8.0

1976

1984

1998

2001

2007

2020

2026

Pre-Mac

Mac era

iMac era

iPod era

iPhone era

Silicon

Processor

ProcessorPowerPC 750 (G3)

Speed233 MHz

Cores1

Architecture32-bit

Cache512k backside L2 cache (at 117 MHz)

System bus66 MHz

Memory & graphics

Standard RAM32 MB

Max RAM192 MB (Desktop, low-profile DIMMs required for more)

RAM typePC66 SDRAM

Memory slots3 SDRAM slots

GPUATI 3D Rage II+ (or Rage Pro starting May 1, 1998)

VRAM2 MB VRAM (expandable to 6 MB)

Storage

Storage4.0 GB hard drive (IDE/ATA, 5400 RPM)

InterfaceIDE/ATA (Ultra/Wide SCSI optional)

Connectivity

Ethernet10Base-T (10/100Base-T optional)

Audio inAudio input (Whisper personality card)

Audio outAudio output (Whisper personality card)

SCSISCSI

ADBApple Desktop Bus

SerialGeoPort serial

Software

Original OSMac OS 8.0

Apple statusObsolete

Power

Expansion slots3 PCI slots; 1 Personality Card slot

Identifiers

Model IDPower Mac G3 DT

Model N°M3979

Order N°M6141LL/A

Lifecycle

Introduced1997

Discontinued1998

Apple statusObsolete

History

The PowerMac G3 surpassed the 9600/300 in the title of fastest Mac on the planet by almost 10 percent (at 266MHz). The minitower G3 was one of the first Apple-branded Macs to be marketed with the PowerPC 750 (G3) processor. In March 1998, Apple added a 300 MHz option on all custom-built machines, as well as a dual-SCSI configuration, with RAID software, and an optional DVD-ROM drive. For MPEG-2 video playback, a third-party solution was required.

Trivia

• The PowerMac G3 surpassed the previous 9600/300 model by almost 10% in speed, becoming the fastest Mac in the world with its PowerPC 750 processor. • In March 1998, Apple introduced the option of a DVD-ROM drive on the PowerMac G3, a technology that was still very innovative for that period. • To view MPEG-2 format videos on the PowerMac G3, users had to resort to third-party solutions, as support was not included natively in the system.

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D128 · APPLE HERITAGE MUSEUM · LUGANO

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