Doug Brown has dug up something previously lost to time. In working with an early Performa, he discovered a true gem on its hard drive:
This Performa 410 was a store demo unit! This is the kiosk software that would have been running on a demo Mac inside a store like Sears or Circuit City. The machine was never wiped back to factory state before being sold, and the original owner kept the demo software the entire time they had the machine. Such a cool find!
When I started this project, my goal was to untangle the messiest of all Mac product lines. In my initial blog post I wrote:
At its heart, the Performa line is the fruit of badge engineering. This is often found in the car market, perhaps most famously in the Chrysler K-car platform that debuted in 1981. Over 14 years, Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth shipped a dizzying array of front-wheel drive cars, all based on the same platform. Features, options, and prices ranged between them, but under the covers, these were all the same car, more or less.
We’ve done it; we have come to the final three Performas. It’s taken 11,000 words to get here, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
In a world of weird 1990s Macs, the 6400 may take the prize for the most awkward. Here it is, in Power Macintosh form, in an official Apple photo:
Launched in August 1996, this is the first (and only) Performa to use the traditional vertical tower case, and as you can see, it was quite the case.
In the spring of 1996, Apple updated its all-in-one Performa across two collections of models: the 5200 and 5400.
Thankfully, not all of them were beige…
In 1996, the Performa 5200 line was updated with three new models:
| Model | CPU | Memory | HDD Size | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5260CD | 100 MHz PowerPC 603e | 8 or 16 MB | 800 MB | $1,699 |
| 5260/120 | 120 MHz PowerPC 603e | 8 or 16 MB | 1.2 GB | $1,499 |
| 5270CD | 100 MHz PowerPC 603e | 8 MB | 1.2 GB | Unknown |
The 5260/100 came out in the fall of 1996, following the 5260CD and 5270CD, which both shipped in April of that year. All three of these systems shipped with a 14-inch CRT, running at 640 x 480 resolution, despite earlier Performas in the same enclosure using a 15-inch CRT capable of running at 832 x 624.
By the fall of 1995, the final pre-PowerPC Performas were still available for purchase by those looking to potentially procure a personal computer. Despite 68K-based Performas being on the market until 1996, Apple was already moving on, and now so must we.
These machines were an update to the 5200 all-in-one that debuted in the summer of 1995. The 5200 Series would remain on sale even after the 5300 models were announced, in true 90s Apple fashion.
This 28-minute video about a family buying a Performa is amazing in every single way. Cancel your plans this evening and enjoy.
For bonus points, check out the Australian version.
Starting in November 1994, Apple transitioned the Performa line to use the PowerPC processor. This took some time and started some eight months after the first Power Macintosh models were announced, but as covered at great length in this series, Performas were all rebadged Macs from other lines, so it was inevitable that they’d get the PowerPC treatment at some point.
With that said, let’s walk through this processor transition through the lens of a bunch of beige Macs. If you want to learn more about why Apple moved to PowerPC, I recommend this excellent article on the subject.
In August of 1994, Apple was on the cusp of shipping the first PowerPC Performas. That’s a topic for a future blog post, but just because the 68K machines were getting old doesn’t mean Apple was giving up on them.
Robin Meyerowitz wrote this for MacWEEK at the time:
Breaking from a 2-year-old strategy that limited Performas to major retailers, Apple USA last week said it is expanding distribution of its consumer Mac line to authorized Apple resellers, smaller retail outlets and computer superstores.
As a quick recap, the 600 launched at the top of the Performa range in 1992, as a remix of the Macintosh IIvx. The 200 and 400 both saw updates in 1993, but even after the 500 series was introduced, the 600 remained untouched. That changed in July 1994, when Apple took what had been just two SKUs — the 600 and 600CD — and exploded them into a range of machines:
Each of these machines was based on the Quadra 630, which was the last of its line. It used a new case design that was also used on the Power Macintosh 6200, among other machines. It featured the CD-ROM on the left, next to the floppy disk, which was now at the center of the case. To its right was a stack comprised of an infrared port, volume buttons, and a headphone jack. Its code name was “Show & Tell.”
In February 1994, Apple released three new Performa models. Dubbed the Macintosh Performa 575, 577, and 578, these machines were essentially a Quadra 605 in the all-in-one Performa/LC 520 case, bringing the 68LC040 CPU to the all-in-one Performa for the first time.
Here is how the three models compared in some key metrics:
| Model | Memory | HDD Size | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 575 | 5 MB | 250 MB | $2,099 |
| 577 | 5 MB | 250 MB | $2,199 |
| 578 | 8 MB | 320 MB | $2,299 |
Each of these models ran at 33 MHz. This was a full 32-bit design, so both the CPU and data path were 32-bit, unlike some previous machines which were slowed down by narrower buses.
Today we are talking about a very weird Performa, announced in early 1994. Dubbed the “Money Magazine Edition,” this 560 is unusual, even by Performa standards.
Looking at the specs, there’s not much to write home about here. This machine is just another 500-series Performa, powered by a 33 MHz Motorola 68030, but there’s more to this one, as reported by MacWEEK:
Apple and Money Magazine have made a bundle that pairs Mac hardware with a selection of multimedia finance-management software.
In the fall of 1993, Apple released a virtual beige avalanche of updated Performa models. Let’s jump in!
Like the 250 before it, the 275 took the shape of a compact Mac. This time around, Apple based the Performa model on the Color Classic II, as LowEndMac writes:
First available in Canada (1993), and then Asia and Europe (and never sold in the home US market), the Color Classic II (also known as the Performa 275) shares the motherboard design of the LC III. Running at a relatively fast 33 MHz, memory can be expanded as far as 36 MB.