[www.cultofmac.com]

October 19, 1992: Apple launches the Mac IIvx, the first Macintosh computer to ship with a metal case and, more importantly, an internal CD-ROM drive.

The last of the Macintosh II series, the Mac IIvx experiences one of the more notorious price adjustments in Apple history. Within five months of shipping, Apple slashes the computer’s launch price of $2,949 to $1,899. That’s one way to reward early adopters!

Code-named “Brazil,” the IIvx reportedly started out as a research project to see how an internal CD-ROM drive (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory) could be incorporated into a Mac. However, after Apple’s then-CEO John Sculley delivered a speech at MacWorld Tokyo describing a future Macintosh with this functionality, Apple rushed the computer into production. At the time — at least from the perspective of a younger user — the Mac IIvx seemed like an impressive machine. Particularly so if you primarily wanted a computer that could play games and utilize the other cutting-edge multimedia software of the era.

The Mac IIvx marked the beginning of Macs shipping with a built-in CD drive. That practice continued until Apple started to phase out the devices with the MacBook Air launch in January 2008. (Apple finally eliminated the CD drive from iMacs in 2012.)

The IIvx also came right around the time that QuickTime started arriving on Macs. The ability to easily play video was, again, incredibly futuristic for its day. The computer came bundled with QuickTime 1.5, a faster, more robust version of the video-decompression software. This let users watch 640-by-480 videos at 30 frames per second.

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Ways to improve web conference image and sound quality. [forums.macresource.com]

I yearned for it.

Posts like this remind me how far ahead Apple was of the rest of the industry back then...

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rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future

... and then a few months later released the Centris 650 for LE$$, murdering its sales.
Damn near a Kaypro move.

Around the same time I purchased a used SE/30 and put a Daystar Turbo 68040 card into it. AND then I got a Radius Pivot and the pivot card for the SE/30, giving me my home Mac that ran for a good 5 years. And then trolled the Sears Mac clearance sales and almost bought a IIvx. But didn't.

I really wanted the IIvx when it came out. But as belty points out, it was destroyed in value mere months later by the Centris 650 which was a great Mac.

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cbelt3
... and then a few months later released the Centris 650 for LE$$, murdering its sales.
Damn near a Kaypro move.

Around the same time I purchased a used SE/30 and put a Daystar Turbo 68040 card into it. AND then I got a Radius Pivot and the pivot card for the SE/30, giving me my home Mac that ran for a good 5 years. And then trolled the Sears Mac clearance sales and almost bought a IIvx. But didn't.

Loved it when Sears sold Macs. They didn't see them as anything special. Just units. So the clearance values were off the charts. My first "Cobalt Blue" iBook was so cheap, that I bought another one for my girl one for her birthday.

Yeah, the office I worked for picked up 3x PowerMac 6500/250s for a song on a Sears clearance, those were nice machines until the cooling fans started groaning a few years later, a known issue on those models...

Oh, the CD caddies.

I believe I had a Performa 600. About the same as the IIvx. It replaced my trusty Mac II that I upgraded with a Daystar accelerator and a full page Radius b&w monitor.

JPK

Quote
Z
Oh, the CD caddies.

OH YEAH!

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Ways to improve web conference image and sound quality. [forums.macresource.com]

Never saw a DAT tape inside a Mac like they suggest could be done. Anyone else?