Macintosh Quadra 800
A compact Quadra tower that outran the pricier 950.
Overview
The Quadra 800 was Apple's mid-tower for power users. It used a 33 MHz 68040 and a memory system that interleaved 70 ns RAM, together with improved video and SCSI, so it outperformed the older and costlier Quadra 950 in many tests.
The case held four drive bays and a few expansion options, offering a convenient middle path between the compact Quadra 700 and the huge 900 and 950 towers. Hard disks of 230 and 500 MB were common, and RAM could reach 136 MB.
Its case was reused for the AV-capable Quadra 840AV and later became the home of the first Power Macintosh 8100.
Why it mattered
It proved a smaller, cheaper tower could beat the big flagship, and its case lived on in the Power Macintosh 8100.
At a glance
- Announced
- February 1, 1993
- Released
- February 1, 1993
- Launch price
- Not available
- Chip / processor
- Motorola 68040, 33 MHz
- Storage
- 230 or 500 MB hard disk
- Status
- Vintage
Highlights
- 33 MHz Motorola 68040
- Fast interleaved memory system
- Mid-tower with four drive bays
- Case reused for the Power Macintosh 8100
Tech specs
Specifications as published at launch. Some values (like battery life) are manufacturer estimates.
Chip
- Chip
- Motorola 68040, 33 MHz
- Cache
- 68040 on-chip caches
Memory
- RAM
- 4 or 8 MB, expandable to 136 MB
- Memory type
- 70 ns interleaved SIMMs
- Storage options
- 230 or 500 MB SCSI hard disk
Expansion
- Case
- Mid-tower with four drive bays
- Drive bays
- Four
Software
- Launch OS
- System 7.1
History
- Replaced
- Macintosh Quadra 700 and Quadra 950 as the mainstream Quadra tower
- Successor
- Power Macintosh 8100 (reused the same case)
Availability
- Announced
- February 1, 1993
- Released
- February 1, 1993
Colors
- Finishes
- Platinum
