Power Macintosh 7100

Mac_specs|
1994 (66 MHz) January, 1995 (80 MHz)|MSRP=2900, 3300, 3500|CPU=PowerPC 601
CPUspeed=66 and 80 MHz|OS=System 7.1.2, Mac OS 8, Mac OS 9|RAM=8 MiB, expandable to 136 MiB|RAMtype=80 ns 72 pin SIMM|Discontinued=January 1995 (66 MHz) January, 1996 (80 MHz)

The Power Macintosh 7100 was a high-end Apple Macintosh personal computer that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from March 1994 to January 1996. The PowerMac 7100 was a faster, more expandable Power Macintosh 6100, and was a part of the original Power Macintosh line along with it. It came in a slightly restyled Macintosh IIvx case, and received a speed increase to 80 MHz (from its original 66 MHz) in January 1995. When it was discontinued it was succeeded by two new models, the Power Macintosh 7200 and the Power Macintosh 7500.

A higher-priced audio-visual variant (the 7100AV) included a 2 MiB VRAM card with s-video in/out. Non-AV 7100s had a video card containing 1 MiB VRAM and no s-video in/out capability.

Codename Lawsuit

The Power Macintosh 7100's internal code name was "Carl Sagan", the in-joke being that the mid-range PowerMac 7100 would make Apple "billions and billions." [An account of this lawsuit is given in "", pages 363-364 and 374-375.] Though the project name was strictly internal and never used in public marketing, when Sagan learned of this internal usage he sued Apple Computer to force the use of a different project name. Other models released conjointly had code names such as "Cold fusion" and "Piltdown Man", and he was displeased at being associated with what he considered pseudoscience. Though Sagan lost the suit, Apple engineers complied with his demands anyway, renaming the project "BHA" (for Butt-Head Astronomer). Sagan promptly sued Apple for libel over the new name, claiming that it subjected him to contempt and ridicule, but lost this lawsuit as well. Still, the 7100 saw another name change: it was finally referred to internally as "LAW" (Lawyers Are Wimps).

See also

* List of Macintosh models grouped by CPU type
* List of products discontinued by Apple Computer

References

External links

* [http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=7100&performa=off&sort=date&order=ASC apple-history.com :: Power Macintosh 7100]

* [http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=112246 specifications at AppleSpec :: 7100/66]
* [http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=112249 specifications at AppleSpec :: 7100/66AV]

* [http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=112286 specifications at AppleSpec :: 7100/80]
* [http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=112287 specifications at AppleSpec :: 7100/80AV]