# Power Macintosh
The **Power Macintosh** (later shortened to Power Mac) is a line of Macintosh desktop computers built around PowerPC RISC processors, sold by Apple Computer from March 14, 1994 until the line was replaced by the Intel-based Mac Pro in August 2006. It marked Apple's first processor architecture change, replacing the [Motorola 68000 series](https://www.edgepedia.org/motorola-68000-series) chips used since the original 1984 Macintosh with PowerPC chips developed by Apple, IBM, and Motorola.[1](https://tidbits.com/1994/03/14/the-power-macintosh-picture/) • [2](https://computerhistory.org/blog/transplanting-the-macs-central-processor-gary-davidian-and-his-68000-emulator/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Introduced | March 14, 1994, with the PowerPC 601-based 6100/60, 7100/66, and 8100/80[1](https://tidbits.com/1994/03/14/the-power-macintosh-picture/) |
| Processor generations | PowerPC 601 (1994), 603e/604e (1995–1997), G3 (1997), G4 with Velocity Engine (1999), 64-bit G5 (2003)[1](https://tidbits.com/1994/03/14/the-power-macintosh-picture/) • [3](https://www.mactech.com/1997/11/10/md1-apple-designs-different/) • [4](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Unleashes-the-Worlds-Fastest-Personal-Computer-the-Power-Mac-G5/) |
| First models | 6100/60 at 60 MHz in a low-profile case, 7100/66 at 66 MHz, 8100/80 at 80 MHz in a mini-tower[1](https://tidbits.com/1994/03/14/the-power-macintosh-picture/) |
| Multiprocessing | Power Macintosh 9600/200MP, introduced February 17, 1997, carried two PowerPC 604e processors on one board[5](https://support.apple.com/en-us/112049) |
| 64-bit milestone | The Power Mac G5 (June 23, 2003) was announced as the first personal computer with a 64-bit desktop processor and the industry's first 1 GHz front-side bus, supporting up to 8 GB of memory[4](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Unleashes-the-Worlds-Fastest-Personal-Computer-the-Power-Mac-G5/) |
| End of the line | Apple announced the move to Intel on June 6, 2005; the Mac Pro of August 7, 2006 completed the transition in 210 days[6](https://www.apple.com/ie/newsroom/2005/06/06Apple-to-Use-Intel-Microprocessors-Beginning-in-2006/) • [7](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2006/08/07Apple-Unveils-New-Mac-Pro-Featuring-Quad-64-bit-Xeon-Processors/) |
## The switch from 68000 to PowerPC
Motorola's 68K chips were losing ground to the Intel processors in IBM PC compatibles, so Apple joined with Motorola and IBM to define a new architecture, the PowerPC. Because existing Mac software could not run on a different instruction set, Apple needed a 68K emulator for the new chips. Engineer Gary Davidian began that project in the middle of 1990, first on the Motorola 88000 as a proof of concept, and the emulator was moved to PowerPC after the alliance was announced in October 1991.[2](https://computerhistory.org/blog/transplanting-the-macs-central-processor-gary-davidian-and-his-68000-emulator/)
**Launch day.** The first three Power Macintoshes appeared on March 14, 1994, all built around the PowerPC 601, the first-generation chip from the Apple, IBM, and Motorola collaboration. The 6100/60 put a 60 MHz 601 into the low-profile "pizza-box" case with a single expansion slot; the 7100/66 offered three NuBus slots and out-of-the-box dual-monitor support; and the 8100/80 led the line at 80 MHz in a Quadra 800-style mini-tower with a Level 2 cache and dual-channel SCSI.[1](https://tidbits.com/1994/03/14/the-power-macintosh-picture/) Each machine shipped with on-board Ethernet, 16-bit CD-quality stereo input and output, and a GeoPort connector, and could be ordered with an internal CD-ROM drive, a SoftWindows bundle for PC software, or an AV configuration for video and speech work.[1](https://tidbits.com/1994/03/14/the-power-macintosh-picture/)
The pre-G3 Power Macintosh line continued through May 1998, expanding from business and graphics machines to consumer and education-only systems, with processors ranging from the 601 to the 603e and 604e.[8](https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac/index-powermac.html) The 9600/200MP of February 1997 carried two 604e processors on a single processor board.[5](https://support.apple.com/en-us/112049)
## The G3 generation
On November 10, 1997, Apple unveiled the Power Macintosh G3, calling it the greatest performance leap in Power Macintosh history. The third-generation PowerPC G3 processor from IBM and Motorola ran at 233 or 266 MHz with a 512K level 2 backside cache running at 117 or 133 MHz, a 66 MHz system bus, and 32 MB of RAM expandable to 192 or 384 MB. Apple positioned the machines, starting at around US$2,000, as faster than [Pentium II](https://www.edgepedia.org/pentium-ii)/300 systems, and the G3 chip was described as the first processor optimized for the Mac OS.[3](https://www.mactech.com/1997/11/10/md1-apple-designs-different/)
## The G4 and the Velocity Engine
The [Power Mac G4](https://www.edgepedia.org/power-mac-g4) arrived in September 1999 with the PowerPC 7400 processor, whose 128-bit vector unit Motorola called [AltiVec](https://www.edgepedia.org/altivec) and Apple marketed as the Velocity Engine. The PCI Graphics models introduced on September 15, 1999 ran at 350 or 400 MHz with a 128-bit, 100 MHz data path, 64K of L1 cache, up to 1 GB of RAM, and three FireWire ports.[9](https://support.apple.com/en-ca/112296)
**The supercomputer export ban.** In the summer of 1999 the U.S. government placed export restrictions on the new G4 towers: a claimed performance of over 1 billion calculations per second led to the machines being classed as a weapon and banned from export to 50 nations. Apple's interim CEO Steve Jobs turned the restriction into an advertising campaign, with a spot narrated over the theme from *The Great Escape* that closed, "As for Pentium PCs, well they're harmless."[10](https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/apple-made-marketing-gold-from-the-power-mac-g4-supercomputer-export-ban-in-1999-pentagon-banned-sales-of-the-400-mhz-g4-in-50-countries-when-it-launched-and-became-the-first-pc-to-be-classed-as-a-weapon)
The G4 line grew through the early 2000s. In July 2000 Apple introduced dual-processor G4s, the first mainstream personal computer to come standard with two processors, alongside the Power Mac G4 Cube.[11](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2000/09/13Apple-Delivers-Advanced-Radeon-Graphics-Card-For-Power-Mac-G4-and-Power-Mac-G4-Cube/) By August 2002 every model in the line carried dual G4 processors, from dual 867 MHz at $1,699 to dual 1.25 GHz at $3,299, with DDR memory, up to 2 MB of backside L3 cache per processor, and Mac OS X 10.2 "Jaguar" pre-installed.[12](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2002/08/13Apple-Unveils-Dual-Processor-Power-Macs-Starting-at-1-699/)
## The G5 and the 64-bit era
At WWDC on June 23, 2003, Apple announced the [Power Mac G5](https://www.edgepedia.org/power-mac-g5), built on the PowerPC 970 designed by IBM and Apple. The company billed it as the first personal computer with a 64-bit desktop processor and the industry's first 1 GHz front-side bus, with memory expansion to 8 GB while still running 32-bit applications natively. The top configuration paired dual 2.0 GHz processors, each with an independent 1 GHz front-side bus, for a claimed 16 GBps of system bandwidth, inside a new aluminum enclosure with computer-controlled cooling.[4](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Unleashes-the-Worlds-Fastest-Personal-Computer-the-Power-Mac-G5/)
## The end of the Power Macintosh
On June 6, 2005, [Steve Jobs](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-jobs) announced at WWDC that Apple would deliver Intel-based Macs by mid-2006 and transition the whole Mac line by the end of 2007, saying that Intel had "the strongest processor roadmap by far."[6](https://www.apple.com/ie/newsroom/2005/06/06Apple-to-Use-Intel-Microprocessors-Beginning-in-2006/) The Mac Pro, unveiled on August 7, 2006 with two Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors running up to 3.0 GHz, completed the transition in 210 days and replaced the Power Mac G5 tower as Apple's workstation.[7](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2006/08/07Apple-Unveils-New-Mac-Pro-Featuring-Quad-64-bit-Xeon-Processors/) PowerPC had been the Mac's processor architecture for twelve years, from 1994 to 2006.[2](https://computerhistory.org/blog/transplanting-the-macs-central-processor-gary-davidian-and-his-68000-emulator/)
## References
1. [The Power Macintosh Picture, TidBITS (March 14, 1994)](https://tidbits.com/1994/03/14/the-power-macintosh-picture/)
2. [Transplanting the Mac's Central Processor: Gary Davidian and His 68000 Emulator, Computer History Museum](https://computerhistory.org/blog/transplanting-the-macs-central-processor-gary-davidian-and-his-68000-emulator/)
3. [Apple Designs Different: Unveils Next Generation Power Macintosh G3 Computers, MacTech (November 10, 1997)](https://www.mactech.com/1997/11/10/md1-apple-designs-different/)
4. [Apple Unleashes the World's Fastest Personal Computer—the Power Mac G5, Apple Newsroom (June 23, 2003)](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Unleashes-the-Worlds-Fastest-Personal-Computer-the-Power-Mac-G5/)
5. [Power Macintosh 9600/200MP: Technical Specifications, Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/en-us/112049)
6. [Apple to Use Intel Microprocessors Beginning in 2006, Apple Newsroom (June 6, 2005)](https://www.apple.com/ie/newsroom/2005/06/06Apple-to-Use-Intel-Microprocessors-Beginning-in-2006/)
7. [Apple Unveils New Mac Pro Featuring Quad 64-bit Xeon Processors, Apple Newsroom (August 7, 2006)](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2006/08/07Apple-Unveils-New-Mac-Pro-Featuring-Quad-64-bit-Xeon-Processors/)
8. [Apple Power Macintosh Specs (All Pre-G3 Power Mac Technical Specs), EveryMac](https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac/index-powermac.html)
9. [Power Mac G4 (PCI Graphics) - Technical Specifications, Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/en-ca/112296)
10. [Apple made marketing gold from the Power Mac G4 'supercomputer' export ban in 1999, Tom's Hardware](https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/apple-made-marketing-gold-from-the-power-mac-g4-supercomputer-export-ban-in-1999-pentagon-banned-sales-of-the-400-mhz-g4-in-50-countries-when-it-launched-and-became-the-first-pc-to-be-classed-as-a-weapon)
11. [Apple Delivers Advanced Radeon Graphics Card For Power Mac G4 and Power Mac G4 Cube, Apple Newsroom (September 13, 2000)](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2000/09/13Apple-Delivers-Advanced-Radeon-Graphics-Card-For-Power-Mac-G4-and-Power-Mac-G4-Cube/)
12. [Apple Unveils Dual-Processor Power Macs Starting at $1,699, Apple Newsroom (August 13, 2002)](https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2002/08/13Apple-Unveils-Dual-Processor-Power-Macs-Starting-at-1-699/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Computing and digital systems › Computer hardware › Boards, peripherals & form factors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 15, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license