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Macintosh Quadra 800 / Workgroup Server 80

A Macintosh Quadra 800
Also known as	"Fridge", "Wombat 33"
Developer	Apple Computer, Inc.
Product family	Macintosh Quadra, Workgroup Server
Release date	February 10, 1993 (1993-02-10)
Introductory price	US$4,679 (equivalent to $9,869 in 2023)
Discontinued	March 14, 1994 (1994-03-14)
Operating system	System 7.1 to Mac OS 8.1 With PowerPC upgrade, Mac OS 9.1, A/UX
CPU	Motorola 68040 @ 33 MHz
Memory	8 MB, expandable to 136 MB (60 ns 72-pin SIMM)
Dimensions	Height: 14 inches (36 cm) Width: 7.7 inches (20 cm) Depth: 15.75 inches (40.0 cm)
Mass	24 pounds (11 kg)
Predecessor	Macintosh Quadra 700
Successor	Macintosh Quadra 840AV Power Macintosh 8100

The Macintosh Quadra 800 (also sold with bundled server software as the Apple Workgroup Server 80) is a personal computer that is a part of Apple Computer's Quadra series of Macintosh computers.

Introduced in February 1993 alongside the first Macintosh Centris models, it was the first totally new Quadra model since the original Quadras, the 700 and the 900 / 950. It was positioned below the 950 (and the previous midrange Quadra, the 700, was discontinued shortly after the 800's introduction). Debuting at half the price of the 950, the 800 featured the same Motorola 68040 33 MHz processor as the 950 but its additional interleaved RAM running at 70 ns, as well as an enhanced video system and SCSI bus, enabled it to outperform the 950. However, its tower case was smaller and much less accessible, giving it the reputation of being one of Apple's worst cases of all time. The Quadra 800 was later joined by the multimedia-focused Quadra 840AV.

The Quadra 800 was discontinued in March 1994 in favor of the PowerPC-based Power Macintosh 8100. Both the 8100 and its successor, the Power Macintosh 8500, used the Quadra 800 case, as did the Power Macintosh 8200, a model only available in Europe which used the Power Macintosh 7200 logic board. A taller, highly modified variant of the case was also used for the Power Macintosh 9500.

Hardware

Case: Apple introduced a new mini-tower case design for the Quadra 800, which was subsequently used for the Quadra 840AV, Power Macintosh 8100, 8200 and 8500. Infoworld's review of the Quadra 800 described the case's design as follows: "Apple recommends that you take your machine into an authorized dealer to install additional memory. It’s no wonder — the procedure is fraught with difficulties (although not as bad as previous compact models such as the SE). In order to access the SIMM slots, you need to detach the logic board from its plastic holders (which are easily broken). You then flip the board over to access the slots. If you have any boards in the machine, you need to remove them. And when you try to put it all back together, you may find some of your internal SCSI connections have come loose."

Video: The logic board has 512 KB of on-board VRAM; this is sufficient to provide 256-color (8-bit) support on monitors up to 16 inches in size. Two VRAM SIMM slots provide the ability to upgrade to 1 MB of VRAM, which allows for 32,768 color (16-bit) resolutions. Unlike the preceding Quadra 700 and Quadra 900/950, on-board video provided by the Quadra 800 is not capable of operating at 24-bit color regardless of how much VRAM is installed, as 24-bit support was removed as a cost-saving measure. However, installing a 24-bit video card enables the user to use the Quadra 800 in 24bit mode.

CD-ROM: Some configurations included an AppleCD 300i 2x CD-ROM. The Quadra 800 was one of the first Macintoshes shipped with a bootable CD-ROM.

Models

All configurations include an external SCSI port, two ADB and two serial ports, 3 NuBus slots, a Processor Direct Slot, mono audio in, and stereo audio out. The inclusion of an AAUI Ethernet port varied by region. The newly-introduced Apple Desktop Bus Mouse II was included with all configurations.

Introduced February 10, 1993:

• Macintosh Quadra 800: Sold in multiple configurations.
  • 8 MB RAM (onboard), 512 KB VRAM (onboard), no HDD
  • 8 MB RAM (onboard), 512 KB VRAM (onboard), 230 MB HDD. US$4,679.
  • 8 MB RAM (onboard), 512 KB VRAM (onboard), 500 MB HDD
  • 24 MB RAM (8 MB onboard + 16 MB SIMM), 1 MB VRAM (512 KB onboard + 512 KB SIMM), 1 GB HDD

Introduced March 22, 1993:

• Workgroup Server 80

Timelines

Timeline of Macintosh Centris, LC, Performa, and Quadra models, colored by CPU type v t e
See also: List of Mac models

Timeline of Macintosh servers v t e
See also: List of Mac models

References

1. ^ Brophy, Karen (April 19, 1993). "Apple's new Macs: powerful yet affordable". InfoWorld. Vol. 15, no. 16. pp. 93–97. Archived from the original on September 22, 2021. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
2. ^ Gruman, Galen (April 1993). "Quadra 800 - The new high-end Mac performs like a Quadra 950 at a lower cost". Macworld. Vol. 10, no. 4. pp. 114–119.
3. Knight, Dan (November 8, 1999). "Road Apples - The Quadra 800 case". Low End Mac. Archived from the original on September 7, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2006.
4. "Macintosh Quadra 800". Retrieved September 11, 2023.
5. "Quadra 800". Low End Mac. Archived from the original on June 20, 2022. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
6. "Macintosh Quadra 800: Technical Specifications". Apple. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
7. "Workgroup Server 80: Technical Specifications". Apple. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2017.

External links

• Quadra 800 at Low End Mac
• Quadra 800 and Workgroup Server 80 at EveryMac.com

• Macintosh Quadra
• 68k Macintosh computers
• Macintosh towers
• A/UX-capable Macintoshes
• Macintosh case designs
• Computer-related introductions in 1993
• Products and services discontinued in 1994