Apple Power Macintosh 8600/250

Apple · Power Mac

Power Macintosh 8600/250

Released 1997

A PowerPC desktop tower with video input and output, three PCI slots and a built-in Zip drive.

Type
Tower
Processor
PowerPC 604e 250 MHz (Power Macintosh 8600/250)
Memory
32 MB
Storage
4 GB
Screen
–
Weight
–

Performance

Processor
PowerPC 604e 250 MHz (Power Macintosh 8600/250)
CPU cores
1
Memory
32 MB
Storage
4 GB
CPU
250 MHz PowerPC 604e with 64 KB L1 cache, 1 MB L2 cache, 100 MHz cache bus and 50 MHz system bus
GPU
Built-in video with 2 MB VRAM, expandable to 4 MB; the latter is required for video mirroring
Memory type
32 MB minimum with eight 168-pin DIMM slots, expandable to 512 MB according to Apple
Storage type
4 GB internal SCSI hard drive, 1.44 MB floppy, 24× CD-ROM and built-in Iomega Zip drive
Expansion slots
Three PCI slots; Apple's launch release also describes a pre-wired 5.25-inch SCSI expansion bay

Display

Screen
None built in

Connections

Ports
Ethernet
Back ports
Apple Desktop Bus, external DB-25 SCSI, two serial ports, AAUI and 10BASE-T Ethernet, DB-15 video, stereo audio input and output, S-video and RCA video input and output, RCA audio input and output

Design and power

Type
Tower
Operating system
macOS
Size and weight detail
Apple lists 17.3 × 9.7 × 17.3 inches (height × width × depth) and 35 lb
In the box
Apple lists 5 August 1997 as introduction and describes the 8600/250 as offered outside the US. Its French-Canadian launch release says the new 8600 models came with Mac OS 8, while the later support sheet lists 7.6.1 as original system software. An exact first-sale date for the 8600/250 was not separately established.

Configurations

ProcessorMemoryStorageStorage type
PowerPC 604e 250 MHz (Power Macintosh 8600/250)32 MB4 GBHard drive

Pros and cons

Pros

  • S-video and composite video input and output
  • Three PCI expansion slots
  • Built-in Iomega Zip drive

Cons

  • No USB ports
  • Internal hard drive uses SCSI
  • No built-in FireWire

Closest rivals

Model
TypeProcessorMemoryStorageScreenWeightReleased
TowerPowerPC 603e 225 MHz (Power Macintosh 6500)32 MB2 GB – 3 GB––1997
TowerPowerPC 604e 200 MHz (Power Macintosh 8600/200)32 MB2 GB––1997
TowerPowerPC 604e 300 MHz (Power Macintosh 8600/300)32 MB4 GB––Aug 1997

Sources

  1. support.apple.com/en-ca/112054
  2. apple.com/ca/fr/press/1997/08/Fastestmacs.html
  3. mac-paradise.com/htmls/1100000068136-11.html

Photo: mac-paradise.com

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