Power Macintosh 4400

The Power Macintosh 4400 (sold as the Power Macintosh 7220 in some markets) is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from November 1996 to February 1998. It differs from prior desktop Macintosh models in that it was built with industry-standard components such as an IDE hard drive and an ATX-like power supply.

"Power Macintosh 7220" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Power Macintosh 7200.

Power Macintosh 4400 / Power Macintosh 7220
The Power Macintosh 7220/200
DeveloperApple Computer, Inc.
Product familyPower Macintosh
TypeDesktop
Release dateNovember 7, 1996 (1996-11-07)
Introductory priceUS$1,725 (equivalent to $2,812 in 2019)
DiscontinuedFebruary 1998 (1998-02)
Operating systemSystem 7.5.3 - Mac OS 9.1
CPUPowerPC 603e @ 150 and 200 MHz
MemoryExpandable to 160 MiB (70 ns 168-pin DIMM)
SuccessorPower Macintosh G3 Desktop

The 4400 was introduced to the market at a time when several Macintosh clones were available on the market, often at prices lower than Apple's. The "Tanzania" logic board in the 4400 was an Apple design but had only been used in clones up to this point. MacWEEK's review described the case as "Strange in the Apple brood; when compared with PCs it fits right in with the flock. It is contained in a stock desktop PC case fitted with Apple's distinctive curved nose piece. The back is industrial-looking, while bent sheet metal fills the case's insides, sharp edges and all. The IDE drive sits on end, while the Comm II slot (occupied with an Ethernet card) and two PCI slots reside in a riser card. For the first time, Apple has abandoned automatic switching in the power supply, a small cost savings at the expense of international users' convenience."[1]

This was the only Power Macintosh to be designed with the goal of using low-cost manufacturing techniques; the 4400 was removed from Apple's lineup a few months after the Power Macintosh G3 Desktop went on sale, which was priced comparably to the 4400 but used Apple's Power Macintosh 7300 form factor instead.

Models
Rear view of the Power Macintosh 4400/200 and Power Macintosh 7220/200
Internal view of the Power Macintosh 4400/200 and Power Macintosh 7220/200

The initial 4400/160 model was only sold to the European market. Some of Apple's online literature referred to the machine as the "Performa 4400", owing to its entry-level position in the market, but no machine sold was labelled as such.[2] (The Performa brand was formally retired a few months later.)

An updated 200 MHz 603e model was released in the United States in February 1997 as the Power Macintosh 4400/200. It was also available as a "PC Compatible" system with a 166 MHz DOS card containing 16 MB of RAM and a Cyrix 6x86 processor.

The Power Macintosh 4400 was sold as the Power Macintosh 7220 in Australia and Asia, where the number 4 is considered unlucky, and to prevent confusion with the Power Macintosh 7200.

Introduced November 7, 1996:

  • Power Macintosh 4400/160:[3] Sold in Europe; no L2 cache or Ethernet.[2]

Introduced February 17, 1997:
The 200 MHz versions support a maximum RAM capacity of 160 MB, and have an updated PCI adapter card has two PCI slots and one Comm II slot, instead of three PCI slots.

  • Power Macintosh 4400/200: Sold worldwide, except the Far East.[4]
  • Power Macintosh 7220/200: Sold in Far East countries, e.g. Japan and Australia.[5]

Introduced April 4, 1997:

  • Power Macintosh 4400/200 PC Compatible: Same as the 4400/200 with the addition of the PC Compatibility card, which enables running MS-DOS and Windows 95.[6]
  • Power Macintosh 7220/200 PC Compatible: Same as the 4400/200 PC Compatible, sold in Far East countries.[7]

Timeline of Power Macintosh models
See also: Timeline of Macintosh models
Power Macintosh G5Power Macintosh G5Power Macintosh G5Power Macintosh G4Power Macintosh G4Power Macintosh G4 CubePower Macintosh G4Power Macintosh G3Power Macintosh G3Power Macintosh 8600Power Macintosh 7300Power Macintosh 9600Power Macintosh 8500Power Macintosh 7600Power Macintosh 7200Power Macintosh 9500Power Macintosh 8100Power Macintosh 7500Power Macintosh 7100Power Macintosh 6400Power Macintosh G3Power Macintosh 5500Power Macintosh 5400Power Macintosh 6500Power Macintosh 6200Power Macintosh 6100Power Macintosh 5260Power Macintosh 5200Power Macintosh 4400

References
  1. Geller, Tom (February 17, 1997). "Power Mac 4400 on par with clones in price and power". MacWEEK. Archived from the original on October 1, 1999.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. Pogue, David (January 1997). Macworld Mac Secrets (4th ed) (PDF). Hungry Minds. p. Chapter 13 - The PowerPC Macs: Model by Model. ISBN 0764540068.
  3. "Power Macintosh 4400/160: Technical Specifications". Apple.
  4. "Power Macintosh 4400/200: Technical Specifications". Apple.
  5. "Power Macintosh 7220/200: Technical Specifications". Apple.
  6. "Power Macintosh 4400/200 PC Compatible: Technical Specifications". Apple.
  7. "Power Macintosh 7220/200 PC Compatible: Technical Specifications". Apple.
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