![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Power_Macintosh_8500_-_front.jpg/640px-Power_Macintosh_8500_-_front.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Power Macintosh 8500
Personal computer by Apple Computer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Power Macintosh 8500?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The Power Macintosh 8500 (sold as the Power Macintosh 8515 in Europe and Japan) is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from August 1995 to February 1997. Billed as a high-end graphics computer, the Power Macintosh 8500 was initially released with a 120 MHz PowerPC 604, and unlike earlier Power Macintosh machines, the CPU was mounted on an upgradeable daughtercard. Though slower than the 132 MHz Power Macintosh 9500, the first-generation 8500 featured several audio and video (S-Video and composite video) in/out ports not found in the 9500. In fact, the 8500 incorporated near-broadcast quality (640×480) A/V input and output and was the first personal computer to do so, but no hard drive manufactured in 1997 could sustain the 18 MB/s data rate required to capture video at that resolution. Later, special "AV" hard drives were made available that could delay thermal recalibration until after a write operation had completed. With special care to minimize fragmentation, these drives were able to keep up with the 8500's video circuitry.
![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
![]() The Power Macintosh 8500/180 | |
Developer | Apple Computer |
---|---|
Product family | Power Macintosh |
Release date | August 8, 1995 (1995-08-08) |
Introductory price | US$3,999 (equivalent to $7,996 in 2023) |
Discontinued | February 17, 1997 (1997-02-17) |
Operating system | 7.5.2 - Mac OS 9.1 |
CPU | PowerPC 604, 120–150 MHz PowerPC 604e, 180 or 200 MHz |
Memory | 16 MB, expandable to 512 MB (Apple), 1024 MB (actual), (70 ns 168-pin FPM or EDO DIMM) |
Predecessor | Power Macintosh 8100 |
Successor | Power Macintosh 8600 |
The 8500 was introduced alongside the Power Macintosh 7200 and 7500 at the 1995 MacWorld Expo in Boston.[1] Apple referred to these machines collectively as the "Power Surge" line, communicating that these machines offered a significant speed improvement over its predecessors. Infoworld Magazine's review of the 8500 showed a performance improvement in their "business applications suite" from 10 minutes with the 8100/100, to 7:37 for the 8500/120.[1] They also noted that the 8500 run an average of 24 to 44 percent faster than a similarly-clocked Intel Pentium chip, with the performance nearly double on graphics and publishing tasks.
The 8500's CPU was updated twice during its production run. It originally shipped with a 120 MHz PowerPC 604, later with the same chip running at 150 MHz, and finally with a PowerPC 604e running at 180 MHz. It was succeeded by the Power Macintosh 8600 in February 1997.