Five-star PowerMacs hit stores


The 7500 is replaced by the 7600, which is up to 50% faster.
You now have a wider choice of bigger and faster PowerMacs after the recent introduction of a new range where virtually no model is left unchanged. With something for most pockets, everything in the range is either brand-new or revamped. On top of this, every model now comes with a CD-ROM drive.

The minimum PowerMac remains the 7200 with a 601 chip, but the clock speed that dictates the speed of the chip is now set at 90MHz. With 8Mb of RAM and a 500Mb hard drive, this starter PowerMac for small business now costs around £1,351.

Next up is a new machine, the 8200. Starting from around £1,763, this tower-cased business computer can work up to 50% faster than the 7200, thanks to a disk cache in its 16Mb version.


The 9500 now packs a mighty 150MHz processor.
You might think the 8200 is a little confusingly-named as it's less powerful than the lower-numbered 7600, another new machine. This is now the lowest-priced `future-proof' PowerMac, with a daughterboard arrangement that means you'll easily be able to swap its main 604 processor for a faster one when it becomes available. At £2,820 it's 50% faster than the 601-based 7500 it replaces.

Moving up to the graphics powerhouses, the £4,054 8500 and the £4,583 9500 now both come with a 604 chip running at the increased speed of 150MHz. The difference between the two is that the 9500 has 32Mb of RAM to the 8500's 16Mb, as well as a built-in video card for professional video editing work.

The new-look PowerMac range

All models include a CD-ROM drive, but you'll need to add a keyboard, mouse and monitor. All prices include VAT.

Model/clock speedProcessorRAMHard diskPrice
7200/906018Mb500Mb£1,351
7200/9060116Mb1Gb£1,663
7500/1006018Mb500Mb£1,852
7600/120 (1)60416Mb1.2Gb£2,820
8200/1006018Mb1.2Gb£1,763
8200/120 (1)60116Mb2Gb£2,203
8500/12060416Mb2Gb£3,631
8500/150 (1)60416Mb2Gb£4,054
9500/13260416Mb2Gb£3,798
9500/132 (2)60416Mb2Gb£4,004
9500/150 (3)60432Mb2Gb£4,583

1 Includes 256K Level 2 cache
2 Includes ATI video card
3 Includes 256K Level 2 cache and video card


Amelio clears way for new Apple - Help for games authors