Apple Macintosh IIfx
I have the main unit, AppleColor High-Resolution RGB Monitor, Apple
Extended Keyboard II and Apple Desktop Bus Mouse II.
type computer
country USA
year 1990
os Mac os 6.0.5-7.6.1
cpu Motorola mc 68030
speed 40 MHz
ram 4 MB
rom 512 KB
hd 80 MB
graphic 512 x 384, 640 x 480
colors 16 or 256 (16,7 millions)
sound yes
ports video, ADB (2), SCSI, serial (2), sound out, power
The Apple Macintosh IIfx — The Wicked Fast Mac
Released in March 1990, the Macintosh IIfx was Apple’s most powerful and most expensive personal computer to date — priced at $9,900 at launch (equivalent to over $24,000 today). Internally nicknamed ”Wicked Fast” by its designers, the IIfx used a 40 MHz Motorola 68030 processor — the fastest available in any Mac at the time — along with two proprietary I/O processors that offloaded input/output work from the main processor, dramatically improving system performance for disk-intensive and communications-heavy workloads.
Engineering Without Compromise
The IIfx was designed without compromise for users who needed the absolute fastest Mac available regardless of cost — primarily research institutions, advertising agencies, and high-end publishing operations. It supported up to 128 MB of RAM using proprietary 64-pin SIMMs, had six NuBus slots, and could drive multiple high-resolution displays simultaneously. The two dedicated I/O processors — 6502-based chips handling serial and SCSI operations — freed the main 68030 from routine I/O work, giving the IIfx a significant real-world performance advantage over other 68030 Macs even at the same clock speed.
The Proprietary RAM Problem
The IIfx’s use of proprietary 64-pin SIMMs rather than the standard 30-pin SIMMs used by all other Macs of the era was a significant and controversial decision. While it allowed larger memory configurations, it meant IIfx RAM was expensive, difficult to find, and incompatible with any other Mac. This limitation frustrated users and contributed to the machine’s eventual commercial disappointment despite its technical excellence.
Legacy
The Macintosh IIfx is highly prized by collectors both for its historical significance and its relative rarity — the high price severely limited sales, making surviving examples genuinely uncommon. It represents the absolute peak of Apple’s 68030-based professional workstation line and one of the most powerful personal computers money could buy in 1990.