Apple Power Macintosh G3/300 (Blue & White)
I have the main unit, Apple PowerCD, keyboard
and mouse.
type computer
country USA
year 1999
os Mac OS 8.5.1 – OS X 10.4.11 ”Tiger”
cpu PowerPC G3
speed 300 MHz
ram 64 MB PC-100 SDRAM
CD 24x CD-ROM
HD 6 GB Ultra ATa
graphic ATI Rage 128 GL with 16 MB of SDRAM graphics memory up to 1600×1200
colors 32 bit
sound yes
ports FireWire (2), USB (2), ADB, 10/100 RJ-45
The Apple Power Mac G3 (Blue & White) — Design Reborn
Released in January 1999, the Power Macintosh G3 Blue & White was a watershed moment in Apple’s design history. Gone was the conservative beige tower of Apple’s previous professional desktops — in its place, a translucent blue and white enclosure with a radical tool-less access mechanism: the entire side panel swung open on a single handle, providing complete access to the interior without a single screwdriver. Designed by Jony Ive, this machine announced that Apple’s design transformation extended beyond the consumer iMac to the professional product line.
The Swing-Open Design
The Blue & White G3’s tool-less access design was celebrated immediately by reviewers and users. Lifting a single handle on the side panel caused the entire side of the computer to swing open, revealing a logic board designed for easy component access — PCI slots immediately accessible, RAM that could be added without tools, and drives that slid in and out on simple rails. This philosophy — making the computer’s interior as thoughtfully designed as its exterior — became a hallmark of Apple’s professional towers for years and influenced case design across the entire PC industry.
ATA and FireWire
The Blue & White G3 introduced two important technologies to the Mac desktop: ATA/66 hard drive support replacing the aging SCSI interface for internal drives, and FireWire (IEEE 1394) connectivity for high-speed external devices. FireWire at 400 Mbit/s was fast enough for DV video capture and established Apple’s professional reputation in the rapidly growing digital video market — a foundation that Final Cut Pro would build on to make the Mac the dominant platform for professional video editing.