Power Macintosh, or Power Mac, is the name of a line of Apple Macintosh personal computers based on various models of PowerPC microprocessors. Apple Computer produced the first Power Macs in 1994, starting with the Power Mac 6100, which offered speeds of 60 and 66 MHz. All previous models had been based on 68k-series processors. The ROM and Mac OS operating system released with the new Power Mac machines included an emulator to enable programs written for Motorola 6800 series CPU's, including all prior Mac software, to run without changes. As the Power Mac was originally intended to be a part of the high end of their product line, and for a number of years they continued to offer less expensive low end 68k based computers, alongside the more expensive Power Mac lineup. In 1996, Apple officially discontinued it's 68k processor based Macintosh line with the demise of the Macintosh LC 580, the last 68k processor based Macintosh (release in 1995). From 1996 - on, all Macintosh computers would be based on Power PC processors.

All Power Macs prior to 1997 where PowerPC 60x processor-based. In 1997 the first third-generation PowerPC based Macintosh was released, using the PowerPC G3 processor. From then on Apple would no longer use a number scheme to identify their Power Mac Models but instead refer to then by their PowerPC processor generation number (i.e. G3, G4, and G5) with later models based on the same generation PowerPC processor including descriptive text in their names to differentiate from the original model. A common way for Apple to differentiate the later models was color describe their color scheme (i.e Power Mac G3 - Blue and White) or a special features of the particular model (i.e. Power Macintosh G4 - Gigabit Ethernet). This same identification scheme was used in the iMac line of Macintosh computers.

Currently, the Power Macintosh name is used with Apple's high end tower style Macintosh Models, targeted primarily at businesses and universities. They are usually equipped with Apple's newest technologies, and command the highest prices among Apple desktop models. some models of the G4 and G5 Power Macs have dual processor configurations.

The following are recent and current Power Macintosh lines:

• Power Macintosh G3
• Power Macintosh G4
• Power Mac G4 Cube
• Power Macintosh G5

Other current and past Macintosh lines have used PowerPC processors including the Macintosh Performa, iMac, iBook, and PowerBook 5300 and later models.

See also

• list of Macintosh models grouped by CPU