Overcoming Limitations: The Mac Color Classic, 20 years later
Two decades ago, Apple unveiled the Macintosh Color Classic, the last US-released Mac to sport a compact form factor and the first desktop Mac with an integrated color display. Announced at the Tokyo Macworld Expo on February 10, 1993, the Color Classic made its mark as a beautiful but hamstrung machine that, years later, played host to numerous unofficial modifications that enhanced its fan appeal.
At a time when it seemed that compact Macs would forever be saddled with 9-inch monochrome displays, the Color Classic burst forth with a glorious, ultra-sharp 10-inch Sony Trinitron tube that handily displayed 256 colors—although it did so at a 512 by 384 resolution that almost matched its compact ancestors.
Above that display sat another Mac first: a built-in microphone. Amusingly, Apple designers placed it in a position that closely resembles that of today’s integrated FaceTime cameras (so closely, in fact, that recent admirers of my Color Classic asked if it was a camera). With the integrated microphone, users could easily record voice memos with the click of a mouse.
While all previous compact Macs were heavily sealed affairs that required special screwdrivers to disassemble, Apple designed the Color Classic to be highly modular. After removing two screws and a clip-in backplane, users could easily slide out the unit’s motherboard (which plugged into a special electronic connector inside the chassis) to perform RAM upgrades or to install a card into the machine’s sole PDS expansion slot.
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