Apple Macintosh LC 475

Apple Macintosh LC 475

[Vin148]

The Apple Macintosh LC 475 holds historical significance as an evolution in Apple’s “Low-Cost” color Macintosh line, featuring a powerful 25 MHz 68LC040 CPU, an upgrade that brought near-Quadra performance at an accessible price point. Its compact design and improved expandability, including support for more RAM and larger hard drives, made it popular in educational and university settings where affordability and color graphics were critical for teaching and research. The LC 475’s claim to fame lies in bridging the gap between entry-level Macs and higher-end workstations, helping to democratize powerful graphical computing in academia and marking a milestone in the broader adoption of affordable, color-capable personal computers during the early 1990s.

• Manufacturer: Apple Computer Inc.
• Released: 1993
• Type: Personal Computer
• Cost at release: CAD ~$2,650 (adjusted for inflation)
• MIPS: 6.2 MIPS (millions of instructions per second)

Hardware Specifications

• CPU: 25 MHz Motorola 68LC040 CPU (no FPU)
• Memory: 4 MB standard, expandable up to 36 MB RAM
• Hard Drive: 80 MB (standard) up to 250 MB options
• Display: Supports Apple Macintosh Color Display (and other compatible monitors)
• Graphics: 512 KB VRAM for 256-color display support
• Expansion: Processor Direct Slot (PDS) for add-ons
• Storage: 1.44 MB internal floppy disk drive
• Ports: SCSI, serial, ADB (Apple Desktop Bus), audio in/out, video out
• Weight: Approximately 14.3 pounds (6.5 kilograms)

Operating System & Programming Languages

• OS: Mac OS versions ranging from 7.1 to 7.6
• Programming Languages:
  • Classic Mac programming in Pascal and C (using tools like Macintosh Programmer’s Workshop and THINK C)
  • Assembly language for the Motorola 68LC040 CPU
  • HyperCard scripting (HyperTalk)
  • BASIC variants available for the Mac platform
  • Later third-party languages like C++, and early versions of Object Pascal

Notables

• The LC 475 was internally identical to the Macintosh Quadra 605 and Performa 475/476. Apple sold the exact same machine under three different names for different markets (education, business, and home), with only a physical logic board jumper (J18) determining its identity.​​
• The LC 475 was the last Mac to use the lightweight “pizza box” slim-line form factor; Apple wouldn’t release another desktop under 10 pounds until the Mac Mini nearly a decade later in 2005.​
• While the Quadra 605 was discontinued in October 1994, the LC 475 variant continued selling to schools until July 1996, giving it nearly three years of production, remarkable for the rapidly-evolving ’90s Mac lineup.​
• The “LC” (Low Cost) in its name was enforced by using the 68LC040 processor, a version missing the floating-point unit (FPU) to reduce manufacturing costs while maintaining decent performance for educational use.​​
• The LC 475 exemplified Apple’s 1993 strategy to segment product families by customer type, pioneering a branding approach that would influence future product lines.

Donated by: Arlen Michaels