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Big Mac (computer)

Big Mac
Final design for the Big Mac
Also known asBigMac, Super Mac
DeveloperApple Computer, Inc.
Product familyCompact Macintosh
TypeAll-in-one
Operating systemUNIX[1]
CPUMotorola 68020 @ 16 MHz[2]
Storage10 MB HDD[2]
Display15 in (38 cm)[1]
PredecessorApple Lisa
SuccessorMacintosh Plus[3]
Macintosh II
Baby Mac
Final design for the Baby Mac
Also known asBabyMac, Macintosh
DeveloperApple Computer, Inc.
Product familyCompact Macintosh
TypeAll-in-one
Release dateIntended for 1986; ultimately cancelled[4]
Display11.25 in (28.6 cm)[Note 1]
PredecessorMacintosh 128K
Macintosh 512K
SuccessorMacintosh 512Ke
Macintosh SE

Big Mac (also written BigMac and labeled Super Mac on prototypes) is a cancelled workstation designed by Hartmut Esslinger for Apple Computer using the Snow White design language. Its consumer equivalent was Baby Mac (also written BabyMac and simply labeled Macintosh on prototypes).[5][6] Development on Big Mac and Baby Mac began in 1984 and stopped after Steve Jobs left the company due to a clash of ideologies with John Sculley.[4][7] Without the knowledge of Jobs, a project codenamed "Milwaukee" was in development concurrently with the Big Mac and ultimately succeeded it to become the Macintosh II, causing designer Rich Page to leave Apple for NeXT.[1][2] Esslinger described Baby Mac as his "best design never to be produced",[8] while Jean-Louis Gassée considered it to be a toy.[5]: 152 

Hardware

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Esslinger and the design team investigated flat-screen displays and worked with Toshiba to create a new CRT front to "avoid the cheap look of a CRT screen".[8] Esslinger created low-profile mouse, keyboard, and mouse pen designs, experimenting with wireless RF technology to make the Baby Mac even smaller and "avoid the tangled mess of keyboard and mouse cables".[5][8] Big Mac and Baby Mac were zero-draft designs and included integrated carrying handles.[4][5]

Big Mac was conceived as a 3M computer, with at least 1 megabyte of memory, a 1 megapixel display, and 1 million instructions per second. Similar to the later Macintosh Portrait Display, its 15 in (38 cm) display had a vertical orientation for word processing and was monochrome to save on costs.[5] To develop MacPaint 2.0, David Ramsey used a prototype Big Mac without an external case, which he considered "faster and more reliable than the Macintosh II prototypes available".[2]

The design of the Baby Mac has been noted to have a superficial resemblance to the egg design of the iMac G3 from 1998.[by whom?]

Software

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Big Mac was intended to have a UNIX-based operating system while maintaining compatibility with existing Macintosh software.[1]

Notes

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  1. ^ Calculated by assuming Big Mac and Baby Mac displays are the same width

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Le prototype « Big Mac » d'Apple" [Apple's "Big Mac" prototype]. L'Aventure Apple (in French). Archived from the original on 4 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Ramsey, David. "Evolution Of A Classic". Folklore.org. Archived from the original on 13 April 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  3. ^ Webster, Bruce (December 1985). "Microcomputer Color Graphics-Observations". BYTE. Vol. 10, no. 13. pp. 405–418. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Esslinger, Hartmut (5 May 2017). "Apple Baby Mac". Behance.
  5. ^ a b c d e Esslinger, Hartmut (7 January 2014). Keep It Simple: The Early Design Years of Apple. Arnoldsche Art Publishers. pp. 244–257. ISBN 9783897904071.
  6. ^ "Hartmut esslinger's early apple computer and tablet designs". Designboom. 18 December 2012. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012.
  7. ^ MacManus, Christopher (16 February 2013). "Apple's sexy concepts from the 1980s (Pictures)". CNET. Archived from the original on 29 September 2014.
  8. ^ a b c Esslinger, Hartmut (16 February 2013). Design Forward: Creative Strategies for Sustainable Change. Arnoldsche Art Publishers. p. 148. ISBN 9783897903814.
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