Low End Mac's Online Tech Journal
Macintosh MHz Speed Chart, 1984-2003
Dan Knight - 2003.02.18, updated
The three tables below are not exhaustive - for instance, they don't show any notebooks. What they attempt to do is illustrate the fastest and slowest Macs on the market from January 1984 to the present. These tables only reflect CPU speed; they take no account of the differences in processor efficiency.
In terms of overall efficiency, today's CPUs are about eight times as efficient as the 68000 in the first Macs, which makes the dual 1.42 GHz Power Mac G4 approximately 2,500 times as powerful as that first Macintosh in 1984. (Apologies in advance for the small type we had to use to get this to fit the page.)
Since 2002
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111 123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012 Intel CPUs 3000 Mac Pro 2333 iMac Core 2 2000 iMac Core Duo 1833 iMac Core Duo 1500 Mac mini core solo PowerPC CPUs 2700 G5/2.7 GHz 2500 G5/2.5 GHz 2000 G5/2.0 GHz 1800 iMac G5/1.8 GHz 1420 G4/1.42 GHz Mac mini 1250 G4/1.25 GHz 1000 G4/1 GHz G4 iMac 1GHz 000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111 123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
1993-2003
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111 123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012 1420 G4/1.42 GHz 1250 G4/1.25 GHz 1000 G4/1 GHz G4 iMac 1GHz 867 G4/867 800 G4 iMac/800-> 733 G4/733 700 iMac/700 G4 iMac/700 600 iMac/600-----------------> 533 G4/533 500 G4/500 iMac/500-- 450 G4/450 iMac/450--| 450 B&W G3/450 400 B&W G3/400 iMac/400-----------| 350 9600/350 iMac/350--------| 333 G3/333 iMac/333 300 G3/300 266 G3/266 iMac/266 233 9600/233 G3/233 iMac/233 200 9500/200 150 9500/150 132 9500/132------| 110 8100/110-| 80 8100/80---7100/80--| 75 6200/75 66 7100/66---6100/66--| 60 6100/60---| 40 Quadra 840av| 33 Mac IIvx| Q.630----| 25 C.650---Quadra 605-----> 20 C.610---| 16 Classic II 000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111 123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
1984-1994
1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111 123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012 40 Mac IIfx-----------------| Quadra 840av| 33 Quadra 950----------------------- 33 Mac IIvx---| Q.630- 25 Quadra 700------C.650---Quadra 605----- 25 Mac IIci---------------------------------| 20 Mac IIsi--------------------C.610---| 16 Mac IIcx----| 16 Mac II------------Mac IIx------------------Mac LC----------LC II-------Color Classic--| 16 Mac SE/30----------| Classic II--------------| 8 Mac SE-----------------------| Classic-----------------| 8 128K-----------------| Plus----------------------------------------------------| 8 512K----------- 512Ke------------| 000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111000000000111 123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012123456789012 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
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