Editing Power Macintosh (section)

=== Transition to standardized hardware (1995–1999) ===
[[File:Apple Power PC 7500 100 MHz 6886.jpg|thumb|Rear view of a Power Macintosh 7500/100]]
When the Power Macintosh was introduced, it included the same internal and external expansion connections as other Macintosh models, all of which (save for audio input and output) were either wholly proprietary to, or largely exclusive to Apple computers. Over the next five years, Apple replaced all these ports with industry-standard connectors.

The first generation of Power Macintoshes had shipped with NuBus, but by the end of 1993, it was becoming clear that Intel's [[Conventional PCI|PCI bus]] was going to be the widely adopted future of internal expansion.<ref>{{cite magazine
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DDsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA39
| title = PCI chip-set market expands
| magazine = InfoWorld Magazine
| date = November 15, 1993
| volume = 15
| issue = 46
| first = Cate
| last = Corcoran
| access-date = 2018-01-16
| archive-date = May 9, 2021
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210509145643/https://books.google.com/books?id=DDsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA39
| url-status = live
}}</ref> Apple's position as a relatively small player in the larger personal computer market meant that few device manufacturers invested in creating both NuBus- and PCI-compatible versions of their cards.  The first PCI-based system was the range-topping [[Power Macintosh 9500]], introduced in May 1995. This was followed shortly afterwards by the introduction of the "Power Surge" line of second-generation Power Macintosh systems – the [[Power Macintosh 7200]], [[Power Macintosh 7500|7500]] and [[Power Macintosh 8500|8500]]. The 8500 and 9500 were built around the new [[PowerPC 604]], offering speeds starting at 120&nbsp;MHz.<ref name="infoworld19950807">{{cite magazine
| last = Epler
| first = Anita
| date = August 7, 1995
| title = Apple's PCI risk
| url = https://archive.org/stream/Infoworld-1995-08-07#page/n89/mode/2up
| magazine = InfoWorld Magazine
| pages = 1, 80
| access-date = 2018-01-16
}}</ref> [[InfoWorld]]'s review of the 8500 showed a speed improvement in their "business applications suite" benchmark from 10 minutes with the 8100/100, to 7:37 for the 8500/120. They also noted that the 8500 runs an average of 24 to 44 percent faster than a similarly clocked [[P5 (microarchitecture)|Intel Pentium]] chip, increasing to double on graphics and publishing tasks.

The transition to PCI continued into 1996, with the introduction of the all-in-one 5400, desktop 6300/160 (usually sold as a Performa 6360), and mini-tower 6400 models.  The success of the [[Macintosh clone]] market also prompted Apple to produce its own inexpensive machine using parts and production techniques that were common in both the clone market and the [[Wintel]] desktop market at the time. The [[Power Macintosh 4400]] (sold as a 7220 in Asia and Australia) employed bent sheet metal instead of plastic for its case internals, and included a standard [[Power supply unit (computer)|ATX power supply]].

Alongside the transition to PCI, Apple began a gradual transition away from [[SCSI]] hard disks to [[Integrated Drive Electronics|IDE]] as a cost-saving measure, both for themselves and for users who wanted to upgrade their hard drives. The low-end 5200 and 6200 were the first to adopt IDE internal drives, though Apple's proprietary 25-pin external [[SCSI connector]] remained. The beige Power Macintosh G3 models being the last to include SCSI drives as standard, and it was the last Macintosh to include the external SCSI connector. When the [[Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White)]] was introduced in early 1999, the port was replaced by two [[IEEE 1394|FireWire 400]] ports. The Blue and White G3 was also the last Macintosh to include [[Apple Desktop Bus]] ports, a proprietary technology created by [[Steve Wozniak]] to connect keyboards, mice and [[software protection dongle]]s such as those from [[Avid (company)|Avid Technology]].<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.root6.com/support-2/identifying-the-system-id-dongle-serial-number-and-dongle-type-on-avid-editing-products/
| title = Identifying the System ID, Dongle Serial Number and Dongle Type on Avid Editing Products
| publisher = root6
| access-date = 2018-01-14
| language = en-GB
| archive-date = August 8, 2018
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180808033139/http://www.root6.com/support-2/identifying-the-system-id-dongle-serial-number-and-dongle-type-on-avid-editing-products/
| url-status = live
}}</ref> Two [[USB]] ports were also included, making this the only Power Macintosh to include both ADB and USB.

Another port that was retired during this time is the [[Apple Attachment Unit Interface]]. This was a proprietary version of the industry-standard [[Attachment Unit Interface]] connector for [[10BASE5]] Ethernet that Apple had created to avoid confusion with the 15-pin connector that Apple used for connecting external displays.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://lowendmac.com/2007/apples-aaui-ethernet-connector/
| title = Apple's AAUI Ethernet Connector
| date = 2007-09-04
| publisher = Low End Mac
| access-date = 2018-01-14
| language = en-US
| archive-date = February 24, 2018
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180224165619/http://lowendmac.com/2007/apples-aaui-ethernet-connector/
| url-status = live
}}</ref> The AAUI port required a costly external transceiver to connect to a network. By the early 1990s, the networking industry was coalescing around the [[Ethernet over twisted pair|10BASE-T]] connector, leading Apple to include this port alongside AAUI in mid-1995, starting with the [[Power Macintosh 9500]]. The Power Macintosh G3 excluded the AAUI port.

The [[Power Mac G4]] (AGP Graphics) was released in the second half of 1999; it was the first Power Macintosh to include only industry-standard internal and external expansion. For some years afterwards, a number of third parties created [[dongle]]s that provided backwards compatibility to users of newer Power Mac systems with old hardware. This included companies like Griffin Technology, MacAlly Peripherals, Rose Electronics and many others. In some cases, these companies produced adapters that matched the aesthetic design of the Power Mac.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.kvm-switches-online.com/cnv-usbadb.html
| title = Rose Electronics ADB to USB converter, ADB MD4 to USB Type B
| website = KVM Switches Online {{!}} KVMSO.com
| access-date = 2018-01-14
| archive-date = January 21, 2018
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180121071807/http://www.kvm-switches-online.com/cnv-usbadb.html
| url-status = live
}}</ref>