Macintosh LC III

"LC III" redirects here. For other uses, see LCIII.

The Macintosh LC III is a personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from February 1993 to February 1994.^[1] It replaced the commercially successful Macintosh LC II in Apple's lineup of mid-class computers, and was significantly faster, with MacWorld Magazine benchmarks showing 2x performance in all major categories - CPU, disk, video and maths. It was also significantly less expensive; the LC III with an 80 MB hard disk was priced at US$1,349 at introduction, $700 less than the LC II.^[2] The LC III was sold primarily (but not exclusively) to educational institutions, and a corresponding Performa variant called the Performa 450 was sold to the consumer market.

Macintosh LC III / LC III+ / Performa 450 / Performa 460 / Performa 466 / Performa 467

Macintosh LC III (original design) without monitor, keyboard, or mouse
Developer	Apple Computer
Product family	LC, Performa
Release date	February 10, 1993 (1993-02-10)
Introductory price	US$1,349 (equivalent to $2,940 in 2024)
Discontinued	February 14, 1994 (1994-02-14)
Operating system	System 7.1 - Mac OS 7.6.1
CPU	Motorola 68030 @ 25 MHz or 33 MHz (III+ and Performa 460-467)
Memory	4 MB, expandable to 36 MB (72-pin SIMM)
Dimensions	Height: 2.9 inches (7.4 cm) Width: 12.2 inches (31 cm) Depth: 15.3 inches (39 cm)
Weight	8.8 pounds (4.0 kg)
Predecessor	Macintosh LC II
Successor	Macintosh LC 475

A speed-bumped version, called the Macintosh LC III+ was released in October of the same year, with a 33 MHz CPU. Three Performa variants of this model were released: the 460, 466 and 467. These faster models replaced the LC III and Performa 450, with sales of the original models continuing until the end of 1993 as dealers depleted their stocks. New sales of the LC III+ ended in early 1994 as Apple neared the completion of the transition away from 68030 processors. The 68LC040-based LC 475 and Performa 475 were their replacements.^{[citation needed]}

Models

A Performa 460 with the revised front bezel

Introduced February 10, 1993:

• Macintosh LC III:^[3] 25 MHz 68030 CPU, 80 MB HDD.
• Macintosh Performa 450:^[4] 25 MHz 68030 CPU, 120 MB HDD.

Because of an Apple silkscreening error, one electrolytic capacitor is factory-installed backwards.^[5]

Introduced October 18, 1993:

• Macintosh LC III+:^[6] 33 MHz 68030 CPU.
• Macintosh Performa 460:^[7] 4 MB RAM, 80 MB HDD.
• Macintosh Performa 466:^[8] 4 MB RAM, 160 MB HDD.
• Macintosh Performa 467:^[9] 4 MB RAM, 160 MB HDD.

Timeline

Timeline of Macintosh Centris, LC, Performa, and Quadra models, colored by CPU type v t e
See also: List of Mac models