Macintosh XL was a modified version of the
Apple LisaThe Apple Lisa—also known as the Lisa—is a :personal computer designed by Apple Computer, Inc. during the early 1980s....
personal computer made by Apple Computer, Inc. In the Macintosh XL configuration, the computer shipped with
MacWorks XLMacWorks XL was an Apple Lisa software program that shipped with the Macintosh XL. It allowed 64K Apple Macintosh ROM emulation so the Macintosh XL could run Mac OS programs.-History:...
, a Lisa program that allowed 64 K Macintosh ROM emulation. An identical machine was previously sold as the
Lisa 2/10 with the Lisa OS only.
Hardware
The Macintosh XL had a 400K 3.5" floppy drive and an internal 10 MB proprietary Widget
hard driveA hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
with provision for an optional 5 or 10 MB external
ProFile- Computing and technology :* Profile , a concept in Unified Modeling Language* Apple ProFile, a hard drive* User profile refers to the computer representation of user information...
hard drive with the addition of a Parallel interface card. The processor speed was 5 MHz and had 1 core. It was also built in a horizontal shape of a rectangle which made it look strange. At the time of release in January 1985, the Macintosh XL was colloquially referred to as the "Hackintosh", although this name has since been used more generally to describe Macintosh computers assembled from unusual combinations of parts or, after Apple's transition to Intel processors, to denote PCs running
OSx86OSx86 is a collaborative hacking project to run the Mac OS X computer operating system on non-Apple personal computers with x86 architecture and x86-64 compatible processors...
, a hacked version of Mac OS X.) The Macintosh XL was discontinued in August 1986
Upgrades
Because of its roots as a Lisa — and unlike all other Macintosh computers — the Macintosh XL did not use square
pixelIn digital imaging, a pixel, or pel, is a single point in a raster image, or the smallest addressable screen element in a display device; it is the smallest unit of picture that can be represented or controlled....
s. The resolution of the Macintosh XL was 720x364. Square pixels were available via a physical screen upgrade that changed the resolution to 608x431. It had a Motorola 68000 processor at a 5MHz speed, and 1 core. The maximum RAM was only up to 2 MB
MacWorks
MacWorks PlusMacWorks Plus was a complete implementation of the Macintosh Plus 128K ROM on the Apple Lisa and Macintosh XL computer systems, and introduced in August 1988...
was developed by
Sun RemarketingSun Remarketing was a retail company, located in Cache Valley, Utah, that specialized in reselling old Apple Computer software and hardware, including Apple II and Apple Macintosh parts such as motherboards and peripherals...
as a successor to MacWorks XL in order to provide application compatibility with the
Macintosh PlusThe Macintosh Plus computer was the third model in the Macintosh line, introduced on January 16, 1986, two years after the original Macintosh and a little more than a year after the Macintosh 512K, with a price tag of US$2599...
computer. MacWorks Plus added support for a 800 KB 3.5-inch floppy disk and System software up through version 6.0.3. MacWorks Plus II extended that to the same 7.5.5 limit imposed on all 68000 processors.
History
The re-badging of the XL was a last-ditch effort by Apple to save the poorly selling Lisa which had been usurped by the Macintosh line. After two years of marginal sales Apple was unprepared for the record number of orders placed for the newest member of the Macintosh family.
Discontinued
Despite its relative success, the Macintosh XL was discontinued because it was literally unavailable. Parts had not been ordered to keep the XL in production and once the last of the parts ran out, Apple made the decision to shut down production for good. In 1986, Apple offered all Lisa/XL owners the opportunity to turn in their computer and along with US$1,498.00, and receive in exchange a
Macintosh PlusThe Macintosh Plus computer was the third model in the Macintosh line, introduced on January 16, 1986, two years after the original Macintosh and a little more than a year after the Macintosh 512K, with a price tag of US$2599...
and
Hard Disk 20The Macintosh Hard Disk 20 was the first hard drive developed by Apple Computer specifically for use with the Macintosh 512K. Introduced on September 17, 1985, it was part of Apple's long awaited solution toward completing the Macintosh Office announced in January 1985...
(a US$4,098.00 value at the time).
Sun Remarketing
After Apple dropped the XL from their price list in September 1985, Sun Remarketing of Logan, Utah bought a number of Apple's remaining inventory and continued to sell them under license with their updated version of MacWorks Plus, re-branded as the
Macintosh Professional.
Though no new Lisas were available for sale, development continued on MacWorks Plus to support the installed base of Lisas, making them as relevant as their closely related cousin, the Macintosh Plus.
Legacy
The Macintosh XL shares the same legacy as the Lisa before it. However, the increased sales from the emulation of the Macintosh operating system proved that the Macintosh family badly needed a more professional environment which could provide larger monitors, greater memory and more expandability than the
Macintosh 512KThe Macintosh 512K Personal Computer, also known as the "Fat Mac", is the second of a long line of Apple Macintosh computers, was the first update to the original Macintosh 128K. It was virtually identical to the previous Mac, differing primarily in the amount of built-in memory , which quadrupled...
offered.
External links