The NeXTcube is a high-end workstation computer developed, manufactured, and sold by NeXT from 1990 until 1993. It superseded the original NeXT Computer System and is housed in a similar cube-shaped magnesium enclosure, sometimes called the "Cube II" or Cube 040. The workstation runs the NeXTSTEP operating system and was launched with a US$10,000 list price.
Hardware[]
Tim Berners-Lee used this NeXTcube to invent the World Wide Web.
The NeXTcube is the successor to the original NeXT Computer. It differs from its predecessor in having a 25 MHz Motorola 68040 processor, larger hard disks in place of the magneto-optical drive, and an optional floppy disk drive. A faster 33 MHz NeXTcube Turbo was produced later.
NeXT released the NeXTdimension for the NeXTcube, a circuit board based on an Intel i860 processor, which offers 32-bit PostScript color display and video-sampling features.
The Pyro accelerator board increases the speed of a NeXTcube by replacing the original 25 MHz 68040 processor with a 50 MHz version.[1]
Specifications[]
- Display: 1120×832 17 in (432 mm, 82 ppi) grayscale; see NeXT MegaPixel Display
- Operating system: NeXTSTEP 2.2 Extended or later
- CPU: 25 MHz 68040 with integrated floating-point unit
- Digital signal processor: 25 MHz Motorola DSP56001
- RAM: 16 MB, expandable to 64 MB
- Hard drive: 400 MB, 1.4GB or 2.8GB SCSI drive (optional)
- Size (H × W × D): 12 in × 12 in × 12 in (305 mm x 305 mm x 305 mm, ±1 mm)[2]
References[]
- ↑ Pyro Installation & Ordering (PDF) by Spherical Solutions. Archived 1997-05-02.
- ↑ NeXTcube brochure (PDF) by NeXT. Scanned 1997-07-16 by NeXTcomputers.org.
See also[]
- Power Mac G4 Cube, a later model from Apple Computer that also adopted the cube design.
