During the Intel era, it became more difficult for Apple to claim products as “the fastest computer on the market.” In the early years of the Intel switch, the advantages of the platform change were very clear, especially in the notebook sector, but Apple largely used off the shelf conventional Intel processors. With a few exceptions, every other manufacturer could use the same chips, which is why Apple concentrated on other aspects in marketing. This has changed fundamentally with the M1 and M2 Macs, because clearer differentiations are now possible on the hardware side. Even before 2005, Apple could use other slogans.
A beige box – but a very fast one
25 years ago, in the fall of 1997, the first G3 Macs came onto the market. After the chips of the 601 to 604 series, Apple had not given them their own brand names, followed with the G3 a big step. Although the new processor was housed in a fairly unspectacular beige case, the Apple age of transparent design only dawned shortly after, but the inner workings were convincing. In the beginning, Macs were available with a G3 processor with clock rates of 233 and 266 MHz – and Apple was not shy when it came to comparing the performance with the then current Intel Pentium 2. A G3 was up to twice as fast, the Pentium 2 therefore a lame snail:
PowerBook G3 and iMac G3 followed
With the PowerBook, the predecessor of the MacBook Pro, Apple dared to switch to the G3 in 1997. In 1998 the newly developed PowerBook G3, codenamed Wallstreet, followed. The first iMac, introduced in 1998, also relied on a G3 chip and also marked the beginning of a new design era. Not to be forgotten is the iBook G3 (1999), which brought the transparent look of the iMac to Apple’s line of notebooks for the first time.
A Power Macintosh G3 in the desktop version
By the way, not much time should elapse before the next generation of chips, the Power Mac G4 came onto the market as early as 1999 – mind you “Power Mac” and no longer “Power Macintosh”, because from then on Apple started using it consistently, just the short name to use in products.