Power Mac G3 (Blue and White)
A translucent tower with a swing-open side and no legacy ports.
Overview
The Blue and White G3 replaced the beige tower with a translucent blue and white case that opened by lowering a side panel, exposing everything without tools. Jony Ive's influence was visible in every curve.
The new motherboard abandoned SCSI for Ultra ATA drives, and added two USB and two FireWire 400 ports, Ethernet and a PCI slot running at 66 MHz for graphics. G3 chips ran from 300 to 450 MHz with up to 1 MB of backside cache, and memory was cheaper PC100 SDRAM.
It was the first Power Mac with New World ROM and the last with an ADB port. Its standard Ultra ATA drives topped out at 27 GB at first, and later updates supported far larger disks.
Why it mattered
It modernized the Power Mac with USB and FireWire and introduced the easy-access tower design that lasted for years.
At a glance
- Announced
- January 5, 1999
- Released
- January 5, 1999
- Discontinued
- August 31, 1999
- Launch price
- $1,599
- Chip / processor
- PowerPC G3, 300 to 450 MHz
- Storage
- 6 to 27 GB hard disk
- Status
- Vintage
Highlights
- Side door opens flat for tool-free access
- USB and FireWire standard, SCSI dropped
- PowerPC G3 at 300 to 450 MHz
- Last Power Mac with an ADB port
Tech specs
Specifications as published at launch. Some values (like battery life) are manufacturer estimates.
Chip
- Chip
- PowerPC G3, 300 to 450 MHz
- Cache
- 512 KB or 1 MB backside L2 cache
Memory
- RAM
- 64 to 128 MB PC100 SDRAM, expandable to 1 GB
- Storage options
- 6 to 27 GB Ultra ATA hard disk
Ports
- Ports
- 2 USB, 2 FireWire 400, 10/100 Ethernet, ADB, 2 serial, audio
Expansion
- Slots
- Three PCI slots and one 66 MHz PCI graphics slot
Design
- Dimensions
- 43.2 x 22.6 x 46.7 cm (17 x 8.9 x 18.4 in)
- Weight
- 12.6 kg (27.8 lb)
Software
- Launch OS
- Mac OS 8.5.1
- Latest supported OS
- Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger (officially)
Availability
- Announced
- January 5, 1999
- Released
- January 5, 1999
- Discontinued
- August 31, 1999
- Launch price
- $1,599
Colors
- Finishes
- Blue and White
