PowerTower Pro: The Mac Clone That Almost Killed Apple

février 2, 2024 Mourad ELGORMA

Apple’s official Mac licensing program in the mid-90s only lasted a bit over two years, but some companies came out with clones so compelling they almost put Apple out of business.

MeowToast 1/2AA battery adapter (not always in stock): https://www.etsy.com/shop/GeekyBitRetroPCParts

Music featured at 18:26 by Dan Mason: https://danmason.bandcamp.com/album/void

Sources:
« For Apple, Clones and Competition, » New York Times, December 29, 1994.
« Power Computing swamped by Mac demand, » Computerworld, November 4, 1996.
« Mac OS Systems, » MacUser, September 1996.
« Power Computing Widens the Gap, » Macworld, September 1996.
PowerTower Pro cache module photo: https://www.recycledgoods.com/power-computing-corp-power-tower-pro-225-apple-clone-225-45-mhz-processor-3-2-gb-hhd-128-mb-ram-tower/
« Quantum Leap, » Macworld, July 1998.
« 275MHz Mac Powerhouse, » Macworld, September 1997.
« Apple Eliminates the Top Clone Vendor, » Macworld, November 1997.
Computer Chronicles Mac clones episode: https://archive.org/details/MacClone95
« The Vast Mac Expanse, » Macworld, December 1996.
Power Mac 8500 photo: https://www.mediaarchaeologylab.com/collection/apple-power-macintosh-8500180-f8f54c2
« Apple misses mark; reports $708M loss, » Computerworld, April 21, 1997.
« Why Apple Pulled the Plug, » Macworld, November 1997.
Micropolis hard drive photo: https://imgur.com/PuaMB
« Double Troubles Send APS to Chapter 11, » https://www.wired.com/1998/02/double-troubles-send-aps-to-chapter-11/
« LaCie to Purchase APS, » https://tidbits.com/1998/03/09/la-cie-to-purchase-aps-2/
« Power Computing offers clones with a difference, » InfoWorld, October 30, 1995.
Power Computing Mac OS 8 CD photo courtesy Action Retro: https://www.youtube.com/actionretro
« Apple shoots its clones and tries to go it alone, » InfoWorld, September 8, 1997.

00:00 – Introduction
00:31 – One fast Mac
01:46 – Someone’s been in here…
02:24 – Hard drive upgrade from a competitor
04:23 – Lots of RAM
05:10 – Add-in PCI cards
06:32 – Modular CPU card
07:18 – Something’s missing…
07:49 – Time for more upgrades
09:15 – Modern PRAM battery replacement
11:37 – OS installation and peripherals
13:25 – These benchmarks suck
14:23 – Putting the power back into this PowerTower
16:01 – The Mac clone drama
19:13 – Death of a clone maker
20:38 – USB problems
21:23 – This thing was pretty badass in its day

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Music by Epidemic Sound (https://www.epidemicsound.com).
Intro music by BoxCat Games (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/BoxCat_Games).

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