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Power Macintosh 6500 Specifications

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Power Macintosh 6500 (photo)
Power Macintosh 6500. Photo: Ben Boldt, Wikimedia Commons, public domain

These are the specifications of the Power Macintosh 6500 as Apple printed them in the Performa/Power Macintosh 6400 and 6500 Series Service Source,[1] with dates and system software from Apple's specification pages and order numbers from EveryMac.

Model configurations

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Power Macintosh 6500 configurations (EveryMac)
Model Order number RAM Hard drive CD-ROM Market
6500/225 M5606LL/A 32 MB 2 GB, plus Zip drive 12× Education
6500/225 M5611LL/A 32 MB 3 GB 12× Consumer
6500/250 M5607LL/A 32 MB 3 GB 12× Education
6500/250 M6189LL/A 32 MB 4 GB 24× Consumer
6500/250 M6127LL/A 48 MB Small business
6500/275 M6191LL/A 32 MB 4 GB Consumer
6500/275 M6190LL/A 48 MB 6 GB Small business, with Microsoft Office
6500/300 M6192LL/A 6 GB 24× United States

Source: EveryMac.[2][3][4][5] Apple's service manual lists configurations by market, for example the Americas consumer 6500/250 with a 4 GB drive, 24× CD-ROM, 56.6K Apple/GV modem and Mac OS 8.0, and the European version with a Zip drive and 33.6 modem (pp. 8–15).[1]

EveryMac gives model number M3548 for every 6500, and Apple's specification pages give Gestalt ID 513.[2][6]

Processor

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Processor
Specification Value
Processor PowerPC 603ev[1]
Clock Speed 225, 250, 275 or 300 MHz[1]
FPU and MMU Integrated[6]
Processor Bus 64-bit wide, 50 MHz, supporting split address and data tenures[1]
Level-1 cache 32 KB[6]
Level-2 cache 256 KB (225 and 250 MHz) or 512 KB (275 and 300 MHz) high performance module[1]

Memory

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Memory
Specification Value
DIMM Type 168-pin, 5 V buffered EDO, 60 ns or faster, 2K refresh rate, JEDEC standard[1]
RAM Slots 2[1]
Standard RAM 32 MB (225, 250); 32 or 48 MB (275); 64 MB (300)[1]
Maximum RAM 128 MB[1]
PRAM 8 KB non-volatile parameter memory[1]

The 6500 has no RAM on the logic board. The Power Macintosh 6400 takes EDO DIMMs with 1K or 2K refresh to 136 MB and the Performa 6400 takes fast-page DIMMs, so memory from a 6400 is not automatically right for a 6500 (pp. 5, 58–60).[1]

ROM

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The 6500 has 4 MB of ROM (p. 60).[1]

Video

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Video
Specification Value
Video RAM 2 MB built in, 88 MHz synchronous graphic RAM (SGRAM)[1]
Graphics controller ATI 264GT[7]
Graphics acceleration 2D and 3D built-in hardware acceleration[1]
Highest resolution at 32-bit colour 800×600 (also 512×384 and 640×480)[1]
Highest resolution at 16-bit colour 1152×870[1]
Highest resolution at 8-bit colour 1280×1024[1]

Display modes

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6500 video modes (pp. 66–67)
Resolution Colour depth Vertical scan rate
512×384 32-bit 70 Hz
640×480 32-bit 60 Hz and 67 Hz
640×870 16-bit 75 Hz
800×600 32-bit 60 Hz (video input at 8-bit or less); 72 Hz (no video input)
800×600 16-bit 75 Hz
832×624 8-bit 75 Hz
1024×768 16-bit 60, 70 and 75 Hz (no video input)
1152×870 16-bit 75 Hz
1280×960 8-bit 75 Hz
1280×1024 8-bit 60 Hz and 75 Hz

Source: service manual pp. 66–67.[1]

Storage

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Storage
Component Specification
Hard drive 3.5-inch IDE: 2 GB (6500/225), 3 or 4 GB (6500/250), 4 or 6 GB (6500/275, 6500/300)[1]
Floppy drive 1.4 MB Apple SuperDrive[1]
CD-ROM Tray-loading AppleCD 1800i (12×) or 24× drive[1]
Zip drive 100 MB, on some configurations[1]
Expansion bay One 5.25-inch SCSI device[1]

Sound

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Sound
Specification Value
Audio Output 16-bit stereo with SRS 3D Surround Sound; one 3.5 mm line-level output at the rear and one 3.5 mm headphone jack at the front[1]
Audio Input 16-bit stereo; sample rates of 11.025, 22.05 and 44.1 kHz[1]
Speaker Built-in full-range monophonic speaker, which works as a subwoofer when external speakers are attached. Stereo is only produced through external speakers, headphones or a monitor's own speakers[1]
Microphone support Apple PlainTalk and third-party microphones. The round Apple Omni microphone and the attenuated RCA adapter shipped with some earlier models are not supported[1]

Expansion and ports

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Expansion slots
Slot Quantity Notes
PCI 2 PCI 2.0-compliant cards with a Mac OS driver; NuBus cards cannot be used;[1] 7-inch cards, 15 W maximum each[8]
Communications slot II 1 PCI-bus slot for a modem or Ethernet card; a modem may already be fitted[1]
Video-in 1 For video input cards (NTSC, PAL, SECAM) with a 60-pin DAV connector[1]
TV/FM tuner 1 Port for the optional tuner card[1]
Ports
Port Quantity Notes
Serial 2 RS-232/RS-422 GeoPort-compatible ports[1]
ADB 1 Up to three ADB devices[1]
SCSI 1 External connector; supports six external devices, or five when the optional Zip drive is fitted[1]
Video Out 1 DB-15 monitor connector
Sound in 1 3.5 mm stereo[1]
Sound out 2 3.5 mm line output at the rear, headphone jack at the front[1]

Networking

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Ethernet and modems go in the communications slot. Apple lists Ethernet on education configurations, a 56.6K Apple/GV modem on Americas consumer configurations and a 33.6 modem on European ones (pp. 8–15).[1]

Physical

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Physical dimensions
Specification Imperial Metric
Height 16 inches 406 mm
Width 7 13/16 inches 198 mm
Depth 16 7/8 inches 428 mm
Weight 44.5 lb without CD-ROM 20.18 kg

Apple notes that weight varies with the hard disk fitted and other options, and excludes the monitor.[1] Apple's specification pages give 16 × 7.8 × 16.9 in and 44.5 lb.[6]

Power

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Power
Specification Value
Line voltage 90–130 or 180–264 V AC, configured manually by the voltage switch on the case[1]
Frequency 47–63 Hz[1]
Maximum power 140 W maximum continuous (the manual gives 220 W for the 6400)[1]; Apple's specification pages give 220 W and 3 A for the 6500[6]
Operating temperature 10–35 °C (50–97 °F); 6400 is rated 10–40 °C[1]

Set the voltage switch for the local supply before the machine is plugged in: "115" for 100–130 V, "230" for 200–270 V (p. 17). The service manual gives no per-rail voltages and no power-supply adjustment.[1]

System software and dates

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Dates and system software (Apple)
Model Introduced Original system software Supported to
6500/225, 6500/250 February 17, 1997 7.5.5 Mac OS 9
6500/275, 6500/300 April 4, 1997 7.6.1 Mac OS 9

Source: Apple's specification pages.[6][9] EveryMac gives March 14, 1998 as the discontinuation date for all four.[2]

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 1.40 1.41 1.42 1.43 Apple Computer, Service Source: Performa/Power Macintosh 6400 and 6500 Series (1997), Basics and Specifications chapters, File:Powermac.perf 6400.6500.pdf, PDF pp. 4–21 and 56–73; see Performa/Power Macintosh 6400 and 6500 Series Service Source.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 EveryMac, "Power Macintosh 6500/225 Specs".
  3. ↑ EveryMac, "Power Macintosh 6500/250 Specs".
  4. ↑ EveryMac, "Power Macintosh 6500/275 Specs".
  5. ↑ EveryMac, "Power Macintosh 6500/300 Specs".
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Apple, "Power Macintosh 6500/225: Technical Specifications".
  7. ↑ Apple Computer, Developer Note: Power Macintosh 5500 and 6500 Computers (1997), "ATI264GT Graphics Controller", printed p. 21. Hosted as File:Power Macintosh 5500 and 6500 Computers Developer Note (1997).pdf.
  8. ↑ Apple Computer, Developer Note: Power Macintosh 5500 and 6500 Computers (1997), Summary of Features, printed p. 3.
  9. ↑ Apple, "Power Macintosh 6500/300: Technical Specifications".
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