NeXTcube

Release date	1990
Discontinued	1993
Operating system	NeXTSTEP, OPENSTEP, NetBSD (limited support)
CPU	Motorola 68040
Memory	16MB - 64MB

The NeXTcube was a high-end workstation computer developed, manufactured and sold by NeXT from 1990 until 1993. It superseded the original NeXT Computer workstation and was housed in a similar cube-shaped magnesium enclosure. The workstation ran the NeXTSTEP operating system.

Hardware

The NeXTcube was a development of the original NeXT Computer. It differed from its predecessor in having a 25 MHz 68040 processor, larger hard disks in place of the MO drive and an optional floppy disk drive. A 33 MHz NeXTcube Turbo was produced later.

NeXT also 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.

There was also a very rare accelerator board known as the Nitro; between 5 and 20 are estimated to have been made. It increased the speed of a NeXTcube by replacing the standard 25 or 33 MHz processor with a 40 MHz one.^[1]

Specifications

• Introduced in 1990 with monitor
• Display: 1120x832 17" grayscale
• 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 x W x D): 12" x 12" x 12"^[2]

See also

• NeXT Computer
• NeXTstation

References

1. ^ NeXT Nitro Information
2. ^ NeXTcube brochure

External links

• NeXTarchive
• old-computers.com — NeXTcube
• NeXTComputers.org