June 28, 1993: Apple ships the Macintosh LC 520, an “all-in-one” Mac targeted primarily at the education market.
The first Macintosh ever shipped with a non-optional 2x CD-ROM drive, it is designed to capitalize on schools’ growing multimedia requirements.
Macintosh LC 520 launch
In the early 1990s, Apple was busy redefining what a personal computer could be. Rather than simply a tool for work, Cupertino envisioned the Mac as a multimedia machine built for the classrooms and homes of the future.
The Macintosh LC 520 served as one of the company’s purest attempts at that vision, and it helped push the Mac into the mainstream of education.
It boasted the same basic design as the Mac LC III, which launched in February 1993. This included a 25 MHz 68030 CPU, 5MB of RAM, an 80MB or 160MB hard drive, a floppy drive and a 14-inch Sony Trinitron monitor with stereo speakers.
The Macintosh LC 520 also included a built-in microphone, a relative rarity in the early 1990s. Prices started at $1,799 (more than $4,140 in today’s money), which made it $300 more expensive than the LC III.
In keeping with Apple’s strategy of making expandable computers in that era, users could upgrade the Mac LC 520 in a couple of ways. A memory upgrade socket let them boost RAM to a whopping 36MB. Another slot allowed processor upgrades.
The first Mac specifically for schools
Apple talked up the Macintosh LC 520 as the first in a series of computers aimed at specific market segments. The company had been popular among schools for a long time. (Critics accused Apple CEO Steve Jobs of abandoning this market when he returned to Apple in 1997, before embracing it with the so-called eMac).
Still, to the best of my knowledge, the LC 520 was the first Macintosh built specifically for the education market. (It found its way into workplaces as well.) Apple released a different version of the computer in limited markets later in 1993 under the name Performa 520.
Do you remember this Mac? Leave your comments below.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
One response to “Today in Apple history: Mac LC 520 sets its sights on the classroom”
This was a great machine and it was definitely way ahead of the PC – System7 vs Windows 3. While the LC I and II were the sweethearts of the consumer market, the 520’s all-in-one design provided what the original 9″ Mac had, but more powerful, with a good-sized color screen, good quality built-in speakers and a reasonable price.
At the time of its debut, educational software vendors were providing modern Mac apps that looked and performed great, while most educational titles on the PC were roughly comparable to Apple II apps.
The 520 was released back in the days of Apple’s identity crisis, following years of haranging by PC users who asserted that the Mac was a toy. While Apple maintained its efforts at preaching to the choir, they reacted to the “toy” nonsense by making a big effort to push the Mac as a business machine (a continuation of the Macintosh Office approach), toning down the educational aspects in its mainstream marketing efforts.
Meanwhile, Windows machines pulled ahead in games and education while Apple tried to reenergize the education segment.
Again, the 520 was a great machine. I bought one for my wife and I still have it sitting under a worktable next to its various siblings.