NeXTcube

NeXTcube

The base NeXTcube model
Developer	NeXT
Manufacturer	NeXT in Fremont, California
Type	Workstation
Release date	September 18, 1990 (1990-09-18)
Introductory price	US$7,995 (equivalent to about $19,000 in 2023)
Discontinued	1993 (1993)
Operating system	NeXTSTEP, OPENSTEP, NetBSD (limited support)
CPU	Motorola 68040 @ 25 MHz, 56001 digital signal processor (DSP)
Memory	8–64 MB
Storage	400 MB, 1.4 GB, or 2.8 GB hard drive 2.88 MB floppy drive
Display	1120×832 2-bpp grayscale
Connectivity	Ethernet
Dimensions	1-foot (305 mm) die-cast magnesium cube-shaped case
Predecessor	NeXT Computer
Successor	NeXTcube Turbo

The NeXTcube is a high-end workstation computer developed, manufactured, and sold by NeXT from 1990 to 1993. It superseded the original NeXT Computer workstation and is housed in a similar cube-shaped magnesium enclosure, designed by frog design. The workstation runs the NeXTSTEP operating system and was launched with a $7,995 (equivalent to about $19,000 in 2023) list price.

Hardware

The NeXTcube is the successor to the original NeXT Computer, with a 68040 processor, a hard disk in place of the magneto-optical drive, and a floppy disk drive. NeXT offered a 68040 system board upgrade (and NeXTSTEP 2.0) for US$1,495 (equivalent to $3,490 in 2023). A 33 MHz NeXTcube Turbo was later produced.

NeXT 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.

The Pyro accelerator board replaces the standard 25 MHz processor with a 50 MHz one.

Specifications

This NeXTcube has the original screen, keyboard, and mouse.

The motherboard of the NeXTcube has a Motorola 68040 at the lower edge. To the right are the interfaces, and to the left the system bus. Most chips and connectors are described in the image.

• Display: 1120×832 17 in (432 mm) 82 ppi grayscale MegaPixel Display
• 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: 8 MB, expandable to 64 MB (Sixteen 30-pin SIMM slots)
• Floppy drive: 2.88 MB
• Hard drive: 105 MB, 340 MB, 400 MB, 660 MB, 1.4 GB or 2.8 GB SCSI drive
• Network interface: 10BASE-T and 10BASE2 Ethernet
• Expansion: four NeXTbus slots (mainboard uses one slot)
• Size (H × W × D): 12 in × 12 in × 12 in (305 mm x 305 mm x 305 mm (±1 mm))

Legacy

Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web at CERN in Switzerland on the NeXTcube workstation in 1990.

The NeXTcube Tim Berners Lee used to create and host the World Wide Web

See also

• NeXT character set
• NeXT Computer
• NeXTcube Turbo
• NeXTstation
• Power Mac G4 Cube, a similar cube computer from Apple