Power Macintosh G4 Cube

Power Macintosh G4 Cube is a quiet, fanless, compact Macintosh computer from Apple. It was sold from 2000 to 2001.

Apple targeted the Cube at the market between the iMac and the PowerMac G4. This diminutive 8"x8"x10" cube housed a G4 processor running at 450 or 500 megahertz, and had an innovative top-loading slot loading DVD-ROM drive. A separate monitor -- either digital or VGA -- is required for the Cube, in contrast to the all-in-one iMac series. The Cube also featured two Firewire ports, and two USB ports for connecting peripherals. Sound was provided by an external USB amplifier and a pair of Harman Kardon speakers. Although the USB amplifier had a standard mini-plug headphone output, it lacked any audio input.

It was popularly perceived as being too expensive, thus leading to slow sales. Additionally, early Cubes suffered from a manufacturing defect that led to faint cracking of the clear plastic case. Apple attempted to increase sales by bundling more software with the cube, lowering the price of the base model, incorporating a CD-RW drive as an option, and offering an improved Nvidia graphics card as an option. These efforts could not offset the earlier perceptions of reduced value compared to the iMac or PowerMac G4 lines, and the Cube was discontinued from production in July 2001.