 The base NeXTcube model | |
| Developer | NeXT |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | NeXT in Fremont, California |
| Type | Workstation |
| Release date | September 18, 1990 |
| Introductory price | US$7,995 (equivalent to about $19,000 in 2023) |
| Discontinued | 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 It superseded the original NeXT Computer workstation and is housed in a similar cube-shaped magnesium enclosure, designed by frog design.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.[1]
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.[2][3]
Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web at CERN in Switzerland on the NeXTcube workstation in 1990.[5]
