NeXTstation Turbo Color

The NeXTstation Turbo Color combined NeXT’s fastest 33 MHz slab architecture with a 12-bit colour framebuffer. It displayed 4,096 colours at 1120 x 832 pixels and supported up to 128MB of memory, making it the most capable integrated NeXT workstation.

Like the earlier colour model it used a NeXT Sound Box for audio, keyboard and mouse connections. It was introduced during NeXT’s final year of hardware development and became one of the most desirable machines in the range.

Notable Features

• The 33 MHz Motorola 68040 and maximum 128MB RAM made it the highest-performance NeXTstation.
• A 1.5MB framebuffer displayed 4,096 colours at the full MegaPixel resolution.
• The DSP and Sound Box provided high-quality stereo audio and signal-processing facilities.

Historical Significance

• It represented the culmination of NeXT’s integrated workstation hardware before the company became software-focused.
• Its NeXTSTEP environment and colour display made it useful for development, publishing, finance and technical visualisation.

Collector’s Notes

• The matching Sound Box is essential for normal keyboard, mouse and audio connections.
• Verify the 33 MHz Turbo board because standard colour systems may occupy nearly identical cases.

Specifications

Technical Information
Name	NeXTstation Turbo Color
Manufacturer	Next
Launched	Wednesday, April 1, 1992
Discontinued	1993
Country	United States
CPU	Motorola 68040 at 33 MHz
Units Sold
Power	Internal universal power supply; configuration varies by model and market
Networking	Built-in Ethernet
Additional CPU	Motorola DSP56001 at 25 MHz
Operating System	NeXTSTEP 3.x
Expansion / I/O	External SCSI-2, serial, DSP, thin and twisted-pair Ethernet, DB13W3 display and Sound Box
Keyboard	NeXT keyboard with two-button optical mouse
Storage	Internal SCSI hard disk and 2.88MB floppy drive
Sound	16-bit stereo audio with built-in digital signal processing
Colours	4,096 colours
Graphics	12-bit colour framebuffer with 1.5MB VRAM
Display	NeXT MegaPixel Color Display; 1120 x 832 pixels
ROM	128KB boot ROM
RAM	16MB standard; expandable to 128MB
CPU Speed	33 MHz