Driver:Mac PPC

Apple Macintosh series (PowerPC-based)

WARNING - This page is a Work In Progress! (Last updated September 21, 2026 for MAME 0.290+).

Designed by a team led by Steve Jobs, the Macintosh was Apple's follow-up to the Apple II series that finally stuck, after many attempts. Macintosh computers are still being made today, albeit with very different hardware and software technology. Macintosh computers have used 4 different processor architectures over time; PowerPC was the first of 3 major transitions, and it began in 1994.

Quickstart

The Quickstart section of the 680x0-based Macintosh page applies here too.

Models and Clones

NuBus-based

• Power Macintosh 6100/60 (1994 - driver names pmac6100 for the original 60 MHz model and pmac6100_66 for the updated 66 MHz model)

- The first PowerPC based Macintosh. Includes a 60 MHz PowerPC CPU, 8 MiB of RAM standard, and a processor-direct slot which can accept a NuBus adapter card to plug in a single NuBus card.

• Power Macintosh 7100/66 (1994 - driver names pmac7100 for the original 66 MHz model and pmac7100_80 for the updated 80 MHz model)

- A faster version of the 6100/60 in a larger case with 3 NuBus slots.

• Power Macintosh 8100/80 (1994 - driver names pmac8100 for the original 80 MHz model, pmac8100_100 for the 100 MHz model, and pmac8100_110 for the 110 MHz model)

- An even faster version of the 6100/60 in a mini-tower case with 3 NuBus slots and a second SCSI bus.

• Power Macintosh 6200/75 (1995 - driver name pmac6200, not marked working as of 0.290 but can boot 7.5.3-9.1 to Finder from its ATA bus)

- A Quadra 630 with a PowerPC 603 and a bus translator chip replacing the 68040. All other aspects of the machine are the same as the Quadra 630.

PCI based

• Power Macintosh 7200 (1995 - driver names pmac7200 for 75 MHz, pmac7200_90 for 90 MHz, pmac7200_100 for 100 MHz, and pmac7200_120 for 120 MHz, added in MAME 0.290)

- Lower-midrange PCI machines based on the "Catalyst" architecture. Available with a PowerPC 601 CPU at 4 clock speeds (75, 90, 100, and 120 MHz). The 7200 came in a desktop case; the Power Macintosh 8200 is the 7200 in the same mini-tower case as the NuBus-based Power Macintosh 8100.

• Power Macintosh 4400 (1996 - driver names pmac4400 for 160 MHz, pmac4400_200 for 200 MHz, added in MAME 0.290)

- Lower-midrange PCI machine based on the "Tanzania" architecture which many of the Mac clones used. Available with a PowerPC 603e CPU at 2 clock speeds (160 and 200 MHz). The 4400 came in a unique case based on a white-box PC chassis, as it was aimed at cost cutting. These machines were known as the "Power Macintosh 7220" in some regions.

• Power Macintosh 6400 (1996 - driver name pmac6400, added in MAME 0.290)

- Low end PCI machine based on the "Alchemy" architecture. Available with a PowerPC 603e CPU at 180 MHz. The 6400 came in a mid-tower sized case similar to the 7200.

• Power Macintosh 6500 (1997 - driver names pmac6500 for 225 MHz, pmac6500_250 for 250 MHz, pmac6500_275 for 275 MHz, and pmac6500_300 for 300 MHz, added in MAME 0.290)

- Low end PCI machine based on the "Gazelle" architecture. Available with a PowerPC 603e CPU at 225, 250, 275, or 300 MHz. The 6500 came in the same case as the 6400.

• Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (1997 - driver name pmac20th, added in MAME 0.290)

- Low end PCI machine based on the "Alchemy" architecture. Available with a PowerPC 603e CPU at 250 MHz. This machine came in a unique case that echoed the configuration of the original Macintosh and had a unique startup chime. As an actual computer it's identical to the 6500/250 though.

• Power Macintosh G3 (1998 - driver name pwrmacg3, became working in MAME 0.290)

- Also known as the "beige G3" to differentiate it from the later Blue and White G3, which was also officially named "Power Macintosh G3". Originally intended to be a CHRP machine that would run both Mac OS and Windows NT. Includes a 233 MHz PowerPC 750 CPU, 32 MiB of RAM, an ATI Rage II or Rage Pro GPU, and 3 PCI slots.

• iMac (Bondi blue) (1998 - driver name iMac, not marked working as of 0.290 but is very functional). The original blue translucent iMac. Includes a 233 MHz PowerPC 750 CPU, 32 MiB of RAM, and an ATI Rage IIc GPU.

The default configurations

• pmac6100, pmac7100, pmac8100: as shipped, with 8 MiB of RAM, and the -ram option can accept 12m, 16m, 24m, 40m, 72m, 136m, and 264m.
• pmac7200: as shipped, with 8 MiB of RAM, and the -ram option can accept 16m, 32m, and 64m.

Technical info

Driver:Mac_68K:Tech_Info

Errata

Known things wrong with these drivers. If it's listed here, I know about it, so it will eventually be fixed, hopefully.

• The iMac (Bondi blue) will try to shut down and freeze if a key is pressed during or immediately after the boot chime. It's unclear if this is because we're using the iMac's leftover ADB support or what's going on.
• The Power Macintosh G3 will not recognize a floppy drive even though it definitely came with one.

Solved

• (Fixed in MAME 0.290) The 6100/7100/8100 would show incorrect CPU speeds in e.g. TechTool.
• (Fixed in MAME 0.290) Floppy disks largely don't work on the PowerPC machines. pmac6100 will read them if you use a loose image and mark it read-only at your OS level (chmod on Linux/macOS, the Read Only checkbox in Windows File Explorer).
• (Fixed in MAME 0.290) Quake crashes when it starts showing its demo.
• (Fixed in MAME 0.290) Finder windows sometimes draw with a corrupted background initially and then repaint correctly when covered with another window and then uncovered, particularly in Mac OS 9.
• (Fixed in MAME 0.289) Systems 7.5.0, 7.5.3, and 7.5.5 may throw an Error 11 if saved PRAM exists. Other System/Mac OS versions do not have this issue. Deleting the PRAM (a file named 'cuda' inside the 'pmac6100' folder in your MAME nvram folder) will allow a clean boot.
• (Fixed in MAME 0.289) System 9.1 works but does not run full speed. Use 9.0.4 or 8.6 instead. NOTE: 9.1 will have heavier host system requirements than 9.0.4 and previous versions, but running it full speed is well within reach for many of today's computers. It's no sweat on an M3 MacBook Pro, for instance.
• (Fixed in MAME 0.289) A whole bunch of issues were fixed including sound, stability, and compatibility.