AppleColor High-Resolution RGB Monitor (1991)

The AppleColor High-Resolution RGB Monitor is a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) computer display introduced in 1987 and discontinued in 1992. This monitor has the distinction of being Apple’s first color display for the Macintosh. It was introduced along with the Mac II.

The tube size is 13 inches with a viewable size of 12.8 inches. The display uses Sony Trinitron technology.

The monitor is capable of displaying 640 x 480 resolution at 69 dots per inch and supports 24-bit color. It measures 11 inches high, by 13.5 inches wide, is 16 inches deep, and weighs 44 pounds. The monitor uses Apple’s proprietary DA-15 video connector.

Surprisingly, this monitor’s specifications are still available on Apple’s Documentation website as of June 2024.

Sources: Apple Documentation, LowEndMac

Macintosh Display (DA-15) to VGA Adapters (platinum, clear, and black)

During the 1990s when Apple produced external CRT displays, they built DB-15 video ports into Macintosh computers. Product manuals of the time referred to the port as the “Macintosh video port” and in the later 1990s, the “Monitor port.”

An Apple Service Source document for the Power Macintosh/Server G3 Minitower shows the port in a diagram labeled as the “Monitor Port.”

I have three different versions of this adapter that allows a Macintosh with this DB-15 monitor port to be used with a “standard” VGA monitor. The three versions I have are platinum, clear, and black. The black example is unopened. All three designs have the Apple logo.

Source: Apple

Apple Video Card Accessory (DA-15)

During the 1990s when Apple first entered the external display market, they used the DB-15 video port. Product manuals of the time referred to the port as the “Macintosh video port” or later, the “Monitor port.”

An Apple Service Source document for the Macintosh LC Series/Quadra 605 (Macintosh LC, Macintosh LC II, Macintosh LC III, Macintosh LC 475, Macintosh Quadra 605) specifies the video standard as: “DB-15 monitor port for built-in video; DA-15 connector.”

This Apple Video Card Accessory (part number 513-0091-A) allowed “standard” VGA monitor to be used with a Macintosh computer.

Source: Apple