Mac NC

The Mac NC or Macintosh NC is an unreleased personal computer prototype design by Apple Computer, Inc. in 1997. The design is Apple's planned implementation of the multi-vendor Network Computer Reference Profile (NCRP), a set of specifications for low-cost thin client devices intended to challenge the monopoly of Microsoft Windows-based PCs. According to a CNET report, one likely configuration was for the Mac NC to run a version of Mac OS connected to server computers running Apple's Rhapsody operating system. The project was publicly championed by then-Apple board member Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle Corporation, who framed the network computer concept as a strategic assault on Microsoft's monopoly.

The project's advancement precipitated a fundamental strategic conflict within Apple following the return of Steve Jobs. Ellison's vision was for a server-centric device focused on low total cost of ownership for enterprise customers, which he attempted to impose from his seat on Apple's board. This clashed with the radically different path being formulated by Jobs, which was centered on a "user-first" philosophy and powerful, self-contained personal computers. Jobs issued a sharp, public rebuke of Ellison's announcement of the project and ultimately canceled it.

The Mac NC was never displayed or released, but its underlying concepts were redistributed for two other Apple products. The project's consumer-facing ambition for a simple, Internet-ready machine was realized in the iMac G3, which saved Apple from bankruptcy. The Mac NC's core technical architecture of a diskless, network-bootable client was meticulously preserved and redeployed as NetBoot, a niche-focused technology that became a cornerstone of Mac OS X Server.