website/content/museum/next-computers-next-cube.md

---
title: Next Computers NeXT Cube
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Professional Computer
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1988'
params:
  name: NeXT Cube
  image: /media/museum/photos/next_cube_1.jpg
  company: /companies/next-computers
  company_name: Next Computers
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: NeXT Cube
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Next Computers
  - label: TYPE
    value: Professional Computer
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: U.S.A.
  - label: YEAR
    value: '1988'
  - label: END OF PRODUCTION
    value: '1993'
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: Full-stroke keyboard, 85 keys, 2 buttons opto-mechanical mouse
  - label: CPU
    value: |-
      NeXTcube 030 : Motorola MC 68030 @ 25 Mhz\
      NeXTcube 040 : Motorola MC 68040 @ 25 Mhz\
      NeXTcube Turbo : Motorola MC 68040 @ 33 Mhz
  - label: CO-PROCESSOR
    value: FPU Motorola 68882 (math co-processor) @ 25 Mhz
  - label: RAM
    value: 8 Mb upgradable to 16 Mb (Cube 030) or to 64 Mb (Cube 040)
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: 1120 x 832
  - label: COLORS
    value: 4 (black, white and two shades of grey)
  - label: SOUND
    value: |-
      DSP Motorola 56001 @ 25 Mhz (16 bits, 44.1 Khz, stereo, 24k RAM upgradable to 576 kb)\
      Speaker built-in the monitor
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: 31.8 x 30.5 x 30.5 cm
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: 4 (3 free) NeXTbus connectors, internal SCSI connector, SCSI2 external connector, DSP, video output, proprietary port for NeXT laser printer, 2 RS232 ports, Ethernet,
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: |-
      Magneto-Optical Drive (256 MB)\
      SCSI hard-disk, FDD (2.88 Mb) and CD-ROM were optional
  - label: OS
    value: MACH 4.3 + NextStep
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: PSU built-in
  - label: PERIPHERALS
    value: Modem
  - label: PRICE
    value: $6500 (USA, october 88)
  tabs:
  - photos
  - links
  photos:
  - title: THE CUBE
    subtitle: ''
    text: This innovative design (by FrogDesign) is said to have inspired the later Apple Cube and Nintendo GameCube...
    image: /media/museum/photos/next_cube_2.jpg
  links:
  - title: Black Hole, Incorporated
    url: http://WWW.BLACKHOLEINC.COM/
    text: Retailer of NeXT computers and related
  - title: Channel U NeXT page
    url: http://www.channelu.com/NeXT/index.html
    text: Site with a lot of information about NeXT
  - title: Computers Forever 1970..80..90
    url: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/fabrice.montupet/
    text: Fabrice has a nice page about NeXT computers
  - title: NeXT Forum
    url: http://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/index.php
    text: NeXT forum
  - title: NeXT Step information page
    url: http://www120.pair.com/mccarthy/nextstep/
    text: A good introduction to the NeXT operating system
  - title: www.NeXTComputers.org
    url: http://www.nextcomputers.org/
    text: Website dedicated to NeXT computers, NEXTSTEP and OPENSTEP
  comments:
  - author: JimWorm
    date: Tuesday 21st April 2015
    text: When the NeXT Cube computer was released, The price was an astronomical $6800.00. I remember at the press release, Jobs mentioned that it would only be sold to academic institutions and college students, and not to the general public. When a reporter asked how he could get one, a very cocky Jobs replied "Enroll".
  - author: matthew (Texas United States)
    date: Tuesday 31st March 2015
    text: did you know the 040 nextcube was actually used for graphics design at id software at the time doom was made
  - author: Nate (Ohio)
    date: Tuesday 4th March 2014
    text: 'Fun fact: A NextCUBE was the world''''s first World Wide Web server..,'
  - author: bluekatt (netherlands)
    date: Sunday 17th September 2006
    text: |-
      the core of next is the mach kernel with scource code from bsd unix\
      it displays postscript and has a windowing engine\
      and a object orientated application layer\
      it has a terminal ( its a nix after all )
  - author: Renzin (USA)
    date: Wednesday 3rd August 2005
    text: Steve Jobs really loved the cube. Just look at the Mac G4 cube. NeXTstep, as everyone says, is greatly related to OS X, but what is the core name? The core of OS X is Darwin. Also, does it have a terminal like X and what is it like?
  - author: yaro (us)
    date: Friday 19th November 2004
    text: Actually NS stood for Next/Sun. The NS prefix was only introduced with OpenStep (not NextStep which used a NX prefix.)
  - author: Nick Daisley (USA)
    date: Monday 28th June 2004
    text: |-
      Just for your information - you speak of the NeXT machines in the past tense but as of 1 year ago (probably still now) one of the Physics labs at Oxford University was entirely equipped with NeXT stations, with a Cube as a server. Quite simply, they had not come across anything which could replace them (although they were exploring Mac OS-X to that end) in terms of the network integration, messaging and programming facilities which they offer.\
      Meanwhile, my monitor stands on top of a 'color station' which just awaits a proprietory keyboard in order to switch it on for the first time in many years!
  - author: Jeremiah (USA)
    date: Friday 25th January 2002
    text: |-
      MacOS X is indeed an heir to NeXTstep, though the MACH-BSD kernal in NeXTstep was replaced my something much more modern in OS X. OS X inherits it's structure, notions of services, application bundles, GUI and display postscript (Called Quartz under OS X), use of "NetInfo" for most things from NeXTstep, but most of the "UNIX" is actually freeBSD.

      it's interesting from a developers perspective to see all of the NeXTstep headers still in use, and NeXT-derived functions. For example, many header files and prototypes begin with the letters "NS", meaning "NextStep". :-)
  - author: Douro (USA)
    date: Friday 25th January 2002
    text: MacOS 10 uses much the same kernel as NeXTStep. With the port of the Mac kernel to the PC, Intel-based machines can now run NeXTStep. Apple's updated release included a color(!) GUI and could be run on Macintosh computers.
  related:
  - /museum/next-computers-next-station
  oc_id: 277
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230430210346/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=277
    date: '2023-04-30'
---

What a mythical and powerful computer!! When Steve Jobs left Apple, he decided to create the best computer possible ! The result is the NeXT.

This prodigious computer impressed a lot of people when it was presented! Its technical features, its object oriented operating system and its graphical interface, even its black case were very far from the standards (remember how many black-cased computers there were in 1988: not many)! And NeXTStep is always considered as a reference.

It was sold with a lot of great programs and a very powerful 400 dpi laser printer. Some technical features were a bit strange (grayscale display, no floppy drive, no hard disk), but were modified in the next generation with the [NeXT Station](/museum/next-computers-next-station/) and the NeXT Cube 040.

NeXT also released later the **NeXTdimension** for the Cube. It is a board based on an intel860, wich offers a true 32bit Postcript color display and video sampling features. You could buy the NeXTdimension board alone or a NeXTcube upgraded with it, sometimes refered as "color Cube".

Unfortunately, this computer was too expensive and had little commercial success, few years later, it was abandoned, but the later successors of this computer are still in use in some places, as servers! The NeXT was used as the world's first web server, and was also the platform for the first web browser!

Notice that the architecture of this computer (68030, 68882 & DSP 56001) is the same setup used in the [Atari Falcon](/museum/atari-falcon-030/) which was presented (a bit late) in 1992!

Thanks to [Computers Forever1970..80..90](http://perso.wanadoo.fr/fabrice.montupet/) for most of the info.