Is Running Leopard on a Sawtooth Power Mac G4 Worth Doing?

My latest main Mac (since my Intel iMac died) is a Power Mac G4 Sawtooth that is way under Apple’s minimum requirements for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, but I set out on a mission to get it installed. At Low End Mac, we pride ourselves in getting the most out of our Macs. I use G3s running […]

Getting the Most from Your G3 Mac

I love G3 Macs, but I’m no fool. A G3 machine in its original Apple-shipped state won’t cut it in today’s computing world – but with a few upgrades and additions you can easily get a little extra usage out of older Macs.

Are G3 Macs Still Viable Work Machines?

I am a firm believer in getting the very most out of older hardware – part of the reason I like and write for Low End Mac. With the move to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Apple cut out a lot of older computer users and began a slow death for the G3.

My Experiences with Mac OS X

My history with the Mac OS is considerably shorter than my time with Windows, but it is no less interesting. Since I began to use the Apple Macintosh, there have two distinct releases: Mac OS X 10.3 Panther and 10.4 Tiger.

iMac (Mid 2007)

Apple gave the iMac a fresher look in August 2007, the first change from the stark white face introduced with the first G5 iMac three years earlier. The new look puts a black border around a glossy display, has an aluminum finish, and is thinner than its predecessors.

24″ iMac (Mid 2007)

Apple gave the iMac a fresher look in August 2007, the first change from the stark white face introduced with the first G5 iMac in 2004. The new look puts a black border around a glossy display, has an aluminum finish, and is thinner than its predecessors.

20″ iMac (Mid 2007)

Apple gave the iMac a fresher look in August 2007, the first change from the stark white face introduced with the first G5 iMac in 2004. The new look puts a black border around a glossy display, has an aluminum finish, and is thinner than its predecessors.

Mac mini (Mid 2007)

Apple “refreshed” the Mac mini the same day it unveiled new iMacs, iLife ’08, and iWork ’08. The updated model finally moves the Mini from the outdated Core Duo to a Core 2 Duo processor, giving it 64-bit capabilities along with faster CPU speeds. Between the newer, more efficient CPU and 8-10% higher clock speeds, […]

MacBook Pro (Mid 2007)

The Mid 2007 MacBook Pro came in two sizes. Both use Intel’s Santa Rosa chipset and an 800 MHz system bus (up from 667 MHz). The 15″ was Apple’s first notebook with LED backlighting, and this was the first time Apple offered a 1920 x 1200 screen for the 17″ model.

15″ MacBook Pro (Mid 2007)

The 15″ MacBook Pro became Apple’s first notebook computer with LED backlighting when it was introduced on June 5, 2007. Other than that, the specs don’t seem much different than it’s predecessor.

MacBook (Mid 2007)

Six months after moving the Macbook to Intel’s Core 2 Duo CPU, Apple upgraded the MacBook again. The improved model is faster, has twice as much RAM on the low end, includes a faster SuperDrive (2.16 GHz models), and has bigger hard drives.

Mac Pro (Early 2007)

Apple introduced the Mac Pro as a fully customizable quad-core computer in 2006 and updated it to eight cores in April 2007. The buyer could choose as little as 1 GB of RAM or as much as 16 GB. 160, 250, or 500 GB in drive bay one, and optionally 500 GB in bays 2-4.

MacBook (Late 2006)

Has it already been six months since the original MacBook was introduced? Then it must be time for an upgrade. Now that Apple has solved most of the MacBook’s teething problems, they’ve improved it by replacing the Intel Core Duo CPU with the newer, more energy efficient, cooler running Core 2 Duo. Overall, that should […]

17″ MacBook Pro (Late 2006)

On 2006.10.24, Apple moved the MacBook Pro line to Intel’s newer Core 2 Duo CPU, claiming “up to 39% faster” performance than the model it replaced. Part of that comes from the more efficient CPU, and part from an 8% faster CPU.

15″ MacBook Pro (Late 2006)

On 2006.10.24, Apple moved the MacBook Pro line to Intel’s newer Core 2 Duo CPU, claiming “up to 39% faster” performance than the model it replaced. Part of that comes from the more efficient CPU, and part from an 8% faster CPU.

iMac (Late 2006)

Industry watchers had been anticipating Apple moving the iMac to Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor, which is “up to 50% more powerful” (according to Apple) than the Core Duo used in the Early 2006 iMac. As if that wasn’t enough, Apple added the biggest iMac to date to the line, a whopping 24″ model with […]

Mac mini (Late 2006)

Kudos to Apple for abandoning the Intel Core Solo used in the original entry-level Intel Mac mini. With the September 2006 revision, both models have Core Duo processors. Oddly, these are the only second-generation Intel Macs not to use Core 2 Duo CPUs, something we’ve never understood.

24″ iMac (Late 2006)

Industry watchers had been anticipating Apple moving the iMac to Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor, which is “up to 50% more powerful” (according to Apple) than the Core Duo used in the Early 2006 iMac. As if that wasn’t enough, Apple added the biggest iMac yet to the line, a whopping 24″ model with a 1920 […]

20″ iMac (Late 2006)

Industry watchers had been anticipating Apple moving the iMac to Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor, which is “up to 50% more powerful” (according to Apple) than the Core Duo used in the Early 2006 iMac. As if that wasn’t enough, Apple added the biggest iMac to date to the line, a whopping 24″ model with […]

17″ 2.0 GHz iMac (Late 2006)

Industry watchers had been anticipating Apple moving the iMac to Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor, which is “up to 50% more powerful” (according to Apple) than the Core Duo used in the Early 2006 iMac. As if that wasn’t enough, Apple added the biggest iMac to date to the line, a whopping 24″ model with […]

17″ 1.83 GHz iMac (Late 2006)

Industry watchers had been anticipating Apple moving the iMac to Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor, which is “up to 50% more powerful” (according to Apple) than the Core Duo used in the Early 2006 iMac. As if that wasn’t enough, Apple added the biggest iMac to date to the line, a whopping 24″ model with […]

Mac Pro (Mid 2006)

Apple introduced the Mac Pro as a fully customizable quad-core computer. The buyer can choose from two dual-core Intel Xeon Woodcrest at 2.0, 2.66, or 3.0 GHz. As little as 1 GB of RAM or as much as 16 GB. 160, 250, or 500 GB in drive bay one, and optionally 500 GB in bays 2-4.

17″ iMac (Mid 2006)

Apple surprised a lot of people by introducing a scaled back version of the 17″ iMac Core Duo in July 2006. To shave US$400 from the 17″ Early 2006 iMac’s retail price for the education market, Apple replaced the SuperDrive with a 24x Combo drive, used an 80 GB hard drive instead of 160, and relied […]

MacBook (Mid 2006)

We’ve been waiting quite a while to see what Apple would replace the iBook with, and the rumored 13.3″ widescreen MacBook is now a reality. The biggest surprise is that Apple is replacing both the iBook line and the 12″ PowerBook with the 13″ MacBook, greatly simplifying their line of notebook computers. Built around Intel’s Core Duo […]

17″ MacBook Pro (Early 2006)

In an unusual Monday product announcement (Apple usually reveals new products on Tuesday), Apple introduced the 17″ MacBook Pro (MBP) with a 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo CPU. It’s the first MacBook to support FireWire 800, and it also has a dual-layer SuperDrive (vs. single-layer in the 15″ MacBook Pro).