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December 2024
This 5K 2017 iMac has a socketed CPU, a SATA 3.0 port, Four memory slots for PC4-19200s DDR4-2400T RAM, an NVME style PCIe x4 SSD blade slot, and an AirPort card slot which appears to also be of a PCIe interface. This iMac also uses slightly faster DDR4 over its 1080p 21.5″ counterpart, at 2400 […]
This version of the Early 2013/Late 2013 iMac is stripped back and only available to educational institutions; it is not available for sale to individuals. To cut $200 and make this a $1099 computer, Apple scaled back from a 2.7 GHz quad-core i5 CPU to a 3.3 GHz dual-core i3, reduced hard drive storage capacity, […]
This was the end of the line for the smaller Intel iMacs altogether, and perhaps you’re thinking: doesn’t this have a T2 security chip since it’s from 2019? Rest assured, it doesn’t. There were no 2020 or 2018 4K iMacs, and this model came with Intel’s 8th gen coffee lake processors, the same generation used […]
Although only $200 separated the purchase price of the base model Mid-2017 1080p iMac versus the 4K Mid-2017 iMac, the differences inside couldn’t be more drastic. On the surface and on the outside they look to be the very same machine.. until you start tearing one apart and realize how much more upgradeable the 4K […]
This iMac is basically a giant 13″ 2017 MacBook Pro but with replaceable RAM and no battery. Kaby Lake was the end of the line for the non-retina iMacs with only a single CPU option, and remained available for purchase all the way through October 29th 2021. The i5-7360U was soldered onto the logic board […]
An introduction and some history A bit over a decade ago, Apple released the 2011 MacBook Pro with the now infamous Radeon 6000 series discrete Graphics Card. Both the Early and Late 2011 models were prone to spontaneous failure which has been well documented online starting with initial complaints in the Apple Support community. Eventually […]
Certain older Macs are able to take advantage of adding an external graphics card through modification. This is article is broken up into 3 parts, as it contains a lot of information and pictures. Please refer to part 1 of the article for hardware/parts prerequisites. Sections 1 through 5 are contained in part 1, Sections […]
Certain older Macs are able to take advantage of adding an external graphics card through modification. This usually requires external power, the corresponding adapters, can be done via the mini-PCIe slot or MXM slot, and come with case-by-case caveats as most of this was never intended to be a thing. Once installed and properly connected, […]
While this has been covered elsewhere online, it will be posted here for our LEM readers! A few years back, a LEM Facebook group user found a neat trick on getting a cost-effective, more modernized Bluetooth/Wifi solution for his Power Mac G5. Though his was a PCIe model, there is an easy way to get […]
Although this topic has been documented elsewhere, it will also be covered on Low End Mac for our readers. While bluetooth and wifi technology have since moved onto newer standards – Bluetooth 5.3 and Wifi 6 respectively, this adapter offers a pop-in replacement where the old AirPort card was. Rather than shoehorning a full-on PCIe […]
The butterfly keyboard is no more – the 2020 retina MacBook Air has a new-to-it scissor style keyboard. This model also makes the leap over to 10th-gen Intel Ice Lake CPUs, which are also found in the 2020 13″ MacBook Pro with 4 Thunderbolt ports. The 2020 ‘Air and 4-TBP ‘Pro are the only Macs […]
Between the Late 2018 model and this one, there are almost no discernible differences – one could be forgiven for thinking it’s just a new model in name. In fact, the differences are so minuscule, it may as well be a late 2018 MacBook Air. You get a 49.9 watt-hour battery versus the 50.3 watt-hour […]
This was the first major design overhaul of the MacBook Air since the original. While there were some iterative changes after the 2008 and 2011 MacBook Air, they largely looked the same, especially to anyone in the market for one. The Late 2018 MacBook Air was the last ‘Book to gain a Retina display, as […]
We’re all familiar with silver, space gray and now space black.. but what about all the other colors? This wasn’t enough, as colorful Macs started trickling back in. We had gold and rose gold with the late intel MacBook Airs and MacBooks, and finally had colorful iMacs again with the M1 iMac. Ryan Anderson made […]
The following is an article about a story of what happened to a LEM group member’s peculiar Power Mac G5, as well as the experiences I had troubleshooting my own. I was browsing our Low End Mac FaceBook group a few nights ago, when someone posted about having issues with their Power Mac G5 potentially […]
Fresh to the Low End Mac mailbag from FaceBook User Michael Vega: “Possibly known knowledge, but I wanted to show a proof of concept and I’m glad it works. I have a thunderbolt 3 dock, but it works with Thunderbolt 2/1 Macs. My work laptops are a current generation of Lenovo PCs with Thunderbolt 4, […]
Just like the 2019 model year, the 2020 intel model year is differentiated in name by its amount of thunderbolt ports. The awkward naming scheme caused confusion to some, when in reality it was separating the low/higher end 13″ models, like the non-TouchBar models that came before it. The 2020 model year 13″ MacBook Pro […]
The 2019 13″ MacBook Pro saw a slight bifurcation in the way the product was sold. They added a TouchBar to the 2x Thunderbolt Port Model, and started differentiating them in name by their amount of… thunderbolt ports. The 13″ model stuck around with 8th gen CPUs whilst the 15″/16″ made the leap to 9th […]
This was the very last and final A1466 ‘Book, a design dating back to Mid-2012 with the release of the Ivy Bridge Intel CPUs. The base’s i5 was bumped from 1.6 to 1.8 Ghz, and the i7 option remains the same as what was available in 2015. The ’17 ‘Air comes with 8 GB of […]
Did somebody say Quad-Core? That’s right – with the release of 8th-Gen Intel CPUs, the 2018 MacBook Pro was leaps and bounds faster than any generation before it. You now have an entire 2 extra cores with 4 extra threads, but you have to cough up some extra money and grab a TouchBar model ($1799). […]
Let’s take a step into the wayback machine.. back to 2017 – whatever happened to the TouchBar? In hindsight, it’s easy to tell from a future when this model has just been phased out – the implementation felt offbeat. This model also suffered from keyboard and LCD flex cable issues, as well as the one […]
Out with the A1990, in with the A2141. The scissor keyboard marks a return on this reimagined and upsized MacBook Pro, after several years of controversy with the Butterfly Keyboard. It’s now called the Magic Keyboard, in line with the naming of other keyboard devices being sold. Screen real estate and resolution sees a bump-up, […]
On June 5th 2017, Apple released the third and final iteration of the 12″ MacBook, marking the end of the line for this model, as with using the name “MacBook” by itself to refer to an Apple notebook. The A1534 is produced for another 2 years through July 9th 2019, and the “MacBook” name is […]
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November 2024
On March 9th 2015, Apple reintroduced the MacBook after a 4-year hiatus, becoming the #1 thinnest Mac at the time. Most simply referred to this as “the new MacBook” during its production, before settling into calling it “the 12-inch MacBook”. It wasn’t cheap, starting at a hefty $1299, matching the cost of an entry-level 13″ […]
Nearly 20 years ago, this was a white Late 2006 20″ iMac. Today, it’s fastened to two wooden shelf pieces, supported by a… shelf bracket. Modifications done: Ripped out the Radeon x1600 chip, Bluetooth and wifi antenna is out of a 17″ 2006 MacBook Pro, Thermaltake smart 700W external PSU, A T7600 2.33 GHz Core […]
The 11″ Early 2015 MacBook Air ships with a 2.2 Ghz i7-5650u as a BTO/CTO option, making it the absolute fastest 11″ ‘Book ever. This hasn’t at all stopped users online from shoehorning an even better CPU in there, which inadvertently or intentionally upgrades the GPU also. Out with the old Intel HD 6000, in […]
The official “De Jure” Mac OS X Snow Leopard was announced at WWDC 2008, released August 28th 2009, and ultimately was never intended to run on PowerPC in the end. For a long time, it was known there were PowerPC-compatible beta builds of OS X Snow Leopard, however, these builds remained seemingly elusive until 2020. […]
Below are some of the key features of Mac OS 9. This information is adapted from Technote 1176 and other online resources. More details in the Technote and elsewhere. (Note: This article is a copy/paste of an existing LEM article, however, due to the errors presented on that page, it has been instead migrated here. […]
Over the years, Apple has used various different types of processors for their Macs: Motorola, PowerPC, Intel, and Apple Silicon. This page is dedicated to all the different types of processors used in Macs over the years, their specifications, and performance level. Due to the varying numbers, performance metrics, and various different benchmarking apps done.. […]
Back in the days of late PowerPC, Apple released a DTK which looked like a Power Mac G5 on the outside, but was actually a modified Intel Pentium 4 machine. Fast forward to the Apple Silicon transition, Apple released another one to developers on a loan-basis, with an A12Z chip in it. If you were […]
Once again, the base MacBook Pro takes a step forward with better performance. The machine is actually nearly identical to the newer A3113 (13″ ‘Air), except it looks like an A2992 (14″ ‘Pro). Essentially, a MacBook Air in the shape of a MacBook Pro. As of Late 2024, this was the final Apple Silicon-based MacBook […]
Now available in Space Black versus Space Gray, the M3 Pro MacBook Pro 14″ is terrifyingly fast. Almost feels like a wider, 2023 version of the PowerBook G3 Lombard. The M3 Pro cranks it up a notch over the M2 Pro, boasting even higher performance and efficiency core clock speeds, and newer, more power efficient […]
The M2 Pro/Max 14″ MacBook Pros were sold to the consumer market by Apple for a grand total of 286 days in 2023, making it one of the shortest-lived Apple computer models in history. There are some benefits to having an M2 Pro/Max over their M1-series counterparts, however, the M3 Pro/Max series released soon thereafter […]
I’m getting “heavy” 2009 Aluminum 15″ MacBook Pro vibes off of this. Is it the keyboard, with the return of the scissor switch? Is it the screen real estate, and return of physical buttons as opposed to a Touch Bar? It has rounded edges similar to a TiBook rather than tapered edges of the unibodies.. […]
Once again, the MacBook Air takes a step forward with better performance. The breakthrough was when Apple decided to start shipping these with 16 GB of RAM standard, starting October 30th, 2024 – along with the discounted M2 model. This M3 is still rated around 15 hours of battery use, and aside from a new […]
Joining the MacBook Air family in Summer 2023, the 15″ MacBook Air ($1299) is the biggest one yet. The new form factor enters larger laptop territory, but with a properly powerful entry level chip – the Apple M2. Previously, the only option you had for a larger Apple notebook would be the 15/16″ MacBook Pro. […]
Once again, the MacBook Air takes a step forward with better performance. The breakthrough was when Apple decided to start shipping these with 16 GB of RAM standard, starting October 30th, 2024 – along with the discounted M2 model. This M3 is still rated around 15 hours of battery use, and aside from a new […]
Just like the M1 Pro ‘Books before it, the M2 MacBook Air is totally redesigned, from head to toe. The design language is identical to the newer MacBook Pros – increasing the screen to body ratio, while also adding a notch to the top of the display to house the FaceTime camera/components. Gone is the […]
The Nvidia GeForce 7800 GT was a GPU option available for the Late 2005 Power Mac G5, and was released by Nvidia on August 11th, 2005. Although this was regarded as a high end GPU, an even higher-end, 512 MB Nvidia Quadro FX 4500 was available to configure. This GPU has a few generational upgrades […]
In the world of computer upgrades and peripherals, the age-old question has come up time and time again: do I get this one, or that one? Whether “Apple or Microsoft”, “Intel or AMD”, “iPhone or Android”, “ATI or Nvidia”.. competitors seek to have an advantage over the other, as so to convince someone to buy […]
In the world of Mac CPU hardware upgrades for your Power Mac G4, the Sonnet Encore/ST G4 1.6 is an aesthetically pleasing one, shaded with vibrant yet deep purple colors. Although it wasn’t a Dual CPU model, it was available seemingly for a long time, and was still available for purchase in December 2010 off […]
The M1 MacBook Air was among the first 2 commercially available Apple notebooks with an Apple Silicon chip. For $999, you get a front row seat on how mobile CPUs have progressed over the years to be powerful enough to run macOS. The new Apple Silicon MacBook Air features 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5, Thunderbolt […]
It’s been nearly a year since the SK 128 GB mSata SSD was taken out in favor of a larger capacity, 1 TB Fanxiang SSD. Since the Hi-Res PowerBook G4 15″ 1.67 isn’t limited to a 128 GB storage drive capacity, it seemed a suitable candidate to take advantage of this upgrade. The largest drive […]
Now available in Space Black versus Space Gray, the M3 Pro MacBook Pro 16″ is terrifyingly fast. Almost feels like a wider, 2023 version of the PowerBook G3 Lombard. The M3 Pro cranks it up a notch over the M2 Pro, boasting even higher performance and efficiency core clock speeds, and newer, more power efficient […]
The M2 Pro/Max 16″ MacBook Pros were sold to the consumer market by Apple for a grand total of 286 days in 2023, making it one of the shortest-lived Apple computer models in history. There are some benefits to having an M2 Pro/Max over their M1-series counterparts, however, the M3 Pro/Max series released soon thereafter […]
The M2 MacBook Pro and Air were the second generation refresh in an entry level Pro lineup of ‘Books based on Apple Silicon. For $1299, you get a couple noteworthy upgrades over the M1 – bumped performance core clock speeds from 3.2 to 3.49 Ghz, 2 additional GPU cores, 100GB/s memory bandwidth vs the M1’s […]
Until Apple does otherwise, this was the latest and greatest 15″ ‘Book ever made in terms of specs. In practice, the i9, VRMs, GPU, and other combined upgrades were a bit much for the chassis to handle, exacerbating the chassis’s inability to vent heat out of the computer. The higher the configuration, the more likely […]
With the release of 8th-Gen Intel CPUs, the 2018 MacBook Pro was leaps and bounds faster than any generation before it. For the same base price as last year’s ($2399) base model, you now have an entire 2 extra cores with 4 extra threads, and is the first ‘Book with DDR4. A slightly updated butterfly […]
I’m getting “heavy” 2009 Aluminum 17″ MacBook Pro vibes off of this. Is it the keyboard, with the return of the scissor switch? Is it the screen real estate, and return of physical buttons as opposed to a Touch Bar? It has rounded edges similar to a TiBook rather than tapered edges of the unibodies.. […]
The M1 MacBook Pro and Air were the very first commercially available Apple notebooks with an Apple Silicon chip. For $1299, you get a front row seat on how mobile CPUs have progressed over the years to be powerful enough to run macOS. The new Apple Silicon MacBook Pro features 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5, […]
Spooky.. powerful is what it is. At the time of writing this article, the M4 is among the fastest of CPUs in the Mac lineup, no questions asked. Let’s.. put this into perspective: A 2019 ‘Pro with the 28-core Xeon W-3275M cost $12,999 USD brand new from Apple. Then there’s the new M4 Mini for […]
Spooky.. powerful is what it is. At the time of writing this article, the M4 Pro/Max are the fastest CPUs in the Mac lineup, no questions asked. Let’s.. put this into perspective: A 2019 ‘Pro with the 28-core Xeon W-3275M cost $12,999 USD brand new from Apple. Then there’s the new M4 Mini for $599. […]
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October 2024
Want a Mac Pro expansion slot without the tower? Starting in macOS 10.13.4 High Sierra, you can use an external graphics card with your Thunderbolt equipped Mac, also known as an eGPU. While it’s possible to: use a mini PCIe to PCIe adapter or an MXM to PCIe adapter for eGPUs on older Macs on […]
Let’s take a step into the wayback machine.. back to 2017 – whatever happened to the TouchBar? In hindsight, it’s easy to tell from a future when this model has just been phased out – the implementation felt offbeat. This model also suffered from keyboard and LCD flex cable issues, as well as the one […]
You just might have to do a double-take if you see one of these in person. Coming in at a remarkable 5″ by 5″ by 2″ (12.7/12.7/5.0 cm), the third-generation Apple Silicon-based Mac mini resembles a footprint akin to an Apple TV 4K. This is a brand new design for the Mac mini, the first […]
You definitely have to ponder for a minute – what was Apple thinking when making this computer? There’s literally nothing else like it, developed and released at a time when people were unsure of whether or not the Mac Pro would receive an update. The 2013 Mac Pro 6,1 received little to no updates in […]
On Monday October 28th 2024, Apple announced the M4 iMac, the first with this most advanced chip. An M4 iPad Pro exists and was released to the general public on May 7th, 2024, being the only other device with an M4 chip at the time. The physical dimensions and design are all the same, but […]
Apple gave the iMac a fresh new look in April 2021, the first major iMac redesign in a long, long time. While the new Apple Silicon iMacs are a multicolored throwback to the PowerPC era, they still retain an aluminum body with a glass screen, with a starkly different appearance. The new look changes the […]
The M1 iMac arrived in the second wave of first generation Apple Silicon Macs, and is the first Mac to receive a redesign alongside the new chip. Gone are the 21.5″ and 27″ screen options of the Intel era, and none to replace the larger option. November 2020 saw the announcement of the M1 Mac […]
Launched as an iterative upgrade to the previous generation, the M2 chip offers improved CPU and GPU capabilities, making it quite ideal for everyday computing and creative workflows. The base model configuration released with 8 GB of RAM, causing some debate as to whether or not it is still an adequate amount of memory for […]
The M2 Max/M2 Ultra Mac Studio was released just over a year after the original, seemingly following its own trend in contrast to other Apple Silicon Macs. Dropping and shipping same day, June 5th 2023 was when it was announced. Retaining an identical exterior to the previous generation M1 Max / M1 Ultra Mac Studio, […]
The M1 Mac mini was the very first commercially available Apple computer with an Apple Silicon chip. A predecessor, Apple Developer Transition Kit exists based off of the A12Z Bionic chip, however, most have since been returned to Apple as per the loan agreement. The M1 Mac mini introduces a 5 nm 3.2 Ghz 8-core […]
There was a time in the PowerPC era roughly 20 or so odd years before the Mac Studio’s release, in which Apple sold a rough equivalent to the Studio itself. Perhaps it’s a stretch saying such a thing – however, the Power Mac G4 Cube did offer the same G4 Processor and most of the […]
These links provide a quick way to access hardware profile indexes for Apple Silicon-based Macs. Apple Silicon iMac Apple Silicon MP Apple Silicon mini Apple Silicon MBP AS MacBook Air Mac Studio Apple DTK 2 See as a list
The announcement of Apple Silicon at WWDC 2020 marked a major transitioning point for Apple, mainly focused on their return to a proprietary CPU platform. The compound effect of years of improvements on the iPhone ARM CPU platform had finally made their way to the desktop consumer market, and by extension, the Pro market. Akin […]
Although the outgoing Mac Pro had a 6 year run, it received few, if any updates during that time. In the weeks, months and years preceding the release of the 2019 Mac Pro, the crescendo of silence surrounding the Mac Pro led many to believe Apple was going to axe this model from the lineup. […]
-End of 2024 Articles. None were made until 10.25.2024.-
