iOS 8: A Brief Introduction

iOS 8 has one steep requirement for those who want to upgrade to it directly on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. You need 5.6 GB of free space to load and run the installer – even though the core iOS 8 installation is under 1 GB. That can be a real problem with 8 GB iDevices.

iOS 8: Not Quite Yet

Low-end Mac and iOS users have a love-hate relationship with Apple. We love new hardware and new operating systems and new features. We hate old hardware and operating systems being left behind.

Overclocking the Quadra AV Models

The AV Quadras stand apart from the rest of the Quadra line with their AT&T Hobbit coprocessors and GeoPort serial ports. both the 660av and 840av can be overclocked.

What About the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus?

As widely rumored in recent months, Apple unveiled the iPhone 6 this week – and in the two sizes expected. The smaller model, with a 4.7″ display, is called the iPhone 6. The larger one, with a phablet-sized 5.5″ screen is the iPhone 6 Plus.

Is the Mid 2014 iMac Really a Road Apple?

Road Apples. That’s our category for the worst products Apple ever made. Products such as the Apple III and the Performa 5200 that just had to many compromises or reliability issues for us to ever recommend using them. We think it’s fitting to name them after horse droppings.

Road Apples & Second Class Macs

Second Class Macs are Macs you should buy with your eyes wide open – if you buy them at all. The only ones I would put on the “avoid at all costs” list are those with three or four apples. The Macs with only one or two apples can be very nice computers as long as […]

Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac FAQ

Microsoft PowerPoint began its life as Presenter and was published for exclusively Macintosh by Forethought, Inc. Microsoft acquired Forethought in 1987 and renamed the app PowerPoint.

Tech News on Low End Mac

We’re going to give you a different take on tech news. No rumors. No press releases. No news based on a third-hand report. We’re going to give you real tech news with a low-end twist.

Writing Tech News for Low End Mac

We’re trying to do something different with tech news: no rumors, no reprinted press releases, no minor software update notices, and nothing based solely on a third-hand report. We take our tech news seriously.

1.4 GHz iMac: What Is Apple Thinking?

We’ve published our first article on the Mid 2014 21.5″ iMac with its 1.4 GHz low-power dual-core i5 CPU, and Chris Carson was not impressed with its value. I want to treat is as fairly and unemotionally as possible, so let’s take a closer look.

LibreOffice: A Free Alternative to Microsoft Office and AppleWorks

LibreOffice is a free alternative to the not-inexpensive Microsoft Office suite. I’m using it to replace AppleWorks, which I’ve been using since ClarisWorks 1.0 shipped back in the System 7.0 era. Unfortunately, AppleWorks is incompatible with OS X 10.7 Lion and later, so I’ve had to find an alternative since installing OS X 10.9 Mavericks […]

Can I Run OS X Lion If I Upgrade My Core Duo’s CPU?

Apple’s first generation of Intel-based Macs (not counting the pro-oriented 2006 Mac Pro and Xservv), is build around Intel’s first generation Core technology. Except for the seriously underpowered Core Solo Mac mini, they all use the Core Duo CPU and are thus unable to run the OS X 10.7 Lion installer – or anything newer. In fact, Apple won’t […]

Half a Lifetime with Macs

It’s my birthday, and I realized I’ve been using Macs for half my life. I was 28 years old when I first used a Mac Plus way back in 1986, along with PageMaker 1.0 and the original LaserWriter printer. And 28 years later, I know a lot more about Macs – and myself.

Time for Macs with Apple CPUs?

There are frankly crazy rumors going about that Apple is ready to launch MacBooks, Mac minis, and perhaps even iMacs with up to four 4-core ARM-based CPUs. The next generation iPhone/iPad CPU will almost certainly be a 4-core 64-bit Apple chip named the A8. But in Macs?

Smartphones: Size Matters, but Not the Most

With another “well duh” headline, Cult of Mac told us yesterday, Survey Finds Battery Life Is Most Important for iPhone Owners. Didn’t the fact that we use 3.5″ and 4″ smartphones while the Android world has gone bigger kind of make that obvious?

Will Your Mac Run OS X 10.10?

Apple is notoriously tight-lipped about upcoming OS versions and hardware. We fully expect OS X 10.10 to ship sometime this year, probably after a preview at the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) held June 2-6, 2014.