We hate to say it, but it appears that the Mac mini is dead.
Author Archives: Daniel Knight
If you only took a quick glance at CPU speed, you might wonder why Apple even bothered to introduced new MacBook Pro models yesterday. Going from 2.16 GHz to 2.2 GHz is a 2% speed gain, and jumping from 2.33 GHz to 2.4 GHz isn’t much better – a gain of 3%. A New […]
Ever since Apple released the first MacBook one year ago, the company has sold the MacBook with matched pairs of memory, recommended that users only upgrade with matched pairs, and stated that the MacBook has a 2 GB memory ceiling.
Silence is golden, and you haven’t experienced silent computing until you use a laptop computer with no hard drive at all. That’s the promise of flash drives.
Let’s face it: High voltages are scary. When someone says “kilovolts”, you usually hear “killovolts”, right? And if you fire off a quick search on the Web, you find dire warnings everywhere that reinforce your natural fears. The warnings are so numerous and frightening, in fact, that it’s easy to believe that a CRT can […]
Yesterday Kirk Edwards asked, “Where are the Mirrored Drive Doors processor upgrades?” I replied that I didn’t know of any – and then did a little investigation.
2007: Has Apple been shortchanging MacBook and MacBook Pro buyers ever since the first Intel ‘Books shipped? That’s what Fred Greaves and Dave Gatley think.
Apple did it again. Like clockwork, they upgraded the MacBook six months after its last update. The Mid 2007 models are a bit faster, have larger hard drives, include 802.11n wireless, and the top models use a faster SuperDrive. Prices remain the same.
We’ve been having quite a discussion about G3 support in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard in the Low End Mac Mailbag, but I think this exchange merits a bit more attention. Kris Finkenbinder has some important things to say about the need for Apple to continue support of G3 Macs in the next version of the […]
2007: When Steve Jobs left Apple in 1985, there were only two Macintosh computers: the original 128K and the 512K “Fat Mac”. When he returned in 1997, there were PowerBooks, Power Macs, and Performas – each model name followed by a four-digit number. Jobs decided to simplify and focus the product line with four quadrants: […]
Sometimes it takes a while to put one and one together to make two. In this case, the iPhone plus Apple TV equals the future of computing.
How do the Intel Core Solo, Core Duo, Core 2, and new quad-core CPUs compare? That’s the question Primate Labs addresses in their latest Geekbench Comparison.
In the world of personal computing, you can never have too much speed, too much RAM, too much drive space, or too many USB ports.
2007 – “What’s happened to Low End Mac lately?” It’s a question I hear from readers and staff members. “What’s with the spate of pro-Windows articles? Why do you let your writers advocate for Windows?”
Everyone it talking about the Zune, Microsoft’s attempt at an iPod killer. It adds one neat new feature to the product mix, but otherwise it pales in comparison to the real thing.
A long, long time ago – back in the days when Outpost.com had an affiliate program – I got my first laser printer. The HP LaserJet 2100TN was fast for its day (10 pages per minute), solidly built, and sharp (1200 dpi output). I used it for about 8 years, and it probably would have […]
Low End Mac contributor Tom Hormby posted an article on OSnews examining Apple’s Worst Business Decisions. Hormby’s histories are some of the most popular pieces we’ve ever published, but I’m have to question some of his analysis.
Microsoft has done some stupid things in the past, and we’ve taken our pot shots at their PlaysForSure initiative. Microsoft is a big, easy target. But now they’ve taken the next step and created an MP3 player that’s not compatible with their own PlaysForSure standard or DRM protected WMA and WMV files (see Microsoft’s Zune Won’t Play […]
The truth is out there. Or perhaps in there is a better way of putting it, at least as far as batteries for laptop computers are concerned. The truth is that those expensive (and sometimes exploding) batteries are little more than repackaged Li-Ion* AA cells. And generally not the high capacity ones at that.
We’ve been predicting it for weeks, and Apple updated both the iMac and the Mac mini today. Because the iMac has a bigger change in features, size, and performance, we’re looking at it today. Come back tomorrow for a look at the updated Mac mini.
When Apple made the switch from PowerPC CPUs to Intel in 2006, the state-of-the-art CPU was Intel’s Core Duo processor, which was based on Intel’s 32-bit Pentium M architecture, which was originally designed for mobile use. The Core Duo was Intel’s first dual-core mobile processor, and it was used in all first generation Intel Macs […]
We’ve been predicting it for weeks, and Apple updated both the iMac and the Mac mini today. Because the iMac has a bigger change in features, size, and performance, we’re looking at it today. Come back tomorrow when we’ll look at the updated Mac mini.
Apple has done something really different with the Mac Pro, and it’s taken a few days to put it all in perspective.
The Mac Pro group is for those using Mac Pro computers. The group was begun on 2006.08.08.
2006 – “The clueless shall inherit the earth, because there are so many of them.” The latest example of that truism comes from Mike Langberg in his Monday column in the Mercury News. In Apple’s iTunes Solo Act Is Getting Competition (free subscription required), he explains both the Windows monopoly monoculture and the closed iPod/iTMS system.
Low End Mac’s Panther group is for those using Mac OS X 10.3. Panther Group was begun on 2006.04.08.
Low End Mac’s Jaguar Group is for those using Mac OS X 10.2. The group was begun 2006.03.29.
2006 – It seems that you can’t win for trying. Apple and Microsoft have each developed DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) technology that provides enough security for the recording industry to allow online music sales.
2006 – What’s the better value, a 2.7 GHz dual processor Power Mac G5 or a 2.3 GHz Power Mac G5 with dual cores? With both currently available refurbished for the same US$2,149 price from the Apple Store, that’s a good question.
Charles W. Moore’s essay on copyright law (see Copyright Bullies May Win Some Battles but Must Lose Their War) raised a lot of good points about the way vested interests (such as the RIAA and MPAA) have changed the nature of copyright from something that serves the public interest into something that only serves publishers.
February 2006 – A good mattress isn’t cheap, most cheap mattresses aren’t very good, and waterbeds remain a popular choice for people who loathe spring mattresses or can’t afford a good conventional mattress.
There are pros and cons to working with an external hard drive. On the plus side, you can easily move your operating system, applications, and work files from one computer to another. And you can pick as big and fast a drive as fits your budget. And you can avoid having to open up a […]
The MacBook group is for anyone using a MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air. The group was begun on 2006.02.11.
Judge James Ware of the US District Court of Northern California says a lawsuit against Apple for “tying” can go ahead. The suit alleges that Apple’s iPod and iTunes Music Store are tied together in such a way that it violates the Sherman Antitrust Act.
I don’t own a Mac mini, and I don’t plan on buying one, so why in the world would I be interested in the NewerTech miniStack? For those not familiar with the miniStack, it’s one of many “zero footprint” drives designed to sit under the Mac mini and match its design.
