12″ PowerBook G4 (Early 2005)

After nine months at 1.33 GHz, Apple bumped the little AlBook from 1.33 GHz to 1.5 GHz, a 13% increase. Standard memory has been raised to 512 MB, graphics now uses the Nvidia GeForce FX Go5200 processor, and the SuperDrive can burn DVDs at up to 8x. All this at $100 less than the retail […]

Original iPod shuffle

When most MP3 players were based on flash memory, Apple built the original iPod around a tiny 1.8″ hard drive. And on January 11, 2005, Apple introduced the first iPod built using flash memory, the original iPod shuffle.

Mac mini (Early 2005)

Never before had Apple sold a $500 Macintosh. Never before had Apple been poised to grow its market share like it hoped to with the Mac mini. The tiny Mac mini (6.5″ square, 2″ high, 2.9 lb.) has incredibly minimalist design. On the front, there’s just a slot-loading optical drive and a power light. On […]

Xserve G5 (Early 2005)

A year after introducing the Xserve G5, Apple boosted its top speed from 2.0 to 2.3 GHz while making dual processors standard. That’s a bit slower than the fastest Power Mac G5, which runs at 2.5 GHz, but there’s much less room for a cooling system in the compact Xserve.

iPod photo

The iPod got its first color display in October 2004 with the introduction of the iPod photo. The 2″ 16-bit higher resolution display made the new iPod a great way to share your photos on the go.

iPod U2 Special Edition

On October 26, 2004, Apple released a special edition of the 4G iPod to coincide with U2’s album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. The U2 Special Edition is black with a red clickwheel and the signatures of the band members engraved on the back.

iBook G4 (Late 2004)

Apple simplified the iBook G4 line in October 2004 by offering two basic models: a $999 12″ iBook running at 1.2 GHz and a 14″ 1.33 GHz model available with either a Combo drive or a 4x SuperDrive.

14″ 1.33 GHz iBook G4 (Late 2004)

Apple simplified the iBook line in October 2004 with two basic models, a slower 12″ and a faster 14″. Replacing a 1.0 GHz Combo drive model and a 1.2 GHz SuperDrive model introduced just six months earlier, the 14″ 1.33 GHz iBook G4 offers 24% more power than the 1.07 GHz (nominally 1.0 GHz) model at […]

12″ 1.2 GHz iBook G4 (Late 2004)

Spec for spec, the 1.2 GHz 12″ iBook G4 matches the 1 GHz 12″ model it replaces with one change: a nominally 20% faster CPU, although in reality the Early 2004 model runs at 1.07 GHz, making the Late 2004 model only 12% faster.

Power Mac G5 (Late 2004)

Has Apple heard our pleas for a lower-cost modular Mac? The single processor 1.8 GHz Power Mac G5 knocks US$500 from the price of it’s dual-processor sibling while matching it in almost every specification. The only significant difference, besides a single CPU, is the use of a 600 MHz memory bus vs. 900 MHz on […]

20″ iMac G5 (2004)

Where did the computer go? It’s behind the flat panel display in the iMac G5! And the mouse and keyboard are available as wireless models with Bluetooth (which remains optional and can only be installed at the factory) – that means less cable clutter than most users are used to. Not just smaller and lighter, […]

17″ iMac G5 (2004)

Where did the computer go? It’s behind the flat panel display in the iMac G5! And the mouse and keyboard are available as wireless models with Bluetooth (which remains optional and can only be installed at the factory) – that means less cable clutter than most users are used to.

iMac G5 (2004)

Where did the computer go? It’s behind the flat panel display in the iMac G5! And the mouse and keyboard are available as wireless models with Bluetooth (which remains optional and can only be installed at the factory) – that means less cable clutter than most users are used to. Not just smaller and lighter, […]

4th Generation iPod

The fourth generation (4G) iPod introduced the click wheel that we’re all familiar with today. Rather than 4 buttons surrounding the scrollwheel or a row of buttons above the scrollwheel, these functions are now controlled on the scrollwheel itself, a feature that had arrived with the iPod mini in January 2004.

Power Mac G5 (Mid 2004)

Less than a year after unveiling the original Power Mac G5, Apple released a new line of G5 models, each with dual processors and an 8x SuperDrive. As before, the entry level model uses 64-bit PCI slots and only supports up to 4 GB of RAM vs. PCI-X slots and an 8 GB RAM ceiling in the […]

iBook G4 (Early 2004)

In April 2004, the 12″ iBook jumped from 800 MHz to 1 GHz, while the 14″ iBook was available at  1.07 GHz (nominally 1.0 GHz) and 1.2 GHz speeds.

14″ iBook G4 (Early 2004)

For the first time, Apple offered a SuperDrive as an option on the iBook, making the 14″ 1.0 GHz model (actually 1.07 GHz) a very affordable, very portable way to burn DVDs.

12″ 1 GHz iBook G4 (Early 2004)

In addition to a 33% speed boost over the 800 MHz Late 2003 model, the 2004 iBook uses a 1.07 GHz G4 processor with a 512 MB level 2 cache – twice as big as on the previous iBook G4. Another improvement is 256 MB of RAM on the system board (twice as much as […]

eMac USB 2.0 (2004)

Incremental improvement were the name of the game for the 2004 eMac. This edition gets a 25% speed boost for both the CPU and the memory bus compared with the 1 GHz 2003 eMac. The G4 CPU used in this model also has a larger level 2 cache (512 KB vs. 256 KB), which further improves performance.

1 GHz eMac (Education)

Based on the 1.25 GHz 2004 eMac, the education-only model includes a 1 GHz G4 CPU that was available either with a CD-ROM drive or no optical drive at all. The education eMac also lacks the built-in modem of the consumer model.

Original iPod mini

Apple introduced the compact iPod mini at Macworld Expo in January 2004. The iPod mini incorporates a click wheel, which eliminated the need for 4 separate control buttons and allowed Apple to make a more compact music player.

Xserve G5 (Early 2004)

Nearly a year after the Xserve G4 hit 1.33 GHz, Apple unveiled the Xserve G5 with single or dual 2.0 GHz G5 CPUs and a 1.0 GHz system bus (vs. 167 MHz on the  G4), providing over 40% more overall processing power.

20″ iMac G4 (Late 2003)

Being released a little over 2 months after the 15/17″ variants of the late 2003 refresh, this was the latest and greatest iMac G4 to-date (as well as the largest). Featuring a brand new 20″ TFT (thin film transistor) active matrix 1680 x 1050 LCD display, the sheer weight of the screen required a heavier […]

Mac OS X 10.3 Panther

Mac OS X 10.3 Panther was released on October 24, 2003 and was last updated on April 15, 2005, when the 10.3.9 update was released.

iBook G4 (Late 2003)

With the introduction of the G4 iBooks in October 2003, Apple phased out the last Macs with G3 processors, which had been in use since November 1997. Although these G4 iBooks use a G4 CPU, it’s not the same version used in the PowerBook G4 – this version only has a 256 KB level 2 […]