“Way more power” is Apple’s claim for the Late 2012 Mac mini, and that’s certainly true for the top-end quad-core i7-based model. It has the highest Geekbench score yet for a Mini at 10642 (vs. 6741 for last year’s 2.7 GHz dual-core i7 model), which is an impressive 58% better. However, at the entry level, […]
Author Archives: LEM Staff
Four months after introducing the 15″ MacBook Pro with Retina Display, Apple introduced the 13.3″ Retina Display MacBook Pro, making Retina technology available in a smaller, lighter, less expensive package. As with its 15″ sibling, there’s no built-in SuperDrive and no hard drive. The Retina MacBook Pros are built around SSD technology for enhanced speed and […]
A lot smaller and just half the weight of a full-sized iPad, the iPad mini squeezed the features of the iPad 2 into much more portable package with a 7.9″ screen. Unlike other iPads introduced after the iPad 2, the iPad mini used the same 1024 x 768 resolution as the first two generations of […]
With the iPhone 5, Apple left behind the 3.5″ display every previous iPhone had used, replacing it with a taller (or wider – in landscape mode) 4″ screen displaying 1136 x 640 pixels, the same 16:9 aspect ratio of HD TV. That’s 18.3% more pixels. The iPhone 5 runs Apple’s more powerful A6 processor, introduced […]
The 5G iPod touch uses the same 4″ widescreen display as the iPhone 5 and the same dual-core Apple A5 CPU as the iPhone 4S. It was also the first iPod touch available in colors other than black and white and the first to use the Lightning port. Overall, the 5th generation iPod touch had six color […]
For the first time, Apple has Macs with built-in USB 3.0 support. The improved USB specification is over 10x as fast as USB 2.0 and has half the bandwidth of Thunderbolt. There are already a lot of USB 3.0 drives on the market, and they are far more affordable than Thunderbolt drives. Best of all, […]
For the first time, Apple has Macs with built-in USB 3.0 support. The improved USB specification is over 10x as fast as USB 2.0 and has half the bandwidth of Thunderbolt. There are already a lot of USB 3.0 drives on the market, and they are far more affordable than Thunderbolt drives. Best of all, […]
This was the last of the 13″ MacBook Pro models with a 1280 x 800 pixel display. After this, Apple only made 13″ models with Retina Displays. This model was on the market from June 2012 until it was discontinued in October 2016, by which time its base price had dropped to $1,099. That is […]
Apple surprised everyone by not introducing a 15″ MacBook Air, as the rumor mill widely expected, and instead added a premium version of the 15″ MacBook Pro – one with a super-high resolution 2880 x 1800 pixel 220 ppi Retina Display. The MacBook Pro with Retina Display (quite a mouthful) is the thinnest MacBook Pro […]
For the first time, Macs have built-in USB 3.0 support. The improved USB specification is over 10x as fast as USB 2.0 and has half the bandwidth of Thunderbolt. There are a lot of USB 3.0 drives on the market, and they are far more affordable than Thunderbolt drives. Best of all, Apple uses the […]
3D isn’t just for Hollywood blockbusters – at least that’s what Apple is hoping for with its next revision of the iPhone. The 3D Movie Craze of the 1950s 3D movies were not invented in the 1950s, but that was the era when they first became a cultural force. 3D movies exploded onto the scene […]
The Late 2011 MacBook Pros represent a small step forward from the Early 2011 models introduced 8 months earlier. The 13″ model advances from 2.3 GHz to 2.4 GHz, a relatively insignificant 4.3% speed bump. The top-end version goes from 2.7 GHz to 2.8 GHz, an even less impressive 3.7% improvement. In addition to slightly […]
The Late 2011 MacBook Pros represented a small step forward from the Early 2011 models introduced just 8 months earlier. The 17″ model goes from 2.3 GHz to 2.4 GHz, a 9% improvement. This was also the last 17″ MacBook Pro; it was discontinued in June 2012. In addition to slightly faster CPUs, the Late […]
The Late 2011 MacBook Pros represent a small step forward from the Early 2011 models introduced 8 months earlier. The 15″ model advances from 2.0 GHz to 2.2 GHz, a 10% speed bump. The top-end version goes from 2.2 GHz to 2.4 GHz, a 9% improvement. In addition to slightly faster CPUs, the Late 2011 […]
The iPhone 4S looks like the iPhone 4, but there are a lot of differences under the hood. Hardware includes Apple’s dual-core A5 processor, superior graphics, and support for both GSM and CDMA networks. And to top it off, there’s Siri. The iPhone 4S also has better cameras: 8 MP on the back and 0.9 […]
This version of the Mid 2011 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 $999 computer, Apple scaled back from a 2.6 GHz quad-core i5 CPU to a 3.1 GHz dual-core i3, removed the Thunderbolt port, and reduced […]
Last year’s Mac mini Server was just a 2010 Mac mini with two hard drives and no SuperDrive. This year’s Server is actually a much more powerful computer with a quad-core Intel Core i7 CPU, twice the number of cores found in the consumer Mini. The 2011 Server ships with OS X 10.7 Lion Server […]
For the first time since the original G4 Mac mini was introduced in January 2005, there’s no optical drive in the Mac mini, which also helped Apple trim $100 from its base price – and $200 from the faster version. The 2011 Mac mini can use the same $79 USB SuperDrive as the MacBook Air. […]
Same small size, same small price, same SSD options, but a whole new CPU – and Thunderbolt to round things out. That pretty much summarizes the July 2011 update to the MacBook Air. At its heart is a 1.7 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 CPU, with a 1.8 GHz i7 version for those who need […]
Same small size, same small price, same SSD options, but a whole new CPU – and lightning-fast Thunderbolt to round things out. That pretty much summarizes the July 2011 update to the MacBook Air. At its heart is a 1.6 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 CPU, with a 1.8 GHz i7 version for those who […]
OS X 10.7 Lion was released on July 20, 2011 and made some huge changes to the Mac. Some of these changes were to make it easier for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users to adapt to the Mac, some to make the two platforms work better together, and some to keep making the Mac […]
These links provide a quick way to access hardware profile indexes for Macbookss on Low End Mac. CD Mid-2006 C2D Late 2006 C2D Mid-2007 Santa Rosa Late 07 Penryn Early 08 White Late 2008 Aluminum Late 08 Nvidia Early 09 White Mid-2009 Unibody Late 09 Unibody Mid-2010 Core M Early 2015 12″ Early 2016 12″ […]
For 2011, the entire iMac line goes quad-core with Core i5 CPUs (and even faster i7 build-to-order options), moves to Intel’s Sandy Bridge chipset, gets Turbo Boost 2.0 technology, adopts the next generation of AMD Radeon HD graphics processors, and gains the Thunderbolt technology introduced with the Early 2011 MacBook Pro models. The 27″ iMac […]
A bit smaller, one-third thinner, and a little lighter than the original iPad, the iPad 2 also moved the iPad line to Apple’s dual-core A5 processor. It was also the first iPad available in white or black. Perhaps the most important new feature is the addition of rear- and front-facing FaceTime cameras, making this the […]
Apple took some big steps forward with the refreshed 13.3″ MacBook Pro. The Early 2011 model migrates from the dated Intel Core 2 Duo to Intel’s newer Core i5 and i7 CPUs. These dual-core mobile CPUs have a 3-4 MB Level 3 cache shared by both cores and, thanks to Turbo Boost architecture, should be […]
The Early 2011 15″ and 17″ MacBook Pro models moved from dual-core CPUs to quad-core, which makes them a lot more powerful despite lower clock speeds. As with last year’s models, these CPUs support TurboBoost, which lets individual cores run beyond their rated speed, and hyperthreading, which lets the each core appear to the operating […]
The Early 2011 15″ and 17″ MacBook Pro models have moved from dual-core CPUs to quad-core, which makes them a lot more powerful despite lower clock speeds. As with last year’s models, these CPUs support TurboBoost, which lets individual cores run beyond their rated speed, and hyperthreading, which lets the each core appear to the […]
On January 11, 2011, Verizon announced that it had reached an agreement with Apple and would soon be offering the iPhone 4 to its customers. Prior to this, the iPhone had been an AT&T Wireless exclusive in the United States. The new version of the iPhone 4 was CDMA only, where all previous versions had […]
Say good-bye to hard drives with the 2010 models of the MacBook Air (MBA). Solid-state drives (SSD) are standard across the board – and they’re built onto the motherboard. Apple claims this makes its SSDs twice as fast as conventional ones. Battery life is rated at “up to” 7 hours. Peripheral users will rejoice over […]
With the new 11.6″ form factor and the lowest speed CPU ever used in an Intel-based Mac, the smaller version of the 2010 MacBook Air enters netbook territory – but with a dual-core processor, a real graphics processor, better screen resolution, a full-size keyboard, and support for up to 4 GB of memory. Say good-bye […]
The 4G iPod touch brought a Retina Display and Apple CPU to the iPod touch line, along with a front-facing FaceTime camera. The 4G iPod touch was also the first with 802.11n WiFi, the first with a built-in microphone, and the first with a 3-axis gyroscope. Performance is on par with the iPhone 4. Initially […]
Apple has now moved the entire iMac line to Intel’s Core “i” family of CPUs, including the dual-core i3 and i5 as well as the quad-core i7. All CPUs used in the 2010 iMac support Hyper-Threading (on last year’s model, only the i7 versions supported Hyper-Threading). CPU speeds start at 3.06 GHz for dual-core models […]
It’s been over 15 months since Apple rolled out the 2009 Mac Pro, and the 2010 Mac Pro is yet another big step forward: every configuration uses quad-core Intel Xeon Nehalem or quad-core and even hex-core Westmere CPUs for even more power. Each core has its own 256 KB Level 2 (L2) cache, each quad-core […]
With the iPhone 4, Apple introduced its Retina Display. The screen was the same size as on previous iPhones, but with twice the vertical and horizontal resolution. It was a revelation. The iPhone 4 introduced a new design with glass front and rear, and it was the first iPhone with a FaceTime front-facing camera. The […]
For the first time since the G4 Mac mini was introduced in January 2005, Apple came up with a new form factor for its smallest desktop. Where all previous Minis had been 6.5″ square and 2.0″ tall, the new model measures 7.7″ square and just 1.4″ high. It also uses unibody construction like Apple’s notebooks. […]