Apple gave the iMac a fresher look in August 2007, the first change from the stark white face introduced with the first G5 iMac three years earlier. The new look puts a black border around a glossy display, has an aluminum finish, and is thinner than its predecessors. The 2007 iMac has gone aluminum. The new […]

Apple “refreshed” the Mac mini the same day it unveiled new iMacs, iLife ’08, and iWork ’08. The updated model finally moves the Mini from the outdated Core Duo to a Core 2 Duo processor, giving it 64-bit capabilities along with faster CPU speeds. Between the newer, more efficient CPU and 8-10% higher clock speeds, […]

The 15″ MacBook Pro became Apple’s first notebook computer with LED backlighting when it was introduced on June 5, 2007. Other than that, the specs don’t seem much different than it’s predecessor. The real changes are under the hood. The Mid 2007 MacBook Pro models (15″ and 17″) use Intel’s new Santa Rosa chipset and […]

The June 2007 17″ MacBook Pro is the first Apple notebook to offer an even higher resolution 17″ display. If 1680 x 1050 isn’t enough for you, you can upgrade to a 1920 x 1200 screen for just US$100 more. The big changes are under the hood. The Mid 2007 MacBook Pro models use Intel’s […]

Six months after moving the Macbook to Intel’s Core 2 Duo CPU, Apple upgraded the MacBook again. The improved model is faster, has twice as much RAM on the low end, includes a faster SuperDrive (2.16 GHz models), and has bigger hard drives. All MacBooks now include 1 GB of RAM, and speeds have been […]

Apple introduced the Mac Pro as a fully customizable quad-core computer in 2006 and updated it to eight cores in April 2007. The buyer could choose as little as 1 GB of RAM or as much as 16 GB. 160, 250, or 500 GB in drive bay one, and optionally 500 GB in bays 2-4. WARNING: If […]

It isn’t easy being green, but one California legislator wants to make it the law. Lloyd Levine thinks traditional incandescent light bulbs and CRTs are bad for the environment and should be outlawed in California. Levine, who on Tuesday announced the “How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb Act” that would ban incandescent […]

Has it already been six months since the original MacBook was introduced? Then it must be time for an upgrade. Now that Apple has solved most of the MacBook’s teething problems, they’ve improved it by replacing the Intel Core Duo CPU with the newer, more energy efficient, cooler running Core 2 Duo. Overall, that should […]

On 2006.10.24, Apple moved the MacBook Pro line to Intel’s newer Core 2 Duo CPU, claiming “up to 39% faster” performance than the model it replaced. Part of that comes from the more efficient CPU, and part from an 8% faster CPU. The 15″ MacBook Pro gains FireWire 800, an unfortunate ommission in the original […]

On 2006.10.24, Apple moved the MacBook Pro line to Intel’s newer Core 2 Duo CPU, claiming “up to 39% faster” performance than the model it replaced. Part of that comes from the more efficient CPU, and part from an 8% faster CPU. The new 17″ Core 2 model has a 2.33 GHz CPU and ships […]

In September 2006, Apple replaced the year-old plastic 1G iPod nano with a new aluminum bodied version virtually the same size and just a tiny bit lighter. The low-end model now came with 2 GB of storage, there was a 4 GB model in the middle, and the top-end Nano had 8 GB. The low-end 2 […]

Pippin was a multimedia player developed by Apple Computer in the mid 90s. Apple decided to create and license the technology (named Pippin after a type of apple smaller than a McIntosh) due to their belief that home computers were becoming more and more important and popular with customers. Apple realized that for multimedia technology […]

Where the first iPod shuffle had been the size of a pack of chewing gum, the 2G iPod shuffle was barely large enough for its controls and a headphone jack. It had a built-in clip so you could attach it to your clothing, and you could pick from five different colors. With its aluminum enclosure, […]

Andy Hertzfeld was a key member of the original Macintosh team in 1984. He joined Apple in 1979 and was responsible for many parts of the original Macintosh system software. He was such an adept programmer, in fact, that his Apple business card said Software Wizard. Hertzfeld left Apple in 1984 and has since cofounded […]

Industry watchers had been anticipating Apple moving the iMac to Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor, which is “up to 50% more powerful” (according to Apple) than the Core Duo used in the Early 2006 iMac. As if that wasn’t enough, Apple added the biggest iMac to date to the line, a whopping 24″ model with […]

Industry watchers had been anticipating Apple moving the iMac to Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor, which is “up to 50% more powerful” (according to Apple) than the Core Duo used in the Early 2006 iMac. As if that wasn’t enough, Apple added the biggest iMac yet to the line, a whopping 24″ model with a 1920 […]

Industry watchers had been anticipating Apple moving the iMac to Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor, which is “up to 50% more powerful” (according to Apple) than the Core Duo used in the Early 2006 iMac. As if that wasn’t enough, Apple added the biggest iMac to date to the line, a whopping 24″ model with […]

Industry watchers had been anticipating Apple moving the iMac to Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor, which is “up to 50% more powerful” (according to Apple) than the Core Duo used in the Early 2006 iMac. As if that wasn’t enough, Apple added the biggest iMac to date to the line, a whopping 24″ model with […]

Kudos to Apple for abandoning the Intel Core Solo used in the original entry-level Intel Mac mini. With the September 2006 revision, both models have Core Duo processors. Oddly, these are the only second-generation Intel Macs not to use Core 2 Duo CPUs, something we’ve never understood. The Late 2006 Mini has the same 667 […]

Apple didn’t forget the Xserve in its move to Intel. The first Intel-based Xserve has a pair of dual-core Intel Xeon Woodcrest CPUs at speed as high as 3.0 GHz. Geekbench 2 results show the 2.0 GHz model has nearly twice the processing power of the dual 2.3 GHz Xserve G5, while the 3.0 GHz version is nearly […]

Apple introduced the Mac Pro as a fully customizable quad-core computer. The buyer can choose from two dual-core Intel Xeon Woodcrest at 2.0, 2.66, or 3.0 GHz. As little as 1 GB of RAM or as much as 16 GB. 160, 250, or 500 GB in drive bay one, and optionally 500 GB in bays 2-4. […]

Apple surprised a lot of people by introducing a scaled back version of the 17″ iMac Core Duo in July 2006. To shave US$400 from the 17″ Early 2006 iMac’s retail price for the education market, Apple replaced the SuperDrive with a 24x Combo drive, used an 80 GB hard drive instead of 160, and relied […]

The classic iPod moved to a much larger display with the 5G iPod in October 2005, and a U2 Special Edition was released in June 2006 – the third U2 iPod with the signature black-and-red styling. The U2 Special Edition only came in a 30 GB configuration, and it included a coupon for a U2 […]

We’ve been waiting quite a while to see what Apple would replace the iBook with, and the rumored 13.3″ widescreen MacBook is now a reality. The biggest surprise is that Apple is replacing both the iBook line and the 12″ PowerBook with the 13″ MacBook, greatly simplifying their line of notebook computers. Built around Intel’s Core Duo […]

In an unusual Monday product announcement (Apple usually reveals new products on Tuesday), Apple introduced the 17″ MacBook Pro (MBP) with a 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo CPU. It’s the first MacBook to support FireWire 800, and it also has a dual-layer SuperDrive (vs. single-layer in the 15″ MacBook Pro). The 17″ MBP looks a […]

The Mac mini was the third Mac to make the switch to Intel CPUs. Both Early 2006 versions of the Intel-based Mini include AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0, Apple’s remote control, gigabit ethernet, and Front Row with Bonjour. In addition to this 1.66 GHz Core Duo model, Apple also sold an entry-level Mac mini with a […]

We cannot recommend the Core Solo version of the Mac mini unless you plan to upgrade to a Core Duo or Core 2 Duo CPU. Performance of the Core Solo model is so sluggish that most buyers who have written us express regret at their purchase. We call the Core Solo Mac mini a Compromised Mac. Because […]

To the pleasant surprise of the Mac community, Apple began shipping the MacBook Pro (MBP) the week of 2006.02.14 – and with faster CPUs than originally announced. The US$1,999 MBP ships with a 1.83 GHz CPU instead of 1.67 GHz, and the US$2,499 MBP has a 2.0 GHz CPU instead of 1.83 GHz. For those […]

After nine months at 1.5 GHz, the 17″ PowerBook G4 received an 11% performance boost to 1.67 GHz and gained an 8x DVR±RW SuperDrive. The standard hard drive now spins at 5400 rpm. ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics are included, along with 128 MB of video memory and support for Dual-Link DVI. Also new on […]

Sometimes a computer with a lower GHz rating can outperform one with a higher speed rating, and that’s especially true for the 2.5 GHz Power Mac G5 Quad. One of the first Macs to use IBM’s new dual-core G5 CPUs, the Quad uses a pair of them, which means Power Mac owners now have access […]

The first Macs to use IBM’s new dual-core G5 CPUs, the Late 2005 Power Mac G5 Duals and Quad (covered on its own page) provide the processing power of two G5 CPUs on a single chip. Each core has 1 MB of level 2 cache, twice as much as earlier G5s, which further boosts computing power. […]

The Late 2005 15″ PowerBook Hi-Res looks just like the old one – until you look at the screen. From April 2002 until now, 15″ PowerBooks have had 1280 x 854 displays. The Late 2005 15-incher boasts that to 1440 x 960, the same resolution common on many 15″ widescreen Windows laptops. Apple no longer […]

You can never have too many pixels. As the 15″ PowerBook moved to a 1440 x 960 display – the same resolution as all previous 17″ PowerBooks – the 17-incher received a high resolution 1680 x 1050 screen. Standard is a dual-layer 8x SuperDrive, although those who choose to can special order the 17″ ‘Book […]

The classic iPod moved to a much larger display with the 5G iPod, introduced in October 2005, the first iPod to support video. The 2.5″ color display would be standard on every classic iPod to come. Despite the larger screen, the 5G iPod was thinner and lighter than its predecessors. Like the iPod nano introduced […]