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 […]

The original Mac mini was introduced in January 2005 at 1.25 GHz and 1.42 GHz. In July, Apple bumped base RAM from 256 MB to 512 MB. The Late 2005 model boosts CPU speeds to 1.33 GHz and 1.5 GHz. The SuperDrive is bumped from 4x to 8x, can now burn dual-layer discs, and also […]

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Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger was released on April 29, 2005, went through 12 revisions, and wasn’t replaced until OS  X 10.5 Leopard arrived on October 26, 2007 – two-and-a-half years later (almost 30 months to the day). Many consider Tiger a high point because of the wide range of hardware it supports and its length of […]

Making haste slowly, Apple has moved the fastest Power Mac G5 from 2.0 GHz CPUs in 2003 to 2.5 GHz in 2004, and now to 2.7 GHz in 2005. It’s nice to see Apple squeeze nearly 10% more speed from the G5 – and sad that Apple still can’t deliver the 3.0 GHz G5 that it promised […]

Apple updated the compact iPod mini in February 2005, dropping the gold color and adding a 6 GB model. Visually the 2G iPod mini is distinguished by colored printing on the clickwheel. To protect its minuscule 1.0″ hard drive, the iPod mini was built of aluminum. The 2G iPod mini was available in four colors – silver, blue, pink, and green – […]

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 […]

The same size and weight its 2004 predecessor, the Early 2005 edition runs a bit faster (at 1.5 and 1.67 GHz). The entry-level 15″ PowerBook now has 512 MB of memory, and 5400 rpm hard drives are standard. Both versions of the 15″ PowerBook now include Apple’s backlit keyboard. The 1.67 GHz SuperDrive model supports […]

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 […]

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. Unlike competing flash-based MP3 players, the Shuffle has no menu system. You load it with the songs […]

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. Although clock speed is only 15% […]

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. The special edition iPod included a $50 discount coupon for purchasing The […]

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 […]

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. The four buttons that once surrounded […]

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. Other changes include an 8 GB memory ceiling on the single-processor model, four times […]

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 […]

The same size and weight its 1.0 and 1.25 GHz predecessors, the 2004 15″ PowerBook G4 runs faster (at 1.33 and 1.5 GHz) and moves to the Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics processor. The 1.5 GHz model has the same illuminated keyboard found on the 17″ PowerBook G4. The SuperDrive on the faster PowerBook officially supports […]

After seven months at 1 GHz, Apple speed bumped the little AlBook by 33% to 1.33 GHz and upgraded video memory from 32 MB to 64 MB. The new model supports ATA/100 hard drives, so drives over 120 GB are now supported, and uses a 167 MHz system bus. The 12″ PowerBook G4 had the […]