In late 2006, going right along their fall product cycle updates, Apple had introduced a 24″ iMac model for the first time. This was the largest ever produced of the “white” polycarbonate iMacs, sporting a 1920 x 1200 display, a 16:10 aspect ratio, and CCFL tubes to light up the screen. It’s a wonderful Mac […]
Author Archives: Mark Sokolovsky
The Peripheral Component Interconnect Express, aka PCIe, is a longstanding serial computer expansion bus standard created in 2003. The Late 2005 Power Mac G5 was the only PowerPC Mac which took advantage of this technology, which had a production run of October 2005 – August 2006. As a result, AGP/PCI-based Macs received 1-2 years lesser […]
The first generation MacBook Air was the first ever Apple computer to ship with a Solid State Drive as a factory option for internal storage, in January 2008. Prices have come down dramatically over the years for SSD’s, making them a more viable option for faster, silent, and low power consumption operation. In the case […]
There was a time not too long ago in the past where one could simply open Safari on a PowerPC Mac, and be able to browse YouTube with relative ease. As web standards changed, resources required became more intensive, and the PowerPC platform was depreciated. Adobe Flash player was still in its hey day then, […]
There are objective standards to judge technology by, by how well they perform in relation to how much they cost, their longevity, repairability, etc; but how much they impact you are subjective. As a technology enthusiast, I understand this a result of having a few different Macs from various eras. There’s a saying I remember […]
Officially, Minecraft 1.5.2 was the last version playable on any PowerPC Mac, as it was the last version playable on Java 5. The release date of 1.5.2 is May 2nd 2013, around the same time retina MacBook Pros just started shipping. Minecraft 1.8.9 was released December 9th 2015, adding several features and new textures over […]
Between 2006 and 2011, many iMacs shipped with a removable internal graphics card known as an MXM GPU. MXM (Mobile PCI EXpress Module) is an interface pioneered by Nvidia around 2004, originally intended for laptops, which had gone through several iterations before slowly phasing out as a platform interface connection standard. As our Macs age, […]
The 2003 Power Mac G5 was the first in a line of controversial 64-Bit PowerPC Macs, which suffered from above average hardware failure/glitchiness rates. While not the most popular Mac in the lineup of PowerPC Macs overall, the Power Mac G5 still packs a punch, and can be used for a wide variety of things. […]
The 2007 iMac has been around for a while, falling by the wayside, as it’s internal hardware doesn’t have many upgrade paths… or does it? A little known secret is hidden inside every early intel iMac made by Apple prior to their 21.5″/27″ transition.. they all have a Mini-PCIe slot! While many upgrades have […]
There are noticeably few articles, if any, about the 2006 and 2007 Mac Pros, that help you diagnose memory issues. I am changing this by documenting my own experiences with my primary computer, a Mac Pro 2,1. This article should help you recognize any memory symptoms with your Mac Pro and resolve them quickly.
I have a 2007 Mac Pro sitting in front of me that I wanted to make much faster than a hard drive allows. If having a single SSD (Solid State Drive) is nice, works well, and really brings the life out of these older Mac Pros, what if we wanted even more speed? What if […]
There is an earlier article by Dan Knight about CPU upgrades in the 2007 iMac that omits a few possible upgrades. This article is predominantly aimed at helping people get a “Penryn” Core 2 Duo CPU into their Early 2007 iMac, as the chipset does allow several “newer” CPU upgrades.
Sometimes we think too much into whether we can – so much so that we don’t question whether we should. This is a dilemma which faced me several times as I pushed the envelope, took the risk, and got away with jamming 64 GB of RAM right into my Mac Pro 2,1. In this article, […]
Despite the Mac Pro 1,1 and 2,1 (2006/7) models hitting past the 10-year mark, there is, surprisingly, a great amount of hardware that is still available for use. In contrast to the age of the older (first) Mac Pros, there is still some new hardware that is being released, which can be used on these […]
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This Week’s iPad, iPhone, iPod, and Apple TV News Editor’s note: Compiled by Charles Moore edited by Dan Knight – 2012.04.05. Ported by Mark Sokolovsky on 2025.05.03. Because many businesses close early on Good Friday, and because Low End Mac’s 15th birthday is Saturday, we’re posting our news roundups a day early this week. Come back […]
Models G5/1.6-2.0 GHz (2003) G5/1.8-2.5 GHz (2004) G5/1.8 Single G5/2.0-2.7 GHz (2005) G5/2.0-2.3 GHz Dual G5/2.5 GHz Quad Apple made a big shift when it moved from the G4 to the G5 processor. Based on IBM’s POWER architecture, the newer G5 CPU cried out for a fast, wide system bus – and Apple provided it. […]
Online Resources Protect your notebook against loss, theft, data loss, and security breaches, Charles W Moore, ‘Book Value, 2009.08.25. 10 percent of laptops are lost or stolen every year. Tips on preventing theft, securing your data, and recovering from a lost, stolen, or broken notebook. Optimized Software Builds Bring Out the Best in Your Mac, […]
Low End Mac’s Compleat Guide to the iBook G4, Charles W Moore, ‘Book Value, 2008.07.09. Replacing the G3 iBook in October 2003, the iBook G4 was and remains a value leader until it was replaced by the MacBook in 2006. PRAM and Battery Issues in iBooks and 12″ PowerBooks, Low End Mac Tech Journal, 2018.02.09 […]
Name Xeon X5675 Mac Model Mac Pro 2012 Codename Westmere-EP Fab. Size 32 nm Package Socket 1366 Base Freq. 3.066 GHz Turbo 3.466 GHz TDP 95 W PL2 – Cores 6 Threads 12 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 384 KB L2 Cache 256 KB Per Core […]
Name Xeon X5650 Mac Model Mac Pro 2012 Codename Westmere-EP Fab. Size 32 nm Package Socket 1366 Base Freq. 2.666 GHz Turbo 3.066 GHz TDP 95 W PL2 – Cores 6 Threads 12 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 384 KB L2 Cache 256 KB Per Core […]
Name Xeon X5570 Mac Model Xserve 2009, Mac Pro 2009 Codename Gainestown Fab. Size 45 nm Package Socket 1366 Base Freq. 2.933 GHz Turbo 3.333 GHz TDP 95 W PL2 – Cores 4 Threads 8 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 256 KB L2 Cache 256 KB […]
Name Xeon X5550 Mac Model Xserve 2009, Mac Pro 2009 Codename Gainestown Fab. Size 45 nm Package Socket 1366 Base Freq. 2.666 GHz Turbo 3.066 GHz TDP 95 W PL2 – Cores 4 Threads 8 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 256 KB L2 Cache 256 KB […]
Name Xeon x5482 Mac Model Mac Pro 2008 Codename Harpertown Fab. Size 45 nm Package Socket 771 Base Freq. 3.2 GHz Turbo – TDP 150 W PL2 – Cores 4 Threads 4 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 256 KB L2 Cache 12 MB L2 Total 12 […]
Name Xeon x5365 Mac Model Mac Pro 2007 Codename Clovertown Fab. Size 65 nm Package Socket 771 Base Freq. 3 GHz Turbo – TDP 150 W PL2 206 W Cores 4 Threads 4 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 256 KB L2 Cache 8 MB L2 Total […]
Name Xeon x5160 Mac Model Xserve, Mac Pro 2006 Codename Woodcrest Fab. Size 65 nm Package Socket 771 Base Freq. 3 GHz Turbo – TDP 65 W PL2 – Cores 2 Threads 2 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 128 KB L2 Cache 4 MB L2 Total […]
Name Xeon x5150 Mac Model Xserve, Mac Pro 2006 Codename Woodcrest Fab. Size 65 nm Package Socket 771 Base Freq. 2.666 GHz Turbo – TDP 65 W PL2 – Cores 2 Threads 2 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 128 KB L2 Cache 4 MB L2 Total […]
Name Xeon x5130 Mac Model Xserve, Mac Pro 2006 Codename Woodcrest Fab. Size 65 nm Package Socket 771 Base Freq. 2 GHz Turbo – TDP 65 W PL2 – Cores 2 Threads 2 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 128 KB L2 Cache 4 MB L2 Total […]
Name Xeon W3580 Mac Model Mac Pro 2009 Codename Bloomfield Fab. Size 45 nm Package Socket 1366 Base Freq. 3.333 GHz Turbo 3.6 GHz TDP 130 W PL2 – Cores 4 Threads 8 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 256 KB L2 Cache 256 KB Per Core […]
Name Xeon W3565 Mac Model Mac Pro 2010 Codename Bloomfield Fab. Size 45 nm Package Socket 1366 Base Freq. 3.2 GHz Turbo 3.466 GHz TDP 130 W PL2 – Cores 4 Threads 8 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 256 KB L2 Cache 256 KB Per Core […]
Name Xeon W3530 Mac Model Mac Pro 2010 Codename Bloomfield Fab. Size 45 nm Package Socket 1366 Base Freq. 2.8 GHz Turbo 3.066 GHz TDP 130 W PL2 – Cores 4 Threads 8 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 256 KB L2 Cache 256 KB Per Core […]
Name Xeon W3520 Mac Model Mac Pro 2009 Codename Bloomfield Fab. Size 45 nm Package Socket 1366 Base Freq. 2.666 GHz Turbo 2.933 GHz TDP 130 W PL2 – Cores 4 Threads 8 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 256 KB L2 Cache 256 KB Per Core […]
Name Xeon W-3275M Mac Model 2019 Mac Pro Codename Cascade Lake Fab. Size 14 nm Package FCLGA3647 Base Freq. 2.50 GHz Turbo 4.60 GHz TDP 205 W PL2 – Cores 28 Threads 56 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 1792 KB L2 Cache 1 MB Per Core […]
Name Xeon W-3265M Mac Model Mac Pro 2019 Codename Cascade Lake Fab. Size 14 nm Package FCLGA3647 Base Freq. 2.70 GHz Turbo 4.60 GHz TDP 205 W PL2 – Cores 24 Threads 48 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 1.5 MB L2 Cache 1 MB Per Core […]
Name Xeon W-2191B Mac Model iMac Pro 2017 Codename Skylake-W Fab. Size 14 nm Package FC-LGA2066 Base Freq. 2.3 GHz Turbo 4.3 GHz TDP 140W PL2 – Cores 18 Threads 36 L1i Cache 32 KB Per Core L1d Cache 32 KB Per Core L1 Total 1152 KB L2 Cache 1 MB Per Core L2 Total […]