Testing an OSS P7R4 7-Slot PCI Expansion Unit with a Beige G3

Back from the Low End Mac Mailbag is an interesting hardware experiment from a rising contributor in our FaceBook group, Architecture. Enjoy this interesting One Stop Systems P7R4 7 Slot PCI Expansion Unit – and how it works with a Beige Power Macintosh G3! Introduction “Testing an 13 slot PCI Expansion Chassis on a G3 […]

A first look: Tahoe Developer Beta Build 25A5279m

At-a-glance, you’ll notice your desktop is mostly the same after updating (although some settings are reset such as internal drives in Finder). It’s familiar if you’ve used macOS Sequoia – but feels totally different for sure. Different in the sort-of way Yosemite was to Mavericks, or Aqua was to Platinum. . Is this Frutiger Aero? […]

iOS 26: Aqua UI Redux goes Mobile

The tagline on Apple’s website reads “New Look. Even more magic.”, with an OS release date set to arrive this fall. Although you can download the developer beta right now, it is still far from being a completed consumer OS update. . . The last major iOS redesign was with version 7 – Apple says […]

macOS Tahoe: Aqua is SO back

Does the new style look familiar to you? Even though they talk about a “Glass UI”, there are many Aqua-themed visual cues in WWDC this year, especially to the intro for the new macOS. This year the transition in the presentation started as a Sequoia wallpaper, with a water droplet morphing the visuals before ultimately […]

macOS 26 rumors: Last Intel Macs may have another year of support

First covered yesterday by Marko Zivkovic of AppleInsider.com, it appears as though some Intel Macs will be dropped from the list of supported models while the absolute latest generation of intel Macs will continue onto this new update. The report cites “anonymous people familiar with the matter.” This topic was also covered on 9to5Mac just […]

16 years ago today: Apple quietly updated the Mid-09 MacBook

Quietly made available on May 27th 2009, the 13″ Mid-2009 MacBook was a silent upgrade to the lineup of portables, released without much fanfare or any press release, for that matter. This was the second “older-style” A1181 MacBook model sold after the debut of the Aluminum Unibody MacBook, and the final “older-style” MacBook before Apple […]

8BitDo Pro 2 Bluetooth gamepad with PowerPC OS X Leopard in wired mode

Official documentation says this controller requires at least macOS Ventura 13.2 or above, and that USB wired connection is only available for macOS or iPadOS with USB-C ports. Even if you can adapt a USB port to a Type-C on a PowerPC Mac and get a peripheral connected, a newer device is overwhelmingly likely not […]

Trying out USB-C on a PowerPC Mac

More than an interesting thought experiment or project, the idea suddenly returned when I saw two USB-A to USB-C style adapters at a convenience store of all places and thought: “Why not”..? For a while I’ve thought about adding USB-C ports to my Power Mac G5, although I never thought to pick up or lookup […]

WWDC ’25: New message stickers today, and what to expect then

We’re halfway through may and this year’s World Wide Developer Conference at Apple is set to kick off in roughly a month, and the latest update dropped for the Apple Developer app contains new WWDC ’25 stickers. As rumors circulate online about what’s potentially on the horizon between devices and operating systems, one thing has […]

Adapters, accessories and cases: What do I use with my M4 MacBook Air?

Time and time again, the ports on our devices change – prompting many of us to consider at one point or another whether or not to start buying USB-C accessories. Back when the TouchBar MacBook Pro came out, I held out for a while as accessories in general felt overpriced.. not that I was looking […]

macOS Catalina 10.15

Right after the start of fall on October 7th 2019, Apple released macOS Catalina after having been announced June 3rd that same year at WWDC 2019. This version of macOS is named after the Santa Catalina Island, a place off the coast of Southern Cali. This the 7th version of macOS with a California themed […]

Apple Silicon – M1 chip specs

This page details the full hardware profile of the Apple Silicon M1 chip.   Name: M1 Chip Released: November 17th, 2020 Codename: APL1102 Part Number: T8103 Fabrication Process: TSMC’s 5-Nanometer Transistor Count: 16-Billion CPU ISA: ARMv8.5-A . . Memory Bus Width: 128-Bit Total channels: 2 Bit per channel: 64-Bit Memory Type: LPDDR4X-4266 (2133 MHz) ~Bandwidth: […]

Apple device images wallpaper collection

Over the years of being a technology enthusiast I’ve had the opportunity to snap photos of many different electronics, with quite a few close-ups that seemed wallpaper-worthy in my opinion. So went into my photo collection, grabbed up a few I thought were best, and wanted to share them here with everyone. Click on the […]