Full eGPUs and PCIe GPUs in Early 2006 to Early 09 iMacs

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 […]

Envisioning the Mac Pro 8,2 “Dream Machine”

Some History on the Best Mac Value Ever: The Mac Pro 4,1 and 5,1 The Mac Pro has went through many iterations over the years and with the advent of Apple Silicon, things have certainly come to a crossroads. The Mac Pro 4,1 from 2009 and the slightly revised Mac Pro 5,1 (sold from 2010 […]

Mac Pro GPUs by Era

Mac Pro Evolution Each design of the Mac Pro over the years has had its advantages and disadvantages when it comes to overall system architecture and design, including the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) options available.  Many factors are at play when determining what kind of graphics card you can run with your Mac Pro as […]

Starting Over: A Low End Mac Legacy

Dear Low End Mac friends: Apologies for the very long hiatus on new articles on the website. Things haven’t been easy for a while. Over the summer/early fall, our founder Dan Knight decided to step away after around 24 years of running Low End Mac and its day to day operations as Editor in Chief.  […]

The Mac OS news roundup #3

I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right. We’re a bit late on our Mac OS news update – the first for 2021. That’s because I was busy, busy, busy – sorry! But lots of activity in the (retro) Mac OS scene and many exciting projects we need to talk about! Sherlock is back. No, […]

GPU Madness in the Mac Pro 5,1: Early 2021 Edition

This is a bit of a throwback to my article from May of last year – Tri-Booting a Mac Pro 2,1 – not long before I had just procured my Mac Pro 5,1 (well technically a 4,1 that was flashed to a 5,1 with dual Intel Xeon 5680 CPUs with 12 cores at 3.33 GHz).  […]

Best Modern Alternative to the Mac Pro 5,1

It’s safe to say that the Mac Pro 5,1 will reach the end of the line at some point in the next few years – even in terms of user base extended support such as patching tools that have allowed Catalina (and now Big Sur) to be installed keeping these Macs up to date for […]

The Mac OS news roundup #2

Hello and welcome to our Mac OS news roundup #2. Christmas isn’t too far off and we’re all looking forward to the holidays, aren’t we? I’m especially curious about the new Mac OS related projects that are going to surface! SCSI2Ethernet board This is one exciting news! If you’re among the hordes lurking around ebay […]

Mac Media Hub Evolution Part 1: The 480i and 480p Era (2000-07)

Hello Low Enders! It’s been a while, so I’m going to enlighten all of you with a great new series on using the Mac as a media hub and how it has evolved over time. As we have gotten newer Macs throughout the years to integrate into our home theater setups, serving as our digital […]

The Mac OS news roundup #1

It has been almost 10 years since I published my article Back to Mac OS 9, Because It’s All I Need on Low End Mac. Lots of things changed in my life since then – I got married, became a dad of three kids and I changed my job. But one thing remained in my […]

Dear Apple: Your Services Are No Longer Required.

Anyone who knows me knows that I was among the biggest Apple Evangelists to ever live. Apple was in my DNA.  I believed in Apple’s products, Apple’s services, and Apple’s mission (or at least what they said their mission was).  I was an Apple employee for nearly 13 years, and I loved helping people get […]

Snow Leopard and the Mid 2009 MacBook – Just Like PB&J

Hi Low End friends! Gather around! It’s time for another late night campfire story!            Just like the camping trips you might enjoy with family and friends, and gathering around the fire, sometimes you need a late night snack and reach for a delicious Peanut Butter and Jelly out of the […]

To Sell or Not to Sell – That is the Question

Hi Low End friends! Let’s call this article part of a “new take” category of Low End Mac.  Welcome to Low End Mac Campfire Discussions.   Now relax and think of yourself in your backyard with family or friends, enjoying your favorite beverage and wondering where all the time has gone surrounding our favorite Low […]

The Mac Pro 3,1 to 5,1 Gets Thunderbolt 3

Expansion and I/O Challenges with Older Macs Imagine the average 8-12 year old Mac sitting on your desk today.. Many are getting long in the tooth and have limited external upgrade potential or simply can’t even keep up with the best options offered today in terms of approaching optimal throughput for external graphics (also known […]

Thoughts on the First Generation Power Macs

It was 26 years ago that Apple first introduced the Power Macintosh Line of computers, the Power Macintosh 6100/60, 7100/66, and 8100/80.  The first Power Macs were an important step towards faster performance, and on paper they offered an incredible boost in performance compared to any of the 68040 based machines.  The most basic Power […]

Thoughts on the Apple IIGS

Here I am writing on an old machine, again. This time is a little bit different, though. I am not writing on an old Mac; this time I am writing on an Apple IIGS.

iTed Returns

Greetings to all of you out there in Vintage Mac Land! It’s great to be back! 15 years ago this month my first ever article was published here on Low End Mac. After a nearly 13 year hiatus I am back writing for Low End Mac, and I am extremely excited to be here!

Tri-Booting a Mac Pro 2,1

Hi Low Enders! It’s the Bash man again, with another happy episode of trials and tribulations getting my Mac Pro 2,1 in a stable triple boot state (queue crickets, darkness, and crackling campfire as you roast marshmallows and read on).

The Pismo at 20: An Enduring Legacy

Hi Low Enders! It’s been a while, but like a fine wine some vintage Macs just get more sought after with age.  One of those happens to be the PowerBook G3 “Pismo”.   The Pismo PowerBook was announced this very day 20 years ago while Apple was in the middle of their “Think Different” campaign […]

RCA MM36100 – Amazing “Under the Radar” Consumer CRT Display

Dear Low End Mac Friends: It’s been a while.  Life and other typical duties keep one busy, but when something extraordinary comes up, there’s always time to talk about it with our community.  In this article, I will be discussing an interesting piece of hardware (a display to be precise) – the RCA MM36100.   […]