The Late 2012 Mac mini Value Equation

The littlest Mac has become a powerhouse. Apple updated the Mac mini last week, and while the entry-level 2.5 GHz dual-core i5 model is only about 5% faster than last year’s “better” Mac mini, the $200 more expensive model has made the leap from a 2.5 GHz dual-core i5 to a 2.3 GHz quad-core i7.

The Mid 2012 MacBook Air Value Equation

Yesterday Apple overhauled its entire notebook line, moving everything to Ivy Bridge CPUs with Intel HD Graphics 4000 and USB 3. Ivy Bridge means a bit more processing power and improved energy consumption. HD 4000 graphics has one-third more cores than 3000 (16 vs. 12), and Apple is claiming up to 60% improvement there.

The Mid 2012 MacBook Pro Value Equation

Yesterday Apple overhauled its entire notebook line, moving everything to Ivy Bridge CPUs with Intel HD Graphics 4000 and USB 3. Ivy Bridge means a bit more processing power and improved energy consumption. HD 4000 graphics has one-third more cores than 3000 (16 vs. 12), and Apple is claiming up to 60% improvement there.

The 2010 MacBook Air Value Equation

It’s been a week since Apple announced its best fiscal quarter ever – $20 billion income (up 66% over last year); $4.3 billion profit (up 70%); sales of 3.89 million Macs (up 27%), 14.1 million iPhones (up a whopping 91%), 9 million iPods (down 11%), and 4.2 million iPads – previewed OS X 10.7 Lion, and […]

The 2010 iMac Value Equation

To quote the Beatles, “It’s getting better all the time.” While much of the focus will be on the new high-end 12-core Mac Pro, the iMac has seen its share of significant improvements as well. All iMacs now use Intel’s Core “i” technology and support HyperThreading, which means they can function as though they have […]

The 2010 Mac Pro Value Equation

The amount of processing power in the top-end 2.93 GHz 12-core Mac Pro boggles the imagination – as does the price. There are two audiences for the Mac Pro, those who need the most power possible in a Macintosh computer and those who need more expansion options than the iMac and Mac mini offer.

Practical iMac G3 Applications and Upgrades

One of my interesting jobs at Low End Mac is compiling our price trackers, which have evolved quite a bit over the years. We do price trackers for all Macs that are supported by some version of Mac OS X, from Beige G3 Power Macs and WallStreet PowerBooks through today’s Intel-based Macs. We also track the […]

The 2008 iPod Value Equation

Kudos to Apple for some real changes in the iPod line. It’s been a year since Apple overhauled the entire iPod range with the 3G iPod nano, the iPod touch, and the new name for the “classic” iPod – the iPod classic. Yesterday saw the introduction of a new form factor for the iPod nano, […]