Back in early 2018 I wrote one of my first articles as a writer for Low End Mac, covering how to get 64 GB of RAM working in your Mac Pro 1,1 (2006) or Mac Pro 2,1 (2007). At the time, the project felt like a massive risk considering the cost of the RAM, and […]
Category Archives: Low End Mobile
Thought your older Intel Macs running on Lion all the way up through Mojave could no longer have a modern, functional web browser? Named after the “red leaves of autumn” in Japanese and based off of FireFox 140 ESR from June 2025, it’s quite an upgrade. It is a fork/successor to the FireFox-dynasty […]
On June 8th 2026 at WWDC 2026, Apple announced the iOS 27 Developer Beta, which is set for consumer release in September 2026. iOS 27 was announced alongside macOS Golden Gate, iPadOS 27, visionOS 27, watchOS 27, and tvOS 27. Aimed to be a like a “Snow Leopard” sort of release, this new version brings […]
Back in 2017 I picked up an Apple Watch Series 3, which wound up going along for the ride through several iPhone upgrades. Fast forward to 2023; the Series 3 battery was on it’s way out, animations were stuttery, and despite wearing it for the better part of 6 years, I didn’t get much use […]
Before Apple ever had their own custom in-house silicon with the debut of the A4 chip on the iPhone 4, there were Samsung chips. The first few iOS devices relied on these early chips, while every device since the first iPad sports a chip made by Apple. These are the known as the “A-Series” SOCs, […]
This page details the full hardware profile of the Apple Silicon “A5X” SOC. Name: Apple A5X MFG: Samsung Released: March 16th, 2012 Codename:APL5498 Part Number:S5L8945 Fabrication Process: 45-Nanometer Transistor Count: – CPU ISA: ARMv7 (32-Bit) . RAM Information: Memory Bus Width: 128-Bit Total channels: 4 Bit per channel: 32-Bit Memory Type: LPDDR2-800 (400 MHz) ~Bandwidth: […]
This page details the full hardware profile of the Apple Silicon “A5” series of chips. There are three different variations in existence. Name: Apple A5 MFG: Samsung Released: March 11th, 2011 Codename: APL0498 Part Number: S5L8940 Fabrication Process: 45-Nanometer or 32nm High-K dielectric metal gate. Transistor Count: – CPU ISA: ARMv7 (32-Bit) . RAM Information: […]
This page details the full hardware profile of the Apple Silicon “A18 Pro” chip. Name: “Apple A18 Pro” MFG: TSMC Released: September 9th, 2024 Codename: APL1V07 Part Number: T8140 Fabrication Process: 3 Nanometer N3E FinFET Transistor Count: (TBA) CPU ISA: ARMv9.2-A . RAM Information: Memory Bus Width: 64-Bit Total channels: 4 Bit per channel: […]
16 Years Ago today, Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPad – a third category device between iPhone and MacBooks touted as being “far better at some key things“, such as: Web Browsing, Email, Photos, Video, Music, Games, and eBooks. Originally shipping with a custom build of iPhone OS 3.2 that allowed wallpaper changing, […]
Is a 6th Generation iPad of any use in 2026? Released back in March 2018 with an A10 Fusion chip, 2 GB RAM and Touch ID, it can update up to iOS 17.7.10, and was the final iPad with the original 9.7″ screen size. If you’re just looking for a regular ol’ iPad, this may […]
Back from the Low End Mac Mailbag is an interesting custom Power Mac G4 Cube from a new contributor in our FaceBook group, Chris Tee. He spray paints it, modifies it, upgrading it into space… and beyond! Chris: “For my first post here…I wanted to share something I’ve been working on since 2023, and I […]
For those of us who aren’t into smartwatches, it’s easy just not to buy one. It’s an extra device to charge, small, sometimes easy to lose, and depending on how you use one there’s no guarantee its battery will last as long as the iPhone’s battery. I consider myself a very light Apple Watch user, […]
In Late 2023 I purchased and heavily modified a Late 2006 24-Inch iMac, outfitted with a PCIe eGPU, a modified display, some spliced cables along with cable additions, and a newer macOS to match. Today, 2 years later, I decided to crack open the iMac to give the GPU some new thermal paste, […]
One of the most striking things about my experience having an iPhone Air for the last 80 days, is how many charge cycles I have: 48. I was somewhat skeptical about battery life at the beginning, although the leap wasn’t perceivably bad – A 3200 mAh on the 14 Pro versus a 3149 mAh on […]
Last year I picked up a Purple 64 GB iPad mini as a part of a low-cost offer from T-mobile, to have as a backup to the iPhone (just in case), to see “the state of iPads” overall, and to see if the device fits anywhere into my life these days. Since the early days […]
The j5create JVCU100 1080p webcam is one I picked up years ago in 2019, to use with my Mac Pro 3,1 back then. After spending a few minutes exploring a curiosity and going through the entire process of decoupling it from my main desk setup, I found out it actually works on PowerPC Macs! . […]
With the release of the new M5 MacBook Pro and iPad Pro on October 22nd, we’re 5 generations into the Apple Silicon lineup, marking half a decade since Apple Silicon became available. Although the new chip was announced quietly, it’s hard to remain silent about something – it gives pro-level chips a real run for […]