IRTalk, IrDA, and the Mac

In the 1990s, several Macs included infrared networking support, a legacy short range point-to-point technology often forgotten nowadays. It can be used to transfer files between Macs, to mobile phones, and to print to IrDA compliant printers, among other things. This article provides an overview of infrared networking on Macs and the models with built-in IrDA […]

Low End Mac in 2014

Low End Mac has been through some difficult times since we moved from static HTML pages to WordPress. Site traffic declined by 88% from our peak of 17.1 million pages in 2007, but it is turning around.

Growing Low End Mac

I love Macs, and I’ve been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I haven’t had much time to write lately, but that’s finally changing.

Mac IIsi, a Compromised Mac

It’s debatable whether the Mac IIsi is really a Second Class Mac. The IIsi was a bit of an odd duck. On the one hand, it was the only Mac II to ship without a NuBus slot. On the other hand, it could be seen as a monitor-less SE/30.

Core Duo Mac mini, a Second Class Mac

When it was introduced in February 2006, the Core Duo Mac mini was the smallest desktop computer on the market – and the second-least expensive Macintosh Apple had ever built. As with other first-generation Intel Macs, the price was $100 higher than the model it replaced.

G4 Mac mini, a Second Class Mac

When it was introduced in January 2005, the G4 Mac mini was the smallest desktop computer on the market – and the least expensive Mac Apple had ever built. Measuring 6.5″ square and 2″ tall, the Mac mini was dwarved by almost any desktop computer built before it.

SCSI History

SCSI isn’t the black art it sometimes seems to be, but the various terms different people use for the same thing makes it tough to sort out. I hope the following lessens the confusion.

Apple’s First Phone Design Never Made It to Market

2014 – If you were on the Mac Web in July 2007, you probably saw Fudder’s article, The Very First iPhone – or at least stories about the article or links to it. The mock-up (below) was created by Frog Design, built by Hertmut Esslinger, and bears more than a passing resemblance to the Apple IIc.

Can iOS 8.1.1 Free 500 MB on Your iDevice?

If you follow Low End Mac on Facebook, you’ve probably seen a link to an article from Redmond Pi claiming that upgrading from iOS 8.1 to iOS 8.1.1 may free up to 500 MB of space on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. As the owner of an 8 GB iPhone 4S, I had to test […]

Overclocking Your Low End Mac

Many Mac models can be “chipped” to run at a higher speed. These pages provide information on the maximum reliable speed. This may vary from one machine to the next. Chipping is not authorized by Apple. Any modifications you perform on your Mac may damage it. Modifications are done at your own risk.

The Late 2014 Mac mini Value Equation

The Mac mini has always been the runt of the Mac litter, and not just in size. When Apple upgraded the G4 model, it never announced it. The Mini ran a Core Duo CPU long after everything else had migrated to Core 2 Duo. And now it’s been almost two years since the Mini was last […]