Road Apples & Second Class Macs

Second Class Macs are Macs you should buy with your eyes wide open – if you buy them at all. The only ones I would put on the “avoid at all costs” list are those with three or four apples. The Macs with only one or two apples can be very nice computers as long as […]

13″ MacBook Pro with Retina Display (Mid 2014)

The Mid 2014 Retina MacBooks is essentially a speed bumped version of the Late 2013 model with the base model also boosted from 4 GB of system memory to 8 GB. As with all Retina MacBook Pros, this one is built around SSD technology for enhanced speed and ruggedness, not to mention allowing for a slimmer, cooler running […]

15″ MacBook Pro with Retina Display (Mid 2014)

Nine months after the Late 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina Display, Apple moved forward with more power and twice-as-fast Thunderbolt 2 technology in July 2014. The MacBook Pro with Retina Display (a.k.a. Retina MacBook Pro) remains the thinnest MacBook Pro at 0.71″. That’s MacBook Air thin, but unlike the Air, this model doesn’t have a wedge design. Also […]

Tech News on Low End Mac

We’re going to give you a different take on tech news. No rumors. No press releases. No news based on a third-hand report. We’re going to give you real tech news with a low-end twist.

CPUs: PowerPC G3

Original article by: Daniel Jansen Arthur, legendary King of England, became the code-name for the third generation PowerPC (PPC) processor, eventually named the 740 and 750. The successor of the 603e, these third-generation CPUs were optimized to run real software, not for some theoretical ideal. Early benchmarks show the 750 outperforming the 604e, making it look like […]

CPUs: PowerPC G4

Original article by: Daniel Jansen First available in the Power Mac G4 in late 1999, the G4 processor is to the G3 as the 604 was to the 603 – and then some! Like the 604, and unlike the G3, G4 is designed for multiprocessor operation. It also runs about 25% faster for basic floating point math […]

CPUs: PowerPC 601

Original article by: Daniel Jansen The biggest change in the Apple product line prior to 2006 was the transition from Motorola 680×0 CPUs to the PowerPC (PPC) family of CPUs. Designed by a consortium of Apple, IBM, and Motorola (a.k.a. the AIM Alliance) and based on IBM’s POWER architecture, PowerPC became the most widely used RISC […]