Stainless Browser: Light and Efficient, But…

Since I have made the Dual 1.8 MHz Power Mac G5 my primary machine, I have been on the hunt looking for an alternative to Safari 5.0.6 . This has lead me to Stainless 0.8, a Chrome influenced browser that, while no longer in active development, is still available for download. (Source code is available […]

Performa 600 and Mac IIvx, Road Apples

Road Apples are Apple’s most compromised hardware designs. For the most part, they’re not completely bad – simply designs that couldn’t meet their potential. The Performa 600 is more deserving of the Road Apple title than any Mac before it, as is it’s nearly identical twin, the Mac IIvx.

Out of the Closet: The G5 Lives On

It sat in the closet in the spare bedroom, a 2013 impulse buy at a good price on Craigslist. It was something I really wanted, a Mid 2004 Dual 1.8 GHz PowerMac G5. I was so excited to bring it home, so excited to turn it on. The satisfying “bong” sound and hearing the hard drive start […]

Core Solo Mac mini, a Compromised Mac

Second Class Macs are Apple’s somewhat compromised hardware designs. For the most part, they’re not really bad – simply designs that didn’t meet their full potential. When it was introduced on February 28, 2006, the Core Solo Mac mini was the smallest desktop computer on the market – and the second-least expensive Macintosh Apple had […]

Was the Original iPhone Just ‘an OK Phone’?

Based on the headline on Cult of Mac (WTF? Ex-Apple Executive Apologize For The Original iPhone, Says It “Wasn’t Great”), you’d think Bob Borchers, Apple’s former Senior Director of Product Marketing, had really knocked the original iPhone, saying, “If you had the original iPhone I apologise; it was not a great phone, it was an OK […]

Apple and the ‘goto fail’ Bug

Late last week, Apple delivered iOS 7.0.6 and iOS 6.1.6 to address the “goto fail” bug in iOS and Apple TV OS 6.0.2 as well. This week it released OS X 10.9.2, Security Update 2014-001 for OS X 10.7 and newer, Safari 6.1.2 and 7.0.2 so everyone running OS X 10.7 Lion and newer will […]

Low End Mac’s Compleat* Guide to the iBook G4

The dual USB iBook form factor was in production for five years – the longest-running laptop design in Apple portable history. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since its only major shortcoming (albeit a significant one) is that it is relatively difficult to open up and work on – even for routine stuff like hard […]

Quick Overview of G4 iBooks

Apple moved the popular iBook to the G4 processor in October 2003, eliminating the last Macs with G3 processors. Although the G4 iBooks used a G4 CPU, it wasn’t initially the same one used in the PowerBook G4; instead, it was version with a smaller level 2 (L2) cache, which meant the first generation iBooks […]

Low End Mac’s Compleat* Guide to MacBooks

When Apple introduced it MacBook Pro line, it discontinued the PowerBook series, and when the first MacBook models arrived in mid-May 2006, it discontinued the iBook line. These were the first two Mac brands to disappear in the Intel transition, followed by the Power Mac, which gave way to the Mac Pro later in 2006.

Low End Mac’s Compleat* Guide to the 17″ MacBook Pro

The 17″ MacBook Pro has seen its time come and go, as sad as that reality may be. Apple stopped making its largest sized flagship portables after 2011 in favor of smaller 15″ class Retina Display units that pack more pixels along with more graphics and processing power into a smaller package.

Low End Mac’s Compleat* Guide to the Lombard PowerBook

The Lombard PowerBook G3 (officially the PowerBook G3 Bronze Keyboard) was rolled out on May 10, 1999 – exactly a year after the first WallStreet iteration of Apple’s PowerBook G3 Series laptop line debuted, also at the Worldwide Developers’ Conference (WWDC). While the Lombard superficially looks similar to the WallStreet family, it had taken a […]

Low End Mac’s Compleat* Guide to 12″ PowerBooks

Back in 2003, the 12″ Little Al PowerBook represented one of the most convincing smash-hit model introductions in Apple history. Sharing much of the general layout, engineering, and the 12″ display of the 12″ iBook, the baby PowerBook added an aluminum housing and G4 power – plus most (but not all) of the usual slate of […]

Low End Mac’s Compleat* Guide to 17″ PowerBooks

Apple’s 17″ PowerBook G4, announced at Macworld Expo in January 2003, essentially eliminated any reason other than lower cost for owning a desktop computer for most of Mac users. With that big screen, plenty of speed, and an inventory of features undreamed of even in high-end desktops only a handful of years prior, this PowerBook […]

Low End Mac’s Compleat* Guide to 15″ Aluminum PowerBooks

The 15″ PowerBook (or AlBook) was rolled out by Steve Jobs at Macworld Paris in September 2003. After eight months of anticipation following the release of the 17″ and 12″ aluminum PowerBooks in January of 2003, it turned out to be pretty much what PowerBook fans had been hoping for and expecting.

10 Years of Facebook

Can it really be just 10 years since Facebook launched? It feels like it’s been around forever, and many of us use it daily – often several times on a day thanks to apps on our smartphones and tablets. Today Low End Mac’s staff takes a look at Facebook, what it does right, where the […]