Automating FTP on the Mac

There is no shortage of GUI FTP programs, but kicking it old school on the command line allows you to easily automate uploads and downloads. The best part is, there is nothing to install. Everything you need waits patiently behind the warm glow of a Terminal session.

20″ iMac (Early 2009)

Apple updated the iMac with Nvidia graphics as a standard feature (Late 2008 iMacs used Radeon graphics). The low-end Early 2009 iMacs use the same Nvidia GeForce 9400M GPU found in Early 2009 MacBooks and the Early 2009 Mac mini. Early 2009 iMacs have four USB 2.0 ports (one more than previous aluminum iMacs), FireWire 800 (but […]

iMac (Early 2009)

Apple has updated the iMac with Nvidia graphics as a standard feature (the Early 2008 iMac used Radeon graphics, although there was an Nvidia GeForce 8800 GS build-to-order option for the 24″ model). The low-end iMacs use the same Nvidia GeForce 9400M GPU found in current MacBooks and the new Mac mini, while the high-end […]

Mac Pro (Early 2009)

It’s been 14 months since Apple introduced the 2008 Mac Pro, and the 2009 Mac Pro is a big step forward: every configuration uses quad-core Intel Xeon Nehalem CPUs for even more power. Each core has its own 256 KB Level 2 (L2) cache, and each quad-core CPU shares an 8 GB Level 3 (L3) […]

Mac mini (Early 2009)

After over a year and a half without a change, Apple finally updated the Mac mini in March 2009. As widely anticipated, the new Mac mini adopts Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics, the same GPU found in the MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro – and it finally gets 802.11n WiFi as well (and 802.11a for […]

Safari 4 Beta Is Lightning Fast

I’m a keen follower of Mac web browsers, so when Apple released a new version of Safari – even a beta – I had to try it. Most owners of low-end Macs know they are for basic uses and browsing the Web, so finding a good browser that performs at a reasonable speed is vital […]

I Still Use My LC

In the previous Welcome to Macintosh article, I started a series called Classic Macintosh Veterans. It’s where we interview you, the Classic Macintosh user. Our first interview was with John Meshelany Jr. Today, I interview Scott Baret, who is also a member of the 68k Macintosh Liberation Army, where he’s also known as Scott Baret.

The 25 Most Important Macs

2009 – Others have published their thoughts on the Best Mac Ever, the 10 Best Macs, and the 25 Best Macs, but I’m taking a different approach. I want to identify the 25 most important Macs ever, clones included. (In some cases, I’ll lump together two or more models that were introduced simultaneously.)

PowerPC Architecture Was Not a Failure

2009 – Brooke Crothers of CNET News states that the “PowerPC platform never lived up to the hype” and “the PowerPC platform had really failed long before 2005.” The evidence: the fact that Apple switched to Intel in 2006 and that some of the first-generation dual-processor G4 Power Macs ran hot. I beg to differ.

First Impressions of My Unibody MacBook

2009 – My Apple Certified Refurbished (ACR) 13″ 2.0 GHz Late 2008 Aluminum MacBook arrived last Thursday afternoon, just a couple of hours short of a week after I ordered it, having been air-shuttled by FedEx back and forth across the continent twice, from Rancho Cordova, CA, to Memphis, TN, to Calgary, Alberta, to Halifax, […]

Charles W Moore Going Intel with a Unibody MacBook

2009 – After equivocating for nearly three years about what hardware would become my vehicle for transitioning to the Macintel experience, I’ve finally made a decision. Last Thursday afternoon I ordered a 2.0 GHz Late 2008 Unibody Aluminum MacBook from Apple Canada – an Apple Certified Refurbished unit for Can$200 (14%) off the price of […]

25 Years of Macintosh

The Macintosh officially turned 25 on January 24, 2009, the anniversary of the day Apple announced the original Macintosh to its Board of Directors and to the world – and the world of personal computing has never been the same.

MacBook White (Early 2009)

In an unexpected development, Apple quietly changed the specs of the MacBook White in mid-January. The updated model has the same 2.0 GHz CPU as the entry-level Aluminum Unibody MacBook – and also the same Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics processor. Best of all, it retains the FireWire 400 port present on all polycarbonate MacBooks. It […]

17″ MacBook Pro (Early 2009)

A lot of features in the Early 2009 17″ MacBook Pro were anticipated based on the Early 2008 17″ model and the Late 2008 15″ Unibody MacBook Pro: Unibody construction, dual GPUs, glass trackpad, glossy display standard, and 1920 x 1200 resolution – and losing the FireWire 400 port wasn’t unexpected. The first unknown was […]

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 […]

1 GHz Pismo the Fastest G3 ‘Book Ever

Once upon a time, CPU upgrade vendor PowerLogix offered a 1 GHz G3 CPU upgrade for the Pismo PowerBook based on the IBM PowerPC 750GX CPU, doubling the clock speed of the fastest stock Pismo – and with a full megabyte of Level 2 (L2) cache also running at 1 GHz.

The Leopard Experience at 867 MHz

2008 – I just acquired an 867 MHz PowerBook G4. This is the slowest Mac officially supported by Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. For anyone wondering whether running a such a high spec modern OS on an older Mac works well, I say go for it. You will be surprised. I was.

Could Linux Ever Replace Mac OS X?

I’m not a conformist. Being a Mac user puts me in the minority of computer users. But I could go one step further. With my foot firmly in the door of Open Source software, would an Open Source operating system be the next step forward – or would it be a step back?

No High Definition iTunes Video for You

If you thought buying videos through the iTunes Store was the online equivalent of buying them on DVD or Blu-ray, think again. In a completely unexpected development, owners of the October 2008 MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air have discovered that the new Mini DisplayPort includes High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) – and this makes it […]