Starting Over: A Low End Mac Legacy
Dear Low End Mac friends: Apologies for the very long hiatus on new articles on the website. Things haven’t been easy for a while. Over the summer/early fall, our founder Dan Knight decided to step...
View ArticleMac Pro GPUs by Era
Mac Pro Evolution Each design of the Mac Pro over the years has had its advantages and disadvantages when it comes to overall system architecture and design, including the GPU (Graphics Processing...
View ArticleOne Last Push: Turbo Charging the Mac Pro 5,1 through 2025 (and maybe...
The Mac Pro 5,1 has rode a heck of a wave thanks to a talented team of developers who have worked hard to keep these old machines running smoothly with OpenCore/OpenCore Legacy Patcher (and some other...
View ArticleEnvisioning the Mac Pro 8,2 “Dream Machine”
Some History on the Best Mac Value Ever: The Mac Pro 4,1 and 5,1 The Mac Pro has went through many iterations over the years and with the advent of Apple Silicon, things have certainly come to a...
View ArticleFull eGPUs and PCIe GPUs in Early 2006 to Early 09 iMacs
The 2007 iMac has been around for a while, falling by the wayside, as it’s internal hardware doesn’t have many upgrade paths… or does it? A little known secret is hidden inside every early intel iMac...
View ArticleMaximizing the AGP Power Mac G5 into space.. and beyond!
The 2003 Power Mac G5 was the first in a line of controversial 64-Bit PowerPC Macs, which suffered from above average hardware failure/glitchiness rates. While not the most popular Mac in the lineup of...
View ArticleMaximizing the GPU in your MXM-based iMac
Between 2006 and 2011, many iMacs shipped with a removable internal graphics card known as an MXM GPU. MXM (Mobile PCI EXpress Module) is an interface pioneered by Nvidia around 2004, originally...
View ArticleMinecraft 1.8.9 for PowerPC Macs
Officially, Minecraft 1.5.2 was the last version playable on any PowerPC Mac, as it was the last version playable on Java 5. The release date of 1.5.2 is May 2nd 2013, around the same time retina...
View ArticleOpinion – In defense of the 15″ 2018 MacBook Pro
There are objective standards to judge technology by, by how well they perform in relation to how much they cost, their longevity, repairability, etc; but how much they impact you are subjective. As a...
View ArticleA Forgotten Gem: Apple FireWire SDK
Once upon a time (for those somewhat new to the Mac platform), there was this innovative connection that showed up in the late 1990s – early 00s called FireWire that came around shortly after the...
View ArticleA PowerPC Gem: TenFiveTube for OS X Leopard
There was a time not too long ago in the past where one could simply open Safari on a PowerPC Mac, and be able to browse YouTube with relative ease. As web standards changed, resources required became...
View ArticleSSD in a PowerBook: KingSpec PATA PA25-64 SSD.. yay or nay?
The first generation MacBook Air was the first ever Apple computer to ship with a Solid State Drive as a factory option for internal storage, in January 2008. Prices have come down dramatically over...
View ArticleAdding PCIe (Yes, PCI-Express) to your AGP/PCI-Based PowerPC Mac
The Peripheral Component Interconnect Express, aka PCIe, is a longstanding serial computer expansion bus standard created in 2003. The Late 2005 Power Mac G5 was the only PowerPC Mac which took...
View ArticleMaximizing your 24″ 2006 iMac – With an eGPU, Yosemite, and a replacement screen
In late 2006, going right along their fall product cycle updates, Apple had introduced a 24″ iMac model for the first time. This was the largest ever produced of the “white” polycarbonate iMacs,...
View ArticleBefore Apple’s SideCar – There was (and still is) Luna Display
In fall 2019, Apple announced their 16th major release of macOS, version 10.15 Catalina. This was the one which shipped with Apple SideCar, a system function/extension which allows you to use your iPad...
View ArticleSuper-Charged “Hybrid” 2010/2011 Mac Mini
Introduction and Background A little over 5 years ago I wrote about the mid-2010 Mac Mini being an outstanding Low End Mac for using as a media server in my article titled “Mid 2010 Mac Mini: The...
View ArticleLow End Mac Mailbag: “Easy Peasy” USB Standalone Installers for Mac OS X, OS...
Fresh to the Low End Mac the mailbag from long time reader Adam Goff: “I recently made the personal decision to “un-OCLP” a few of my Intel based Macs and thus prompted a desire to create an easy to...
View ArticleUsing the Hi-Res PowerBook G4 in Late 2023
Nearly 20 years ago in October 2005, Apple released the Hi-Res PowerBook G4, in a 15″ and 17″ variant. These were named as such, as the base screen resolution which shipped with PowerBooks were...
View ArticleAfter the project: Using a modified 2006 24″ iMac in 2023
From one configuration to another, 2 processor transitions apart. It’s been a month since the 24″ 2006 iMac in my possession has been modified, being turned into a sort of CustoMac. With an external...
View ArticleMac OS 9 is Still Alive and Kicking.. and That’s Not a Bad Thing
Back from the Low End Mac Mailbag is another excellent piece from longtime reader and now contributor, Adam Goff. Enjoy Adam’s excellent take on how Mac OS 9 is still alive and kicking today – over 24...
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