Today marks the fifth anniversary of Apple’s last update to the Mac Pro, as reflected in the MacRumors Buyer’s Guide.
Apple released the second-generation Mac Pro on December 19, 2013, starting at $2,999, and it remains that price today after some reshuffling of configurations despite having over five year old hardware, including up to a 12-core Intel Xeon E5 processor, 64GB of ECC RAM, 1TB of SSD storage, and dual AMD FirePro D700 GPUs.
Category: Apple History
Checking Into the iBook Hospital⇢
Busy night in my studio.
Apple’s February 2006 Event⇢
As far as Apple press events, this one wasn’t a huge deal: the Mac mini got an Intel CPU, the iPod got some leather cases and the iPod Hi-Fi was introduced.
However, as I came across the video today while researching another topic, I couldn’t help but watch it. Jobs sounds a little under the weather here, but he’s loose and relaxed. I especially enjoyed the segment when he shows Front Row working on the Mac mini.
The World’s Largest Apple Collection Needs a New Home⇢
Francois Murphy and Leonhard Foeger for Reuters:
Over the years since he began working for a company that repaired Apples in Vienna in the 1980s, Roland Borsky’s collection has grown to roughly 1,100 computers, he says - far more than the 472 items at Prague’s Apple Museum, which says it is the world’s biggest private collection of Apple products.
“Just as others collect cars and live in a little box to afford them, so it is with me,” he said in his office, which is so packed with dusty items like a wall of old monitors that he has moved most of them to a warehouse outside the city.
Apple’s Forgotten iOS Apps⇢
Apple has just about always offered iOS apps on the App Store, separate from what apps come bundled on its devices from the factory.
Sometimes, these apps get promoted to being part of the iOS image, like Podcasts and iBooks have. Once stuck hanging out on the App Store, they now ship on the iPhone and iPad by default.
A lot of other apps weren’t luck enough to get that lifeline, and have since been removed from the App Store. Let’s take a look at a few examples.
The iPhone 4S: The First Fall iPhone⇢
Yours truly, over on MacStories:
We are used to a fall release schedule when it comes to iPhones, but that hasn’t always been the case. The first four iPhones came out in the summer, usually after being announced at WWDC.
2011’s iPhone 4S changed that for good, and in some ways that phone draws parallels to the new iPhone XS. Both are the second generation of a radical new design, and both boast improved cameras, networking, and battery life. That’s not to mention how Siri is at the heart of the iOS version they both ship with.
Infinite Loop Oral History⇢
Twenty-five years ago, the computer revolution’s marquee company was in decline. Back then, it was just settling into shiny new headquarters, a campus of six buildings that formed a different kind of ring. Called Infinite Loop, the name is a reference to a well-known programming error—code that gets stuck in an endless repetition—though no one seems to kn ow who applied it. Infinite Loop was the place where Apple’s leaders and engineers pulled off a historic turnaround, and it will always be the source of stories and legends—many of them untold. Until now.
On Aperture’s History⇢
Yours truly, writing at MacStories:
iLife was brilliant because it was approachable. Programs like iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand were so simple that anyone could just open them from the Dock and get started creating.
Of course, not everyone’s needs were met by the iLife applications. iMovie users could upgrade to Final Cut, while Logic was there waiting for GarageBand users. And for those needing more than what iPhoto could provide, Apple offered Aperture.
Introducing the Aqua Screenshot Library⇢
I’m really glad to be announcing a project that started at the end of last year. I have worked my way through every major release of macOS since the Mac OS X Public Beta and catalogued them in an extensive collection of screenshots.
Currently, the library includes 1,502 images. That’s 1.6 GB worth of screenshots.
These images came from the OS, running on actual hardware; I didn’t use virtual machines at any point. I ran up to 10.2 on an original Power Mac G4, while a Mirror Drive Doors G4 took care of 10.3, 10.4 and 10.5. I used a 2010 Mac mini for Snow Leopard and Lion, then a couple different 15-inch Retina MacBook Pros to round out the rest.
(I switched to a Retina machine as soon as I could. The 2012 Retina MacBook Pro will run Lion, but the one I borrowed from a friend for the project could only run Mountain Lion. I would like to re-capture my Lion images at Retina quality in the future. Sadly, original Retina MacBook Pros are a little too pricey on eBay currently.)
25 Years Ago, Apple Introduced the Newton
I’ve rounded up some links to mark the occasion:
- Gizmodo, on the history of the Newton
- Specs of the original Newton MessagePad and some additional notes
- “What is Newton?” ad
- “Intelligence by Newton” ad
- A little bit on Defying Gravity, which is the book when it comes to the Newton
- Einstein, the Newton emulator
- Thomas Brand’s guide to the Newton line
- Love Notes to Newton, a new documentary on the device and its fans
Happy birthday, Green Machine.
Love Notes to Newton⇢
Noah Leon’s documentary on the Newton and the community that still surrounds it is out, and it’s very good. I watched it over the weekend and deeply enjoyed it.
iPhone 3G: 10 Years Later⇢
July 2008 was a very busy time for Apple. In addition to the App Store and MobileMe, Apple launched the iPhone 3G.