The Apple Watch Leather Loop band is comprised of leather-wrapped magnets. The band was sold in two sizes, Medium for 150–185 mm wrists and Large for 180–210 mm wrists. They were available for both the 38/40 mm and 42/44 mm Apple Watch models.
The Leather Loop band was among Apple’s original band designs in 2015. Apple describes the Apple Watch Leather Loop band:
“The Venezia leather for this band is handcrafted in Arzignano, Italy. With an artisan heritage spanning five generations, the tannery has a history of partnership with some of the most prestigious names in fashion. A delicate milling and tumbling process enhances the beautiful pebbled texture. And magnets concealed within the soft, quilted leather allow you to simply wrap it around your wrist for a precise fit and a trim look.”
The Meyer Lemon band is a shade of bright yellow. This style uses no mechanical fasteners that might potentially scratch a surface.
The Apple Watch Leather Loop band is comprised of leather-wrapped magnets. The band was sold in two sizes, Medium for 150–185 mm wrists and Large for 180–210 mm wrists. They were available for both the 38/40 mm and 42/44 mm Apple Watch models.
The Leather Loop band was among Apple’s original band designs in 2015. Apple describes the Apple Watch Leather Loop band:
“The Venezia leather for this band is handcrafted in Arzignano, Italy. With an artisan heritage spanning five generations, the tannery has a history of partnership with some of the most prestigious names in fashion. A delicate milling and tumbling process enhances the beautiful pebbled texture. And magnets concealed within the soft, quilted leather allow you to simply wrap it around your wrist for a precise fit and a trim look.”
The Peacock band is a dark shade of blue green. This style uses no mechanical fasteners that might potentially scratch a surface.
The AirPort Time Capsule was a device that combined Apple’s Wi-Fi base station with a built-in hard drive that allowed network-attached storage (NAS). This example (A1355) is the third of five generations of this product released between 2008 and 2013. Apple described this product as a “Backup Appliance” that was designed to work with its Time Machine software that was released with Mac OS X 10.5.
Using the Time Machine software, Time Capsule creates backups of the operating system and files wirelessly and automatically, thus eliminating the need for an external hard drive. Time Machine made hourly backups of the files that were changed and managed older backup images to save space. The initial backup of a computer using Time Machine could take several hours (or overnight) on an 802.11n wireless network, but subsequent hourly backups occurred instantly and far more quickly (depending on file sizes).
This Generation 3 model used the same design as Generations 1–4: 7.7 inches square and 1.4 inches tall. The Generation 3 included the following interfaces:
One Gigabit Ethernet WAN port for connecting a DSL or cable modem
Three Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports for connecting computers or network devices
USB port for connecting a USB printer or USB external hard drive
802.11n wireless
Time Capsule used a Hitachi Deskstar hard drive, the same hard drive sold with Apple’s Xserve server products. The Hitachi Deskstar met or exceeded 1 million hours mean time between failures (MTBF) status, common for server-grade hard drives.
Apple’s Mini-VGA to Video Adapter was designed so Mac computers with a built-in Mini-VGA port could be connected to a device with an RGB video or S-video port. According to the packaging, compatible devices included:
“iBook without an external reset button, 12-inch PowerBook G4, or 17-inch iMac (1.0GHz) with mini-VGA port.”
The packaging included a bag with a white back and clear front to fully view the adapter that was being purchased. The bag was sealed with a black cardboard top printed with product information. The font used was Apple Myriad, Apple’s corporate font of the time.
Apple describes this adapter as a “Apple USB Ethernet Adapter with built-in 4.6-inch USB cable” and its model number is A1277.
According to Apple, this adapter allows you to “Easily connect your Mac computer to an Ethernet network with the Apple USB Ethernet Adapter. Small and light, it connects to the USB 2.0 port of your Mac and provides an RJ-45 connector that supports 10/100BASE-T performance.”
This Apple-branded adapter allowed a powered microphone with RCA inputs (red and white plugs) to be plugged into a Macintosh with a 3.5mm microphone jack.
The adapter features an Apple logo (on the RCA plug end) and Apple’s microphone icon (used in the 1990s) on the 3.5mm plug. The adapter is made in the platinum color used by Apple throughout the 1990s until the release of the iMac in 1998.
This anti-static mat was part of a Portable Field Service Kit manufactured by 3M after 1984. It is light gold in color and printed with a black Apple logotype in the Apple Garamond font, Apple’s corporate font used between 1984–2003. Note that the logotype uses a monotone Apple logo (as opposed to the multi-color logo more common at the time) and “Apple Computer, Inc.” (Apple changed its name to Apple, Inc. officially in 2007).
A former Apple repair technician described the mat:
“This utilitarian static mat has turned into a rare collectors’ item from way before Apple was mostly known for their iPhones. It’s a light Gold color, 4 layers thick with soft foam on the bottom and 36 inches long x 23 3/4 inches wide x 3/16 inches thick.”
The upper-right corner of the mat includes a snap to connect grounding cables to prevent electrostatic discharge that could short an electrical component.
According to the Apple repair technician’s post, the mat shipped with an Accessory Package For Portable Field Service Kits that contained the electrostatic wrist strap, a grounding cable, a brochure/manual titled “Static is a touchy business,” and a large yellow workspace sticker that read “ATTENTION STATIC SAFEGUARDED WORK AREA.”
The Apple Logotype Anti-Static Mat in my collection was owned by a former Apple employee and was well used, but in good condition.
Thanks to Randy (AzAntique) for posting photos and a description of this relic!
The AirPort Extreme was a wireless base station that combined the functions of a router, network switch, wireless access point, Network-Attached Storage (NAS), and other features. Apple released a total of seven AirPort Extreme Base Station models. This Generation 6 was the final model.
The original version of the AirPort Extreme Base Station used the “flying saucer” form factor. Generations 1–5 used a flat square form factor with rounded corners. The final Generation 6 model kept the concept of a square with rounded corners, but the base station used a tower design, measuring 3.85 inches x 3.85 inches and 6.6 inches tall.
The Generation 6 AirPort Extreme 802.11ac was announced on June 10, 2013. It offered three-stream 802.11ac Wi-Fi at 1.3Gbit/s (three times faster than 802.11n). Time Machine was supported in this model using an attached external USB hard drive.
The packaging listed the following features:
Simultaneous dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi with up to three times faster performance than 802.11n
Compatible with 802,11a/b/g/n/ac-enabled computers, networks, and Wi-Fi devices such as iPhone, iPad, Pod touch, and Apple TV
USB port to share a printer or hard drive and access it wirelessly
One Gigabit Ethernet WAN port to connect to a DSL or cable modem or Ethernet network; three Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA/WPA2) security and built-in firewall protection
Ability to set up a separate guest network to share your Wi-Fi connection
The AirPort Extreme was a wireless base station that combined the functions of a router, network switch, wireless access point, Network-Attached Storage (NAS), and other features.
The AirPort Extreme Base Station Generation 4 (model A1354) was released in 2009 with a white, rounded-rectangle design that was similar to the look of the first-generation Mac mini and original Apple TV. AirPort Extreme Base Station Generations 1–5 shared the same design until a tower-like design was used for the final Generation 6 model.
The AirPort Extreme Base Station measured 6.5 inches square, 1.3 inches tall, and weighed 1.66 pounds. It supported 802.11a/b/g/n wireless network protocols.
The AirPort Extreme Base Station Generation 4 had the follwing interfaces:
One Gigabit Ethernet WAN port for connecting a DSL or cable modem
Three Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports for connecting computers or network devices
USB 2.0 port for connecting a USB printer or USB external hard drive
Apple announced their AirPods Max over-ear headphones on December 8, 2020, and they shipped one week later on December 15. The original press release touted:
“AirPods Max feature incredible high-fidelity audio, Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, and spatial audio”
The headphones featured a brand new design and included the Digital Crown from the Apple Watch as the primary control interface. Materials included a “breathable knit mesh canopy” that spanned the headband to reduce pressure on the head while wearing the headphones for extended periods. The headband frame was made from stainless steel and telescoped to allow a custom fit. The ear cushions were made from a “custom-designed mesh textile [that] wraps the ear cushions to provide pillow-like softness while listening.” The outer ear cup was aluminum in a rectangular shape with rounded corners (as opposed to a round or oval design seen on other over-the-ear headphone designs).
The audio technology included “H1 chips, and advanced software to power computational audio for a breakthrough listening experience with Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode, and spatial audio.” The battery on AirPods Max was advertised at 20 hours.
AirPods Max headphones were available in five colors: space gray, silver, sky blue, green, and pink. The colors consistently referred to the color of the outer ear cup of the AirPods Max—since each color option used a different combination of accent colors. Space gray used space gray outer ear cups with black ear cushions and headband. Silver used silver outer ear cups with white ear cushions and headband. Sky blue used light blue outer ear cups with light blue ear cushions and a dark blue headband. Green used light green outer ear cups with light green ear cushions and a pale green (white tinted with green) headband. Pink used pale pink (similar to Apple’s rose gold) outer ear cups with dark pink ear cushions and a red headband.
AirPods Max Ear Cushions were also sold separately by Apple as replacements—or to allow users to customize their headphone style. By mixing and matching the Ear Cushions, 25 color combinations were possible, or 125 combinations if two different ear cushion colors were used.
The AirPods Max shipped with an arguably unusual case design that provided little protection, but allowed the headphones to go into “an ultralow power state that helps to preserve battery charge when not in use.” The case was frequently maligned by critics.
When AirPods Max were released, they were almost universally praised for their superior sound quality and noise-cancelling features, but panned for their high price of $549. The primary technical issue shared by some reviewers was the tendency for AirPods Max to “form condensation under the earcups and the water that is formed gets inside the drivers causing ear detection problems.”
