iPad Air (original, WiFi+Cellular, 2013)

When the iPad Air was released, Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, commented:

“…the new iPad Air is another big leap ahead. It is so thin, light and powerful, once you hold one in your hand you will understand what a tremendous advancement this is. iPad Air with its 9.7-inch Retina display weighs just one pound and packs the incredible performance of iOS 7 running on a 64-bit desktop-class Apple A7 chip, and delivers all-day battery life in the lightest full-sized tablet in the world.”

Apple described the iPad Air as 20% thinner and 28% lighter than the iPad Generation 4 (the base iPad at the time).

The iPad Air had many available configurations with 2 colors (Space Gray and Silver), 2 wireless connectivity options (Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi+Cellular), and 4 storage capacities (16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB). This model is Space Gray, has Wi-Fi+Cellular, and 16GB of storage.

The iPad Air is 9.4 inches (240 mm) wide x 6.6 inches (169.5 mm) tall, and 0.29 inch (7.5 mm) thick. It weighed 1.05 pounds (478 g). Its Retina Display was 9.7 inches with 2048 x 1536 resolution (at 264ppi).

Wireless technologies included Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0, and this model allowed cellular service including LTE.

The front camera was a 1.2 Megapixel FaceTime HD Camera that could record 720p HD video. The back camera was a 5 Megapixel iSight Camera with features including autofocus, face detection, tap to focus, tap to control exposure, geotagging, and HDR.

Sources: Apple, (Newsroom, Tech Specs), EveryMac

MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)

The 13-inch MacBook Air, Early-2015 model, used the 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 and was also available with a 2.2GHz dual-core Intel Core i7. It shipped with 4GB or 8GB RAM. This model uses the Core i5 with 4GB of RAM and has 128GB of flash storage.

When it was released on March 9, 2015, Apple reported:

“The updated 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air now feature fifth generation Intel Core processors up to 2.2 GHz, with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.2 GHz, integrated Intel HD Graphics 6000, and Thunderbolt 2, delivering up to 20Gbps, twice the bandwidth of the previous generation. The 13-inch MacBook Air also features faster flash storage that is up to two times faster than the previous generation.”

This MacBook Air used a 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display at 1440 x 900.

Apple reported that this laptop had a 12-hour battery. Its physical ports included 2 USB 3 ports, a Thunderbolt 2 port, a MagSafe 2 power port, a SDXC card slot, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Wireless technologies included 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0. It also had a front-facing 720p FaceTime HD camera.

The full-size keyboard was backlit and with an ambient light sensor, and it used Apple’s Multi-Touch trackpad.

This MacBook Air used the tapered design of previous MAcBook Air models, measuring 0.11 to 0.68 inch (0.3-1.7 cm) thick, 12.8 inches (32.5 cm) wide, and 8.94 inches (22.7 cm) deep. It weighed 2.96 pounds (1.35 kg).

According to EveryMac:

“Compared to its predecessor, this model looks effectively identical, but has a more advanced processor and architecture, more advanced graphics, twice as fast 4x PCIe storage, and Thunderbolt 2 support.”

Source: Apple (Tech Specs, Newsroom), EveryMac

iPhone 5c (yellow, 2013)

The iPhone 5c was released along with the iPhone 5s as a lower-cost addition to the iPhone 5 family. Instead of using a an aluminum back, it used a polycarbonate shell in one of five colors: white, blue, green, yellow, and pink. All colors used a black glass front. This example is yellow.

The iPhone 5c used the same screen and cameras as the iPhone 5s released at the same time. Its touch screen was a Retina display (1136 x 640). The back camera was an 8-megapixel iSight camera (1080p), and the front camera was a 1.2-megapixel FaceTime camera (720p).

Internally, the iPhone 5c used an A6 processor at 1.3 GHz. Its internal storage included 8, 16, or 32 GB. Also like the iPhone 5s, wireless connections included 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and 4G/LTE. Wired connections included the Lightning connector and a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack.

The similarities in features between the iPhone 5c and other iPhone 5 models—along with the iPhone 5c’s color choices and lower price—made this iPhone a popular choice.

Sources: Everymac, Wikipedia

AirPort Extreme 802.11ac (Generation 6, 2013)

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

Sources: Wikipedia, Apple

Mac Pro (Quad Core, 3.7 GHz, Late 2013)

As the manual for this Mac Pro states, “This is no floor model. Go ahead and keep it right on your desk.” This Mac Pro was a radical design departure from all previous Mac Pro—and other Apple desktop models with its cylindrical design. According to an Apple press release:

“Designed around an innovative unified thermal core, the all-new Mac Pro packs unprecedented performance into an aluminum enclosure that is just 9.9-inches tall and one-eighth the volume of the previous generation. Mac Pro features 4-core, 6-core, 8-core or 12-core Intel Xeon processors running at Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.9 GHz and two workstation-class AMD FirePro GPUs that deliver up to eight times the graphics performance of the previous generation Mac Pro.* PCIe-based flash storage delivers sequential read speeds up to 10 times faster than conventional desktop hard drives, and ECC DDR3 gives the new Mac Pro up to 60GBps of memory bandwidth for seamlessly editing full-resolution 4K video while simultaneously rendering effects in the background. With an incredible six Thunderbolt 2 ports, each with up to 20Gbps of bandwidth per device, the new Mac Pro completely redefines desktop expandability with support for up to 36 high-performance peripherals, including the latest 4K displays.”

As is often the case with unique designs, this Mac Pro is sometimes unfortunately referred to as the “trash can” Mac. I have included a couple of tongue-in-cheek photos in reference to this moniker.

Sources: EveryMac, Apple Newsroom

iPad Air (original, Wi-Fi, 32 GB, space gray, 2013)

The original iPad Air used a 9.7-inch Retina display. According to Apple’s press release at the time, the iPad Air was “20 percent thinner and 28 percent lighter than the fourth generation iPad, and with a narrower bezel the borders of iPad Air are dramatically thinner.”

The original iPad Air’s display was 2048×1536 (at 264 ppi). Internally, it used a dual-core 1.4 GHz A7 processor, 1 GB of RAM, and was available with 16, 32, 64, or 128 GB of internal storage. Wireless connectivity included 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.

Its rear 5-megapixel iSight camera recorded video at 1080p, and its front 1.2-megapixel FaceTime HD camera recorded video at 720p.

The original iPad Air was available in silver (silver back with white front) and space gray (dark gray back with black front). This is a 16GB space gray example that includes the original box.

Sources: Everymac, Apple

Special Tools and Fixtures (Mac Pro, Late 2013)

This set of “Special Tools and Fixtures” are Apple repair components custom-designed to fix the Mac Pro (Late 2013). The parts are named and described in an Apple repair document. According to the document, the parts are named:

  • Core Cradle (made from a large block of black foam)
  • Core End Caps (2 identical parts made from clear acrylic)
  • CPU Riser Cover (made from ITW Formex)
  • Roof Alignment Fixture (made from a ring of black foam)
  • I/O Wall Stand (made from a small block of black foam)
  • Foam block (a small square block of black foam)

The parts are used in the following ways:

The two Core End Caps are inserted into the Core Cradle to support the Mac Pro core assembly, the triangular core of the computer. For some repairs, the Core Cradle is used without the Core End Caps.

The CPU Riser Cover is used as a protective spacer when performing certain repairs (e.g., installation of the I/O and power supply assembly).

The guide specifies that the Roof Alignment Fixture is necessary when servicing the logic board, inlet, and the roof of the Mac Pro core.

When the outer case is removed, Apple recommends laying computer on its side while removing and inserting DIMMs. Using the I/O Wall Stand keeps the inside of the Mac Pro from rocking.

The Foam Block is used when tilting the core assembly into the exhaust assembly or removing other parts of the core assembly (e.g., I/O and power supply assembly) to allow the parts to rest and preventing strain on cables.

Coincidentally, the company that made the Formex material of the CPU Riser Cover is ITW, Illinois Tool Works, based in Glenview, Illinois—a Chicago suburb close to where I live.

Source: Apple

Sweatshirt, i learn, therefore i am. (black, c. 2013)

This unusual black sweatshirt design features the phrase “i learn, therefore i am.” in white text centered on the front. I have seen no other Apple designs that use the lowercase “i,” presumably to echo the lowercase “i” in many Apple products, in this case, iTunes U. The back of the sweatshirt has a white Apple logo, and the brand iTunes U centered at the top.

Apple launched iTunes U in 2007. Apple describes iTunes U as “a dedicated area within the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) featuring free content such as course lectures, language lessons, lab demonstrations, sports highlights and campus tours provided by top US colleges and universities including Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Duke University and MIT.”

According to Apple, they plan to discontinue iTunes U at the end of 2021.

This sweatshirt is made by American Apparel. Its tag indicates it was “Made in Downtown LA” and made in USA of 100% combed cotton.

Apple (Support, iTunes U)

T-shirt, 1 Infinite Loop (black, c. 2013)

This black t-shirt features a unique infinity-symbol logo made from a line of text that repeats “Apple Campus, 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA” three times.

The shirt does not have a tag, but is printed with the size 2XL and “Made in USA.” The size is stylized in the Apple Myriad font with a rounded-rectangle border, the same design used to indicate the storage size of various iPod and iPhone models.

This t-shirt has not been worn and includes its tag from The Company Store, a store on the Apple Campus at 1 Infinite Loop that resembles an Apple Store, but includes Apple logo retail items such as t-shirts and mugs.

T-shirt, Designed by Apple in California (asphalt, c. 2013)

This asphalt (dark gray) t-shirt features the words “Designed by Apple in California.” The back of the shirt features a white Apple logo at the top center.

The tag indicates that the shirt was made by American Apparel from 100% combed cotton in Downtown LA (Los Angeles). The shirt has not been worn and includes its original tag from The Company Store at Apple at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California.