Power Mac G4 (1.25 GHz, “mirrored drive doors,” 2003)

The Power Macintosh G4/1.25 GHz “Mirrored Drive Doors” tower used a 1.25 GHz PowerPC 7455 G4 processor, 256 MB RAM, an 80 GB hard drive, a 12X DVD-ROM/CD-RW “Combo” drive, and allowed wireless using an optional AirPort (802.11b) card. This model was released along with new Power Macintosh G5 models to provide a lower-cost alternative for users who did not need the power of the G5 and still wanted to boot with the MacOS 9 operating system.

While similar to the previous “Quicksilver” model, the front of this tower retains the silver opaque color, but adds a mirror-finished plate over the two available optical drive doors in the center. Although two drive spaces are available, this example only uses one “Combo” (CD/DVD reader/writer) drive in the top position. The prominent drive doors also include the power button at the top-center and an “interrupt” button off to the right. A single speaker is placed above the doors. Four conspicuous ventilation holes span the bottom of the front of this tower.

The back of the tower was flipped compared to previous similar tower designs (G3 blue and white, G4 graphite, and G4 Quicksilver), in that the expansion slots are placed at the top. This tower has spaces for five slots, but only uses slot 1 (at the bottom) to house a VGA port and ADC (proprietary Apple Display Connector) port; slots 2–5 are unused. Ports are included below with two USB, two FireWire (400), one ethernet, a space for a modem port, and side-by-side microphone (line-in)/speaker (audio-out) 3.5 mm jacks. A dedicated Apple speaker port is included to allow Apple’s crystal-clear spherical speakers to be used.

The right side of the tower included a latch with a circular rubberized grip that allowed the entire side of the tower to be opened on a hinge, revealing and providing relatively easy access to all internal components. Plug-in slots (such as video, memory, and wireless) were attached to the hinged side, while components such as drives and fans remained attached to the internal metal frame of the tower.

A design concept worth noting in this tower is its two-layer round-hole pattern on the back. The internal layer features smaller, closely spaced holes in silver metal, while the larger outer holes are spaced further apart in light-silver plastic. The concept is similar to the somewhat-maligned “cheese grater” design used in the 2019 Mac Pro tower. The 2019 Mac Pro uses a “machined spherical array” of ventilation holes in a distinctive design—”The lattice pattern on the Mac Pro is based on a naturally occurring phenomenon in molecular crystal structures.” To be clear, the 2019 design is a single piece of machined metal—not two separate layers—but the designs are related visually. In both the 2003 and 2019 towers, the holes are used simultaneously as design, structure, and ventilation.

Source: Everymac, Apple

Power Mac G4 (1.0 GHz, “Quicksilver,” 2002)

The Power Macintosh G4/1.0 GHz was nicknamed “Quicksilver” because of its new silver color and its significant speed upgrades from the previous graphite G4 model. Internally, it included dual 1.0 GHz PowerPC 7450 (or 7455) G4 processors, 512 MB RAM, an 80 GB hard drive, and a wireless connection was available with the addition of an optional AirPort (802.11b) card. A few Quicksilver models were available with different levels of processors, drive capacities, and RAM options.

The front of the Power Macintosh G4 “Quicksilver” was opaque silver (replacing translucent plastics of previous designs). The top included spaces for two optical drives. This example includes a DVD-ROM drive in the top space and no device in the lower space. Below the optical drives was the power button, and two additional smaller buttons—reset and “interrupt” buttons—both used to recover from system-level issues. The bottom-center features a prominent chrome-finished speaker (without a protective grille).

The ports on the back included stacked headphone and line-out speaker 3.5 mm jacks; a modem (telephone) port; one ethernet port; two FireWire (400) ports; and two USB ports. Five slots were also available. This model included slot 1 with a standard VGA port and a proprietary ADC (Apple Display Connector) port, while slots 2–5 are unused.

The right side of the tower included a latch with a circular rubberized grip that allowed the entire side of the tower to be opened on a hinge, revealing and providing relatively easy access to all internal components. Plug-in slots (such as video, memory, and wireless) were attached to the hinged side, while components such as drives and fans remained attached to the internal metal frame of the tower.

The four corners of this tower serve as feet and/or handles. They are cast in crystal clear acrylic.

Source: Everymac

AirPort Extreme Card (2003)

The AirPort Extreme Card card replaced Apple’s original AirPort card in 2003. The first computers designed to use this card were the iBook G4/800 12-inch (original) and the iMac G4 1.0 17-inch (flat panel).

Apple devices with wireless capabilities after the AirPort Extreme Card had Wi-Fi as a standard feature built in to the architecture beginning in mid-2005. Beginning in 2006 with the Intel-based MacBook Pro, Apple used non-Apple-branded internal wireless cards (e.g., Atheros, Broadcom).

According to Apple’s AirPort Extreme Card User’s Guide:

AirPort Extreme Card Specifications
• Wireless Data Rate: Up to 54 megabits per second (Mbps)
• Range: Up to 150 feet (45 meters) from the base station in typical indoor use
(varies with building)
• Frequency Band: 2.4 gigahertz (GHz)
• Radio Output Power: 15 dBm (nominal)
• Standards: Compliant with 802.11 HR Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)
11 Mbps standard, 802.11 DSSS 1 and 2 Mbps standard, and 802.11g specification

Sources: EveryMac, Wikipedia, Apple

Apple AirPort Carrier Card Adapter (1999)

The Apple AirPort Carrier Card Adapter (M8753G/A, 820-1066-A) is for the slot-loading G3 iMac (400MHz or faster). The “carrier card” allows a standard original Apple AirPort wireless card to be installed in an iMac.

At the time, wireless capability was not considered a standard computer feature so the iMac G3 not only did not include an AirPort Card, but it also lacked the internal port to accept it. Instead, Apple required this carrier to allow an AirPort Card to be added. The 802.11b AirPort Card was not included.

Source: EveryMac

AirPort External Antenna (for Power Mac G5, 2005)

The Power Macintosh G5 from 2005 allowed a wireless network connection using an internal AirPort Extreme card. Since the Power Macintosh G5 had an external aluminum case, this external AirPort antenna was included.

The back of the Power Macintosh G5 included a proprietary port, the AirPort Extreme antenna port:

AirPort Extreme antenna port—Connect the AirPort Extreme antenna to this port if your Macintosh has an optional AirPort Extreme Card installed.”

This AirPort Extreme antenna port is unopened in its original packaging.

Source: Apple

AirPort Express Base Station (Generation 1, 2004)

The AirPort Express Base Station was part of Apple’s AirPort line of wireless products. Although its design was more compact and it had fewer features than the AirPort Extreme Base Station available at the time, the AirPort Express Base Station included the ability to receive streamed audio from a wirelessly connected computer that was running iTunes. The AirPort Express Base Station could play the streamed audio through speakers connected to its analog/digital audio output jack, a feature the AirPort Extreme lacked.

The original AirPort Express offered 802.11g wireless, contained an analog–optical audio mini-jack output, a USB port for remote printing, and one Ethernet port. The AirPort Express could only stream audio to a powered speaker or stereo system via iTunes—it could not stream video.

Source: Wikipedia

AirPort Base Station (original, 1999)

The original AirPort Base Station was released along with the original iBook (blueberry and tangerine) at the 1999 MacWorld conference and expo in New York City. An optional AirPort card was available for the iBook (a repackaged Lucent ORiNOCO Gold Card PC Card adapter) and this graphite AirPort Base Station provided one of the first consumer WiFi base stations that was relatively easy to set up and manage.

The original AirPort system including the AirPort card and AirPort Base Station allowed transfer rates up to 11 Megabits/second.

Soon after MacWorld, Apple began airing a TV commercial for the AirPort Base Station featuring a 1950s-style Sci-Fi soundtrack and the base station flying in like a flying saucer.

Sources: Wikipedia, Museums Victoria (Australia)

AirPort Express 802.11n (Generation 2, 2012)

The AirPort Express Generation 2 functioned as a wireless access point, to extend the range of a network, as an Ethernet-to-wireless bridge, as a print server, and/or as an audio server. This model allowed up to 50 networked users using the 802.11a/n Wi-Fi standard.

Connectors included an audio connector that combined a 3.5 mm minijack socket and a mini-TOSLINK optical digital connection. On August 28, 2018, AirPlay 2 support was added to the Generation 2 AirPort Express, giving it features similar to HomePod.

Source: Wikipedia

iBook G3/500 (Dual USB, 2001)

The iBook G3/500 featured a 500 MHz PowerPC 750cx (G3) processor; 64 MB or 128 MB of RAM; a 10.0 GB Ultra ATA hard drive; a tray-loading CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, or DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo drive; and optional AirPort (802.11b) card. The screen was a 12.1-inch TFT XGA active matrix display (1024×768). The case of the laptop was translucent white (a similar later model used an opaque white case).

This iBook replaced the previous iBook models that were much larger and came in one of five colors (including blueberry, tangerine, graphite, indigo, and key lime).

EveryMac.com reports that four versions of this laptop were available: 64 MB RAM with CD-ROM drive ($1299); 128 MB RAM with DVD-ROM drive ($1499), 128 MB RAM with CD-RW drive ($1599); and 128 MB RAM with DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo drive (build-to-order direct from Apple, $1799).

Source: EveryMac.com

AirPort Extreme Base Station (Generation 2, 2007)

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 functions. The AirPort Extreme Base Station Generation 2 was released in 2007 with a white, rounded-rectangle design that was similar to the look of the first-generation Mac mini and original Apple TV.

The 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 and Draft 802.11n2 wireless network protocols. Ports included one Gigabit Ethernet WAN port (for connecting a DSL or cable modem), three Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports (for connecting computers or network devices), and one USB port (for connecting a USB printer or USB external hard drive).

Sources: Wikipedia.org, Apple