According to Apple, this AirPort Extreme (Generation 3) provided “simultaneous dual-band wireless 802.11n networking. When you set up your AirPort Extreme Base Station, it creates two high-speed Wi-Fi networks.”
The AirPort Extreme Generation 3 had 5 ports:
1 10/100/1000Base-T Gigabit Ethernet Wide Area Network (WAN) port (for DSL/cable modem)
3 10/100/1000Base-T Gigabit Ethernet Local Area Network (LAN) (for Ethernet devices, such as printers or computers)
1 USB port (for a USB printer, hard disk, or hub)
This device is packaged as an Apple Service part and does not include the retail packaging. The box, labeled Part Number 661-4908, contains the three parts needed to repair or replace the device including a power adapter, a power plug (North America), and a base station.
This AirPort Extreme model was available for less than 8 months before it was replaced by the Generation 4 model. It measured 6.5 x 6.5 inches square and was 1.3 inches tall. It weighed 1.66 pounds.
The MacBook Pro 13-inch (Late 2011) used the Intel Core i5 “Sandy Bridge” 2.4 GHz processor with two cores. It had a 500 GB Serial ATA (5400 RPM) hard drive, a SuperDrive, an Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics processor, and an integrated FaceTime HD webcam. Its display used an LED-backlit 13.3-inch widescreen TFT active-matrix glossy display (at 1280×800 resolution).
Wireless connectivity included AirPort Extreme (802.11a/b/g/n) and Bluetooth 2.1. Wired ports included Gigabit Ethernet, one Firewire 800 port, two USB 2.0 ports, audio in/out, an SDXC card slot, and a Thunderbolt port.
According to EveryMac, this laptop was identical to its predecessor, the MacBook Pro 13-inch (Early 2011) except for the faster processor. In fact, EveryMac indicated that this Late 2011 model was “quietly unveiled without a press release.”
This laptop was 0.95 inch high, 12.78 inches wide, 8.94 inches deep, and weighed 4.5 pounds. It originally shipped with OS X Lion.
The Mac mini débuted in 2005 as a low-cost Mac for “switchers”—those running Windows who already had a display, keyboard, and mouse and wanted their very first Mac experience. When he announced it, Steve Jobs said,
“Starting at just $499, Mac mini is the most affordable way to enjoy Mac OS X and iLife. Just plug in your display, keyboard and mouse and you’ve got an incredibly compact Mac for a price that almost anyone can afford.”
The original Mac mini used a G4 processor (2005–2007), followed by various Intel-chip models (2007–2020), Apple’s M1 processor (2020–2023), and now Apple’s M2 chip.
Since its original release, I have always had a Mac mini, and I have always purchased the base model and attached it to my TV to function as my media “server.” At first—before iCloud—I primarily used my Mac mini as my “Music mini” computer, and as digital video became more pervasive, it is now used as a method to show digital videos and to play my very small collection of music not on Apple Music (yes…recorded music does exist that’s not on Apple’s, or any, streaming service!).
This new version of the Mac mini is available with both M2 and M2 Pro Apple Silicon configurations. According to the press release:
“Compared to the previous-generation Mac mini, M2 and M2 Pro bring a faster next-generation CPU and GPU, much higher memory bandwidth, and a more powerful media engine to Mac mini, delivering extraordinary performance and industry-leading power efficiency. Both models feature an advanced thermal system for exceptional sustained performance.”
The base-model M2 Mac mini “features an 8-core CPU with four high-performance and four high-efficiency cores, along with a 10-core GPU.” It includes 8GB unified memory and 256GB SSD standard. The M2 includes the following physical ports:
2 Thunderbolt 4 ports (DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 4, USB 4)
2 USB-A ports (up to 5Gb/s)
HDMI port
Gigabit Ethernet port (configurable to 10Gb Ethernet)
3.5 mm headphone jack
Wireless interfaces include Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), and Bluetooth 5.3.
The M2 Mac mini has a slightly larger footprint than the previous Mac mini models. It measures 1.41 inches (3.58 cm) high, by 7.75 inches (19.70 cm) square, and weighs 2.6 pounds (1.18 kg). The slightly larger size matches the square dimensions of the Mac Studio.
When the M2 Mac mini had been released for only one week, media outlets were reporting that the base models had slower SSD performance compared to the previous M1 Mac mini models. A MacRumors review reported:
“While the new Mac mini with the M2 chip has a lower $599 starting price, the base model with 256GB of storage has slower SSD read and write speeds compared to the previous-generation model with the M1 chip and 256GB of storage.”
This Mac mini originally shipped with macOS Ventura.
In my setup, this Mac mini plays music and video from external drives, thus, its SSD speeds have been more than sufficient.
Since the first Mac mini was released in 2005, all models have been compact, shipped without a display, keyboard, and mouse, and all have been relatively inexpensive.
The Mac mini (Late 2012) was described by EveryMac: “Compared to its predecessor, this model looks identical, but it has a faster internal architecture with a faster processor, faster graphics, faster RAM, and USB 3.0 ports.”
Its primarily aluminum case has a plastic bottom and measures 1.4 inches (3.6 cm) tall, 7.7 inches x 7.7 inches (19.7 cm) square, and weighs 2.7 pounds (1.22 kg).
The Mac mini (Late 2012) was offered with a 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 or 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor. It shipped with a 500GB or 1TB (5400-rpm) hard drive.
For a compact case, it had many physical plug options: Thunderbolt, FireWire 800 port, 4 USB 3 ports, HDMI, SDXC card slot, gigabit ethernet port, and audio in/out. Its 3 wireless interfaces included 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and an IR receiver.
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.”
The Macintosh Server G3/300 Minitower was released in 1998 as the final beige tower design by Apple. This G3 Server used a 300 MHz PowerPC 750 G3 processor, a single 4.0 GB SCSI hard drive (with space for a second drive), and a 24x CD-ROM drive.
This minitower also contained a “Whisper personality card” that added audio input and output ports. According to LowEndMac, Apple had planned various “personality cards,” but only audio (“Whisper”), audio/video (“Wings”), and audio/video/DVD playback (“Bordeaux”) were ever produced.
The case design of this minitower includes a removable side panel and two internal tabs that, when released, allow the entire tower to tilt 90 degrees on a hinge allowing easy access to all internal components. Interestingly, the side door panel latch and internal tabs are made from translucent blue-green plastic, a design aesthetic that would soon become the Mac design norm that same year when the original iMac was released.
Ports on this computer include SCSI; ADB (Apple Desktop Bus); Ethernet (10-100); Mac serial and printer ports; Apple Video (DB-15), line-out and microphone 3.5 mm jacks. Three card slots are available: the first is empty, but ready for a high-speed SCSI port; the second slot has a second high-speed ethernet port; and the third slot adds two USB ports.
The exact factory configuration of the server is shown as: 1MB Cache/128MB/2x4GB UW/CD/10-100 ENET. The model is M4405, and the serial number area specifies a production date of May 27, 1998, at 3:30 PM.
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.
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.
The Macintosh Server G4/500 was designed similarly as its G3 blue and white predecessor, but used a translucent graphite and white case. Internally, it had a 500 MHz PowerPC 7400 G4 processor, 256 MB RAM (512 GB RAM maximum), an 18.0 GB (or 36.0 GB) hard drive, a 5X DVD-ROM drive, and a Rage 128 Pro graphics card. This server is identical to the Power Macintosh G4 series tower, but included faster hard drives, more RAM, and shipped with a server operating system. The two Apple server operating systems of the time included MacOS 8.6 with AppleShare IP 6.3.1 and MacOS X Server.
The front of the Macintosh Server G4 was translucent graphite (gray) with an underlying pinstripe pattern. The top included spaces for two optical drives. This example includes a DVD-ROM drive and no device in the lower available space. Below the optical drives was a speaker, the power button, and two additional smaller buttons—reset and “interrupt” buttons—both used to recover from system-level issues.
The back of the tower included all ports: two FireWire (400) ports, one ethernet port, two USB ports, and stacked 3.5 mm microphone (audio-in) and audio-out jacks. A space for a modem port is included, but unused in this example. Four slots were also available. This model includes slot 1 with a standard VGA port and a DVI port; slot 2 with a high-speed SCSI (LVD/SE) port; while slots 3 and 4 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.
This Macintosh Server G4 includes three internal hard drives.
The Power Macintosh G3 was the first new tower desktop to be released after the original iMac in 1998. The iMac at the time was originally released in “Bondi” blue—a translucent blue-green hue reminiscent of the waters off Bondi beach in Australia—that was replaced in 1999 with a brighter translucent set of colors including a shade of blue called “blueberry.” The Power Macintosh G3 was closer in color to the blueberry iMac, but it was not an exact match.
The Power Macintosh G3 was known as the “blue and white” tower. The tower used a translucent white outer case on both sides and featured both a glossy, translucent blue Apple logo and the characters G3 boldy printed under the frosted white translucent plastic to achieve a blurred, shadowy effect.
The front of the Power Macintosh G3 was translucent blue with an underlying pinstripe pattern. The top of the front included spaces for two optical drives. This example includes a CD-ROM and a Zip drive (from the company Iomega). Below the media drives was a speaker, the power button, and two additional smaller buttons—reset and “interrupt” buttons—both used to recover from system-level issues.
The back of the tower included ports, including two FireWire (400) ports, one ADB port, one ethernet port, two USB ports, and side-by-side 3.5 mm microphone (audio-in) and audio-out ports. A space for a modem port is included, but unused in this example. Four slots were also available. This model includes slot 1 with a standard VGA port, slot 2 with AV ports including a DB-15 (“Mac Video”) port, two S-video, and one yellow video-in RCA port. Slots 3 and 4 are unused.
The port choices represent an interesting mix of legacy and brand new technology. While the desktop was the first to include FireWire 400 ports, it also included the then-new USB standard, but curiously included one then-outdated ADB port. The slots below show a similar mix of old and new: VGA and the old-style “Mac Video” DB-15 port. Thus, while the iMac was only looking forward, this tower allowed old and new peripherals 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 and memory) were attached to the hinged side, while components such as drives and fans remained attached to the internal metal frame of the tower.
Internally, this Power Macintosh G3 uses a 300 MHz PowerPC 750 G3 processor, 64 MB of RAM, a 6 GB hard drive, a 32X CD-ROM drive, and an ATI Rage graphics card. The hard drive was a faster, server-grade Ultra ATA/33 model when iMac computers of the time included IDE/ATA hard drives.
A highly specious rumor of the time noted that the design of this tower included a Disney reference. When viewed sideways, a Mickey Mouse ears shape can be seen in the negative space between the “bite” in the Apple logo and the inside of the Helvetica Bold “3” in the “G3” logo on the sides of this tower. The conspiracy theory speculated that Disney was contemplating the purchase of Apple.
I used versions of this blue and white tower in two of my educational technology leadership positions. In both cases, I used this tower to create videos and other multimedia using early versions of iMovie and other multimedia creation software.
