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

The Apple eMate 300 in education. brochure (1997)

This brochure is titled “The Apple eMate 300 in education.” and is printed on matte, textured paper.

Introduced in 1997, the eMate 300 was a personal digital assistant (PDA) designed specifically for the education market as a low-cost, laptop-like device that ran the Newton operating system. The eMate 300 was the only Newton that had a built-in keyboard, and like all other Newton devices, used a stylus and had a touch screen.

This brochure is a comprehensive description of Apple’s vision for the eMate 300 in education. It included the following sections: introduction; what is the eMate 300?; learning beyond the classroom anytime, anywhere; today’s learning environment; why introduce the eMate into teaching and learning; what comes with the eMate 300; incorporating the eMate in teaching and learning; and lesson ideas for writing and communication, math and analysis, and science and critical thinking.

The introduction begins with the statement, “Apple introduces a product designed with the belief that, given the right tools, students can accomplish extraordinary things.”

The design of this brochure uses pastel colors and a decidedly late-1990s design aesthetic. While the majority of the brochure uses the Gill Sans font, the same font used for the Newton brand identity, Apple Garamond is also used as a contrasting design element throughout the brochure.

This brochure is stapled, measures 8.5 x 11 inches, and has 20 pages.

Source: Wikipedia

We rewrote the book magazine insert (PowerBook G3, 1998)

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, part of Apple’s print advertising included magazine inserts. These inserts were “mini-magazines” within magazines. They were glued with a pliable rubber cement that could be easily removed.

This early magazine insert example is an advertisement for the Macintosh PowerBook G3 laptop. The images on the front, back, and inside covers are photographed with stunning black backgrounds using shadows and light to reveal interesting aspects of the laptop’s design. The cover reads, “We rewrote the book.”

Open, the 2-panel spread includes the copy: “Presenting the new PowerBook G3. It’s been rethought and reengineered from cover to cover. It’s sleek. It’s intelligent. It’s endlessly adaptable. Oh, and one other thing.”

The insert fully opens to reveal a mini-poster with a white background that shows an open PowerBook G3 with a screen showing a shark with teeth bared and the headline, “It eats Pentium notebooks for lunch.”

The back page lists product specifications with the headers “Good,” “Better,” and “Best” to represent the three configurations available.

Folded, the size of the insert is 7.5 x 10.25 inches. Fully unfolded the mini-poster is 15 x 20.5 inches.

Blueberry iBook magazine insert (1999)

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, part of Apple’s print advertising included magazine inserts. These inserts were “mini-magazines” within magazines. They were glued with a pliable rubber cement that could be easily removed.

This insert is an advertisement for the original blueberry iBook. The cover has no words, just a photo of the lid of the blueberry iBook. Inside, the ad shows an open iBook with a screen that reads, “Say hello to iBook.” and includes a photo of the earth (perhaps to represent the World Wide Web) and various icons and short descriptions of iBook features. The back cover shows the bottom of the iBook.

Interestingly, the actual iBook could not open and lay flat as this advertisement suggests. However, the simplicity of the overall image is very effective since you could open and close the ad just like you would a laptop.

Folded, the size of the insert is 7.875 x 10.5 inches. Unfolded, the insert is 15.75 inches tall.

Getting Started: A guide for your Apple Mobile Learning Lab (Apple Education, 2006)

In the book Getting Started: A guide for your Apple Mobile Learning Lab, Apple Education outlines the necessary steps to successfully implement a mobile computer cart outfitted with laptops, Wi-Fi, and other equipment. The book also provides basic training on Mac apps and gives ideas about how to use the laptops in the classroom.

The introduction states:

“This guide is designed to help you get started right away using the Apple Mobile Learning Lab in your classroom. It includes suggestions that can help you with setting up, maintaining, and managing your mobile lab, as well as many ideas for great ways to use these powerful tools in your classroom. The information in this guide has been provided by teachers who have extensive experience using mobile labs in their classrooms.”

The chapters include:

  • Setting Up and Working with Your Mobile Lab
  • Using the Tools that Come with Your Mobile Lab
  • More Tools to Use with Your Mobile Lab
  • Additional Resources

This book measures 9 x 7.5 inches and has 51 pages.

45W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter (OEM packaging, 2019)

This Apple 45W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter was designed for the MacBook Air laptops including MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015–2017) and the MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015). It could be used with any Mac laptop with the MagSafe 2 adapter, but may not charge as optimally as power adapters with higher wattages.

Apple describes the power adapter:

“The 45W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter features a magnetic DC connector so if someone should trip over it, the cord disconnects harmlessly and your MacBook Air stays put safely. It also helps prevent fraying or weakening of the cables over time. In addition, the magnetic DC helps guide the plug into the system for a quick and secure connection.”

Further, “Designed to be the perfect traveling companion, the adapter has a clever design which allows the DC cable to be wound neatly around itself for easy cable storage.”

This particular 45W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter is an Apple OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) part. It ships in a cardboard box with black cardboard and clear plastic wraps instead of the white retail box.

Source: Apple

Macintosh PowerBook G3 Series Weight-Saving Device (1999)

This Macintosh PowerBook G3 Series Weight-Saving Device (model 825-4548-A) is the exact size of the battery inside a Macintosh PowerBook G3 Series laptop (333 MHz to 500 MHz “Lombard” and “Pismo” models with bronze keyboards). These PowerBook laptops had two bays, each capable of supporting a device module (i.e., floppy drive, CD-ROM drive) or a battery.

To make the laptop lighter, the device modules and/or batteries could be removed and replaced with this Macintosh PowerBook G3 Series Weight-Saving Device. One was included with each Macintosh PowerBook G3 Series laptop. According to the technical information, the laptop could weight nearly 8 pounds:

“Macintosh PowerBook G3 Series with a 14.1-inch display, battery, internal modem, and CD-ROM expansion bay module: 3.54 kg (7.8 lb.)”

Source: Apple

MagSafe to MagSafe 2 Converter (2012)

According to Apple, the MagSafe to MagSafe 2 Converter allowed you to “use the MagSafe connector on your LED Cinema Display, Thunderbolt Display, or MagSafe Power Adapter to charge your MagSafe 2-equipped Mac computer.”

Essentially, this adapter helped to bridge the gap to allow original MagSafe power-equipped devices (2006–2012) to be used after Apple changed to a new MagSafe 2 (2012–2019) standard in 2012.

MagSafe was an Apple technology that allowed power cords (primarily on laptops, but also used on some displays) to provide power using a magnetically attached cord. The technology was extremely effective in preventing damage because if a user would, for example, trip over a laptop power cord or forget their device was plugged in, the magnet would pull out of the socket without damaging the device.

Devices that used this adapter included: 24-inch Apple LED Cinema Display, 27-inch Apple LED Cinema Display, Apple Thunderbolt Display, Apple 45W MagSafe Power Adapter, Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter, MacBook Pro with Retina display, and MacBook Air with MagSafe 2 power port.

Source: Wikipedia, Apple

PowerBook G3 (original, 250 MHz, “Kanga,” 1997)

The PowerBook G3/250 is the first Apple laptop to use the G3 processor. It shipped with a 250 MHz G3 processor; contained 32 MB RAM and 2 MB VRAM; used a 5 GB hard drive; and had an internal 20X tray-loading CD-ROM drive. It included “hot-swappable” drive bays—drives could be swapped while the computer was running without restarting—and dual PC card slots. The display was a 12.1-inch color TFT active-matrix display at 800×600 resolution.

The design of the original PowerBook G3 is nearly identical to the PowerBook 3400 that proceeded it. The laptop included the 3400’s notable four-speaker sound system. It shipped with MacOS 8.0 and could be updated to a maximum of MacOS 9.1. Its average weight was 7.5 pounds.

Because of its G3 (third-generation) PowerPC 750 processor that included a backside level 2 cache, the laptop’s performance exceeded that of some desktop systems at the time. When released, its retail price was $5,700.

Source: EveryMac