Populus
macrumors 604
I was going to reply saying that it’s understandable with the new form factor and newer SoC… then I saw it was an M2 Pro Mac mini. That was a great machine… but the M4 also is.
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What was your first Mac?
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Tumbleweed666
macrumors 68000
Its was a Powerbook in the early 90's. Lasted for years and I gave it to a friend after it got replaced with a better one (company let me keep it) and she used it all through uni up til maybe early 2000's.
mreg376
macrumors 65816
A 2007 24" iMac. Was a terrific machine. I added an SSD and that worked great. I still have it but I ruined it a few years ago by replacing the CPU to try that hot mess OCLP. It never worked well with that, and now I can't reinstall any version of Mac OS. OCLP never again.
I remember getting the first iMac, Bondi blue I believe it was called. Running OS 9 I believe, or 8.5 at that time. Got the next release of the iMac in white/clear after that which is the first computer I had to run OS X. I had to upgrade to a whopping 512 mb of RAM just for OS X to run smoothly. Constant dual booting as OS X looked great but was not a lot to do with it at first. How quickly that changed!
I recently have been marveling at the iMac G4 and what a design feat that computer is. I thought I had thrown my broke one out but found it hiding in the back of a closer. I am thinking it needs a new power supply and will give that a try at some point when I have more time. The computer on its own though is simply amazing. That neck is so solid and still so smooth. I really do wish they brought this design back. Make it so it supports a 24" screen and fit all the Mac mini specs inside and you have a really versatile powerful little computer that was a great crossover in design and function. When I have someone in my office and want to show someone something on my computer I keep wanting to reach out and just swivel the screen over to them, but alas it is planted on the desk!
I recently have been marveling at the iMac G4 and what a design feat that computer is. I thought I had thrown my broke one out but found it hiding in the back of a closer. I am thinking it needs a new power supply and will give that a try at some point when I have more time. The computer on its own though is simply amazing. That neck is so solid and still so smooth. I really do wish they brought this design back. Make it so it supports a 24" screen and fit all the Mac mini specs inside and you have a really versatile powerful little computer that was a great crossover in design and function. When I have someone in my office and want to show someone something on my computer I keep wanting to reach out and just swivel the screen over to them, but alas it is planted on the desk!
keksikuningas
macrumors 6502
2017 MBP 8/256
Terrific machine, but at some point I swapped with my dad, he gave me his 16/256 15in Mid 2014 model. My favorite laptop ever, it's still in use by my dad with Sonoma OCLP and a new battery. Great machine. Meanwhile the 2017 model is barely useable due to display gate and butterfly keyboard. It also really warm and shuts down in 1 hour of use , but that could be mitigated with a clean & repaste + new battery, which is just not worth the money and time when the whole laptop is already on its last legs
Terrific machine, but at some point I swapped with my dad, he gave me his 16/256 15in Mid 2014 model. My favorite laptop ever, it's still in use by my dad with Sonoma OCLP and a new battery. Great machine. Meanwhile the 2017 model is barely useable due to display gate and butterfly keyboard. It also really warm and shuts down in 1 hour of use , but that could be mitigated with a clean & repaste + new battery, which is just not worth the money and time when the whole laptop is already on its last legs
Alameda
macrumors 68020
But you got 2.5 MB with that upgrade. So there’s that.
I got a notification for this thread because I assume I posted to it some time ago.
I probably posted about the iBook G4, which was my first Mac. At the time, owning it meant I felt like a complete usurper. There were so many people in this community and others who had been using Macs for decades. Hard core hobbyists, and some professionals.
Here's a pic that I took for the eBay listing when I sold the iBook a few years later. I wish I hadn't sold it, of course, but we don't think that way at the time. #donglelife before that was even a thing. I had a crappy external 1024x768 monitor I used with it sometimes.
And now I've been using Macs for over two decades, so am an old-timer myself.
The best Macs for me were around the OS X 10.4 era. But I realised today that these were the best computing experience for that time. I wouldn't go back to it now because it wouldn't be right for today.
What I miss from that time was Apple putting 100% of their software attention into OS X. It was the flagship product. Each release got genuinely innovative new features, from backup that "just worked" with Time Machine, to semantic search with Spotlight. (And pretty much each release since, Apple's basically been destroying these features – Spotlight has turned into a kind of media consumption engine, with actual file search buried so deep that it's almost useless – and flaky in any event.)
The big shock for me, with that first Mac, was that everything now cost money. I'd come from Linux and Windows, where it was easy to get free apps to do useful things. But on Mac, you were VERY lucky if you could find an app that was free. Everything was $10-$20, sometimes $50-$100. Even apps that did very basic, small tasks. People even sold apps that cloned what was already built into OS X, and then charged $20 for them. CD burning was a classic example. And there weren't even any additional features! It was just the same thing, with a different user interface.
I also found the community to be a lot more highly strung. People were protectionist about knowledge and understanding, and always ready to pick a fight with anybody they felt didn't share their values. If you asked for help, you'd get a terse, quick reply at the best of times, and at the worst, the reply would be along the lines of "Who the **** are you?"
This was everywhere, anywhere Mac users gathered. It felt like people believed owning and using a Mac was a privilege and that everybody needed to be reminded of that over and over and over again. Coming from the world of Linux and Windows, where knowledge was freely shared, this was a real shock.
Peripherals were interesting. There were almost none built for Mac. For example, around that same time of 2005, I got an iMac... Here's a pic, with the iBook:
And I wanted to get a new keyboard because I wasn't happy with the Apple keyboard (the white one in this picture—it had weirdly sticky keys that affected typing). There were only one or two manufacturers selling external keyboards with the right Apple key layout, at least for me here in the UK. And one of those brands was extremely poor quality. All keyboards were Windows. I eventually ended-up stealing a keyboard from work that had come from an old Mac Pro G4.
Things have changed so much since those days. I do miss them, though. I miss OS X being clever and innovative, and class leading when it comes to what an OS should be. Nowadays it's just new features for the sake of new features. You could remove around 50% of the features in macOS and I wouldn't even be aware. They could remarket some of the old features like Smart Folders as if they're new, and people's mind would be blown. I just wish they'd make Spotlight usable again IMHO.
Bonus pic of the iBook, to prove in the eBay listing that it could charge (in fact, it had a new battery because Apple had been forced to do a full replacement because of faulty Sony parts). I do think this was a good design. I loved its keyboard. Hated its screen, which had an incredibly bad colour accuracy. Greens and blues were essentially in the exact same colour space as far as it was concerned.
I probably posted about the iBook G4, which was my first Mac. At the time, owning it meant I felt like a complete usurper. There were so many people in this community and others who had been using Macs for decades. Hard core hobbyists, and some professionals.
Here's a pic that I took for the eBay listing when I sold the iBook a few years later. I wish I hadn't sold it, of course, but we don't think that way at the time. #donglelife before that was even a thing. I had a crappy external 1024x768 monitor I used with it sometimes.
And now I've been using Macs for over two decades, so am an old-timer myself.
The best Macs for me were around the OS X 10.4 era. But I realised today that these were the best computing experience for that time. I wouldn't go back to it now because it wouldn't be right for today.
What I miss from that time was Apple putting 100% of their software attention into OS X. It was the flagship product. Each release got genuinely innovative new features, from backup that "just worked" with Time Machine, to semantic search with Spotlight. (And pretty much each release since, Apple's basically been destroying these features – Spotlight has turned into a kind of media consumption engine, with actual file search buried so deep that it's almost useless – and flaky in any event.)
The big shock for me, with that first Mac, was that everything now cost money. I'd come from Linux and Windows, where it was easy to get free apps to do useful things. But on Mac, you were VERY lucky if you could find an app that was free. Everything was $10-$20, sometimes $50-$100. Even apps that did very basic, small tasks. People even sold apps that cloned what was already built into OS X, and then charged $20 for them. CD burning was a classic example. And there weren't even any additional features! It was just the same thing, with a different user interface.
I also found the community to be a lot more highly strung. People were protectionist about knowledge and understanding, and always ready to pick a fight with anybody they felt didn't share their values. If you asked for help, you'd get a terse, quick reply at the best of times, and at the worst, the reply would be along the lines of "Who the **** are you?"
This was everywhere, anywhere Mac users gathered. It felt like people believed owning and using a Mac was a privilege and that everybody needed to be reminded of that over and over and over again. Coming from the world of Linux and Windows, where knowledge was freely shared, this was a real shock.
Peripherals were interesting. There were almost none built for Mac. For example, around that same time of 2005, I got an iMac... Here's a pic, with the iBook:
And I wanted to get a new keyboard because I wasn't happy with the Apple keyboard (the white one in this picture—it had weirdly sticky keys that affected typing). There were only one or two manufacturers selling external keyboards with the right Apple key layout, at least for me here in the UK. And one of those brands was extremely poor quality. All keyboards were Windows. I eventually ended-up stealing a keyboard from work that had come from an old Mac Pro G4.
Things have changed so much since those days. I do miss them, though. I miss OS X being clever and innovative, and class leading when it comes to what an OS should be. Nowadays it's just new features for the sake of new features. You could remove around 50% of the features in macOS and I wouldn't even be aware. They could remarket some of the old features like Smart Folders as if they're new, and people's mind would be blown. I just wish they'd make Spotlight usable again IMHO.
Bonus pic of the iBook, to prove in the eBay listing that it could charge (in fact, it had a new battery because Apple had been forced to do a full replacement because of faulty Sony parts). I do think this was a good design. I loved its keyboard. Hated its screen, which had an incredibly bad colour accuracy. Greens and blues were essentially in the exact same colour space as far as it was concerned.
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racerhomie
macrumors 6502a
My first Apple computer purchase was an SE30. My first Apple laptop was a 165C (“C” stands for color screen) which I still have and turn on every once in a while
Omega Mac
macrumors 6502a
I was searching for the SE30 to refresh my mind after your post and found this https://se30.org/ and looking up the 165C I found this site https://www.mac27.net/powerbook-165c
Normally I use everymac.com but it's always nice to serendipitously find some enthusiasts sites some great photos and interesting links.
My first Mac was a Powerbook G4 in aluminium. It was really a fantastic machine especially considering my previous laptop was !@#$ass $599 HP laptop.
My first real Mac was an oryginal iBook Tangerine G3 from 1999.
My first Mac was an Amiga 4000 with Shapeshfter emulator. It as waay faster than eqivalent Quadra 040 Mac.
Recently I bought a real Amiga 1200 motherboard. Got a new violet translucent case, Rossberry Pi based accelerator, Sony PCMCIA CD drive, internal scandoubler for hdmi video Output. It looks awsome, cannot wait for it to be finished by a friend.
SalisburySam
macrumors 65816
I heard that in the next IIe+ upgrade Apple's skipping the M5 Ultra, meaning you'll have to wait until the M6.
SalisburySam
macrumors 65816
Yeah, I heard the same. Although the faster processor would be appreciated fer shure, I’d be happier with a faster 5¼” floppy disk read and write system. Seems to not be on anyone’s plate at Apple.
It's like Apple don't even care about removable storage.