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Special Edition Mac?
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Salty
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Dec 19, 2016, 11:08 PM
 
Was just on Kijiji and saw someone selling an original Blueberry iBook for 50 bucks. If I weren't a poor student I'd totally jump on this ... and then not do anything with it because what am I going to do with a machine that old?

At the same time, I still regret the fact that I never got to own an original iBook. (I did have a white one back in college.)

So my question is, is there a Mac that if Apple put modern guts in but used the shell of an old Mac (or used a similar design but with upgraded parts) that you'd jump at?

Heck I'd love a current gen iMac or MacBook Pro made out of white, blue and translucent plastic!
     
mindwaves
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Dec 19, 2016, 11:49 PM
 
Tim Cook did release a memo saying that their desktop macs will be updated. I hope that Johnny Ive is fired. Too thin for thinness sake is bad.

I like my new 13" MBP 2016, but would prefer better battery life and more key travel for a slightly thicker body. How about putting 1 USB-C port on each side of the Mac also for convenience or at least spacing them far enough from each other on a single side. They are much too close.
     
Waragainstsleep
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Dec 20, 2016, 12:34 AM
 
I bet lots of people would go for a lamp stand iMac G4 shell. People loved those.

I'd like to see an update of the TAM. Maybe we'll get a FAM.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
P
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Dec 20, 2016, 03:52 AM
 
Originally Posted by Salty View Post
Heck I'd love a current gen iMac or MacBook Pro made out of white, blue and translucent plastic!
I still have my old broken iMac G3 which I originally planned to build another computer inside. Trouble is that it is hard to find a display small enough to even fit. You need it to be something like a 17" LCD at the biggest, and those are both hard to find and borderline too small to be getting on with. The sunflower ones are probably a better idea, but also not all that different from the current iMac.

(I always envisioned a setup with something in-between the G4 and G5 iMacs - PSU, HDD and optical in the base, with all the ports along the side, and motherboard behind the display - but Apple never did that)
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
subego
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Dec 20, 2016, 10:18 AM
 
I'll go for the obvious and say Cube.
     
Laminar
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Dec 20, 2016, 10:25 AM
 
I still have my old Ruby Red iMac DV, it's 16 years old and still ticking somehow. I also found a MDD G4 at Goodwill for $30 a couple months ago - dual 867MHz G4, dual hard drives, RAM loaded up to 2GB. I don't have anything to use it for, but it's cool. I'd use the case (in perfect condition) for a PC build but it still works and runs Leopard just fine, so I'd feel bad ripping it apart.

I'm afraid of putting it on CraigsList for fear of people looking for a cheap PC and not realizing that this thing can't even handle YouTube.
     
subego
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Dec 20, 2016, 10:37 AM
 
I think the DVs were one of Apple's peaks. Better and cheaper than a PC.
     
Laminar
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Dec 20, 2016, 12:05 PM
 
Saved up mowing money and bought mine with a USB Zip dirve for $1100 in September of 2000.
     
P
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Dec 20, 2016, 12:44 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
I think the DVs were one of Apple's peaks. Better and cheaper than a PC.
I agree. Other than the graphics (a nerfed version of the ATi Rage 128), they were really quite good. No fan, only the HDD making some noise in most cases (and even that was fairly quiet, as I realized when I replaced it with something bigger), nice high RAM ceiling for the time, standard everything, high-speed I/O in Firewire...

Damn. Now I want to restore it to working order instead of reusing the case.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
osiris
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Dec 20, 2016, 12:58 PM
 
I'd like to see a return of the old Mac Pro form factor - only in glass, everything - the aluminum frame and panels made in glass, and all computer's guts upgraded to modern specs.
"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
     
andi*pandi
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Dec 20, 2016, 01:02 PM
 
ooh, that would be interesting, osiris. A dust-magnet, but cool-looking.
     
BadKosh
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Dec 20, 2016, 01:18 PM
 
Probably cloud up in a smokers home.
     
osiris
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Dec 20, 2016, 01:43 PM
 
alright you two, no more poo pooing my dream.
"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
     
Doc HM
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Dec 20, 2016, 06:23 PM
 
Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep View Post
I'd like to see an update of the TAM. Maybe we'll get a FAM.
yes a FAM would be awesome. I don't think Apple are that kind of company any more though.
This space for Hire! Reasonable rates. Reach an audience of literally dozens!
     
Thorzdad
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Dec 20, 2016, 06:29 PM
 
A G3 Powerbook would be fun to have modern guts in.
     
ajprice
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Dec 22, 2016, 07:57 AM
 
To go to the iOS / portable side for a minute, an iPad in an eMate. Would have to be a custom 6.8" screen though, or put the iPad mini 7.9" in there.

For a FAM Mac, Mac Pro in a Cube.

It'll be much easier if you just comply.
     
Salty  (op)
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Jan 5, 2017, 01:42 AM
 
Was the eMate really that big of a screen? I've never seen one in person.

I actually emailed Tim a few days ago (because I'm SURE he'll read it.) and pleaded with him to make a MacBook that's fast that I could afford. Because right now getting a meaningful upgrade to my 2011 i7 MacBook Pro is actually pretty tough. I'd be looking at spending around 3 thousand Canadian for something that'll actually feel like a significant update!

I basically said can't you just make a 2011 13 inch again? Take out the optical drive and just leave empty space with a Thunderbolt 3 port on the inside, which an then attach to any number of custom things people might need for legacy support (DVD drive for lawyers like my sister who legally have to take evidence on DVD for some reason) additional HDD or SSD drives, etc.

I just realized how helpful it would be. I still have an ethernet port, and tonight I had to reset my AirPort Express and for some reason the pin button wasn't working, so I've plugged it directly into my MacBook Pro. I honestly am going to probably end up just missing this machine once I HAVE to upgrade. The Battery has been saying that it should be replaced for more than two years. (Heck I broke the part that tells when the screen is shut three years ago.)
     
mindwaves
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Jan 5, 2017, 05:33 AM
 
I was watching some old Macworld videos a few days ago and Steve Jobs was proud of the fact that the iMac had a lot of ports, even exclaiming how their keyboard provides an additional 2 USB ports.

Now, I have a 1-port 2016 MBP (one USB-C port doesn't count as it is for power). So sad.
     
Waragainstsleep
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Jan 5, 2017, 06:33 AM
 
Steve Jobs was always proud of whatever he was selling, even if it was the opposite to whatever he was proud of 6 months prior, let alone 17 years prior.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
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Jan 5, 2017, 07:20 AM
 
True, but for all of Jobs' weird ideas about computer design, removing ports was never one of them. Even the first iMac had two USB ports (along with all the other ports), and his view of computing was always that expansion should happen outside the box, with the box therefore having ports to enable that. I can absolutely see Jobs pushing for a single type of port, and I understand why given that starting point the MacBook Escape only has two ports, but I don't think he would have signed off on the 12" MacBook only having a single port.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
andi*pandi
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Jan 5, 2017, 11:57 AM
 
what he would have hated is the inevitable hub that people will have to slap on the side of their elegant sleek one-port machine.
     
Thorzdad
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Jan 5, 2017, 12:08 PM
 
I do think, though, that Steve was solidly on the wireless bandwagon. Do everything wirelessly. He always hated seeing cables, which is why iMacs have all the ports inconveniently on the back. And, why Apple has been trying to get everyone to just do everything via iCloud. A one-port MacBook exists to drive that idea home. It's the MacBook for someone who is on-board the cloud 100%. That single port is a "just in case" feature.
     
Laminar
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Jan 5, 2017, 04:17 PM
 
Originally Posted by P View Post
Even the first iMac had two USB ports (along with all the other ports)
"all the other ports" were what - ethernet and modem? They dropped SCSI and ADB, rendering all of your peripherals useless, and USB 1.1's abysmal transfer rate meant you couldn't do mass storage or external optical drive burning.

Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
That single port is a "just in case" feature.
"Just in case" a single battery charge doesn't last the life of the machine?
     
Thorzdad
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Jan 5, 2017, 04:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
"Just in case" a single battery charge doesn't last the life of the machine?
Oh, you, Mr-glass-half-empty
I'm not saying I agree with the design, but it's the only justification I can come up with for having a single lousy port. Frankly, I think Apple is a bit more than lost at the moment in terms of product development, but it's especially true on the Mac side of the store. About the only product they make right now that has any real "forward-looking" meat to it (imho) is the iPad Pro, and even it's just Apple's take on an old idea.
     
reader50
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Jan 5, 2017, 09:54 PM
 
Originally Posted by P View Post
Even the first iMac had two USB ports (along with all the other ports) ...
Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
"all the other ports" were what - ethernet and modem? They dropped SCSI and ADB, rendering all of your peripherals useless, and USB 1.1's abysmal transfer rate meant you couldn't do mass storage or external optical drive burning.
First iMac: 2 USB-1 ports
Ethernet
Modem
Audio-in
Audio-out
IR
Mezzanine (PCI) slot hidden inside.
Video DB-15 (internal port for CRT) but in theory you could route the video port to the outside.

The first iMac had quite a few ports. And you might be able to add more via the Mezzanine slot.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jan 6, 2017, 03:40 AM
 
Also, you COULD burn to optical via USB 1.1. I had a USB burner (LaCie) connected to my Rev B Bondi iMac.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jan 6, 2017, 03:47 AM
 
Originally Posted by mindwaves View Post
I was watching some old Macworld videos a few days ago and Steve Jobs was proud of the fact that the iMac had a lot of ports, even exclaiming how their keyboard provides an additional 2 USB ports.

Now, I have a 1-port 2016 MBP (one USB-C port doesn't count as it is for power). So sad.
That one port does Thunderbolt, video, Ethernet, SD card, CF Card, external PCI chassis, FireWire, USB, and whatever else I'm forgetting. Since power runs simultaneously, you have two full ports with appropriate peripherals.
Plus wi-fi and Bluetooth.

It's WAY more flexible than the iMac's array of single-purpose ports - if you ignore the Mezzanine port, which was never officially supported and only saw about two cards built specifically for it.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jan 6, 2017, 03:50 AM
 
Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
First iMac: 2 USB-1 ports
Ethernet
Modem
Audio-in
Audio-out
IR
Mezzanine (PCI) slot hidden inside.
Video DB-15 (internal port for CRT) but in theory you could route the video port to the outside.

The first iMac had quite a few ports. And you might be able to add more via the Mezzanine slot.
My Rev B had a VGA out under a panel at the rear, but it was mirroring-only.
     
Waragainstsleep
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Jan 6, 2017, 09:17 AM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
That one port does Thunderbolt, video, Ethernet, SD card, CF Card, external PCI chassis, FireWire, USB, and whatever else I'm forgetting.
It does, for several hundred bucks extra. On top of what is already a premium priced machine because its supposed to have features to match high spec PCs.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
Laminar
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Jan 6, 2017, 10:21 AM
 
Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
First iMac: 2 USB-1 ports
Ethernet
Modem
Audio-in
Audio-out
IR
Mezzanine (PCI) slot hidden inside.
Video DB-15 (internal port for CRT) but in theory you could route the video port to the outside.

The first iMac had quite a few ports. And you might be able to add more via the Mezzanine slot.
Yes, and a car that can move backward, left, and right can move quite a few directions, but if it can't move forward, "quite a few" isn't good enough.

It can have a lot of ports and still not have enough. Having an internal VGA connection certainly doesn't help copying to a Zip drive at any decent speed.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jan 6, 2017, 12:28 PM
 
Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep View Post
It does, for several hundred bucks extra. On top of what is already a premium priced machine because its supposed to have features to match high spec PCs.
It does what you need it to when you need it to, and doesn't bog down anybody with stuff they don't need it to do, or leave them wishing it did something else instead.

Yeah, pricey and annoying for some, and marginally relevant for most.
So wait for a year or so, and come back then.

It turns out that I probably could've got by on a single USB-A adapter and a single Thunderbolt 2 adapter.
     
sek929
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Jan 6, 2017, 01:30 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
Also, you COULD burn to optical via USB 1.1. I had a USB burner (LaCie) connected to my Rev B Bondi iMac.
Yep, of course the rate of making coasters was about 50% and the entire machine would lock up for the whole burn, which was usually a half an hour.
     
P
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Jan 6, 2017, 04:44 PM
 
Originally Posted by reader50 View Post
First iMac: 2 USB-1 ports
Ethernet
Modem
Audio-in
Audio-out
IR
Mezzanine (PCI) slot hidden inside.
Video DB-15 (internal port for CRT) but in theory you could route the video port to the outside.

The first iMac had quite a few ports. And you might be able to add more via the Mezzanine slot.
And a separate three-prong power connection, if we're comparing to the modern MBPs. And the included keyboard had two USB-ports as well. Yes they were slower, but those ports covered essentially everything you needed to do with the box except possibly storage (which was doable but slow over USB, and NASes weren't common yet so the faster Ethernet port wasn't really useful in that sense).
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
P
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Jan 6, 2017, 04:48 PM
 
Originally Posted by sek929 View Post
Yep, of course the rate of making coasters was about 50% and the entire machine would lock up for the whole burn, which was usually a half an hour.
There were burners that could handle that. Forget what the feature was called, but if the buffer ran out, they would kill the laser and just keep the disc spinning until the buffer filled up again. No coasters, it just took longer.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
P
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Jan 6, 2017, 04:54 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
That one port does Thunderbolt, video, Ethernet, SD card, CF Card, external PCI chassis, FireWire, USB, and whatever else I'm forgetting. Since power runs simultaneously, you have two full ports with appropriate peripherals.
Plus wi-fi and Bluetooth.

It's WAY more flexible than the iMac's array of single-purpose ports - if you ignore the Mezzanine port, which was never officially supported and only saw about two cards built specifically for it.
It does those things because there are adapters for it? Because there were lots of adapters that worked on the old USB ports of the first iMac too - all the ones you listed except external PCI chassis and video (there ARE USB video adapters, but performance over USB 1.1 is abysmal, so let's skip them), plus old-fashioned serial, parallel, and ADB ports.

Not the point though. Merely pointing out that this fascination with a single port is not a Jobsism, it is something Apple has come up with since he passed.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
sek929
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Jan 6, 2017, 05:50 PM
 
Originally Posted by P View Post
There were burners that could handle that. Forget what the feature was called, but if the buffer ran out, they would kill the laser and just keep the disc spinning until the buffer filled up again. No coasters, it just took longer.
Well that definitely wasn't the LaCie drive I had, data CDs worked great and usually burned at full speed (4x) but audio CDs were totally hit and miss and only burned at 2x for some reason.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jan 6, 2017, 06:00 PM
 
Originally Posted by sek929 View Post
Yep, of course the rate of making coasters was about 50% and the entire machine would lock up for the whole burn, which was usually a half an hour.
What does that have to do with the availability or lack of ports?

Burning a disk would lock up a non-pre-emptive system. 2x or 4x speed was about the limit for consumer burning in 1998.

And "buffer underrun protection" was a thing at some point.
     
andi*pandi
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Jan 6, 2017, 06:00 PM
 
postjacked!

^^ because audio players and compatibility, I think.
     
   
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