September 20, 1989: Apple releases the Macintosh Portable, the first battery-powered Mac you could take on the road.
At a time when Tim Burton’s Batman is flying high in theaters, and Madonna is shocking audiences at the MTV Video Music Awards, this ahead-of-its-time product lays the groundwork for Apple’s looming laptop revolution.
September 10, 1984: Apple ships the Macintosh 512K, the first upgrade to the first-gen Macintosh 128K.
Coming less than eight months after the original Macintosh, the 512K Mac makes no sweeping changes to the computer’s form factor. Instead, the big upgrade is quadrupling the RAM. This leads Apple fans to refer to the computer as the “Fat Mac.”
Ever since it was introduced in 2011, Apple’s Siri voice assistant can often drive you mad. As if Siri’s unhelpful answers were not irritating enough when you actually want them, Siri often interrupts a conversation, meeting or TV show when you haven’t asked for anything at all. How do you stop Siri from randomly activating?
Your Mac can automatically make copies of your files with Time Machine, software built into macOS. A new video walks anyone unfamiliar with the feature through the setup process.
Using Time Machine is highly recommended. Macs don’t fail often, but when they do it can be a disaster for the user if they don’t have backups of their important files.
July 29, 1993: Apple releases the Macintosh Centris 660av, a computer packed with innovative audiovisual features. These include an AppleVision monitor with microphone and speakers, and a port that can work as a modem with a telecom adapter. It also comes with the first Apple software to recognize and synthesize speech.
At the relatively low price of $2,489, this was one of the first great affordable multimedia Macs.
July 26, 2005: Apple debuts the opaque white iBook G4, the last of its laptops to launch under the iBook name.
The portable computer adds Apple’s scrolling trackpad for the first time. It also incorporates Bluetooth 2.0 as a standard feature, and becomes the last Apple laptop with a PowerPC chip.
July 24, 2006: The world gets it first glimpse of Apple’s new wireless Mighty Mouse, a multibutton Bluetooth device with super-accurate laser tracking.
Photos of the accessory come to light through an Apple filing with the Federal Communications Commission. Apple launches the device the very next day.
July 18, 1994: Apple launches the Quadra, Performa and LC 630 Macintoshes, three similar computers with slight differences tailored for the professional, home and educational markets.
Buyers can configure the new 630 series Macs for less than $2,000. Today, the idea of paying around $4,000 (adjusted for inflation) for a decent multimedia computer sounds over the top. But in 1994, these new Macs looked like a total steal.
Google’s Chrome OS Flex is now ready to revive Macs that are too elderly to run the latest macOS version. That includes models as far back as 2010. It turns the Mac into a Chromebook, but at least it’s an up-to-date one.
The free OS is targeted at businesses and schools, but it might become a way for individuals to bring some new life to their obsolete Macs.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The first reviews for the new M2 MacBook Pro are … not good.
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video livestream, embedded below.
CleanMyMac X, from Ukrainian developer MacPaw, is a decluttering app for Mac that can keep your computer in tip-top shape. It includes 49 tools to find and delete invisible junk clogging your hard drive. Cult of Mac publisher Leander Kahney swears by CleanMyMac X (instead of swearing at it, as he does with most apps).
Get CleanMyMac X today with 5% off at macpaw.app/cultcast. Discount valid until June 30.
