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Show off your Early Intel Macs!

Z

zackkmac

macrumors 6502a
Jul 7, 2008
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Denver
Amethyst1 said:
This is just my take, but I have a hard time classifying anything with a Retina display as “early”, especially if it runs a still-supported version of macOS. :)
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B S Magnet said:
Retina, Catalina-native-capable Macs are “Late Intel Macs” in my book, so nope.

That said, pre-Retina Macs which can run Catalina, out-of-box, are a kind of odd grey area. My late 2013 Haswell iMac 21.5-inch model comes to mind here, as it only has 1920x1080p display, Thunderbolt 1, and an OEM spinner inside…
Click to expand...

These are fair responses, I figured this would not actually classify as such as it is right in the middle of when Intel was shipped on Mac (2006) and when Apple Silicon took over (2020), so 7 years each way and therefore not on the "earlier" side. Though the actual MBP forum is usually loaded with M1-M2 MBP questions so I prefer to browse this forum instead. 😅

I also am so glad this one does not have any anti-glare coating issues, my assumption is the previous owner tackled this + a battery replacement at the Apple Store at some point.
 
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TheShortTimer

TheShortTimer

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zackkmac said:
Though the actual MBP forum is usually loaded with M1-M2 MBP questions so I prefer to browse this forum instead. 😅
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That's understandable. Before this forum was established, owners of earlier Intel Macs would enter the PPC forum asking for help because they (quite rightly) resented being informed within the main Intel forum that they should throw their machines away and purchase a new Mac.
 
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Z

zackkmac

macrumors 6502a
Jul 7, 2008
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Denver
TheShortTimer said:
That's understandable. Before this forum was established, owners of earlier Intel Macs would enter the PPC forum asking for help because they (quite rightly) resented being informed within the main Intel forum that they should throw their machines away and purchase a new Mac.
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Exactly - I have seen this plenty of times being on MR for so long. I would not be opposed to either a new subforum for the "later Intel" or for this subforum to be slightly expanded to include these as well. This one is a much more responsive and supportive place to ask questions!
 
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Amethyst1

Amethyst1

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Oct 28, 2015
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zackkmac said:
These are fair responses, I figured this would not actually classify as such […]
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It’s still more than welcome here IMO.

B S Magnet said:
That said, pre-Retina Macs which can run Catalina, out-of-box, are a kind of odd grey area.
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Since “Ventura”’s release, “Catalina” is no longer “supported.”

B S Magnet said:
My late 2013 Haswell iMac 21.5-inch model comes to mind here, as it only has 1920x1080p display, Thunderbolt 1, and an OEM spinner inside…
Click to expand...
iMacs only got the Retina and Thunderbolt 2 treatment in October 2014 and 2015, respectively.
 
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B S Magnet

B S Magnet

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Amethyst1 said:
Since “Ventura”’s release, “Catalina” is no longer “supported.”
Click to expand...

The point being sort of two-fold here: one, Catalina is 64-bit-everything-only, and two, only a select few Macs without retina displays in that 2012–13 window can handle Catalina. Those which can are models like the mid-2012 MBP, 2012 Mac mini, 2012 MBAs, and 2012–13 iMacs. (The 2012 Mac Pro only supports up to Mojave, officially and somewhat amusingly.)

Once Apple ditches all Intel-based Macs from “supported OS” lists and/or puts all Intel Macs on the “obsolete” list, the imperative for a Late Intel Macs forum will become all the more needed.


Amethyst1 said:
iMacs only got the Retina and Thunderbolt 2 treatment in October 2014 and 2015, respectively.
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Yah, I know — hence the grey area.
 
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MultiFinder17

MultiFinder17

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Jan 8, 2008
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Amethyst1 said:
iMacs only got the Retina and Thunderbolt 2 treatment in October 2014 and 2015, respectively.
Click to expand...
I use one of my favorite oddball iMacs in my classroom as my announcement machine, a Mid-2014 21" iMac. If you took a base model 2014 MacBook Air, scooped out its insides, and stuck it inside a 1080p iMac chassis, you'd have this machine. It's slow, sips power, but is officially supported up to Big Sur and runs Monterey like a native machine using OCLP, but it's still an oddball. Non-retina screen, Thunderbolt 1, soldered everything other than the disk, and performance that makes it pretty blah at everything.

On the plus side, it's perfect for what I use it for since it sips power and barely puts out any heat :)
 
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B S Magnet

B S Magnet

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MultiFinder17 said:
I use one of my favorite oddball iMacs in my classroom as my announcement machine, a Mid-2014 21" iMac. If you took a base model 2014 MacBook Air, scooped out its insides, and stuck it inside a 1080p iMac chassis, you'd have this machine. It's slow, sips power, but is officially supported up to Big Sur and runs Monterey like a native machine using OCLP, but it's still an oddball. Non-retina screen, Thunderbolt 1, soldered everything other than the disk, and performance that makes it pretty blah at everything.
Click to expand...

The Geekbench scores for that iMac aren’t that slow generally (my early 2011 i5 2.3 MBP would have been beaten by it), though the real oddball standout in its specs — to me, at least — is the Intel HD 5000 iGPU with 1.5GB of VRAM, despite the DRAM being soldered at 8GB. At 1.4GHz, that thing could probably run without the iMac having a working fan and would probably not overheat. < /slight_hyperbole >

MultiFinder17 said:
On the plus side, it's perfect for what I use it for since it sips power and barely puts out any heat :)
Click to expand...

Y’all don’t really need room heaters down there. :)
 
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Amethyst1

Amethyst1

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MultiFinder17 said:
[...] a Mid-2014 21" iMac. If you took a base model 2014 MacBook Air, scooped out its insides, and stuck it inside a 1080p iMac chassis, you'd have this machine.
Click to expand...
Ah, yeah, that contraption. Don't forget the 2.5" 5400rpm HDD to ensure the user experience sucks. The MBA has a PCIe SSD.

B S Magnet said:
The Geekbench scores for that iMac aren’t that slow generally (my early 2011 i5 2.3 MBP would have been beaten by it), though the real oddball standout in its specs — to me, at least — is the Intel HD 5000 iGPU with 1.5GB of VRAM, despite the DRAM being soldered at 8GB. At 1.4GHz, that thing could probably run without the iMac having a working fan and would probably not overheat. < /slight_hyperbole >
Click to expand...
It's the better low-power Haswell iGPU, not the HD 4400 most other ultraportables including my Sony Vaio Pro 11 have.
 
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GMShadow

GMShadow

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The 2014 is a bit of an oddball, yes. Felt like a machine to hit a price point for corporate/education customers, and then they figured they'd make a retail product out of it for kicks.
 
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MultiFinder17

MultiFinder17

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B S Magnet said:
The Geekbench scores for that iMac aren’t that slow generally (my early 2011 i5 2.3 MBP would have been beaten by it), though the real oddball standout in its specs — to me, at least — is the Intel HD 5000 iGPU with 1.5GB of VRAM, despite the DRAM being soldered at 8GB. At 1.4GHz, that thing could probably run without the iMac having a working fan and would probably not overheat. < /slight_hyperbole >

Y’all don’t really need room heaters down there. :)
Click to expand...
True, while the Geekbench scores for it really aren't terrible the performance sure is, and that's after upgrading it to an MX500 SSD. I used it on my desk for a while as a secondary machine and had to move it to announcement table duty. I replaced it on my desk with a base 2012 mini which performs much better.

Amethyst1 said:
Ah, yeah, that contraption. Don't forget the 2.5" 5400rpm HDD to ensure the user experience sucks. The MBA has a PCIe SSD.
Click to expand...
Yuuuuuuuup, that spinner was the first thing to go as soon as I got that machine. Replaced it with a 250GB SSD and the performance is still disappointing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Usually I'm fine with old, low-end machines but there's something about this machine that just makes it feel far slower than it has any right to be.
 
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B S Magnet

B S Magnet

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swamprock

swamprock

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Aug 2, 2015
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Michigan
B S Magnet said:
Retina, Catalina-native-capable Macs are “Late Intel Macs” in my book, so nope.

That said, pre-Retina Macs which can run Catalina, out-of-box, are a kind of odd grey area. My late 2013 Haswell iMac 21.5-inch model comes to mind here, as it only has 1920x1080p display, Thunderbolt 1, and an OEM spinner inside…
Click to expand...

The 2012 i5 Mini that I just purchased falls into this category, albeit without the built-in screen...
 
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