What's the Rarest Early Intel Mac?

[mectojic]

Inspired by that "Most collectible" thread, which unfortunately was not quite accurate to its title.
Well with this thread, I want to know what we think is the rarest model of Early Intel Mac (or perhaps, an Apple-branded accessory).

It's obvious in the early Apple collecting field that there are many rare unicorns, like the Lisa, the TAM or even the G4 Cube. But for Early Intel, which to me seems to be more standardised and democratised, with no exceptionally expensive or limited edition Macs being made in this time (2006-c.2012).
So what could we truly classify as the rarest?
Rule #1: rarity refers to its current collectability today, not necessarily its abundance at the time.
Rule #2: must be a standard config. We're not counting weirdly custom-specced 5,1s as separate 'rare' Macs.

My vote would be the original 2008 MacBook Air, max spec 1.8GHz; and to increase rarity, it would need to have the original $1,000 64GB SSD.

 

[theMarble]

My vote would be the original 2008 MacBook Air, with micro-DVI; and to increase rarity, it would need to have the original $1,000 64GB SSD.

I think that would be my vote as well. I'd might also add the slightly later model which still used the old design but had the 9400M, making it a somewhat still modern machine.

Would the Xserves count? They aren't something that you see often.

 

[Amethyst1]

My vote is the edu Core Duo iMac which was available for three months. I’ve yet to see one.

 

[eyoungren]

My vote is for the Black MacBook.

 

[Amethyst1]

Does the Pentium 4-based Developer Transition Kit count? That’s probably the most collectible Intel “Mac” out there.

 

[theMarble]

Does the Pentium 4-based Developer Transition Kit count? That’s probably the most collectible Intel “Mac” out there.

That would take the crown, but how many are there out in the wild anymore?

 

[mectojic]

My vote is for the Black MacBook.

They are rare, but I think not as rare as the original Air; I think because they were more of a student product, and students held onto them for years and got replacement parts. I found one cheap with a double-replaced battery, and a trackpad so worn down that it no longer worked in places.

 

[eyoungren]

They are rare, but I think not as rare as the original Air; I think because they were more of a student product, and students held onto them for years and got replacement parts. I found one cheap with a double-replaced battery, and a trackpad so worn down that it no longer worked in places.

I was thinking of buying a white MB and spray painting it black…

Nah, just kidding.

 

[B S Magnet]

My vote is for the unreleased, prototype/unreleased-for-sake 15-inch MacBook Pro Core Duo L2400 1.67GHz.

I was thinking of buying a white MB and spray painting it black…

Nah, just kidding.

< intentionally_loud_voice >
SPRAY IT WITH BLACK POLKA DOTS AND CALL IT A pRotOtYPe
< /intentionally_loud_voice >

 

[Amethyst1]

My vote is for the unreleased, prototype/unreleased-for-sake 15-inch MacBook Pro Core Duo L2400 1.67GHz.

Good call. I'm skeptic in regards to it allegedly using a low-voltage (L2400) CPU since all other MBPs used standard-voltage (T2x00) parts. Wouldn't be surprised if it was going to have a T2300.

 

[B S Magnet]

Good call. I'm skeptic in regards to it allegedly using a low-voltage (L2400) CPU since all other MBPs used standard-voltage (T2x00) parts. Wouldn't be surprised if it was going to have a T2300.

If they’re out there as developer or evaluation verification test units, then having one of them re-surface (likely, from some storage warehouse in the Bay Area) ought to resolve the question of whether they attempted to use a low-voltage CPU. Stranger things have surfaced over the years, so it’s entirely possible something even weirder from those very early days/weeks emerges.

 

[swamprock]

My vote is for the unreleased, prototype/unreleased-for-sake 15-inch MacBook Pro Core Duo L2400 1.67GHz.




< intentionally_loud_voice >
SPRAY IT WITH BLACK POLKA DOTS AND CALL IT A pRotOtYPe
< /intentionally_loud_voice >

... then sell it on eBay with GIFTS!

 

[swamprock]

They are rare, but I think not as rare as the original Air; I think because they were more of a student product, and students held onto them for years and got replacement parts. I found one cheap with a double-replaced battery, and a trackpad so worn down that it no longer worked in places.

I've managed to pick up a few of these for a decent price on 'ol eBay. I'd say they're not so much rare as they are uncommon.

 

[swamprock]

Inspired by that "Most collectible" thread, which unfortunately was not quite accurate to its title.
Well with this thread, I want to know what we think is the rarest model of Early Intel Mac (or perhaps, an Apple-branded accessory).

It's obvious in the early Apple collecting field that there are many rare unicorns, like the Lisa, the TAM or even the G4 Cube. But for Early Intel, which to me seems to be more standardised and democratised, with no exceptionally expensive or limited edition Macs being made in this time (2006-c.2012).
So what could we truly classify as the rarest?
Rule #1: rarity refers to its current collectability today, not necessarily its abundance at the time.
Rule #2: must be a standard config. We're not counting weirdly custom-specced 5,1s as separate 'rare' Macs.

My vote would be the original 2008 MacBook Air, max spec 1.8GHz; and to increase rarity, it would need to have the original $1,000 64GB SSD.

I concur with the '08 Air with SSD.

(EDIT: I wonder why my replies aren't joining up into one post. Hmm...)

 

[Amethyst1]

If they’re out there as developer or evaluation verification test units, then having one of them re-surface (likely, from some storage warehouse in the Bay Area) ought to resolve the question of whether they attempted to use a low-voltage CPU.

If they did, all the better. Half the TDP would have resulted in lower temperatures.

 

[uller6]

My vote is the edu Core Duo iMac which was available for three months. I’ve yet to see one.

We had one of these in my office for a while. It was not a good Mac and was replaced as soon as feasible.

I personally have a first-generation Apple TV that is (secretly) the slowest early Intel Mac ever made! It has a 1 GHZ Pentium M CPU, 256 MB RAM, and a GeForce 7300 GPU. Mine runs 10.5.8 surprisingly well considering the abysmal specs (the SSD is the only thing that makes the machine remotely usable). I pull it out every once in a while to play Lemmings, Dome Wars, or Stratego. But, it isn't a production Mac so I'm not sure it counts for this poll.

The second slowest early Intel Mac was the 1.5 GHz Core Solo Mini. Those were just terrible, but at least you could bump the RAM to 2 GB. They weren't on sale very long before they were booted from the lineup, and rightfully so!

 

[Amethyst1]

we had one of these in my office for a while. It was not a good Mac.

Nothing with the GMA 950 in it is good.

 

[B S Magnet]

... then sell it on eBay with GIFTS!

“You are BUYING a ONE OF A KIND… of ART!”

Nothing with the GMA 950 in it is good.

A cardboard GPU would be better.

 

[eyoungren]

(EDIT: I wonder why my replies aren't joining up into one post. Hmm...)

The forum software is set to prevent posting for a brief period of time instead of post merging. There's about two minutes between your posts, well over the wait limit (I think it's 30 seconds you have to wait between posts).

 

[swamprock]

The forum software is set to prevent posting for a brief period of time instead of post merging. There's about two minutes between your posts, well over the wait limit (I think it's 30 seconds you have to wait between posts).

Ahh. I guess I waited too long.

 

[GMShadow]

I feel like most Core Solo minis probably got upgraded with C2Ds at some point - can't be too many out there still in the original un-upgraded form.

The MBA 1,1 with the SSD is pretty uncommon, yes. Mine just has the spinner - I think I've seen one with an SSD once online, but I can't say I look all the time.

The higher-spec MacBook 5,1 may be on the list - I think most schools and such just bought the base model. Higher spec has backlighting on the keyboard.

 

[eyoungren]

Ahh. I guess I waited too long.

Well, yes and no.

You did wait too long, so yes - it made a second post.

But no, because if you'd tried to post again shortly after the first post, the website would have told you to wait 'X' seconds before posting again. Once it finally let you post, it'd be a second post.

Basically, the mods are not allowing merged posting by the same user.

I only know because I've tried before to make a second post right after the first and the system told me to wait.

 

[theMarble]

The MBA 1,1 with the SSD is pretty uncommon, yes. Mine just has the spinner - I think I've seen one with an SSD once online, but I can't say I look all the time.

Quite a few people IIRC bought them with the stock 1.8" drive and then upgraded it to the 64GB SSD later. There were one or two manufactures that made "MacBook Air compatible" 1.8" SSDs. Toshiba or maybe Samsung was one of them I think.

 

[Amethyst1]

There were one or two manufactures that made "MacBook Air compatible" 1.8" SSDs. Toshiba or maybe Samsung was one of them I think.

IIRC KingSpec, Mach Xtreme, Mtron, PhotoFast, RunCore and Samsung made 1.8” PATA ZIF SSDs suitable for the original MBA.

Quite a few people IIRC bought them with the stock 1.8" drive and then upgraded it to the 64GB SSD later.

The original built-to-order SSD was made by Samsung.

 

[simie]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/18544435...QzGaznRYNvWIwK0+4Rnwj6kwQ1|tkp:Bk9SR8auvuO8YQ

US $1,990.00
Approximately£1,608.54

This is not an Intel Mac but what would a development machine for Intel be worth?

This laptop looks fake any how!