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Mactracker - A very detailed Apple product database Pick of the Week
Mactracker icon The macosxhints Rating:
10 of 10
[Score: 10 out of 10]
  • Developer: Ian Page / [Product Page]
  • Price: Free / donationware
Are you an Apple/Mac history fanatic? Is apple-history.com in your bookmarks bar? If so, you'll love this simple gem of an application. Thanks to Dan Frakes for pointing it out (in January's Macworld magazine, and in this weblog from back in September). Mactracker is a database of basically everything Apple has made since the days of the original Mac -- and by everything, I do mean everything. From the Apple QuickTake 100 to the Apple Color OneScanner to the Macintosh TV, they're all in there (even the clones are included). Double-click on any model in the list, and you get a new detailed product window with tabs that vary based on what you've chosen. For Macs, you get five tabs (Overview, RAM/Video, Expansion/Ports, History, and Resources); for non-Macs you get all but RAM/Video and Expansion/Ports.

Each detailed product window contains a wealth of info, from the CPU type and speed to cache, bus speed, hard drive sizes, weight and dimensions (click on the displayed values to toggle to/from metric), Mac OS versions, intro/discontinued dates, codenames, power consumption, number and type of slots, sound in/out features, and much much more. The History tab even has a photo of the machine, and (for most products) their original pricing. A button below each product takes you to the apple-history.com site for more info. There are even samples of the startup and death chimes for the various Macs. As an example of the level of detail, here's the History blurb for the IIfx:
The MacIIfx was the fastest Mac ever built at the time. The IIfx shipped in a Mac II-style case, and could accommodate up to two Super Drives and internal SCSI hard disk. Dubbed "Wicked Fast" by the press, the IIfx also contained a number of proprietary ASICs designed to speed up the machine further. These required software written specifically for the IIfx to run at the top speed, but either way, it was an extremely powerful machine. It sold for $10,000 - $12,000 U.S., depending on configuration.
And to think people say Macs are too expensive now! :)

Mactracker includes a basic search feature, shows the products nicely organized by type, and there's even a Bug button you can use to send in corrections to the database. Finally, there's a great "Install for iPod" feature that tosses the whole database into your iPod's Notes section. It took less than 2MB of my iPod, and I'm now a walking encyclopedia of useless Mac historical trivia! In short, if you're interested in Apple's history, and would like access to the data when you don't have access to apple-history.com, check out Mactracker!
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Mactracker - A very detailed Apple product database | 11 comments | Create New Account
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Mactracker - A very detailed Apple product database
Authored by: t3hl33t on Dec 22, '04 10:30:47AM

w00t! Love this app. I may be making a Palm port soon.



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Mactracker - A very detailed Apple product database
Authored by: Fofer on Dec 23, '04 03:33:01AM

I, for one, would LOVE to see a Palm port of this!



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Not Just For History
Authored by: BulbVivid on Dec 22, '04 11:48:34AM

I've used this little gem for quite some time. I work at a place with macs ranging from old Power Mac 5200 towers, beige G3's, and UMAX clones (most no longer in use) to clamshell iBooks, fruity iMacs, and Power Mac G4's to new eMacs, PowerBooks, and one flat-panel iMac. Mactracker eases support for all these models—I don't have to go to each machine to check its base specs for upgrades (RAM type, blah, blah, blah) or troubleshooting.

So not only is Mactracker good for history, it's a handy support tool as well.

Jason



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Mactracker - A very detailed Apple product database
Authored by: fat elvis on Dec 22, '04 01:55:33PM

I really like the option to play the boot chime for each specific model, kinda nostalgic

omg, I'm a nerd. how did that happen? I used to be cool, really...I did.



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Mactracker - A very detailed Apple product database
Authored by: huwr on Dec 23, '04 12:50:41AM

It's mostly useful. However, not all of the units transpose into SI properly, and some don't even change at all (see Airport).



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Mactracker -
Authored by: dxtr on Dec 23, '04 01:08:40AM

Use it everyday at work. Great App. A Palm version would be great but if you need it now download the iPod version and open the docs with TextEdit and save it in the .doc for your Palm.


---
seeya
dxtr
"Never ask what sort of computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If not, why embarrass him?" - Tom Clancy



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Mactracker -
Authored by: t3hl33t on Dec 23, '04 07:06:37PM

I'll make a TealInfo Folio for it. That should work. But for now, you can even put the iPod folder on your SD card and read it in TealDoc. Or just convert them into doc files for internal memory.



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Mactracker - A very detailed Apple product database
Authored by: poenn on Dec 23, '04 08:53:06AM

I use it for support purposes since 1 or 2 years now and love it. No need for finding out ram type or whatever if you want to upgrade a Mac. And the best is that it's free!

pönn



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Mactracker - A very detailed Apple product database
Authored by: t3hl33t on Dec 23, '04 07:08:12PM

Oh, and it will probably have pictures. Sound, mabye. (sound will probably be done with TealMovie.)



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Mactracker - A very detailed Apple product database
Authored by: t3hl33t on Dec 23, '04 08:30:00PM

whoops, posted in wrong place. this is regarding the palm port.



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no pippin console
Authored by: mzs on Dec 27, '04 02:30:51PM

But I suppose that was pretty esoteric. This was Apple's attempt to make a CD based home gaming console. It was based on a 66 MHz PPC and ran a modified System 7.5.2 if I recall correctly. They were designed by Apple, but various companies licensed the pippin for sale in different regions. Limited quantities of them were sold in the USA and Japan at the least.



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