Are you looking for the best resource for technical data on both historic and new Apple products? The free Mactracker software for Mac and iOS is the answer to your needs.
Sure, you could peruse the Apple Support section of Apple.com and/or other unofficial but very useful websites, but none of them present the information, as well as the slick portable database, included (and constantly updated) in Mactracker.
Thanks to a compact and easily browsable interface, in just a few clicks (or taps) you can find exactly what kind of RAM memory the latest MacBook uses, what version of USB is present, which are the differences between the various Airport stations or how many Newton models did Apple make (seven; eight if you count the eMate).
Developed and curated since May 14, 2001 by Ian Page, Mactracker provides detailed information on [almost] every Apple product ever made. It doesn’t stop at Macintosh systems, but includes peripherals (even obscure ones, like the Apple IIc Flat Panel Display) and Mac/iOS operating systems.
It is an incredibly useful tool for historians, collectors, hobbbyists, resellers, service providers, IT support professionals and just plain users.
It is not a fixed archive and does not grow in just one direction. Updates can add the latest iPhone or iMac, but also old stuff, enrich the info or correct some mistakes.
Some of the latest additions of early 2015 were about Lisa models and Apple II thermal and dot matrix printers, originally released in the Eighties.
Each hardware entry in Mactracker includes model IDs to identify the product and its capabilities and vital data about supported versions of the OS, memory and other applicable expansions and upgrades, usually with updated data.
An example is the maximum RAM some Mac can see, which many times differs from the amount Apple states: this reflects the availability of more powerful upgrades that prolong the life and usefulness of the computer.
Other perks for enthusiasts are dates of release and discontinuation, prices and even playable recordings startup chimes. The Macintosh version also includes a timeline of all products, smart categories, and the option to identify and save your Mac(s) in a My models tab for a quick recall.
Mactracker is a free application but the author accepts (and welcomes) donations.
You can download the latest Mac version from Apple’s Mac App Store or from the official website, where Page offers specific versions compiled to run under [Mac] OS X from 10.5 (Leopard) onward. There’s also an archive section with older (and not updated) archival versions that run on really old systems, starting from which Mac OS 8.5.
Since 2009 Mactracker is also available as an app for iOS devices. It runs on iPhones, iPod touches and iPads, although without the additionale features of the Mac version. The latest mobile version can be downloaded exclusively from the App Store and the current version requires iOS 7.
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