January 24, 1984; a date that forever changed the computing world for everyone, even Windows users. That was the date the Mac made its debut. Some of you reading this were not even born when the Mac came out. I, however, was, so I would like to take some time to go over some of the best and worst Macs of the last 25 years. Of course, I have not owned every Mac made since its inception back in 1984, so this is mostly research and my opinion here.
Let’s get started.
Some of the worst.
In my opinion this has to go to the 20th Anniversary Mac, or TAM for short. It actually was not a bad machine for the time, maybe a little under-powered, but what was horrible was the price tag. It came out in 1997 for the low low price of just $7,499. In less than a year that price was $1,995.
Another Mac that did not make the proverbial “cut” was the Power Macintosh 4400. Again released in 1997 (I would have to say that was a bad year for the Mac), this machine actually had the floppy drive on the left side of the machine, like it was made for a left handed person. That, combined with the fact that the machine was just horrible and crashed all the time, makes this a poor effort from Apple.
I know we are talking about Macs, here, but I would feel like I have failed you if I did not mention the “hockey puck” mouse. In 1998, Apple shipped a completely round mouse with every new iMac. This lasted almost two full years unfortunately.
Some of the best.
Now, let’s look at the other side of the coin. There are definitely many many Mac products that could be listed under the “good” or even “great” category. I wish stick to my personal favorites, so as to keep this article from becoming a book.
The first Mac I would like to mention on the “yes” list is the Macintosh SE/30. Adam C. Engst, John Gruber, and John Siracusa of Macworld all reported this to be their favorite Mac of all time [Macworld, January 2009, PG. 61]. They cited reasons such as expandability, reliability and a lot of horsepower for the time. Being released on March 2, 1987, it marked the day the Mac went color for the first time. Apple has not looked back since.
Finally, we get to something I can actually say I have first hand knowledge of. I think one of Apple’s best Macs is the current line up of iMacs. Before you dismiss this, let me tell you why. I believe that the most current most powerful Mac will always be on a list of the best Macs ever, because…well…it is the most powerful, most innovative Mac created up until that date. Aside from the Mac Pro which is out of financial reach for most consumers, the 24 inch iMac is the most powerful machine Apple has available at the time of this writing. Therefore, it’s one of my picks as the best.
Another one of the best Macs ever was the iMac G4. Having been released on January 7, 2002, it was the first iMac to use a flat panel display. Also known as the “gum drop,” iMac the G4 was one of Apple’s best products as far as a combination of innovation, computing power, and just plain coolness.
Well, there you have it. I think these are the stand out products as far as the Mac goes for the last 25 years. Did I miss one? Let me know.
The sturdiest Mac I ever owned was my PowerMac 9600. It was a workhorse, and very dependable. But I agree with you that the recent round of iMacs are fantastic. The screens are gorgeous, they're very, very powerful, and they're the first set of Macs that don't make me wish I still had a tower. There's no room for PCI upgrades, but that's their only fault. An amazing product.