20 Macs

Latest Episodes:

8: Mac IIcx and IIci (#13) Sep 25, 2020

Show notes

You know about the Macintosh, but do you know about the sequel? The Macintosh II was huge--literally. But its compact successors might be the pinnacle of late 80s/early 90s Apple design.

Guest Starring:

Andy Ihnatko, Quinn Rose, Shelly Brisbin, John Siracusa, John Gruber, and Adam Engst

Links and Show Notes:

20 Macs for 2020 series page

7: Mac mini (#14) Sep 18, 2020

Show notes

The popularity of the iPod led Apple to create a Mac designed specifically to tempt people to switch from Windows. It didn't go as planned, but the result was a Mac model that's been with us for fifteen years and counting.

Guest Starring:

Christina Warren, Andy Ihnatko, Shelly Brisbin, Dan Moren, Stephen Hackett, James Thomson, and John Gruber

Links and Show Notes:

Post production help from Brian Hamilton.

20 Macs for 2020 at Six Colors

6: DayStar Genesis MP (#15) Sep 11, 2020

Show notes

One of the most important developments in the history of the Mac was not created in Cupertino, but by a Mac clonemaker in a tiny town in Georgia.

Guest Starring:

John Siracusa, John Gruber, Irvan Krantzler, Andrew Lewis, and Rick LePage

Links and Show Notes:

Post-production help by Brian Hamilton.

20 Macs for 2020 at Six Colors

5: Blue and White Power Mac G3 (#16) Sep 04, 2020

Show notes

Professionals were dragged out of their beige towers by an iMac-inspired Power Mac that featured a drop-down door, big plastic handles, and a raft of new technologies.

Guest Starring:

Christina Warren, Andy Ihnatko, Shelly Brisbin, Dan Moren, Stephen Hackett, John Siracusa, James Thomson, and John Gruber

Links and Show Notes:

20 Macs for 2020 at Six Colors

4: PowerBook 500 and 5300 (#17) Aug 28, 2020

Show notes

Apple follows up its groundbreaking original PowerBooks with a new set of laptops that ushered in perhaps the ugliest period in Apple laptop history.

Guest Starring:

Andy Ihnatko, Quinn Rose, John Siracusa, and John Gruber

Links and Show Notes:

20 Macs for 2020 at Six Colors

3: Xserve (#18) Aug 21, 2020

Show notes

Apple had made numerous attempts to sell server hardware, including a strange non-Mac server that Steve Jobs likened to a bizarre dream. But in the early 2000s, Jobs decided to take another crack at it, and vowed that this time things would be different.

Guest Starring:

Andy Ihnatko, Shelly Brisbin, Stephen Hackett, and John Siracusa

Links and Show Notes:

#18: Xserve

20 Macs for 2020: Xserve (video)

2: PowerBook Duo (#19) Aug 14, 2020

Show notes

The very first time Apple made a laptop that compromised in numerous ways, all in the question of being as thin and light as possible.

Guest Starring:

Andy Ihnatko, Shelly Brisbin, John Siracusa, John Gruber, Tonya Engst, and Adam Engst

Links and Show Notes:

Errata: The original iMac came out in 1998, not 1997.

#19: PowerBook Duo

1: Power Mac G5 (#20) Aug 07, 2020

Show notes

The classic "cheese grater" design of the Power Mac G5 influences the design of the modern Mac Pro, and also represents (in the worst way) the last time Apple embarked on a chip transition.

Guest Starring:

Andy Ihnatko, Shelly Brisbin, Stephen Hackett, John Siracusa, John Gruber, and Adam Engst

Links and Show Notes:

#20 - Power Mac G5 (Six Colors)

#20 - Power Mac G5 (YouTube)

0: Introduction Aug 03, 2020

Show notes

Jason Snell introduces 20 Macs for 2020, a project that will count down his list of the 20 most notable Macs of all time, one per week, with a little help from his friends.