Apple Halts G4 Cube Production: On 7/3/2001, Apple posted a story today at their web site titled Apple Puts Power Mac G4 Cube on Ice that confirms the recent rumors. The article notes that:

"(Apple) will suspend production of the Power Mac G4 Cube indefinitely. The company said there is a small chance it will reintroduce an upgraded model of the unique computer in the future, but that there are no plans to do so at this time."

100GB Maxtor Drive Performance Tests in Cube: For those that missed the main news post, I've posted a review of the Maxtor 100GB drive tested in a G4/450 Cube.

In the 6/18/2001 news I asked for Cube owner comments as far as any problems seen during long-term use. I was surprised at the number of reports. Most were positive, but some did note problems.

Considering buying a Cube? Before buying a new or refurbished Cube model, you might want to read the section below which covers the issues of mold lines, and things to consider before buying a new vs. refurbished Cube. Also included in a note/tip about shutdown problems seen on a refurbished Cube that had OS 9.04 (and no 4.1.8 firmware update) when trying to boot from an OS 9.1 CD.

" Mike
I have got a cube recently, and can see no reason why the other people complain. I was opping for a 500 mhz version (thinking that, after hearing the complaints of using a G4 with Deus Ex). I got a 450 with the rage 128 pro (16 meg of vram), and all I can say is WOW! Not only is this sucker quiet (except for the pleasent hd access sound), but its powerfull. I am currently running Deus Ex on all high details and not getting a slowdown.

The only problem I have had is that DX quits (DX fragments memory like nothing flat).

This Cube still amazes me, I am opting for the Radeon card for it, and more memory. After feeling the speed it can do, I think Apple is wrong to get rid of it, it is clearly their fault for pricing it too high or not including a display. Well their is always the hope of having it put into the 25th aniversary mac (COMEON APPLE...), or the re-introduction of it. The seams in the case are very hard to find, the case has been proven to be rock solid for me, Only a few more addons and this comp will be one of the greatest macines.
David Kure-Proud to own a cube
"We are the few,the elite, We are the cubists" "

[Replies added on 6/21/2001]

" I've had my Cube/450 DVD since early this year. I bought the 15" Flat Display and also ordered the HK Soundsticks. In addition, I ordered a 512 MB DIMM and performed the firmware update with no problems. I also removed the stock 20GB Maxtor 5400 RPM ATA Drive and replaced it with a 30GB 7200 rpm Seagate ATA 66 Barracuda (toggling the mode to ATA 66 from the default ATA 33 from within DOS before I installed it - YUCK!) Needless to say, this machine feels fast, faster than my G4 Sawtooth 450 at work with the same Seagate drive. I have not had one problem with shutoffs or startups as others saw with the early Cubes. I installed 9.1 and also am running 10.0.3 with no problems.

An interesting tidbit for those with too much time on their hands. If the injection molding knit lines REALLY bother you, you can... with much time, patience, and elbow grease, polish them out with acrylic polish. I used "Plus 210" manufactured by Sumner Laboratories and removed ALL of the exterior knit lines including even the deep ones by the rivets (those were by far the toughest) on top. The interior surface knit lines still remain but are so much harder to see, even in the right light. Perhaps on a rainy day I will remove them as well.

Of all of the Macs I have owned: A IIci, a 7600/132 and now the Cube, I put the Cube right up there and perhaps even a bit beyond in terms of the best machine I have ever owned. In terms of PCI slots, everything I would have bought cards for in my 7600 has been included. All that remains to be seen is the real world long term usage results. But based upon all I have seen so far, I would buy another. It will be a shame if it goes...
plaz "

(Be careful on using polishing compound on the housing - if it's too abrasive or coarse, it could mar the finish and do more harm (appearance wise) than good.-Mike)

" Just wanted to add my observations. I've had my Cube (450MHz/Radeon/448MB RAM) along with the 15" Studio Display since mid December. I use it mainly for bringing in video from my digital video camera. When it first came out, I went through the usual "must have now" routine but held off as I've always done in order to avoid the initial problems. After Apple dropped the prices via the rebate, I took the plunge to give myself an xmas gift.

Aside from a small cosmetic problem (mold line on the upper right front corner), the system itself has worked without any problems (no sensitivity problems with the switch). The silence and very small amount of heat that it puts out are also a nice thing. Another observation is that unlike my other systems (prior PC's, past/present PowerMac's including 8500/7600/B&W G3/G4-AGP), the internals were virtually dust free after 3-months of continuous operation (the Cube is always running) whereas my towers need a good cleaning.

I'm quite satisfied with it and will purchase additional units especially if the prices drop more. It really is too bad the Cube got a bum rap but Apple deserves the blame for that by initially pricing it too high. Aside from initial teething problems that some experienced, the product is an excellent piece of work and it would really be a shame if the product was discontinued.
RM "

[Replies added on 6/20/2001 follow]

" I first bought my G4 Cube in October of 2000. First off, let me say that I think the Cube is one of the best products Apple has ever made. I was shocked to hear that they might be discontinuing it. I would have thought the Cube would have been a huge seller by being the smallest super computer.

When first checking out the Cube, looking closely I saw the "scratches" that everyone has been saying makes the computer look bad. These scratches are actually where the molding fits together. And looking at the Cube right now they are not visible at all. The only way you see these lines is if you're really looking for them.

I started up my Cube and everything worked perfect. A week or so later I got some more memory for it. This was my first computer that I have owned and I've never put memory into a computer. And I followed the directions and I actually thought it was too easy and was amazed when it worked. It's as simple as turning the Cube over, pulling the handle, and putting in the memory.

The only problem I've had is that two times the Cube suddenly shut itself off. This worried me some, but as time went on and updates were released it didn't do it anymore which made me releaved.

The speakers with the Cube are amazing. They are very cool looking and very small and the sound it crystal clear. The pro keyboard and pro mouse are also wonderful. I've never had problems with them.

I have a 17-inch [LCD] studio display which I got this month (June). And so far I haven't had any problems with it either. It is a beautiful display and everything is crystal clear.

Over an 8 month span I have had one problem (shutting itself off, which only occured twice) that went away. I am very pleased with the Cube and I highly recommend getting one.
Luke W.

" Cube long-term use
Cube 450 MHz, configuration: ASIP Server 6.3, OS 9.1, Now Contact and Now Up-to-Date Server 4, Web Server and Mail Server running, Doorstop ASIP security suite (to replace the buggy OT Auto Push Support Extension), a backup is made twice a day using Retrospect remote to a DVD-RAM drive.

Installed and configured December 2000, up and running since then, twice restarted, 1) after upgrading to 9.1 (from 9.04), 2) after upgrading to Now Contact and Now Up-to-date 4.0. So far not a single crash or freeze. The cube is definitely best Mac ever produced! Ok, my new 500 MHz-TiBook comes close..
Andreas "

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" I've had the cube with 15" flat screen since last August and have loved every minute of it..the best machine I've had in 12 years of Mac-life...cube got a raw deal with the press and the results we are aware of..I still believe it is the best computer for all..continues to be quiet and unassuming..is just there and always working...have had ZERO problems....on 24/7 with OS X since March....I love it!!
huffer "

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" When I got my Cube at work in November, the erratic rebooting problem rendered it unuseable out of the box. Apple estimated 7-10 business days to fix, but they returned it in only 3. A few months later it acted up again. Same symptoms, but according to Apple support, different cause. The guy pinpointed the problem upon hearing the startup chime when I plugged in the powercord. This time they fixed and returned it in 5 days.

The first problem was fixed with a mounting bracket to support the DC converter card. The second problem required replacing the powerswitch mechanism. The quality of support was excellent. They neither babied me nor overwhelmed me with tech talk. Although the woman noted the expiration of my 90 day free phone support, it was never brought up again, I wasn't charged for the multiple calls or the repair, and I even recieved a courtesy call aftertwards.

Beyond service issues, I love the Cube!! It stands out at work, an entirely PC based company. The Cube and a Dell are both connected to the same 21" Sony monitor; I toggle between them using the HD15/BNC input switch. The Cube has the best sound quality, the "measly" 450mhz G4 screams, and it just looks **really** cool.

There definitely is a market for the Cube, just not at the current prices. At a lower price, the Cube is the ideal sub-$1,000 competion for the junk Wintels. It won't hurt iMac sales because it's monitorless, and won't hurt PowerMac sales because it's not as fast and expandable. Apple would be foolish to drop the Cube line instead of the price!
Samrod "

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" No internal modifications except added RAM and Airport. Heavy multimedia use, works fine. As solid as any Mac we've owned (and that's a lot of Macs). Also, it hasn't been switched off for more than a few minutes since we received it last August.
Using ADC 17" CRT "Studio Display" now discontinued.
-jeff "

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" Mike
No problems at all with my cube. Of all the reports I have read about the cube, I have experienced none of the troubles. Knock on wood.

I have a Cube 450mhz 320mb ram, 20 gig, with a graphite lcd 15" via an ADC-DVI adapter.

I did buy this a little later in the ball game. I have been running OS X flawlessly since May or so. I have shutdown a few times, but mostly just put it to sleep. I have had no freezes when awaking from sleep. I do miss my rev 1. BW G3 a little though.

The small footprint is the best thing about he cube besides looks.
Regards,
Carter "

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" Hey Mike,
I set up my boss's cube around December of last year. ITs pre-CD burner model (though Software Update keeps trying to install iBurn..).

No problems with it and its on all day, 5 days a week.

The display is the 15" LCD Display. The setup, with speakers, is quite slick on my boss's credenza. The LCD is sharp and equal to a 17". And its quiet.

We use to play UT on it during January "blah" days. But lately, its been a stock watcher, uBid watcher and administrative machine (mostly Office 2001 for Mac and IE).

No problems with top power/sleep switch. I have found the power adaptor to be rather warm, which contradicts any heat the LCD saves ;)

All in all, no problems.

I am rather sad if the Register is correct. I was hoping the Apple store would release some refurbs as a friend wants one. It fits the niche of someone that has a professional need over an iMac yet does not have the budget for a large, workstation.

The cube fills this void. As a designer, the cube is perfect. It was the memory upgrade (and drive) path for big software apps (photoshop), the expansion for external (though chaotic in wire scheme) devices (CDRW, DV, LAN, ...). With the intro of the 17" LCD, it seems the ideal net/work station.

Apple's mistake: if Apple had released the Cube at $999, or paired it with the 17" LCD for $1999 (include an inkjet, and coupon for Office 2001/Adobe production pac), they would not have met the demand. IMHO.
Sincerely,
Ed S. "

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" Hi Mike...
Although I've only had my Cube for 3.5 months, it might interest you to know that during that time, I only turned its power off for a period of 4 days when I was away on a vacation. The other 110 days or so, my Cube has been up and running 24/7 (except, of course, when I've had to restart after a freeze, or when I switched between the 2 OSes, 9.1 and X).

I have seen NO problems at ALL with this mighty little Cube, and if Apple really is going to discontinue the product, I think right now is definitely a good time to purchase one.
Satoru M. "

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" I've been pleased with my Cube & 15" ADC TFT screen.
I had initial problems with the switch on the monitor but the monitor was replaced under warranty, no further problems.

It's a nice little machine, the only real criticism is that the ports are a bit inaccessible underneath. It takes up hardly any deskspace and is no different to a tower minus the PCI slots.
HTH
James K.
Norwich, UK "

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" We bought a 450MHz Cube a few weeks after they were introduced and it has had zero problems with heavy daily use (it is on for about 12 hours/day). We added 256MB of RAM, but otherwise it is stock. We have upgraded system software with everything from system upgrader as it has become available. The monitor is the 15" flat panel studio display.

This has been the most reliable Mac we've ever had (and we've had them since the Mac 128)
-- Steve "

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" i've been using my cubge as my main daily machine since early october. I have not had any power button problems.. up until 2 months ago i had been using the ADC 17" crt display with absolutely no problems.. I didn not use the cubes power button often , instead using the monitors power button..

now i am using a huge mitsubishi 22" crt, and still no problems.. no i use the power button regularly.. to power up, to sleep and to force power off (when a lock up occurs.)

the one "problem" i had with the cube was not with the cube it self but with the fan on the radeon card in it.. the fan would make an annoying whine for the first minute or so after startup... apple fixed that problem.. and the machine has been flawless since...

i also installed a 7200 rpm drive in the cube and at first worried of the added heat it may produce but that was less than a month after getting the cube , and as i said, no problems.
Victor M. "

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" I have used the Cube from september last year for serious graphic design work for more than 8 hours daily.
I changed the internal HD to a very fast 41 GB IBM 75GXP drive and ubgraded the RAM to 576 MB. The Cube drives the wonderful Cinema 22 inch display and is connectet to a lot of peripherials like Heidelberg 1450 Firewire Scanner, Plextor 12/10/32 CD-writer in an ADS case, a lot of USB stuff (Wacom ADB Tablet via iMate, Palm Craddle via MiniDock, etc). All this works pretty good for me without any problems except the power switch problem I had months ago wich I could fix by myself.

I love my Cube like on the first day because it has enough power and it is so quiet, which is very important for me. A lot of my friends ­ who also are familiar with Macs - were looking with a lot of skepsis at my Cube. "Could this little thing really be a workhorse for serious business?" I think, this isn't the reason for the little success of the Cube: People ­ and even Mac users for many years ­ don't believe this small box is equal to the standard PowerMacs.

I hope Apple will design another even faster computer without a noisy fan in a compact pretty enclosure like the good old Cube in the very near future as a good alternative to the classic computer box.
Peter K.
Graphic designer - Austria "

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" Absolutely stellar. I never had problems with my cube, apart from the occasional crash. My family all use it at home with DSL and Multiple Users and it's the best computer I've ever bought from Apple. I was an early adopter, but never had problems with cracks in the case or power button problems that have come to be associated with the Cube. I've recommended the cube to 4 other people who've purchased it and they also love it, and have not run into those problems.

The only problem I had was my hard drive was noisy. I swapped it out for a quieter drive and am quite happy with it now.

For anybody who doesn't need PCI, but wants a desktop, the cube is the best. I have no idea why it doesn't sell.
Paul F.
IS Manager
Market Connections Inc. "

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" I've a 500 MHz Cube with Radeon card. About 8 months old. Was hooked up to a 15" Apple LCD via ADC but is now purring with a 22" Cinema. Standard in every way except for 256M RAM and 40 gig drive. No problems whatsoever. Slight hiss from Radeon fan. Running OS X like a charm. DOesn't seem to get hot, left on all of the time (but its set to sleep after 60 mins inactivity). Managed to crash OS X once so far (Mail.app was doing something screwy and couldn't escape to the shell). No issues, no regrets - quiet efficiency encapsulated.
Jim W. "

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" Hi Mike,
I am a very SHORT time CUBE user as I bought one off of the Apple Online Store site (as a refurbish a couple of weeks ago)...

I decided to pick one up to use at home as I believed that all of the major annoyances would be fixed by now (this has been, I believe, to be a correct assertion - so far).

The CUBE was very cheap & has performed flawlessly for about 2 weeks now without a hitch

Cost: about $1099 (obviously an Apple Inc. dump it price!)
CPU: 450 MHZ Cube with DVD,
Graphics: low end (silent) graphics card
RAM: 64 MB...
(which I bumped immediately with some
PC133 ram from frys (for 89 bucks) following some research from some web sites (yours included, of course))
OS: I am running latest OS 9.1 + the CUBE firmware update...

System has no cracks, strange shutdown behavior or DVD weirdness...

If your readership is interested in getting a CUBE before they 'go' at a reasonable price -- keep trying 'the store' & some of the 'refurbish' sites like smalldog & perhaps some more will become available in the channel.
So far, a very positive experience.
Cheers & good luck to all,
GregH
PS - forgot to mention that I am using a 19 inch VGA monitor & not an Apple ADC monitor at the moment... "

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[Replies received 6/18/2001 follow]

"Happy Cube Owner -
hi Mike, my name is Pat, and I'm a happy Cube owner." I always feel I should start out my introduction to Mac users like that as the Cube has put "us" in some type of crazy support group.

Anyway, I've been using my Cube since last November and ditched my Dual 450 for it. I use Photoshop/Illustrator/GoLive all day and the Cube has to be the most stable system I've used in my 11 year Macintosh experience. I never had the power button problem, nor the erratic shut down syndrome. I did have a problem with the firewire ports after 2 months of use. Seemed the cables bent the ports towards the casing and would cause an annoying "hum". I doubled over a piece of electrical tape, and haven't had the problem since.

My model is the 450, and I immediately dumped the 5400 drive for a Western Digital 7200 drive. All has been great, and if the Cube dies off it will be a shame. There's no doubt the reason for buying one of these is for style rather than substance. But once you enjoy an evening of "silence" while working, you can never go back to the Sesna Props that occupy the G4 towers.

Cube G4/450
WD 30GB HD
1GB Ram
ATI Rage Pro (no fan)
Airport Card
Cinema Display via Belkin ADC to DVI connector
-Pat "

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" We have 5 cubes. Two have the Apple LCD monitor, the rest various non-Apple CRTs. One had a problem with the power switch (on the monitor). The rest have been trouble-free.
--
Richard K.
Information Systems Manager
(University name withheld) "

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" I've been using a Cube since they were released and I have encountered none of the problems that seem to plague other users. I Have only good things to say about my G4 Cube. I use a LG Flatron 17 inch VGA monitor. All I can say is that I couldn't be happier and given the opportunity I would do I all over again.
Anthony "

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" I'm a happy 450 Cube owner/user and have been since September. I'm using the 17" studio display [CRT model] and just bumped the RAM to 640 megs. With my 40-hard drive, I hope I’m set for a time. I don’t leave it on 24 hours a day, but it gets a workout with Photoshop, InDesign, Word, Communicator, etc. I've had no problems with the hardware at all. No smoke, flameouts, or even cracks in the case. For the first time in my 16-year Mac experience (this is my fourth model since 1985), however, I did opt for AppleCare. Seemed the sensible thing to do in light of the new design.

I paid the full $1799, those who can buy the new lower-priced CD-RW model are getting a great deal in my opinion. I have a DVD-RAM external drive and have said farewell to the days of SCSI. I was very disappointed to hear that the Cube's days may be numbered. I have a G4 tower at work and in the future would hate to give up my newfound desk real estate here at home to upgrade to a space-hog.

In terms of software (and this isn’t the Cube’s fault, of course), my only complaint is that when I start up under OS X I feel like a stranger in my own home. I won't be a steady OS X user until my core apps are up and running — and Apple decides to give back most or all of the ease-of-use features they've taken away from OS 9.1: customizable Apple menu, smart scrolling, the ability to empty my own trash, etc., etc. I bought my first Mac because I didn't ever want to type a command line — and I'm not about to start now.
Dave W. "

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" Mike:
The question you asked has gone through my mind as well (since I need to get a computer for my kids). Though I don't own a Cube (I own a Dual G4 450 Tower and G4 400 PowerBook), the discounted Cube with the recently discounted 15 inch LCD monitor represents a potential alternative to the rumored new iMac. My best friend owns this combo, and loves it. He's had no problems outside of the fan noise associated the Radeon graphics card (resonates on hard surfaces).
Pieter "

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" Mike,
I only have four months in on my G4/Cube at work but it has worked as good as any Mac I have had with absolutely no problems. I must have waited long enough to avoid the reported problems. The heat is minor after being on all day. I added a Sony Firewire CD burner which works well with the internal burner for copying CD's, etc.

The only complaint would be that the cables are short and it is expected that the Cube be placed near the monitor and keyboard. I hooked to an old 1705 Apple monitor which required an adaptor since it just has VGA out. My 15" screen will be here next week.
Craig M. "

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" I've been using a cube at work for over six months with the 17 inch ADC CRT Monitor. I have had problems with the power. Not so much the switch, but the card itself. The socket to the motherboard seems to have a little give . My desk is on the outer wall of the office and, if someone shuts the door a little too hard, the desk vibrates, shakes the card and the system goes down. Besides that little bug, I would recommend the cube to anyone who has no need for SCSI. My boss, who is "old school IBM", even thinks the cube is the next wave in desktop computer design. Let's hope the rumors are false, unless of course the "rumored" iMacs live up to their potential...
Scott M. "

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" My Cube experience (other than the first week) has been absolutely incredible. I'll cover the painful part first, namely the first week. I received my Cube on a Saturday, and immediately set it up to start playing with it. It didn't take long before the machine mysteriously started booting, shutting down, or restarting on it's own. The problem was made worse by the fact that when restarting or shutting down, it didn't even prompt me to save changes, it just plain restarted. It didn't take me long to find the cause on the Apple support Web site (and rule out the couple of other possibilities) in a bad O-Ring on the power switch. A call to Apple, and a couple of minutes on the phone, had a new O-Ring on it's way to me via FedEx on Monday Morning (I called on Sunday).
[Note - Apple's Cube Customer Installable Parts page has a guide to replacing the power button gasktet, as well as other components like the hard drive, RAM, Airport card, etc.-Mike]

After installing the replacement O-Ring which appeared to be just a hair thicker than the old one and was a breeze to install, everything has worked perfectly. I have since upgrade my Cube with 1 GB of RAM, a 7200 RPM IBM hard drive, an ATI Radeon graphics card (driving a Sony 19" VGA monitor), and a serial port to connect my Palm device to. Externally I have a second hard drive (FireWire), two Epson ink-jet printers (USB), a flatbed scanner (USB), a slide scanner (FireWire), and an external video adaptor (FireWire). What more do I need at home? To boot, the entire setup is insanely quite, making it a joy to work on. The only thing missing is an Apple Cinema Display to make my setup complete.

A quick word on PCI slots, at work I have a dual processor box (which I'll admit I'd love a dual processor Cube) but I've come nowhere close to using up the slots. Other than a SCSI PCI card, I'm not using a singe additional slot. Don't get me wrong, I was happy when Apple added the fourth PCI slot (for the people that need them), and I'll even admit that a few people may need more (for example a high end video editing studio), but I don't need any at home. In my opinion, the lack of expendability of the Cube has been way over blown and I highly recommend one to anyone considering a purchase.

On a side note, I hope the rumors of Apple totally killing the Cube are false and Apple is just clearing out inventory to give us a new Cube on par with the current towers. Same bus speed, same processor speeds, and same AGP port (after all one needs to be able to install a GeForce 3 or whatever ATI comes out with next). Throw in 800mb FireWire and I'd be all set. In any event, I would buy a Cube again in a second (and will if Apple comes out with new ones).
I hope my 2˘ helps.
Sincerely,
Andrew M. "

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" I have been using a 500 Mhz Cube since August 2000. I have been using it with the 15" Studio Display (ADC) since Christmas. No problems what so ever. I have used it with the Rage 128 until December 2000, the OEM Radeon tell about a month ago, and a fanless Radeon ever since. It continues to work well. It was a little unstable with the 128 MB stock configuration. Since I added 256 MB in September 2000 (250$ back then) it has been extremely stable. Again, there have been no problems to date.
Hope this helps.
LC "

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" I'v had a cube 450 since October '00.
I had to send it back immediately for the "fix" by Apple. It has been rock solid since.
I like it, its quiet and stylish.
21"crt using the vga port.
Rick "

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" For about the past 5 months, I have been using a G4 Cube/500 with 256 RAM, ATI Radeon graphics card, 15˛ ADC LCD display and running Mac OS 9.1 (I wonąt switch to Mac OS X until there is a MS Office update later this year). I LOVE my Cube! I have not had any problems with the machine, except for the somewhat noisy fan on the ATI Radeon card. I have highly recommended this machine to other people like myself who are not regular power-users, and do not need numerous slots in order to do my work (my last machine was a B&W G3/450, and I never used all of the slots on it).

I am saddened to hear about the Cube end-of-life rumors, but it wonąt dampen my enjoyment of using the most cleverly engineered and beautiful desktop I have ever seen. Besides, since 1984 I have bought a new Mac every two years; and for the last 6 years I have also bought a new laptop every 2 years ( I currently have a TiG4/500, which is the best laptop I have ever worked with- despite couple of minor criticisms with the machine). For the next 18 months, this is the perfect machine for me (and it is finally satisfying to own Macs that generate curiosity, and ENVY, with the majority of PC users in my office).
Regards,
Sean "

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" I've been using a basic 450 Mhz Cube (Refurb. from Apple Store) for several months, with no problems. Quiet, I mean absolutely Q-U-I-E-T (except when CD/DVD drive decides to hum) and uncluttered. Does everything I need it to do. In PhotoShop, it combines with my 22 inch Cinema Display to do a great job. I've partitioned my 20 GB hard drive to run OS 9.1 and OS X. With 576 MB RAM, OSX runs very well, and Classic seems to run as fast in OSX as in 9.1. Sufficient RAM is the key to running OSX and Classic apps. For analog input, I use a Formac Studio. I replaced an 8600 with dual CRT's, regained knee room under the desk, and shed a maze of cables. Since I don't need to burn CD's, and don't have a DVD player sitting under my TV, the Cube's DVD drive is a nice addition for playing movies.
Way to go, Apple...the Cube works for me.
Bill W. "

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" Hi, I've been using a cube for at least 8 months
15" apple LCD with Apple connector
320MB Memory

I'm a network engineer (mostly novell/windows environment) and the cube was purchased to get some idea of what MacOS X will mean to our few (50 osX capable) macintoshes.

My machine has pretty much run in macos x continually (i've probably only booted to 9 less than 40 times since the public beta was initially installed) and its been getting more and more stable.

I've never had a problem with the power switch, except of course when tilting the cube to plug in connectors to the base.

since the MacOS X 10.0.1 the machine has been running well. I leave it on at night and that seems to have helped (i believe there are system mainainence jobs that are cron'd for night time running).

The only kernel panic I have had is while holding up the display to show a quicktime clip to someone else. The USB connector for the Zip was plugged into the monitor and I believe that it was the connector being under strain that caused the panic.

The cube itself has proven to be the most reliable mac i've ever used (big ups to OS X here as when it was in 9 it could be tardy comming out of sleep, and had issues with a firewire drive and sleeping).

recently I have updated the apache webserver to enable use of proxying and hence disabled CPU sleep. that also seems to have helped.
hope this is of some interest.
Simon "

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" Mike,
I've been using my Cube since mid-September without a hitch. I have a 15" Studio Display (ADC) connected with speakers and keyboard/mouse hooked up through the display. None of the widely publicized glitches have imposed themselves upon my Cube, though I purchased AppleCare just in case.

I've added 2x256MB DIMMs and use FireWire Target Disk Mode on occasion to do bulk data transfers. Internet access has always been via DSL so I've never used the modem.

It came with Mac OS 9.0.4 and has since been upgraded through all stops to Mac OS X 10.0.3, performing like a champ the whole way. Remember, though, YMMV.
Brian H"

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" Hello Mike,
You asked for experiences of a long time Cube users. I had my Cube 450 MHz since october 2000, and I didn't have any problem with the machine whatsoever. No mysterious on/off problems, nothing. I am using it with a iiyama CRT monitor, so I can't comment about the LCD monitor issue. The only thing that bothers me is that during the transportation of the Cube from US to Europe the case got damaged, and now I've been unable to get the replacement case for months (In Europe you have to send your Cube to Apple service center in Netherlands, and I don't want to send the whole machine and wait just because I need a new case). You can post this as a desperate cry of a Cube owner who had no luck finding a place to buy a replacement case. If anyone has one to sell, contact me :(((

Otherwise, it is a wonderful machine, probably the best Mac I've ever had, and I don't regret paying almost $2000 at the time. It offers everything the tower does, except the extra PCI slots, which I figured I almost never used anyway. The quality of workmanship is exceptional, no cheap plastic to be seen, the case is heavy and solid.

I'm planing to get a new 17" Apple LCD display, and I think this would be a setup that would serve me well for the next couple of years.

I'd suggest anyone who doesn't have the need for extra expansion options to run out and get himself one of these wonderful machines while they are still available.

Too bad the minority of users who were so picky about mold lines and had some initial issues with he cube outyelled all the happy owners. What's more interesting, I know of the three persons in my vicinity who bought the cube, ad only one who's got the tower. Go figure.

There is one thing that I don't like - the fact that the ports are inaccessible during normal operation.
Hope this helps,
Tomislav "

If anyone knows a faster way to get a Cube housing, let me know and I'll pass it on.

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" Hi this is for the cube report. I live in italy and own a cube. Had it for 7 months. I had no problems altought my uncle changed one because he had power on problem. The only thing that makes me angry is that you cannot plug usb speakers in a hub, so or you have an adc display or you have to connect periperhals to keyboard, since the keyboard must be connected to the central usb port. This is because it works normally on a hub, but sometimes it stops working and you have to disconnect it and reconnect it after a 30 seconds. I do not know why, but since i started plugging keyboard to central usb it stopped doing it. I have now connected my hub to the other port on the keyboard...
giulio "

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" Mike,
I've had my G4 450 Cube since October 2000. Here are my system specs:

G4 450 Cube
448MB RAM
30GB IBM Deskstar 75GXP HD
ATI RADEON graphics
Mitsubishi Diamondtron 91 NF CRT (VGA)
OS 9.1
Various USB and FireWire peripherals (Iomega Zip, Que CDRW, VST floppy, etc)

To date, the only real problem I've had with my Cube was sudden loss of both the USB and FireWire bus(es). This was repaired by performing a clean install of OS 9.1. I think it was due to a power surge and an old surge protector.

Anyway, I've not had an other problems with the Cube (power switch, etc.). It has been a flawless Macintosh for me. My Cube is on just about all the time. I put it to sleep at night for the few hours that I actually get some sleep. About the only time it gets turned off or restarted is when some offending application crashes the machine or I install new software that requires a reboot.

I do not like the fan on the RADEON card; but have been neither ambitious enough to install a quieter fan nor brave enough to disconnect the fan and see what happens.

The spherical speakers provide excellent sound. I have not replaced them because none of the USB alternatives I have seen have a headphone jack on them. The new Monsoon iM700 system is tempting as are the Soundsticks, but I need to have the ability to connect headphones. Curse Apple for eliminating the audio in/out ports. :D

Anyway, that's my review after almost 9 months of use. I use my machine for running a home business, freelance writing, playing way too many games, and of course frequenting Xlr8yourmac.com. Is this my favorite Mac? No. That honor is reserved for my Titanium PowerBook G4 500.
Let me know if you need any more detail.
Chris M. "

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" I bought my cube used and I love it.. It's fast and quiet and works great. One thing though.. and I haven't been able to confirm where the problem lies but the combination of Cube as basestation and TiBook makes for ridiculously poor range.. Like intermittant in the next room. Forget the front porch or back yard....
*sigh*
T "

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" I've been using my 450 Cube with Apple's 17" CRT since last September and so far I've had no problems with it. I've installed an additional 256MB ram from ramjet and I've been running OS X without any trouble.
Brett "

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" I've been using a Cube since they came out-- I bought the 450MHz model with the Radeon card and a 15" Apple flat panel.

It's been wonderful. There were some initial touch-switch problems (as others have reported) but after I rerouted some internal wiring according to a Web article, the problem vanished never to return.

I've stuffed it with a Maxtor 80G drive and 512M of RAM. It's fast, reliable, and (except for the very faint hum of the Radeon fan) silent.

Although I use a dual-processor G4 tower for development work under OS X, my personal preference is the quiet, elegant Cube.
-- David R. "

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" I have had a Cube for over 6 months now. It has been back to Apple for the spontaneous shutdown problem. They replaced the video card, according to the report. I replaced the power button gasket myself. It no longer seems to shut down on its own. The speakers do not work. Having them attached causes the sound level in the sound control panel to migrate left to zero. External speakers or headphones plugged into the miniplug do work.

Although it is a pretty cool design and mine has performed well (when working), I can see where Apple would ditch the Cube since its sales were dismal.
Paul "

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" I ordered my cube from my cell phone while Steve Jobs was finishing his keynote @ MWNY last year, so I have one of the first. I originally used a 15" Cinema Display and now use a 22'. My Cube has been great. I was and am still mad that I had to buy a Radeon card after the fact but have had no problems before or after installing the Radeon. I also upgraded the HD from a 30 to a 60 and have gone happily back and forth from 9.1 to X. The 30G HD is working fine in an OWC Mercury case.
I did have to send back the 15" display because the monitor control panel would open randomly. It was returned in 4 days and has worked fine ever since. The Cube is a great machine and I would love to see it with a superdrive. Plugging cameras, rio's and other digital devices directly into the Cube isn't easy. If apple built a compatible combo firewire/usb hub to complement it, it would be perfect. I use the Belkin firewire hub and an AMP usb hub.
Thomas "

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" Hello, I have a 450MHz Cube that was factory refurbished. I've owned it since December 2000. I also have a 15" Studio Display (flat panel). I have 320 MB memory and have a firewire external drive as well as the internal. I have had no major problems with it since I've owned it. I have never really seen the "cracks" nor have I experienced any power-switch problems. It is quiet, dependable and very attractive. I am sad to hear the rumors that Apple might be discontinuing it. But no technology lasts forever and the Cube is before its time and definitely a look at what's to come for the future of the desktop.

If anyone is considering buying one of these machines, I would recommend it unless you have a need for PCI cards.
Sincerely,
Brian H. "

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" So far my Cube has been reliable. It is not quite 6 months old, but it takes a beating. It has an 80gb drive in it and another 80gb drive velcro'd to the outside. I use it as a mobile computer with a KDC 19" monitor and I have the external drive, a Sony 10X CDRW Firewire drive, a USBhub and a Lexar card reader all velcro'd to it. It's rather scratched up but always works fine. It's cheaper then a Powerbook which would be ideal for what I need. I paid $1050 for it at CompUSA open box with a 3 yr warranty.
Jon "

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" Never a single problem with my cube or Apple 15" ADC Flat Panel. Works like a charm
2 More at work and NO problems with them either.
Erik "

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" Tale of the Cube
Have had mine now for almost a year. Upgraded the memory to 192M, the hard drive to 30G, and the graphics card to the Promax dual head card.

Unfortunately I have had problems including, but not limited to the following:

1) power switch problems (sent in for repair)
2) FireWire ports malfunctioning (sent in for repair)
3) Ethernet port malfunctioning (sent in for repair)
4) not waking from sleep problem (sent in for repair)

Other than that, I have been real happy with mine....
Jeff C. "

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" Hello: My Cube report:
I own a small design firm in Minneapolis. We have two G4 workstations, 3 iMacs, one iBook 500 and two Sony PC's. I also own a Cube, my office computer.

I purchased the Cube right after it came out, and I have a 15" LCD Apple Monitor. Mine does have the crack/flaw/line/whatever near the top, but they have never posed a problem. I have 385 Megs of RAM, all of it is OWC private label.

The Cube did go out, as in the Power switch problem after about two months of daily use. I called Apple, they FedEx'd a shipping box and labels and had it back to me inside three days. Apple replaced the CPU power switch and something called a "cage".

My Cube is really a fun Mac. I did not need the expansion space of a G4, but I do have a Belkin USB hub on one port with four usb items attached. Since the warranty fix last year I have had no problems. The Cube is on 8-10 hours a day, 5 days a week, with no problems from heat, spontaneous shut downs etc. I use a compressed air duster to keep the air vents and the dvd slot clean. I am a bit sad that Apple is going to EOL the Cube, I'll keep mine for until the Fall and then get the next "big idea".

I only use myself as the bleeding edge guinea pig in the office. The G4's and the iMacs are where we make money and they are all workhorses.

If you want a cool box to sit on your desk so your other middle age friends will be impressed, get a Cube. The design is outstanding and it really works well.
Regards, Mike M. "

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" Hi Mike. This is actually the first time that I've written to your site, but I want to share my experience with the Cube. Basically, it's awesome! I'm a physician in a small office, and other than the number of "ooooh's and aaaaaah's" I get from my patients, it's the perfect computer for me- it's small, QUIET, fast, nice looking (it fits right into my decor- I have a picture of my daughters on the screen and it looks like a picture frame). Other than a few power button glitches at the beginning, I've been up and running with OS X (24/7) over a DSL line for about 8 months (I had the Public Beta). Does everything I need, then some.

I have a 450MHz Cube with 256MB RAM, 15" flatscreen and an Epson DJ 935C. I burn CD's regularly with my 12/10/32 Que Firewire CDRW, and also edit movies (I did a great Easter flick recently). I also have iTunes running in the background- on the "Beethoven Rocks" station via internet. Adds a nice mood to my office. Nothing but good stories here.
John "

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" I have had one of the G4 Cubes since last September (one of the G4/450 models, with the ram brought to 192 megs - the easiest upgrade I've ever done) and have been using it with the 15" ADC monitor. It's been a great machine, and actually a huge draw into my office (I teach at a small university, and usually have several students a week [some not my mine!] walk in just to see it after glimpsing it from the hall). I've had many firewire and USB peripherals plugged into it without a hitch (including a Que CD burner, Zip drive, optical mouse, TI-86 calculator, and a Sony hi8 camcorder). The monitor and speakers are very nice - especially when combined with their small footprint. I've been also running OS X on it (both the beta and all the versions through 10.0.3) without any problems (the performance seems slightly better than that of X on my Pismo 500/256MB).

To my chagrin, after many months of problem-free usage I developed the sleep/shutdown bug. After a week of truly annoying behavior, I came across the simple "paper" fix (where you open the Cube, cut a small piece of paper trimmed to fit over the power button, tape in down, and close the Cube up), and haven't had the problem since (it's been about 10 days of trouble-free behavior).

It's a shame the Cube never really caught on - it's been a great machine overall.
Chris M. "

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" Hey Mike; saw your call for Cube owner experience and since I've had mine for 10 months now, I figured I'd mail in.

My experiences with the Cube (450 Mhz, Rage 128 Pro) (and my 17" CRT ADC monitor) have been mostly good, with no serious issues coming up. The issues I have had are these, in order of seriousness (most serious first):

) The USB bus occasionally gets very confused; the keyboard sometimes loses the media keys or thinks the right Command key is mapped to Command+Option.

) When the machine puts itself to sleep with Energy Saver, it sometimes does not wake up. Needs to be rebooted. Putting it to sleep normally causes no problems.

) The CD drive is finicky and often has issues ejecting CDs that have custom labels. Due to the form of the machine, there's no manual eject either, so needle nose pliers are necessary.

) After transporting the machine around a few times, something inside it started to whine. So it's no longer silent, it's just mostly quiet.

) There's no comfortable way to put the speakers and monitor together with the amp under the monitor without either bringing the monitor back off my desk a little bit, or having the monitor rest on the cables. Also, the USB cable from the amp is too short.

) Also due to transporting it, some debris has gotten stuck between the plastic casing and the actual machine, which can look a little grimy.

Despite these issues, I'm happy with the machine. Better than an iMac, for not quite as much as a desktop (well, at least, now.) High recommendations, especially since the cost has come down.
-dan "

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" I've been using a G4 Cube for some time now, and haven't experienced any of the Power Switch failure or Case cracking problems mentioned here and elsewhere on the web. A great machine IMHO, and far more impressive than the Dual G4 500 I have at work. Size does matter, and I really hope they don't ditch this beauty.
Regards,

Kris T.
Graphics Designer
Dartington Crystal Limited "

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" Hello, I've had my Cube since November and can only say good things about it. I have the Cinema Display hooked up to it and have been using OS X since 3/24. The only reason I'd even consider a tower is DP, GF 3, and the super-drive. The Cube has preformed flawlessly! 500 mhz Cube, DVD, 256 megs RAM, Radeon, Cinema Display, H/K SoundSticks
Chris G. "

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" My cube is great - love it - no problems...
I do pro audio/video/net work on it just fine...
I think the only real problems with it was that it was over priced at first - but I'll easily pay $200 bucks extra for a small silent type! People are strange... Just don't have a clue.
Rand "

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" I ordered my Cube with the 15˛ LCD when they first became available. At first my system suffered from the random sleep bug. After adjusting the shield around the touch switch it has been rock solid ever since. I added a Radeon video card and the performance has been excellent. I will probably purchase another one some time soon
Dan B. "

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" Mike
I have had three Cubes for about eight months now. One at home for night web stuff and two at work for business users. The home unit have an Apple 17in. display with HarmonCardon sound sticks. One at work is connected to a 22 inch Cinema display in our front office/lobby, it looks great and is a great topic of conversation. The other office cube has a 19/20inch Sony 420 GS.

All three have been very reliable, none have had the power button problem. I think they are fine machines.
--
Fred C. - General Manager
TheTroupe Modern Media Design & Production "

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" It's very funny, because I got my cube 12/15/00, and now it's 6/18/01, 3 days more than six months. I've been using the cube and here's what I have:

384 RAM, it's a 450Mhz Apple Refurb. It has a 75GIG IBM deskstar hard drive, and the Rage 128 graphics card. (All installed by an Apple authorized dealer)

It doesn't get nearly as hot as my souped up 9600 did. (Gauge Pro said it went to 140 degrees before it froze playing games.) This goes to about 110 degrees F MAX while doing intensive tasks (games, adobe premiere) Never goes higher than 110.

The problems I've had:

1. Airport is one interesting thing. I could never get a strong signal, and it would always die out and such. They even sent me a replacement airport card. I found out that by moving it a centimeter to the right, or rotating it more than a few degrees would change it dramatically, so after very careful moving around, I got the perfect position. I used a sharpie to mark it on the desk, and I don't touch the cube.

2. A problem I can't seem to shake is a monitor resolution problem. I'm using a ViewSonic PT813 professional series 21" display. Every few startups (at random) the viewable area would be too narrow. I would have to make the screen wider to fill the display via the monitor controls. Apple tech support couldn't fix this problem. (Meaning I went through all the trouble shooting)

3. Recently, I've had these two problems that I think may or may not be related to the cube but to my software. Command Save is a key combination. Let's pretend that at random, every few minutes, I press it. that's what's going on. In explorer, e-mail programs, anything with a command save function, the save dialog would come up at random as though I pressed command save. I got a replacement keyboard from apple and so far that has seemed to have fixed the problem. (Thank god for applecare) The second problem is that my apple menu options seem to be corrupt. (Despite trashing the prefs file, the same recent apps come up, and they don't change)

So, I fixed problem number 1. Problem number 2 is extremely scarce so it doesn't matter, and problem number 3 is probably not the cube's fault.

I give the cube an A+ it's worked great ever since I got it. It's a beautiful machine and I wish that Apple had more luck selling it.
-Colin "

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" Hi Mike:
I've owned a Cube for about 6 months. The first one arrived dead in the box and I determined that the power supply was faulty. When I replaced the power supply it turned out that the thermal protect sensor was defective on the cube. Apple replaced the unit with another (refurbished unit) that wouldn't boot. Only a gray screen with a folder welcomed me. No luck booting from any alternate source.
So now I have this Cube and it has been working faithfully ever since. No problems of any kind.
Regards,
Steven K. "

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" Mike, I'm just reporting on the state of my cube. Even though my cube is only around 3 months old, it must have been sitting in the store for a while because the creation date puts it back around october last yar. It is a dvd 450Mhz cube, and I have since upgraded it to 192Mb RAM and a 40GB 60GXP IBM hard disk drive. Both upgrades went smoothly. I have never noticed the "power on off" problem, and suspect this was a minor defect in really early model cubes that has since been corrected. My cube does feature 2 or 3 "mold" lines but they are certainly not bad enough to make me regret the purchase. For example, in showning off the cube to friends, no-one has ever even come close to noticing them. Initially, I was a little disapointed with the noise of the hard drive, which rendered the noise of operation considerably above "silent", but you get use to it after a while and it is still certainly much more quiet than most computers.

Other than that, the cube has been very stable with only a few unexplained crashes in 3 months of use. Admittedly, I had to wait for the dvd cubes to be discounted and bought through education before I was convinced it was a good deal. I think possibly future sales are becasue they refuse to put >500 Mhz chips in them, which is certainly possible. The cube features a massive heatsink and heat isn't as big a problem as most people think.
Overall, very happy with the cube, hope that helps.
Paul "

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" Mike,
I've been using a Cube since they were a few weeks old. At home I have a 500 MHz Cube, 1 GB RAM, original 40 GB hard drive, upgraded to Radeon display card. Up 24 x 7. No problems whatsoever. Runs cool. My machine never had the power switch problem reported by others. OS 9.1 would have an occasional wake from sleep problem, but this is gone in OS X.

I use the 15" LCD Apple ADC display, also trouble free. Other peripherals include Sony 145XE CDRW firewire drive, a Polaroid Sprintscan 4000 slide scanner (SCSI) and a Sprintscan 45.

Now using OS X nearly exclusively except for high resolution slide scanning with legacy SCSI peripherals (using Microtech's excellent FireSCSI adapter).

I still get lots of comments like "wow, THAT'S your computer, cool!" All in all, a real marketing failure by Apple. Most of the PC-heads out there still have never seen one of these.
Thanks,
Jeff W. "

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" I am the Macintosh Computer Administrator on Campus. I work at a small College with the Graphics Dept. taking care of at least one lab of 18 Cubes. They were installed last September 2000. They are configured 400Mhz, 256 MB RAM, 40 Gig HD, standard Video cards. I've had many problems with at least a 30% failure rate on the Cubes and with the 17" Apple Displays too.

You ready?
1 Hard Drive (IBM shot) replaced with a Maxtor if it matters.
5 Switch problems along with those 2 had a video problem. Both different One had totally blurred screen the other shaking problem at only 2 resolutions.
Security tabs just almost fall off. Security is useless.
6 Monitor problems, various in nature. One had been sent back a second time because it came back dead.

We also got in 5 G3 500Mhz Powerebooks for faculty. One had a bad logic board. 1 out of 5 that's 20%. rotten also.

In my opinion, the Cubes have no place in an academic venue and I think they are junk ! They run quirky too. Is junk too strong ? I used to be a Mac advocate but not after I seen what happened here. We own 2 Macs and I just purchased a PC 1400Mhz for myself.
Regards, Dennis N. "

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Thanks to all that responded.

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Notes on Case "Mold Lines", New vs. Refurbished Cubes:
I have bought several refurbished Macs over the years and they have all looked like new and worked well. Recently I had a first-hand look at a refurbished G4 cube and wanted to post some comments about this particular sample as well as the issue of mold lines in the housing. Although I have seen several Cubes in stores and read many stories on the net about the 'mold lines' in the case, I now know why some owners were upset about them, especially the one on the top right side of the case. On this sample, the upper right hand corner had a very visible line that stood out like a sore thumb and clearly looked like a scratch. (It was deep enough to actually cast a shadow onto the white surface of the inside sleeve.) I was convinced it was not a mold line since it was wavy and stopped (disappeared) long before the edge of the case. However looking at this ZDnet page (see the close-up link), this is a common mold line apparently. So be aware this will not likely be cause for a replacement housing, no matter how visible it is on any particular sample. No wonder Apple got some many calls on this issue.

Nobody I know would have guessed this was not a scratch based on the shape, location and depth. (Even a dealer thought it was a scratch.) Since the line "disappears" farther down, my guess is that the housing is polished on some surfaces/areas, but not that far up on the housing. (Just a guess, but I've never seen mold lines suddenly stop like this unless they were polished out as part of the final manufacturing process.)

I'm sure the visibility of this front surface mold line will vary and note that many owners above did not comment on mold lines at all. This sample may be a worst-case example (just bad luck), since I never remember seeing anything this noticeable on any Cube on display at a retail store. (Of course they may be specially selected housings since they're for display purposes.) The only way to get this housing replaced (after a call to Apple) was to take it to an Apple authorized dealer/service center for examination. A dealer took one look at the condition of this particular housing (the mold line visibily which they thought was a scratch, the debris inside the housing and even glue residue in several areas) and he called Apple for a replacement. [Update - a replacement brand new housing from Apple had the same visible line on the front upper corner, although not quite as noticeable as the refurbished one. The new housing was spotless otherwise. Although it took a dealer's ok to get it sent - it arrived very quickly.]
I'm posting this as a FYI to readers that are considering buying a cube based on the recent rumors it may be discontinued. [Upate - Apple noted on 7/3/2001 it has stopped production of the Cube.] And remember even on a new system the mold line visibility alone will not qualify for a replacement housing (based on the call to Apple support that said this line was normal). If you're intent on buying a Cube, my advice is to buy new, from a dealer that will let you look at the case before buying. Although refurbished Macs now have a 1 year warranty just like the new models, here is a list of other benefits of a new Cube vs a refurbished one.

• May have a better housing (there were reports the molding process was improved)
• Free OS X installed w/CDs (or at least eligible for the free OS X offer) [$129 list]
• Later CD versions included (OS, software restore, hardware test, etc.) Many refurbs have OS 9.04 CDs and OS install, and this sample didn't have the DVD ROM drive firmware update applied.
• The Apple store lists Appleworks 6 as included w/new Cubes (not w/refurb. models).
• No need to update the DVD ROM drive firmware, system firmware, etc.
• May have other subtle improvements over the earlier refurbished models
• Until this refurbished Cube had the 4.1.8 firmware update applied, it would shut off when trying to boot from a Mac OS 9.1 CD. (Both a software restore OS 9.1 CD and the OS 9.1 CD included with the OS X package - and each time it not only powered off, but cleared the novram also.) The firmware update won't apply unless you're running OS 9.1, but updating from the OS 9.1 CD was possible after booting from the hard drive.

It's your call if a refurb. is worth the appx $200 savings over a new model. (Based on a new Cube list price of $1299 vs. typical refurbished price of $1099.) I've owned several refurbished Macs and was always happy with the condition they were in out of the box, so I was shocked at the condition of this refurbished Cube. As the old saying goes, your mileage may vary.
Also note that if you buy from a mail-order dealer, they often have free RAM offers on new Macs, but if there's an install fee ($30 often times), remember a 128MB SDRAM dimm now costs only about $30. For any system with only 64MB, I'd highly recommend adding at least 128MB more of RAM.

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Related Articles:
Apple has a page of Cube Customer Installable Parts (CIP) that includes guides to installing RAM, an Airport card, battery, the main enclosure, replacing the hard drive, and replacing the power button gasket.

For other Systems related articles, reviews and guides, see the Systems Topics page.

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