Filed under: Hardware, Software, Freeware, Friday Favorite
Friday Favorite: Mactracker
Another Friday Favorite, our weekly opportunity to gush over one of our favorite apps.This week's favorite is a must-have reference for all Apple fans. Mactracker has been around for as long as I can remember and is indispensable. It provides exhaustive information on every Apple product, from the latest Xserve to the QuickTake 100.
The iTunes-like UI keeps machines in categories like desktops, notebooks, devices, etc. Click any to reveal a chronological listing of hardware, sorted by folder. Finally, select any piece of hardware (or software) to receive a tremendous amount of information. Processor, RAM, release date, benchmarks and on and on. You can even listen to the startup chime where applicable.
You can make smart folders and even keep track of the hardware you own. I love the built-in timeline, which lets you browse hardware by year of introduction. Best of all, as new hardware is added, Mactracker is updated.
This great piece of freewawre is availabe for the Mac and iPhone/iPod touch [App Store link]. For me, it's indispensable.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chris Leither said 12:25PM on 8-07-2009
It's also quite useful if you sell Apple gear... and people show up demanding some info on their old systems or the correct type of ram. As they seldom know what kind of machine EXACTLY they have, with MacTracker you can usually circle it in...
One of my most used tools !
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Some Dude said 12:46PM on 8-07-2009
I use this app everyday at work, it's great. People have no idea about the specs of their hardware and this helps me get them the right upgrades. the iphone app is great too.
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Joanna D said 1:03PM on 8-07-2009
If there ever was an application that would do everything it does better as a website, this is it. There really is no reason to have this as client side software.
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Jeff said 1:20PM on 8-07-2009
I was thinking the same thing - why is this an app instead of a website? (even a web app... with an iPhone optimized version.)
weird.
I'll have to try it out and see how it compares to Apple-History.com
brian said 2:02PM on 8-07-2009
It'd be nice to have both. The web would always be as current as possible, but the speed of the native client (especially on the phone) is nice. Then again, updates aren't *that* crucial since Apple doesn't release or update hardware that often--once every other month, on average? Assuming there are no errors in the historical data, updates wouldn't be needed that often.
That said, this is a handy little app. And thanks to it, I've finally heard the famous Twentieth Anniversary Mac startup chime. :-) Great work devs!
philpoccia said 2:29PM on 8-07-2009
All of this information pretty much all from theapplemuseum.com and apple-history.com.
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jeffcross1 said 4:34PM on 8-07-2009
I am not that impressed. No way on my iPhone to create the smart folder of products that I own. Plus the iPhone section does not include iPhone 3GS.
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Hector Ramos said 5:24PM on 8-07-2009
I met the developers of Mactracker during WWDC09, they were staying at my hotel. They are great folks. I like Mactracker (Mac, iPhone) because I can launch it at any moment and browse through tidbits of Apple history.
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Jash Sayani said 12:00PM on 8-08-2009
How come my MacBook (Uni-body) does not have the S/N written anywhere??
My mini has one at the back.
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ponyfizz said 9:15PM on 8-09-2009
Isn't it under the battery?
Calexifan said 7:02PM on 8-08-2009
They used to have a web app for the iPhone, but they've since replaced that with an iPhone app store application. Too bad -- I preferred the former. I'd rather not have to keep this info on my actual iPhone, but simply be able to access the info from the website.
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jh said 1:22PM on 8-11-2009
Don't forget everymac.com
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