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Apple Macintosh facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
IMac vector
An iMac. Unlike most computers, it has a computer system with the screen inside it.

The Apple Macintosh or just “Mac” is a line of personal computers made by the American company Apple Inc. The Macintosh was one of the first computers in which the people could use a mouse for pointing on a screen which had icons. This new way of working with a computer (interface) was known as graphical user interface. It was this feature of the Macintosh that made it so popular.

History

Processor history

See Apple Intel transition.

Macintoshes were different than other personal computers for many years based on their central processor unit (CPU). At the start, Macs used Motorola 68000 chips instead of Intel chips. Later, Macs used PowerPC chips. In 2006, Macs started to use Intel chips. Today, Macs are sold with Intel quad-core i7 chips.

Macintoshes

Compact (portable) Consumer (end user) Professional
Desktop Mac Mini iMac Mac Pro
Portable (MacBook) MacBook Air MacBook Air MacBook Pro
Server Mac Mini (server) Mac Mini (server) Mac Pro (server)

Software

The Mac does not have the Windows operating system installed on it. It has its own range of operating systems, known as OS X. The newest operating system is known as “Sierra". Macs can run both Windows and OS X at the same time with help of a program called “Boot Camp”, which comes on every Mac.

General opinion

In general, Macintosh computers cost more than other computers of the same size. But people say they have very good quality, which explains why they’re really expensive.

Related pages

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Macintosh para niños

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