Because USB doesn't guarantee it can provide the required power on any other machine, FireWire was used as it does meet the power delivery spec. In between these ends is an amplifier to mimic the one on the logic board of the PowerMac G4 DA and the external box of the Cube. This is a box with a socket on one end for the custom speaker connector minijack and on the other end has a FireWire 400 and standard 3.5mm jack connector. This left a gap which 3rd party accessory builders were quick to fill, one example of this is the Griffin iFire adapter. Now, because of the non-standard connector and the lack of amplifier in the speakers themselves, these could only be used by supporting Mac models. These speakers were able to be purchased separately for $69. Behind the socket, on the logic board of the Mac sits the same amplifier unit which was once external on the Cube. This socket could be used to connect an optional pair of speakers, the Apple Pro speakers. The next year, in 2001, Apple released new PowerMac G4 models supporting digital audio, via a new port consisting of a customised mini-jack socket. The speakers weren’t given a product name of their own as they came with the Cube. This amplifier needs 10w of power, higher than the standard output from USB, so the ports on the cube and display are rated to provide this additional power. They connected (and I will admit to not knowing exactly how) to a small, external amplifier which connected either the Cube itself or the matching Studio Display model for connectivity and power. This machine shipped with a larger pair of the Odysseys mounted in transparent sphere’s. The next time these Odyssey speakers appeared was in August 2000, when the PowerMac G4 Cube was released. They were changed to use new Harmon Kardon digital speakers called Odyssey. They have an odd connector and an interesting history.īack in 1999, Apple released a revision of the iMac, among the changes made (slot-loading optical drive, FireWire etc…) was an update to the front facing speakers contained in the body under the screen. What are Apple Pro speakers? They are a pair of speakers encased in transparent, plastic spheres. The speakers work but their condition was not great, so I put them in that drawer to think about later. The very first iPod (2001) still syncs in the latest version of macOS, my iPod hi-fi (2005) is available in HomeKit on AirPlay 2 via the AirPort Express (2012) which got a recent software update to support that. In opposition to the narrative often seen in the media, I have never felt that there’s planned obsolescence from Apple. I find that with many Apple products this is not only possible but simple. I’m a big fan of getting as much use out of a piece of technology as I can. In the interim they have been loved and used extensively. More recently that person was cleaning house and asked if I’d like them back. Many years ago they were mine and, in the course of a transition period from a relationship back then, they passed to other hands. Next to them, the speakers built into my top-of-the-line iMac 5K sound horribly indistinct and clumsy, and sure, it’s a slightly unfair comparison, but it’s nevertheless true that the audio you got from an iMac at the start of the century is better than the audio you get from one today.I’ve had a pair of Apple Pro speakers in a drawer for a year or so. They are 12 years old, after all-though that just makes it all the more impressive. They are, though, quite lovely, even if the pair I have are in fact a little beat up. Getting out the wire strippers and soldering iron, but I wouldn’t blame you if it’s all starting to sound like you’d be spending too much money or too much time. You can make them work with standard equipment, either by scouring eBay for a Indeed, not only is the physical connector different from most speakers’, but they’re designed to work with specific Macs with a higher output signal. Amazement that something the size of a grapefruit but so ephemeral-looking as almost not to be there at all can produce such an expansive, ruddy, assured sound.īefore you head to eBay to pick up a pair, however, you show know that they don’t just plug into a normal 3.5mm minijack. Yet if I think back-back before I had really ever heard genuinely good speakers-then I can remember having the same reaction the first time I heard the Apple Pro Speakers as I did when a few days ago I listened to them for the first time in many years. The Audyessey Lower East Side speakers that flank my 5K iMac now have more richness, more low-end, and much more drama and excitement than the Apple Pro Speakers, and I’ve reviewed more expensive audio gear that has all that plus class and fidelity and refinement. Look, I need to not get too carried away here.
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