MAC TREAT #99: The Joy of Specs
After Snow Leopard was released last week, several people have written in to learn how to figure out if their Mac was ready for the upgrade. That’s because Snow Leopard will only run on Intel Macs with at least 1GB of RAM (though 2GB or higher is recommended) and a DVD drive.
It’s very easy to determine your Mac’s specs. Once you determine these specs, I recommend writing them down for future reference. First, click on the Apple in the upper left corner of your Mac’s screen. Then click “About This Mac.” You will now have a screen that shows your Mac’s software version, processor speed, and (at least in Leopard), your Mac’s memory. If you click the text that shows your software Version (for example, version 10.4.5 or version 10.5.6), the text will transform to reveal your Mac’s serial number.
If you click “more info,” you will get a more comprehensive overview of system specs. The important information here includes your Mac’s serial number, processor type and speed, amount of installed memory, hard drive size and type (ATA or Serial-ATA), optical drive type (which is under ATA), and type of graphics card. Write these down and save for future reference. It can make upgrading to new software or hardware a little easier, and you’ll thank yourself in the morning.