Poll: Will Apple Debut their IBM 970 Strategy at WWDC?

[MacRumors]

Vote: Poll: Will Apple Debut their IBM 970 Strategy at WWDC? (http://www.macpolls.com/?poll_id=150&ref=forums.macrumors.com)

[BeigeUser]

Absolutely!

They will make a public announcement if production is close. Or they may do it behind closed doors to select developers. Either way, Apple will talk about their 970 strategy.

[alset]

Not yet. Maybe soon, but not soon enough to get worked up about it.

Dan

[systembug]

For the PPC 970, OSX has to support 64 bit. Panther will be demoed on WWDC, but if it is'nt 64bit ready, you can pretty much forget about PPC 970. And that simply can not be... :) talking 64bit code without a processor in need for it would'nt make much sense.

My bets are on the strategy revealed.

[Haberdasher]

They probably won't, but I'll still hope! :D

[-hh]

Originally posted by Haberdasher
They probably won't, but I'll still hope! :D

This is pretty much what I'm thinking....Apple has pretty much "never" announced a product that they're not ready to take orders on.

As such, I think the odds are higher that Apple will announce 970 products (even if there's a delay in shipping) than they would announce a 'strategy' only. Even if the two are actually the same from a pragmatic standpoint.

Case in point: how differently would the 17" PowerBooks played out if Apple had merely announced the 'strategy' instead of also starting to accept orders?



-hh

[Mr. Anderson]

With 'Panther' being debuted it seems like the odds are in favor of the 970 being announced as well, new version of the OS and a new cpu/mobo go hand in hand. Since there isn't an Apple presence at MWNY this year, the change of one month in the date, its all coming together.

But its all speculation - only a select few really know.

D

[applejilted]

that's precisely what the Register is affirming:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/39/29898.html

[Centris 650]

I voted "no". Because if they do then pmac sales will drop through the floor. (As if they weren't bad enough already!) Though it would be nice if they did present something on the 970.

[pilotgi]

I think the reason the date was moved back was so Steve could present both Panther and a machine to run it on using the PPC 970.

I think Steve decided that the WWDC was the place he wanted the spotlight. I don't know why he's so pissed at IDG, but I think he doesn't want anything too exciting happening at MWNY.

[AllenPSU]

Apple has gotten pretty good at keeping projects in the bag until they are actually ready. My guess is that they will make an announcement sometime early next year with a ship date in late Spring.

Maybe they will announce the new low power G4 speed boosts.

You may also see apple move away from the G3. iBooks with G4?

[wdlove]

Hope springs eternal. For those that attend it's going to be exciting. It will be a true one two punch. I guess as mentioned, more likely that no Steve at MWNY!

[Vlade]

Maybe John Carmac will be there with a 2.5 GHZ 970 and a ATI Radeon 9700, DDR 400 getting 100+ FPS on Doom3 at 1280x1024. He will announce this system will ship for $3000 starting in august and entry 1.8GHZ model at $1700

/me dreams

[yzedf]

Originally posted by dukestreet
With 'Panther' being debuted it seems like the odds are in favor of the 970 being announced as well, new version of the OS and a new cpu/mobo go hand in hand.
Not really. Unless Apple already has mock-ups of the cpu and mobo from IBM.

Regardless of what I would like to see happen, I voted no. It's not likely that we will see a 970 powered PowerMac anytime this year. With the speed that Apple has shown lately rolling out new hardware (17"PB newer dual 1.42 PM)... anouncement dates don't mean a dang thing anymore. :o

[Sun Baked]

NO...

After reading the dubious history of Jack Campbell, I'm going to have to discount any of his attempts at providing rumors to the Mac community. Especially the current big one he's dumped into the ether.

Most likely it should be a showcase for the next big full whack version of the OS (10.3)...

Plus showcasing the 970 would definitely kill any future sales, a scenario Apple has done their best to avoid.

[dickrichie]

We all know Apple is big on surprises but to announce that now would stop sales of current Towers.

[Freg3000]

Can't you just imagine this coming from Steve.....

The "About This Mac" has been redisgned in Panther, which is now displayed in......oh, look at this!!! Dual 1.8 GHz G5? Wow, what a surprise!

Yes, today Apple is introducing the long awaitted G5.

Please oh please oh please oh please. :)

[Dont Hurt Me]

Maybe this extra time was simply to work out a few more bugs in 10.3, i really dont expect to see a new 970 machine being shown, but would love to be proven wrong,but on the otherhand look how long it took for the 17 powerbook or 1.42 powermac to ship after being announced. So say a june announcement and on the shelf in sept 1st. Now that is possible when you look at time frames on the mobo,mass production of the cpu and 10.3. Now if apple is on the ball they would allready be gearing up a new enclosure for the 970. start mass production in july/aug and again on the shelf in Sept. I VOTE YES! STEVE WILL HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW( Prototype)

[timbloom]

I think Apple will show their strategy only to key developers for the platform under the strictest NDA, and will not be public in the slightest bit.

[Eniregnat]

No.
My track record is 100% wrong.
I have never been right on a prediction concerning Apple.
Perhaps this tilts the juju towards its release now.

[neutrino23]

This is a different situation than others. This is not just the case of bringing out a new G4 which can be kept secret till the last minute. Apple is (we think) making a trasition to a new processor. Not as large a transition as 68K to PPC but large nonetheless. The dilemna is how to telegraph this to the devleopers without broadcasting the news to the world.

My guess is that Apple's solution is to postpone the date of WWDC. This shortens the time from WWDC to MWNY to only a few weeks. The developers will get technical information about the new chip, some will even get to see working units - though not in the new cases. If some word gets out sales for PMs will slow down for a month but presumably those orders will be regained after the public announcement.

I don't think Apple would have postponed WWDC for a month just because of Panther. Even without working software you can still discuss features and APIs.

Can anyone remember how Apple handled the transition from the 68040 to the first PPC? At that time they were not so hung up on secrecy but it still must have been a big deal.

[MacFan25]

I hope that they will debut the 970 at WWDC, and I think that there is a good chance that they will do so.

[scem0]

it sure sounds like it, and I sure hope so. ;)

[Black Badger]

Seems like Apple are gearing up for something major. I think the extra month will allow engineers to make some tweaks to a prototype 10.3 to make it 64-bit which could be run on a prototype 970 shown to select developers.
Another feeling I get is that we are so used to waiting for Moto to come up with new chips that we instantly expect very long timescales. As the 970 is made by IBM, they have a slightly better track record of producing chips quickly, remember that they themselves will be using this chip. With this in mind I would not be surprised if the 970 is further down the production line than we think.

[ryan]

Originally posted by dickrichie
We all know Apple is big on surprises but to announce that now would stop sales of current Towers. This is true, but a pre-announcement would probably stop people from buying Windows PCs. So which would be better, kill off almost all Tower sales for a couple of months, or continue to sell a handful of Towers and have people leave the Mac platform for Windows?

[scem0]

Originally posted by dickrichie
We all know Apple is big on surprises but to announce that now would stop sales of current Towers.

that is what I told arn, but he said that there weren't any sales
to stop, so it wouldn't matter. :rolleyes: :D

[wdlove]

I agree that there are alot of us waiting. Only those that really need a new machine are buying. I think holding back will get Steve to get the PPC 970 out as soon as possible! :)

[DakotaGuy]

I would have to agree that keeping this project secret this time around will actually hurt more then help. I think it would be fair to say the only products that are keeping Apple in business right now are 1) Laptops, iBook and Powerbook 2) iMac/eMac 3) iPod. I would be willing to bet that PowerMac sales are so poor that Apple is loosing money on them. What is there to loose?

I do have to admit however, as I run a 400Mhz G3 iMac and a 600Mhz iBook, that Dual 1.42 would probably feel AMAZING to me!

[wdlove]

Stay strong Abercrombieboy, wait for the PPC 970. Your wait will be well rewarded! ;)

[bennyek]

Yes. I think it is time and I think that those who have waited sooo patiently for sooo long for a powerful pro machine will leave elsewhere if there is no update announced or hinted at.

[GeneR]

:D Oh, sure, what the heck, why not?