New Pro in March

[mischief]

I'm pretty sure I heard someone say that the deals on towers expire in March. With seybold in February, it only makes sense that BOTH pro lines may rev then. I think the suggestion of an all-dual tower line is a good thought if Apollo is primarily IBM-produced. I think the Powerbook will have to follow the towers if it's to be one or the other.

[Kid Red]

The tower promors end Jan 31st.

[mischief]

I suppose we could see new towers announced the last week of january. That would clear a path to new TiBooks in March.

[eyelikeart]

I think we're going to see new towers the very next hardware announcement we get....maybe even sooner...

with the iMac now at G4 speeds....it can't be that much longer before the towers get boosted....

and then the PowerBook will soon follow.....hopefully...

[Unregistered]

what deals or promos on towers are you refering to?

[Unregistered]

what deals or promos on towers are you refering to?

[IndyGopher]

Originally posted by Unregistered
what deals or promos on towers are you refering to?

The "Crystal Clear" promo, save up to $500 if you buy a tower and a display.

[abe]

Combining rumors from last fall of a great progress in building G5s with the release of G4 iMacs, it definitly looks like Apple is near announcing new tower Macs.

I guess there aren't just enough G5 processors available yet to announce new towers as "available now". Apple can't or couldn't afford to show new towers that will be sold in 2 or 3 months, no one would buy the old ones anymore ...

[Falleron]

What I think will happen is that we will get the new towers at the start of febuary, new powerbooks + new ibooks in march.

[Kethoticus]

"What I think will happen is that we will get the new towers at the start of febuary, new powerbooks + new ibooks in march."

Why do you say this? What's happening at the beginning of February? Is that the Tokyo show you're referring to? And why new laptops in March? Apple did recently boost the speed of the powerbooks and increase the monitor size of the highest-end iBook. Why do you see them making changes to their laptop line again?

With my disappointment at this Expo's lack of announcements, I am hoping that Apple does indeed have a boost for their tower line that will be comparable to the boost in their consumer line. And it makes sense for them to even have to, as the iMac is almost on a par with the MT models. Frankly, I'm surprised they didn't at least announce a drop in price for their tower models so that the iMac doesn't cannibalize (sp?) their sales.

[Falleron]

No, the tokyo expo has been moved to march. At the start of Febuary there are the Seybold seminars where in the past apple has announced desktops before. I am pretty sure this is accurate because the promotions end at the end of january.

As for the portable, apple will want to move the powerbook up to the apollo chips because they take less power + produce less heat and also run at a higher speed. The ibook is then lagging behind the rest of the product in speed so it makes sense to include the Sahara chips (700-1Ghz) from IBM so that they match the powerbooks.

[Kethoticus]

...your thoughts are logical and make perfect sense. Unfortunately, Apple has sometimes shown themselves to be and do neither. I hope you're right.

Thing is, I need to run a PC-only 3D app. I am reluctant to spend money on a PC *and* a new Mac. If new MT Macs are powerful enough, they can run VPC quickly enough to make running a PC-only 3D app practical. Or so I hope.

[Moby 1]

Well Keithoticus, that's a nice idea but VPC really is not meant for that kind of processor intensive work.

There are an awful lot of 3D apps for the Mac. Won't some of these do?

M1

[Unregistered]

I've received today from one supplier here in Ireland a message (forwarded) from Apple Europe to all retailers in EIRE, where there is clear evidence of shortage of iMac (the CRT version I imagine) and G4.... all iMac and G4 are to came from abroad (Apple has a plant here in Cork yo know, so they are empty)...
this could be a classical clearing warehouse move before a new lauch, or just that here in Irleland they have sold all Macs??? :-)

BTW (small flame against PCs...) Apple hasn't fired any one here in late 2001 while Gateway and Dell and many other PC makers have.... any reason anyone? :-)

[Falleron]

Originally posted by Kethoticus
...your thoughts are logical and make perfect sense. Unfortunately, Apple has sometimes shown themselves to be and do neither. I hope you're right.

Thing is, I need to run a PC-only 3D app. I am reluctant to spend money on a PC *and* a new Mac. If new MT Macs are powerful enough, they can run VPC quickly enough to make running a PC-only 3D app practical. Or so I hope.

I take it the program is something like autocad? At a previous demostration of Virtual PC they used autocad! It obvioulsy wont be as quick but its a possible solution. I would suggest you wait until mid febuary if you can so that you can see what new tower comes out (could be a G5 or a high end apollo). This might solve your problem. Its only 3 weeks.

[blakespot]

Originally posted by Falleron
What I think will happen is that we will get the new towers at the start of febuary, new powerbooks + new ibooks in march.


I doubt we'll see new iBooks in March. (Or new PowerBooks, really). We can't really expect a new product offering / product enhancement every month. A whole new iBook came out this week, after all!!


blakespot

[Falleron]

The reason I suggested that the ibook would get a speed bump was because the new IBM chips will be ready + require less power + OSX could really do with the extra power especially as its a G3. I think apple knows this. However, I do except that a new product ever month is questionable.

[agreenster]

I think we should have learned from MWSF to not over-predict. (but somehow I doubt it) Everyone is expecting a Pro model upgrade, and thats a reasonable expectation. But end of January? Forget it. Tokyo is the earliest.

Kethoticus: What 3D app are you using thats PC only? 3DStudio Max? Thats the only one I can think of.

[kidtronix]

:confused: = everyone

no wonder, here everyone who is an mac-fanatic is waiting for thee machine, thee mac machine that will be the monster more beautiful and stronger than any pc ever made. we sit and watch steve jobs talk on little quicktime, a friend of mine sat at home with his dreamcast, reloading macrumors.com on a constant basis to see what was going on, with a credit card in his hand ready to buy, buy the new apple monster. and then, show ends, no monster. people = :confused:

this is a mighty 25th year. apple shakes things up, release an very much improved and very talked about (from lovers to haters) imac that is in itself revolutionary. then we have these people who are mad, frustrated, maybe sat home with a credit card in their hand, now saying; ha, there will be no monster until next year at earliest. ********.

1) apple sweden just said there will be a new powermac this spring.

2) in a new powermac, this spring, will it be 100 or 200mhz faster? hell no.

will this be announced in march? yes.
might not be in stores in until june but it will be announced before mwny.

personally i'm waiting for a 1ghz or possible G5, now that is just speculations, rest is common knowledge :o

[mischief]

Okay, so the best suggestions so far seem to be: New towers in February at seybold, new iBooks in March at MWTokyo and MAYBE new Tibooks.

I doubt very much that any of these changes will be more than processor upgrades to Sahara/Apollo chips. We may see a dual 933Mhz (950 thru a 133 bus) or perhaps a 1.3Ghz dual but this is unlikely unless IBM becomes more active in providing chips. The universally dual desktop idea is intreaguing but I don't think there is adequate supply of processors for that. not to mention the heat issue in that tiny new iMac.

As to why Apple is one of the few companies NOT laying off in Cork: Apple saw the recession coming 6 months out and prepared themselves to weather it out.

[amichalo]

Originally posted by Kethoticus
Frankly, I'm surprised they didn't at least announce a drop in price for their tower models so that the iMac doesn't cannibalize (sp?) their sales.

I think Apple WANTS to cannibalize Tower sales for the following reasons:
(1) Reduces need to build more towers so Apple can just depleat inventories
but most importantly: (2) creates the perception everone at Mac Rumors has - the iMac is such a good deal compared to the Towers.

Jobs is creating value in the line. If he had released the G5 then the iMac wouldn't look mearly as attractive. As it stands, $1800 gets you the second fastest chip in Apple's line (as well as a slew of 'most wanted' options).

[Kethoticus]

For those who had asked me what PC-only 3D app I was talking about, it's Softimage. Avid seems to have no intention whatsoever of ever making a X-compatible version. But since I have so much time and money invested in the program, switching over to another is almost prohibitively difficult. This is why I've been so disappointed at the Expo announcements this year. I mean, a dual-GHz G4 or better yet, dual-G5 would run VPC smoothly enough to give me acceptable performance. My old Irix box is, well, old, and won't run the latest versions of Softimage (now called "XSI"). I might just hafta buy a PC to do this. *sigh* Not that Windows scares me so much, but rather the cost does.

[agreenster]

Only the big shots use Soft Image--

So TELL! Who do you work for! Im drooling here!
:)

[Kethoticus]

I am currently unemployed, having gotten laid off due to cost savings measures and other corporate BS. I have since moved from NYC to L.A., since that is the "mecca" of the kind of work I want to find. My girl friend's parents (who live out here along with my girl friend--long story) have been kind enough to let me stay with them and pay them a nominal rent while I find a job.

When I do become a big shot, I'll let you know ;-) Oh... I do have my name in the credits of one movie, "The Simian Line". Did some AE stuff for it. But that was over a year and a half ago.

[Kid Red]

Originally posted by abe
Combining rumors from last fall of a great progress in building G5s with the release of G4 iMacs, it definitly looks like Apple is near announcing new tower Macs.

I guess there aren't just enough G5 processors available yet to announce new towers as "available now". Apple can't or couldn't afford to show new towers that will be sold in 2 or 3 months, no one would buy the old ones anymore ...

With the new iMac no one is buying the towers now anyway!! haha

People seem to forget about something called "PreOrdering" Kinda like what I did 3 days ago with the iMac for my wife. It won't be out til the end of Jan but I still ordered one. If you order the lowend you won't get it till March, yet it was still announced. Makes no difference either way because you can still order it.

[thecube84]

ur right- if apple didn't have enough G5s to sell them "available now" and at MWSF, then it would really hurt apples G4 sales until the G5s came out. I mean, would you buy a G4 if you knew that in a month you could get a G5?

--
//=\\L E ><
alexford.f2g.net

[Unregistered]

Plus Apple probably thinks that 'consumer' customers can afford to wait for their latest spanking new iMacs.

Pro-users on the other hand, usually need computers to be available immediately. I would rather they delayed an announcement of the possible G5 towers (which is what I believe they'll be) until they have sufficient numbers to deliver as soon as possible.

[GPTurismo]

I mean, the "Close to motorola" leaks have only been going on since August? It took them an entire year before they mentioned anything about the G4s...

[MacNut]

Apple usually keeps a 6 month update sched on all hardware its been about 6 months since apples last revision of the tower line. So i think we are due for new towers in about a month or 2. We wont see a ibook or imac update till falll and an ipod update over the summer so if apple stays on their 6 month plan i expect to see new towers in a month with new power books soon to follow that