G5 Design???

[keithcobbett]

Any ideas on the new design that everyone is mentioning? Smaller cases? New and different case all together? Seen some mentions of a tube shaped case and a sphere, but I don't see that happening. Any ideas?

[eyelikeart]

anyone remember this hideous thing?

does anyone know if this was something worth seeing at all? :confused:

[me hate windows]

that design would be highly probable. It looks more high-tech than the current quicksilver. But I think that Apple would make a case that would be totally different than any other designs. It could be a sphere. Look at the iMac, its a half sphere, why couldn't there be a whole sphere G5? Whatever it is, it will be something that none of us would have thought of.

[TazGuido]

i think the g5 will be totally different than anything we would expect-- something along the lines of the new iMac is highly probable:D

[Six]

The new G5 sphere! Get one before they all roll away! :p

[eyelikeart]

god I hope they we don't see the G5 sphere.... :eek:

[pc_convert?]

I doubt it will be a sphere. G5 will be targeted at pro users, who generally require PCI/AGP slots for expansion cards. If it was a sphere it would have to be v.large.

It will probably be some ultra cool variation on a tower design...

[benmac]

GO TO APPLE MOCK-UPS (http://homepage.mac.com/benvp/) FOR HUNDREDS OF GREAT FUTURE MAC DESIGNS!
It also has loads of very nice PowerMac mock-ups!

[keithcobbett]

Now this doesn't look all that bad. Good design work.

http://www.theapplecollection.com/design/macproto/g5sphere.html

[zuffen]

I hope they turn the tower and make the side the front so I can shove it to the back of the desk so it won't be in the way as 99% of the towers are. Why hasn't someone done this yet, can designers think outside the frickin mold.

Ooohh what about your current tower turned sideways and a flatpanel attached. Make it swivel/pop out when you use it and tuck back in when you don't.

A square iMac kinda, but with all the room to grow.

Stick a handle on the top so it is a portable tower. Make it light so you can tote it around the office on your Airport. Not as fragile as a laptop but built for the super pros. No more having to drop your files on a zip or cd just take the entire unit with you for presentations or to show the Boss your latest illustration.


I want Apple to Hear me dammit, I've got the next greatest conprosumer pc!!!!!!

[nicely]

I agree with pc_convert?. The G5 will be a conventional tower design so it can have room for expansion and fit in racks that many media editing/broadcast companies use. No doubt it will be stunning, but it won't be any kind of radical new shape.

[GIR]

The new case will be a mix of....


http://www.apple-history.com/quickgallery.html?where=ns500.html




and ....



http://www.daystar.com/pages/dsd_products/genesis/GnsSpec2.html

with something stylish on the outside =) i want TONS of room in this suckah!(if you remember the daystar boxes were gigantic=)

[sparkleytone]

it seems many of the people here are missing the point of the pro-level towers. a sphere/halfsphere iMac-ish design is not going to cut it.

pros want expandability. a sphere/cube/dodecahedron just won't work. you have to make too many sacrifices with your motherboard and for heat concerns.

[jaronimo]

suppose it will be some sort of white or silver, kinda "tube tower"

[Hemingray]

I think I speak for most pro users when I say that we would want something that's stylish, but more importantly, practical! A sphere is not a practical computer shape. At least not at this point in computer history. We need easy access to cards, ports, slots, bays, DIMMs, the whole nine yards, and the current case gives us that. Not that I wouldn't think a sphere would be interesting, but there's just no way it could give us the same features we enjoy on our towers...

[eyelikeart]

the sphere would end up being another cube story....

there's going to be another tower for sure....was expandability....

Apple would be shooting itself in the foot if they didn't offer that up for pro users....

[Stike]

I´d like to see some slightly revamped towers with black and chrome parts!
Now that would be stylish.

Case Design "Black Metal" :p

[maclamb]

i'd be surprised to see "black metal" - Steve's already done that.

Though NeXT cube design for mac would be cool

When I was at NeXT we always wanted to see NeXT on the Mac hw....
... and we finally did!

[mywar2000]

No sphere, It's cool, but c'mon... A simple, smaller desktop. And a rack mount option. Hell yeah!

[AmbitiousLemon]

i disagree. the sphere isnt even cool.

[Beej]

Well, after having predicted the new iMac as being a "half sphere", you should all respect my authoritaaah. :D

The Next PowerMac revision will be a dome-topped cylinder. It will take up less desk space, but will be taller so everything will fit.

Hmmm, but what about it falling over? A gyroscope? Oh well, I'm telling you what I think the new PowerMacs will look like, not how they are supposed to stand up... ;)

[GigaWire]

pros want expandability

I dont think want expandibility quite covers it. We absolutely need it!!! every PCI slot in my box is full, and there is not a card in there I can do without.

[AmbitiousLemon]

Originally posted by Beej
Well, after having predicted the new iMac as being a "half sphere", you should all respect my authoritaaah. :D

The Next PowerMac revision will be a dome-topped cylinder. It will take up less desk space, but will be taller so everything will fit.

Hmmm, but what about it falling over? A gyroscope? Oh well, I'm telling you what I think the new PowerMacs will look like, not how they are supposed to stand up... ;)

the cylinder design is interesting. it could work. im interested in one thing though. all the g5s that have shipped have been in beige boxes. this is pretty standard practice. what i dont know is how apple samples its imacs to developers. i dont know of anyone who gets imacs during development. seems like if apple wanted to test the design it would have to ship the imac in some sort of enclosure that closely mimicked its actual enclosure, which is something apple has always avoided in its PMs. the reason im interested in this is if apple was drastically moving away from a tower enclosure then how would they work out all the technical aspects of it if they have just been shipping developers beige boxes? any idea?

[shergar]

I imagine the new (G5?) machines will be towers. There are several physical limits to there possible size. I can't imagine they will be much taller than the current G4s: they have to sit under or on a desk . As for width, well hopefully they'll be slimmer that the G4s, but the minimum width has to be a casing which can house the superdrive. There has to be plenty of room for PCI slots and the inside has to be easily accessable.
Finish? Look at the new imac, the ibook and the tibook: high gloss white with a metalic trim. chrome? maybe. titanium. no, why have a super light metal on a machine which is hardly ever moved?

And Steve (or jonathon) if you're reading this - which I know you're not - how about a firewire port and a couple of USBs on the FRONT of the machine.

[Stike]

Originally posted by shergar

And Steve (or jonathon) if you're reading this - which I know you're not - how about a firewire port and a couple of USBs on the FRONT of the machine.

That wouldn´t work if they are still towers. Towers remain UNDER the desk. You would have to lead the USB/FW cable from trhe front to the back of the table and on the table to the front again! Else the cables will wrap your drawers :D

But at last I´m sure they will keep the design simple. I love that!

[trinitishwar]

That wouldn´t work if they are still towers. Towers remain UNDER the desk. <p>
Well, I for one keep my tower on my desk. And I too would like a firewire and a couple of usb ports on the front.

[agreenster]

What? G5 sphere? Have you guys lost your minds? You oughta know by now, if you are a mac user, that pro models are towers because they need expandibility and structure. Steve has warped your minds with cubes and half-spheres via the iMac and G4 cube.

Dont you know that the iMac exists as a 'playful yet powerful' home computer? It begs to have a unique design and look. The powermac, on the other hand, wants style and elegance -but most importantly, expandibility.

Anyway, plenty of people have already said this.

My guess for the new G5 ( when it comes out MYSF '03 ;) ) will be a slender tower (not like the kinda pudgy G4's now) and will resemble in some ways the Play Station 2. (not in color or design, just in its dimensions) Of course, it will still have the traditional Apple translucent/metallic look. At least, I hope it does. I also think black will be a more integral part of the color scheme.

[networkman]

wow, long time agreenster, jefhatfield here

as much as the g4 tower is boring, it does have those slots which i would never use but many would

i wonder if a cube could be made to have mini slots or someting but major industry changes would have to take place first and my guess is that the g4 sized towers won't be like that forever but still for a long time

-jef

[mischief]

Okay, focus here!

The consensus is that G5 will be a re-configged tower. The existing blue/Grey tower design is limited by a need to dissipate heat and accomodate a larger than current mobo. The case design is also constrained by the transverse mounting of internal HD's and the overall length of "full size" PCI cards. I could see mounting the internal HD's front-to-back instead of side-to-side, but at that point the height of PCI cards becomes an issue.......Perhaps a vertical arangement of PCI (ports at the top)?

I think the next case will be an extension of the existing design, shrunk down to conform to the new Mobo dimensions with a fan intake in the front and the default ATA HD in place of the existing Zip bay.

At that point you could go to an outboard power supply and vastly expand the PCI and drive support by removing the Mobo's second ATA bus in favor of ellective PCI host cards. I suppose you could do 6 PCI, 2 AGP and 6 internal drive bays. If the mobo could be shrunk down to a strip just wide enough for the PCI slots, lose the internal modem, switch to a rear-access PCMCIA slot for the Airport card......... The case would actually be a bit bigger to accomodate fans and airspace....hmmmmm.....It'd kick a** though.

After all that brutalization:

Optical drive-front+ATA 133 HD to Mobo ATA 133 bus (128 bit scalable mobo)


6 PCI slots
2 8x AGP
64 bit PCI bridge

8 DDR 1GB-per capable 200Mhz 168 pin DIMM slots

4 Firewire (1 or 2)

4 USB (1 or 2)

10/100/1000 Base T Ethernet
Airport +Gigawire Airport ("short" range implementation Airport)

Yes, I did find some very strong Ganja and no, you can't have any!;) :p :D :cool: :rolleyes:

Not a prediction, just a bit of fun.

[eyelikeart]

the G5 sphere would be a terrible decision....

besides....it's kinda cool....but ugly!!! :eek:

[wrylachlan]

How about this one? The standard tower but with no drives, or connectors. This sits under the desk. On the desk is a dome, like the iMac base which contains the Superdrive, maybe a Zip and all the USB, Firewire, Video, speaker, etc. ports as well as the power. This dome is connected to the back of the tower by a proprietary cable, Gigawire perhaps? This lets the tower sit below your desk and you don't have to bend down to reach the drives. The dome might even include a docking-station type setup for the iPod, so it could slide in, making the firewire connection without cabling. I don't know if the Cinema Displays are all the same height off the desk, but if they are, the dome could be designed to sit right under , with the drive tray sliding out under the monitor.

[Digidesign]

I don't care what it looks like, as long as it doesn't look like any of these! :D

http://developer.intel.com/technology/easeofuse/conceptpc.htm

(shudder)

[maclamb]

agreed about the intel designs.
geez I haven't seen stuff like that even late at night in amsterdam!:eek:

some look like what my dad used to say "Like it got pulle dout of a tall cow's ass!":confused:

[jaronimo]

I agree with wrylachlan, this would make sense. Modular units make the size of each one smaller and the design could be more stylish. U could even let the consumer deside whether he wants an enclosure for 4 or 6 or how much ever PCI-slots. This sounds practical to me.

[udannlin]

Originally posted by eyelikeart
anyone remember this hideous thing?

does anyone know if this was something worth seeing at all? :confused:

Thats a Quicksilver without the side panels...

[udannlin]

did you guys read the interview of Jonathan Ive? The design principle behind Apple computer is not to "Design for Design Sake."

That means that they will not design something just to make it 'Cool' and 'Hip'. It has more to do with the ease of use on the end-user. Course there are elements of the design that matters little on the end user part such as some of the colors and materials and texture.

As far as position of components and shape, its definitely not going to just carry shock value..

[i_am_a_cow]

the sphere is hella ugly.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by mischief
Okay, focus here!

The consensus is that G5 will be a re-configged tower. The existing blue/Grey tower design is limited by a need to dissipate heat and accomodate a larger than current mobo. The case design is also constrained by the transverse mounting of internal HD's and the overall length of "full size" PCI cards. I could see mounting the internal HD's front-to-back instead of side-to-side, but at that point the height of PCI cards becomes an issue.......Perhaps a vertical arangement of PCI (ports at the top)?

I think the next case will be an extension of the existing design, shrunk down to conform to the new Mobo dimensions with a fan intake in the front and the default ATA HD in place of the existing Zip bay.

At that point you could go to an outboard power supply and vastly expand the PCI and drive support by removing the Mobo's second ATA bus in favor of ellective PCI host cards. I suppose you could do 6 PCI, 2 AGP and 6 internal drive bays. If the mobo could be shrunk down to a strip just wide enough for the PCI slots, lose the internal modem, switch to a rear-access PCMCIA slot for the Airport card......... The case would actually be a bit bigger to accomodate fans and airspace....hmmmmm.....It'd kick a** though.

After all that brutalization:

Optical drive-front+ATA 133 HD to Mobo ATA 133 bus (128 bit scalable mobo)


6 PCI slots
2 8x AGP
64 bit PCI bridge

8 DDR 1GB-per capable 200Mhz 168 pin DIMM slots

4 Firewire (1 or 2)

4 USB (1 or 2)

10/100/1000 Base T Ethernet
Airport +Gigawire Airport ("short" range implementation Airport)

Yes, I did find some very strong Ganja and no, you can't have any!;) :p :D :cool: :rolleyes:

Not a prediction, just a bit of fun.

How about making the memory 266MHz for PC2100 memory or the newer PC2700 memory(not 168pin but 184 pin)?? That would give the Mac a leg up over the peecee world. Keep two firewire ports on the back, and put either one or two on the front of the case. That way people can easily plug in either FireWire hard drives or burners easily and not have to crawl under the desk. Also USB ports on the front would be nice to allow you to attach a printer there. I would love ports on the front, since I share both USB and FireWire devices between my two Mac's.

Faster Airport capabilities would be sweet. The 11Mbit speed that we are kept to now is good for internet access only. If I need to move a file between systems, I either have to run an ethernet line between them, or use an external drive. I would imagine that Apple could make something faster then the 802.11a protocol (54Mbit each way speed). It would be great to have 100Mbit, full duplex networking via Airport...

I think I might have gotten some of the same ganja you got... it was sweeeeeet!!! :D

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by Digidesign
I don't care what it looks like, as long as it doesn't look like any of these! :D

http://developer.intel.com/technology/easeofuse/conceptpc.htm

(shudder)

Everyone, all together now... intel BLOWS!!! intel chips are for the rich and foolish (I know, repetative). Who else would spend upwards of $700 for a single chip??? Anyone have bets on how long before intel is brought to court for being a monopoly too?? They are starting to use practices to stiffle the competition.

[networkman]

some of my clients are fortune 500 companies and in the design departments i have seen the darn thing is shoved under a crowded desk anyway

i have not seen a pro setup where the tower is even seen, with exception of the kinko's chain where they have them on the desktops to look nice and neat to attract customers

i like eyelikeart's jpeg pix of one in the second post on this thread, and i guess at my apartment, a nice looking case would be a plus

the g5 under the hood is what would turn my wheels more than looks...but at least apple macs are not beige

[spikey]

yeah, i only ever see towers under the desk.

possibly thats why the imac was so popular in offices, space efficient.

[Beej]

I've never seen a setup quite like mine... my desk has shelves above it. In the middle is my k/b and mouse. To the left is my 19" CRT, to the right is the main bit of my HI FI. Top left is a speaker, top right is a speaker, top middle is my G4 sitting sideways.

Mmm, so I only ever see the side of my machine...

[germanknee]

i like the current quicksilver enclosure.
apple will make a new one, though. i think it will be a tower. it will probably be bigger than the current cases because i think the motherboard will be larger. beside being impractical for expansion, i also think that a sphere or tube would suck asthetically. i just hope it's released this summer or before, hopefully before.

[networkman]

so many imacs in offices doing "pro" work

also congrats, spikey, on 600! belatedly though

...i miss kela and wonder where the heck she is these days

[AmbitiousLemon]

Originally posted by networkman
so many imacs in offices doing "pro" work

also congrats, spikey, on 600! belatedly though

...i miss kela and wonder where the heck she is these days

speaking of imacs in offices doing pro work, around our work we have powermacs in offices doing secretarial work. do you guys know how annoying it is to see your secretary using the new g4 quicksilver two weeks before the thing is announced just so she can do email and word and spreadsheets, while you are using an old g3? during her lunch break im always going and playing around with it. i like changing the alert sound to "stop doing that cindy!" my voice of course. really freaks her out.

as far as the new g5 enclosure some sort fo tower is almost assured, especially considering all the prototypes have been towers. but there is still a lot of room for apple ingenuity in the tower form.

[edenwaith]

A desktop on its side...gee, how original. Let's paint it beige, too. While it would be nice to save a bit more space so the monitor can rest on the case, I don't find a side-sitting tower that critical.

But I would say that the expandability is a must, making it an appealing feature for the tower. When I was looking for a new computer last year, I debated between the cube and the G4 tower. I went with the tower because I could put two hard drives into it, and also I had heard quite a few horror stories about the Cubes being faulty. I'm not saying that every Cube was bad, and there are many days that I wish I had the cube so I didn't have to lug my tower to school a few times...the cube would have been much easier. But if there are any changes, I hope that the inside is as clean and accessable as my G4 is. I used to work on PCs, and some of those are ungodly horrible to try and work with, since many of the cables and boards and chips are smashed so close together. Now if my fingers had three knuckles and an extra 3 or 4 inches long, it wouldn't be so bad! Whereas with the PowerMacs, just pull the handle (no screws or nasty cases to try and pry off), then pull the side down. Pretty much everything is quite easy to get to. RAM slots are out in the open, switching drives and such is pretty simple, too.

[AmbitiousLemon]

eden: i agree the ease of working on a g4 (or one ofthe old blue/white g3s) is amazing. i cant imagine apple creating a new pro mac without equal accessability.

as far as the desktop on its side, just a guess (maybe i read it worng) but i thought he didnt mean on its side as in like the old machines with the monitors on top he meant "sideways" which i took to mean (again maybe im the one reading this wrong) that it was turned so the cd drive is facing the side with the square side panel of the g4 facing forward (rather than the top of the g4 facing forward as your interpretation assumes). i was thinking he was proud of showing off the beautiful side panel of his g4.

[Macmaniac]

I would make the case cool and stylish, and it woud have lots of bays for expansion, and upgrades, and of course a Windows Whipping G5 processor.
Lets hope for the best.

________________________
Not all who wander are lost.

[mischief]

So apart from the case aesthetics, what would we all like?

1. more ports
2. DDR
3. A wider Mobo Bitstream
4. A hatch that closes reliably
5. Faster Airport

I don't know about y'awl but I'd like:

6. Elective (PCI) Drive Hosting
7. A second AGP, both faster if possible
8. More RAM slots
9. Lose the internal Modem
10. Lose the internal Power supply
11. Lose the internal Zip bay
:D

[Hemingray]

Originally posted by trinitishwar
That wouldn´t work if they are still towers. Towers remain UNDER the desk. <p>
Well, I for one keep my tower on my desk. And I too would like a firewire and a couple of usb ports on the front.

I ditto that. Tower stays on desk. Reach under the desk to insert a DVD or ZIP? I don't THINK so!

[Hemingray]

Originally posted by mischief


I don't know about y'awl but I'd like:

6. Elective (PCI) Drive Hosting
7. A second AGP, both faster if possible
8. More RAM slots
9. Lose the internal Modem
10. Lose the internal Power supply
11. Lose the internal Zip bay
:D

7. Yup.
8. Definitely.
9. Nope, I like being able to fall back on my modem if my DSL is down.
10. And have it on the floor? I'd rather see it kept inside the machine. Doesn't make too much sense given Apple's "simple" style. Point to G4 Cube.
11. I use zips all the time. At least give us the option of having it internal, don't remove it completely!

[mischief]

It's just a waste of space to build them in when there are dirt cheap USB solutions that don't take up case space.

Besides, what else FITS in that Zip bay? A HD if you care to fight the framing, only have 2 screws in it and taking the skin off some fingers.....

I'd rather have a USB external device than wasted room in the tower. Better versatility(what do you do when Zips go away?).

[Biggles]

although I have no need for a powermac, I have some good ideas for its looks.

First, I would want it simple.
Second, it should be slighty smaller than the G4 tower
and third, even though it is simple, it should look increibly elegant.

I think someone agrees with me, because i found this mock-up:

http://homepage.mac.com/benvp/.Pictures/PowerMac/G5.jpg

[shergar]

Originally posted by Biggles
although I have no need for a powermac, I have some good ideas for its looks.

First, I would want it simple.
Second, it should be slighty smaller than the G4 tower
and third, even though it is simple, it should look increibly elegant.

I think someone agrees with me, because i found this mock-up:

http://homepage.mac.com/benvp/.Pictures/PowerMac/G5.jpg

Is that the G5 toaster? does it come with a matching kettle?

[germanknee]

my thoughts exactly sherger.

[germanknee]

shergar (sorry for the misspelling)

[Biggles]

wow, you guys have front-loading toasters!? What a world we live in!

Sure the design could use some tweaking, but for the most part, that's what i would personally want.

[AmbitiousLemon]

Originally posted by mischief
So apart from the case aesthetics, what would we all like?

1. more ports
2. DDR
3. A wider Mobo Bitstream
4. A hatch that closes reliably
5. Faster Airport

I don't know about y'awl but I'd like:

6. Elective (PCI) Drive Hosting
7. A second AGP, both faster if possible
8. More RAM slots
9. Lose the internal Modem
10. Lose the internal Power supply
11. Lose the internal Zip bay
:D

lose the internal power supply? maybe im missing something but why?

[mischief]

Most of the fan noise, 1/2+ of the heat output, 2-4 drives worth of space.

An outboard, Cube style power supply would free up a lot of space, both the 7x9x9 or so unit itself and the wasted space generated in "breathing" room and access to the removeable media bays.

It's not pretty, but if you have a UPS covered in transformer bricks anyways......who cares?

BTW- If you DON'T have a UPS/Power conditioner, you really should.

[AlphaTech]

One flaw I can see with going with an external power block, the size it would need to be to handle the power requirements of a tower. Also, remember how limited the expandibility of the cube was?? Part of that was due to the size of the unit, and part was the amount of power the external block provided. I really don't see the external power block flying. You would still need to have the wiring harness inside the case, and all of that coming from one plug from the outside could spell trouble.

I do think that they should go back to at least 4 memory slots, and somehow tweak the code to allow us to use 512MB chips in all slots, and see all the memory (not the 1.5GB max.). That is one of the very, very few areas that peecee motherboards do better then the Mac ones. Most peecee motherboards that are worth anything, support up to 3GB of RAM (if they have 3 slots), and that is usually DDR (PC2100) memory. Not many people can afford the GB memory chips, if you can find them, but that will change. Just look at what memory prices and sizes have done in the past few years.

The modem should be an option. I know that when I get my next tower, I will opt to have it removed. I use DSL via my home network, and don't need a stinkin modem inside my tower (will keep it in the TiBook :D).

I don't see many people actually needing a second AGP slot, and 4x is as fast as it gets, at least this month.

I would like to see more hard drive slots, and would gladly sacrifice the zip drive slot for a hard drive. Maybe they could turn them so that the drives are 90¡ of how they are now (at least the two spots towards the front) and then make a 4-up bracket. They would need to either make another IDE controller spot on the motherboard, or go to a PCI card hard drive controller. The PCI card option would allow users to upgrade the interface as they want to, without getting a new Mac. I know, many people do that now anyways, but with the option already provided by Apple, I think more people would do it. Maybe Apple could even start selling the controllers either in their stores, or online.

Going to 802.11a for Airport would be nice, or maybe the next level (whatever that is going to be).

[Catfish_Man]

...first of all, wtf would I do with two AGP slots? 2d stuff (and 3d rendering), is mostly processor work as far as I can tell, 3d cards seem to be for gaming/high res displays. 2 AGP slots would allow for 4 high res displays which seems a little excessive (I could be wrong), and I've never heard of games that use two monitors.

second, IDE(ATA) sucks. 2 drives per port, master slave settings, giant cables, giant ports, etc... FireWire2 is supposed to be 800Mbps (same speed as ATA100), so it would work better (faster, smaller, and less complex than the current G4). Just take the IDE bus completely off the motherboard and add in two internal FW2 ports instead, that would save a lot of space and mobo complexity (read that as "cost"). I realize FW is expensive, but I think the reduced size and complexity would make up for that.

third (they aren't going to do this, it's just an idea I had a while ago), computers aren't modular enough. In my idea, RAM, PCI/AGP slots, and Drive bays would be accessible from the outside of the machine. Cards and ram would be mounted in things like nintendo cartridges (basically a case for the car), you would slide it into a slot/sliding door/swinging door in the case and click it into place. Drives would be similar, you just stick it into the computer and it works. You can take it out when you're done (be useful for repair guys. carry around a diagnostic drive, just stick it into a broken comp and boot off it. Less messy than externals). This would almost make hard drives a portable storage medium.

fourth, lets have some faster ram. Apple's been stuck at 133MHz/PC133 for way to long. I think if you hooked a G4 up to DDR ram, you would find that the P4 didn't beat it at nearly so many tasks (that's why Apple's been emphasizing the cache on the G4 so much, it partially offsets this problem).

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by Catfish_Man
...first of all, wtf would I do with two AGP slots? 2d stuff (and 3d rendering), is mostly processor work as far as I can tell, 3d cards seem to be for gaming/high res displays. 2 AGP slots would allow for 4 high res displays which seems a little excessive (I could be wrong), and I've never heard of games that use two monitors.

second, IDE(ATA) sucks. 2 drives per port, master slave settings, giant cables, giant ports, etc... FireWire2 is supposed to be 800Mbps (same speed as ATA100), so it would work better (faster, smaller, and less complex than the current G4). Just take the IDE bus completely off the motherboard and add in two internal FW2 ports instead, that would save a lot of space and mobo complexity (read that as "cost"). I realize FW is expensive, but I think the reduced size and complexity would make up for that.

third (they aren't going to do this, it's just an idea I had a while ago), computers aren't modular enough. In my idea, RAM, PCI/AGP slots, and Drive bays would be accessible from the outside of the machine. Cards and ram would be mounted in things like nintendo cartridges (basically a case for the car), you would slide it into a slot/sliding door/swinging door in the case and click it into place. Drives would be similar, you just stick it into the computer and it works. You can take it out when you're done (be useful for repair guys. carry around a diagnostic drive, just stick it into a broken comp and boot off it. Less messy than externals). This would almost make hard drives a portable storage medium.

fourth, lets have some faster ram. Apple's been stuck at 133MHz/PC133 for way to long. I think if you hooked a G4 up to DDR ram, you would find that the P4 didn't beat it at nearly so many tasks (that's why Apple's been emphasizing the cache on the G4 so much, it partially offsets this problem).

I agree with parts one and four of what you wrote. Part two is way off base. ATA100/133 drives have neither large ports nor large cables. The ATA ribbon that Apple ships with the systems are short, with just enough play to connect two drives stacked on top of each other. Do you really want to pay for FireWire converted ATA drives??? I wouldn't. The current case design allows for more then enough room to put in drives, and run the ribbons. Also, ATA ribbons are never longer then 18", SCSI ribbons run in the feet for length. How much SCSI ribbon do you have looped around itself inside your box? Until FireWire 2 comes out, ATA100/133 or the new SCSI are the best options. SCSI drives are much louder then the ATA drives, and unless you are doing either tons of photoshop work, or video editing, ATA drives are more then sufficient.

As for part three... give it up, it isn't going to happen. Apple is all about making the computer more streamlined and easier to both use and set up. If they went modular, that would go completely against both aspects. Right now, you can unpack your Mac, set it all up, power it up, and be online in 10 minutes or less. That applies to iMac's, G4 towers, and the laptops (iBook and TiBook). Going modular, would make that at least 30 minutes. You would also have to make sure all the parts are seated fully (more hassle then most people are interested in).

The day Apple goes modular, is the day I stop buying Apple computers. That would be a very sad day. I do not count having a seperate display, keyboard and mouse as modular. Those are the normal components of a computer (less with laptops since the display, keyboard and trackpad (mouse replacement) are all in the unit). If you want to add components to the system, like a scanner, printer, external FireWire drives, that is your choice. Some people get them, most don't get all of them.