Free speculation - 4 ALL

[freedom]

Could all members of this forum please
enter your speculation/hopes/wishes etc.
in this thread instead of thrashing others?

> What will come out at MWNY?
> When does the G4-rev X/G5 come?
> What specs? etc.

I´m hung over and tired of all
posts starting out nice but ending
with "The next G4/G5 will…"

Let this thread thrive with speculation
and hope/wishful thinking!
(So that other threads might be more easily read.)

Besides that, could someone tell me
the exact location of:
"where the women have nothing on but the radio"?
:)

[King Cobra]

Well, I have posted what might be the speed specs for all new computer lineups for MacWorld New York 2002 and San Fransisco.

I previously posted this, but I have changed it to fit this discussion.
Here is what I have seen from Apple and their Powermacs lately. They seem to increase the top speed by around 200MHz. From previous G5 sources there are G5 chips that consist of 1.2, 1.4 and 1.6GHz. But I am not sure if Apple wants to leap into the G5 so quick like this.

I have also heard that other G4 chips are being made into production, including a 1.2, 1.4 and 1.5GHz G4. These are probably low-power chips, since Apple has already used the energy-wasting 7450 chip for Macs around 700-933MHz G4s.

Apple and Motorola may probably be working on low-power G4 chips for Macs. The question is: where do you put them?

Apple sometimes does regress on clock speed with hardware upgrades, along with chip generation upgrades, as they did with Yosemite, to the first G4 on the market (program called Mactracker, developed by Ian Page).

By putting these facts together I would assume that Apple will continue using the G4 before using a G5 with around the same chip speed. Apple will probably use a dual 1.2GHz G4 in their following Powermac at MWNY, centered in the quicksilver case. The iMac will get an upgrade with speeds of 900 and 1000MHz. The Powerbook will approach around 800 to 900MHz as well. The iBook will remain a high speed G3 for the last update at New York, as Apple will keep the 14 inch screen, and use a G3 processor of 700MHz.

At San Fransisco in Jan. 2003 I would expect (keep in mind, it is not an exact guess) to see the G5. Speeds will probably be at around 1.2GHz or 1.4GHz, as reported from other sources. The Powerbook may be upgraded a little while afterwards to a 1GHz G4. The iMac will sport a hefty G4 of 1.2GHz max.

And, finally, the iBook. The iBook then and there will be upgraded to a G4 at around 600 to 800MHz.

These are my own guesses for what may or may not happen at New York or San Fransisco. But it would be luck if we see a G5 in any market Mac at New York.
:)

My point is that Apple will most likely stay with the G4 for another big Expo, because Apple probably wants to still use high-speed G3 chips in their iBooks. Once the G5 is out, it would make sense for Apple to change the processor in the iBook to a G4.

Also, Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) will probably not be around for another few months, because I still think that some changes need to be made to the current OS X 10.1.x before Apple can say "All right, guys. OS 10.1 is finished and is fully operational. Let's move on to Jaguar and release that in a few months." I am saying this because in 10.1 there seems to be an error with connecting to the internet under dial-up after using applications extensively, such as iMovie. (What happened to me was I was censoring a profane song with iMovie, then I exported and coverted the file to an mp3. Once I tried to connect, the computer locked up for around 30 seconds.)
__________________

It does not take a genius to figure it out . . . just someone who uses a Mac.

[Mr. Anderson]

My speculation

TiPB update before MWNY
Possible release of G5 at MWNY with delivery in August/September
If not a G5, then definitely a suped up G4
OSX.2

[Biggles]

at MWNY we will get:

1. A 1ghz, 1.2ghz, and a dual 1.4ghz G4. The high end models with have a 400mhz system bus, and a good video card standard (at least a geforce 4 MX). I'm not sure about the low end one: i've heard that it could stay at either a 133mhz system bus, or go to 400mhz as well.

2. I'm hoping that with these PowerMac system jumps, we'll get a better PowerBook as well. If it does happen, im personally thinking a 867mhz PB on the high end....but that's a complete guess

3. Some thing could happen with the iBook, but that's doubtful

4. We could get 10.2

5. A possible introduction of FireWire 2, and better BLuetooth support

We will not see an actual G5 until at least MWSF '03, if not later

[CHess]

Well, I try to think realistically, but find that Apple is a bit ahead of what I think they will end up doing - like putting a fast G4 and superdrive into the iMac.

But... My guess is at MWNY:

TiBook speed bump to 800MHz, built-in Blue tooth adapter (so you don't have to have an ugly adapter sticking out the back of the Powerbook).
No iBook updates.
No iMac updates.
PowerMac speed bumps so minimum is 1GHz, 1.4 GHZ dual at max end is a safe bet. Seeing the system bus speed increase would be great, but I'm not very optomistic until MWSF03.
$50 price drops on iPods.
OS X.2 release.

Prior to that, iPhoto 2;

[King Cobra]

I am not pointing out anyone in particular, but I think that it may be a little too early for Apple to release iPhoto 2. Apple just released iPhoto 1, and Apple usually releases minor updates to software, before they come out with a whole new finished (and polished) project.

Also, if Apple is looking for price drops, along with a 20GB iPod sometime after MacWorld New York, Apple will have to do much more than a $50 price drop. I would say that if the price tag of the 1.8 inch Hard Drives, then Apple will cut the price tag on the iPods by $100 for each model. However, I doubt that this is going to happen.

As for speed increases on the PowerMacs, I am questionable about a Powermac at 1.4GHz. It is possible, but I am not sure about the DDR-RAM, Firewire 2 and 400MHz bus. My guess is that Apple wants to release all the major upgrades with a much more impressive computer than an upgrade to the G4. That is just my guess.
_________________

I have a hat with my name on it! It's true!

[mrMahann]

i've read how g4 can't deal w/ ddr; if this is true, then wouldn't it make sense to release the whole shebang together, ie g5/ddr/faster bus/etc?

also, there are those who say that DDR doesn't get that much of a speed advantage; how true is this?

i wouldnt' mind seeing a new case, perhaps aluminum or SOMETHING SHINY :eek: and smaller, perhaps the size of a IIcx/ci/q700. cubish, mebbe? then, perhaps keep the q/s case for those who need more expandability.

thanks in advance.

[AmbitiousLemon]

well im tired of all the speculation sinceall the level headed people seem to agree (although all the leveled headed folks were wrong about the new imac). so ill just have some fun and give a wishlist (without getting too crazy, since i could just ask for the moon)

in no particular order:

1) updated powerbooks before MWNY

2) shock us all and give us a G5 powermac at mwny with ddr, rapidio, 400mhz bus, ghz in all models, firewire2, new case that is very expandable, quiet, no seagate drives they are small and expensive

3) new monitors for powermacs with resolution bump if not a size bump

4) price drop ipods and 20gb model at the $500 level sometime around the 1 year aniversary fo ipod

5) new dvd studio pro version before year end

6) 10.2 at mwny with big performance boost and no more glaring bugs

6) small update to iphoto before year end

7) small imovie version bump before year end

8) major overhaul of sherlock (with 10.2)

9) major overhaul of mail.app (with 10.2)

10) apple web browser (cocoa or who cares) by end 2003

11) apple branded professional audio app

12) apple branded professional 3d app

13) apple dump motorola, let ibm take over development past g5 and pull in new partner to for new 3 company alliance (amd? TI?)

14) apple handheld (not going to call it a pda since it does so much more) whose main function is a wireless terminal to your desktop by end of 2004

15) more education oriented apple software (like remote desktop)

16) g4 ibooks with 12in screen by end 2003

17) quicktime 6 before mwny

18) small update to iTunes after quicktime6 to use new audio format

19) ship the damn imac by end february 2002

20) new apple stores in europe, japan, australia (or just a deal with large stores like the compusa deal) by end of 2003

21) built-in bluetooth in all apple devices in next upgrade to each model

22) tell us what gigawire is, i dont even care what it is anymore as long as you tell us

ok so i did get a little carried away with a few of those, but im not too crazy am i? just a fun little wishlist not any serious speculation ;)

[mischief]

I see Steve........On stage........At MWNY. He is speaking. He is saying Apple has bought Moto's PPC rights.

No serioisly::D

I have no idea how it will go.......too many factors at work. This is what I'd like to see:

April/May release season:

X.2

MWNY:

Bluetooth added to all models.

Apple and IBM partner to purchase PPC away from Moto.

Dual IBM produced G4 Apollo's in all Towers.

New Tower case and Mobo.

iDVD2


Winter season:

New iPods.

iPhoto 2

iSurf

All models standard w/Airport equipped.


MWSF '03:

G5 Tower introduced. All DP line, Rapid I/O , Firewire2, 6RAM slots.

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by mischief
Winter season:

New iPods.

iPhoto 2

iSurf

All models standard w/Airport equipped.


What, may I ask is 'iSurf'

[mischief]

iSurf is a product I want to see fill out the i-Apps. It's an Apple browser to replace IE. Apple's contract to bundle IE is up this summer and I think having a Browser that's more native to X would be a real good thing.

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by mischief
iSurf is a product I want to see fill out the i-Apps. It's an Apple browser to replace IE. Apple's contract to bundle IE is up this summer and I think having a Browser that's more native to X would be a real good thing.

oooh!:eek:

What if they just expanded Sherlock? Its already got a lot of iFunctionality.

I'd love to see a mac browser, it would give us one more step away from MS. But I don't see that happening till some time in 03, if then. And how would Bill G. take it? MS is trying to play nice with Apple. iSurf comes along and things could get messy there.

[cb911]

there will definitely be a TiBook update before MWNY. a speed increase and hopefully more video RAM.

[Beej]

I would be ecstatic to see a G5 before the end of the year.

I'd be annoyed if we didn't see 10.2 before the end of the year.

As for everything else, new stuff is good, but I'm not dying to see anything in particular.

[cb911]

i'm not sure about G5 before the end of the year. more likely MWNY 2003. i just hope we don't have to wait that long for a TiBook.

[krossfyter]

iSurf!!!

now thats golden.


can i see in your crystal bong mischief?

[powerbook]

I added my guess to the laptops here: http://www.macgo.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=46

It sure would be nice if those specs would come true... :)

[Macmaniac]

New G4 at MWNY with DDR RAM and 1.2 and 1.4 ghz processors, 100gb hd on high end models.
The other thing will be a new TiBook at 900mhz.
iTunes 2 would be nice.

[AmbitiousLemon]

if apple waits until MWNY for a powerbook update then wouldnt it have been a full year before an update? That seems rather crazy, so im thinking the only reason they would wait a year to update the darn thing is if they have something very neat in the works that required some extra time.

what do you guys think?

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by AmbitiousLemon
if apple waits until MWNY for a powerbook update then wouldnt it have been a full year before an update?

Anyone know when they came out with the last update? I think it was around MWNY, because I got mine in October, but that's still a few months from July.

But it really puts it in perspective, to have to wait a year for an upgrade, especially in the top of the line model, is a little much. I'm hoping for WWDC now, in May. Last year it was the new iBook:D, so there is precedence.

[mcrain]

Being selfish, all I really want is an upgraded faster powerbook.

That being said, either dumping motorola or sticking a hot poker up their tail pipes to get them moving a little faster would be nice.

[Mr. Anderson]

I'm thinking WWDC in May might see a bunch of new stuff. Last year we got a new iBook, all LCD displays, OSX shipping on all machines. I just hope Jobs gives the keynote, that would sinch it.

[cb911]

WWDC sounds like a good time for Apple to update the TiBook. May is sort of in-between MWSF and MWNY, and i read somewhere that Apple is trying to have a steady release of products to keep its name out there in amongst the general public.
please be a updated TiBook at WWDC, even if it is only a small speed-bump!

[King Cobra]

Originally posted by dukestreet


Anyone know when they came out with the last update? I think it was around MWNY, because I got mine in October, but that's still a few months from July.

But it really puts it in perspective, to have to wait a year for an upgrade, especially in the top of the line model, is a little much. I'm hoping for WWDC now, in May. Last year it was the new iBook:D, so there is precedence.

The Powerbook 550 and 667 w/o Combo Drives came out in August. However, if you bought one just then and wanted a combo drive, you got busted, because Apple squeezed in the Combo Drive I think a little over a month later.

As for a small speed bump, how little do you mean? Apple usually does around 150MHz bumps on their products. And an update to 750MHz might not be enough to support Apple's sales with the Powerbooks. Don't foreget, however, that the low end model might be around 100 to 150MHz slower than that. So by creating a Powerbook with a low-end of 600 or 650MHz and keeping the price tag at around $2000 consumers will want to purchase the iBook 600MHz. Even the 12 inch screen version sells for around $1400 or $1500.

[freedom]

Hey this is actually working!

Love to read your posts!
I totally agree with tibooks at wwdc,
733 lowend and up.

Keep speculating…
I´ll keep looking through my
clay chillum :)

That browser idea is fabulous, wwdc/mwny?

[barkmonster]

Starting with the first 133Mhz motherboard macs we have these speeds:

7450 G4 with 1.83 MIPS per clock cycle

lowend : 466Mhz G4 (3.5 x bus)
highend : 733Mhz G4 (5.5 x bus)

Next we see huge leap in the entry level but only a one multiplier increase on the highend:

7450 G4 with 1.83 MIPS per clock cycle

lowend : 733Mhz G4 (5.5 x bus)
highend : 867Mhz G4 (6.5 x bus)

Again they only increased the highend G4 by one multiplier but this time the new chips are around 25% faster in a per clock cycle sense.

7455 G4 with 2.28 MIPS per clock cycle

lowend : 800Mhz G4 (6 x bus)
highend : 1Ghz G4 (7.5 x bus)

Someone's already got their 1Ghz G4 to work at 1.2 Ghz so if we're sticking with a 133Mhz bus we could realistically expect these speeds next:

lowend 1Ghz (7.5 x bus)
highend 1.2Ghz (9 x bus)

or maybe a totally maxed out highend model at 1.333Ghz

Now if we can get G4's with a 266Mhz FSB we can start to use DDR ram and the multipliers would look like this :

lowend 1Ghz (3 x bus)
highend 1.333Ghz (5 x bus)

As far as I know the maximum multiplier is 10 so if we don't get a faster motherboard and a faster FSB on the G4, we'll be stuck at a maximum of 1.333Ghz till apple and motorola sort it out.

Just before someone starts whining about the numbers being wrong, a 133Mhz bus actually runs at (100/3)*4 which is 133.3333333 recuring so a 1Ghz G4 is exactly 1000Mhz while an 867Mhz G4 is actually 866.666666 Mhz Boring I know but it does explain things easily.

I do think 1.2Ghz is a definate because it's already proven to be possible, anything higher could just be wishful thinking. I'd like apple to surprise us all and give us an all dual line up in the same price scheme they have now at 1Ghz, 1.2Ghz and 1.4Ghz but I'm guessing that's just wishful thinking. I've stayed with my beige G3 for quite a while now because I'm waiting till a new powermac comes out that's really worth investing in for at least 3 years use, I still havn't seen one that's either powerful enough or in my price range so I'm hoping we'll get at least a 1Ghz G4 in the lowend by the end of the year.