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Does new G5 make iMac outdated?

P

pepology

macrumors newbie
Original poster
I am a pc user and I am seriously considering buying a mac for the first time. This would be a significant investment for me and I want to get as much life out of the machine as possible. Given the fact that the G5 is an upgrade to 64 bit architecture, and software is going to move in that direction, would I be well advised to purchase a G5 now and make the additional investment rather than purchase the G4 iMac which I had originally intended to buy? Or should I wait until a G5 iMac comes out?
 
G5 will not go into iMac for a while, not until they get G5 into PowerBooks first, which will take another 6-12 months probably.

But, software designed for 64bit processor will not come out for just as long. And also G4 is still being updated and it is by no means poor performer. You'll be fine with G4 iMac for few years and by that time you could upgrade to G5 iMac. Also G5 processor is 32bit software compatible and run them much faster, so you will not be losing money by purchasing any softwares now.

Go with G4 iMac.
 
I think that if you can get a G5, you should. Sure the iMac is great, but G5 is well...incredibly powerful. Of course it always comes down to what you are going to be doing with it.

P-Worm
 
I think you'd be fine with a G4 iMac. They run quite well, and work great for most home users. I wouldn't worry too much abuot 64 bit software incompatibilities. you're likely to see 64 bit software coming for very high end stuff, not the kind of things you'd buy as a home user. its going to take some significant amount of time for everything to go 64 bit, considering that most of apple's products and their OS is still 32 bit and will be for quite a while.
 
I would go for a G5 PowerMac over a G4 iMac. You're right, everything at Apple will be moving towards 64-bit, maybe with the exception of the iBook line. It'll be 3 or more years before that line ever hits G5.

I wouldn't go for the iMac. I really don't think it's a good deal anymore, and it needs an update badly. The problem is that the PowerMac line does not include a monitor, so you would have to either hook up your own monitor, or purchase another one, which only adds to the cost. If cost is a factor, either hook up a new G5 PM to an existing monitor that you already own, or don't buy a Mac. I'm sorry to give such advice, but I personally wouldn't be happy with an iMac right now (needs update badly!!!), and I wouldn't recommend it. 🙁

Maybe the iMac will be updated to a faster G4 soon. Who knows. 🙂 But you're right, everything will move towards 64-bit. It'll be compatible with 32-bit, but......
 
First of all, what are you going to be using this computer for? If it is just basic word processing, internet, itunes, some photoshop,etc., then you would be happy with an iMac. But if you are going to be working on very intense applications, you may want to go for the PowerMac G5.
 
While you do need to evaluate what the computer will be used for, for the average consumer, an iMac or eMac is just fine. All this G5 makes the iMac outdated and I wouldn't be happy with a G4 is ridiculous. It will be a long time before the G4 disappears from the product line and software companies nor Apple is going to ignore a large portion of the community. Besides, if you are really concerned about it, just get an eMac and wait until a G5 makes it into an iMac and then sell the eMac.
 
Originally posted by Abstract
I would go for a G5 PowerMac over a G4 iMac. You're right, everything at Apple will be moving towards 64-bit, maybe with the exception of the iBook line. It'll be 3 or more years before that line ever hits G5.

I wouldn't go for the iMac. I really don't think it's a good deal anymore, and it needs an update badly. The problem is that the PowerMac line does not include a monitor, so you would have to either hook up your own monitor, or purchase another one, which only adds to the cost. If cost is a factor, either hook up a new G5 PM to an existing monitor that you already own, or don't buy a Mac. I'm sorry to give such advice, but I personally wouldn't be happy with an iMac right now (needs update badly!!!), and I wouldn't recommend it. 🙁

Maybe the iMac will be updated to a faster G4 soon. Who knows. 🙂 But you're right, everything will move towards 64-bit. It'll be compatible with 32-bit, but......
Click to expand...

I totally disagree.

The iMac is a fine deal. It may look a little "outdated" next to the PowerMac G5, but it always has, because the PowerMac is Apple's top-of-the-line machine. The G5 won't be going into the iMac anytime soon, nor should it. Apple needs to keep costs down with the iMac.

I got a 17" G4 iMac last September (so this is not one of the fancier 1 GHz, Airport Extreme iMacs), and it's a VERY solid performer. I'm very happy with it, and I haven't had a problem with it at all. I would definitely recommend it -- if you don't need incredible power or expansion, then by all means go for the iMac.

(Don't worry about those 64-bit applications -- they'll probably be high-end apps, and they most likely won't be G5 exclusive apps.)
 
Put me in the G4 camp. If you're planning to run the iApps, Office, etc., the
imac should be just fine. I'm using a G4/450mhz Cube that's 3 years old, and it runs Jaguar, iApps, Dreamweaver, FCP, just fine. If money is no object, go with the G5. Otherwise, the iMac should be a good choice for several years to come.
 
if your looking into a iMac right now rather than a powermac then there is really no reason for you to wait for the G5 to go in the iMac, you just don't need that much power. The iMac is a very capable machine as it is, more than you will probably need.
 
G4'd better be fine. They're going to be in PowerBooks for at least another year, I suspect. (maybe 6 months, if we're lucky.)

If I was looking for bang per buck in the Mac line, I'd get a 1GB eMac without hesitation.
 
Originally posted by Foxer
G4'd better be fine. They're going to be in PowerBooks for at least another year, I suspect. (maybe 6 months, if we're lucky.)

If I was looking for bang per buck in the Mac line, I'd get a 1GB eMac without hesitation.
Click to expand...
If you're looking for "bang per buck" the low-end G5 is only $200 more, if you don't count the display. However, the iMac has a better monitor than the eMac, has more portability, and looks cooler.
 
Considering that all current applications run flawlessly on the G4 iMac, I can't see the point of buying the LATEST G5 system, on the premise that there'll be BETTER software along the way.

Of course, there WILL be - eventually...

But you might as well enjoy the software that's already out there NOW - the stuff that's made Apple a great platform to work on in the first place.

😉
 
Get the iMac

If an iMac fills your needs now, and you don't see your needs increasing toward some very powerful applications, then just buy it. It's not like it will get slower over time.

There will come a point in time when the iMac you buy today will not run new applications that are developed. It'll be too old and too slow. Based on what I've seen, that day will be far off into the future.

G5 seems like a really nice, really powerful machine. But fact is, my iMac 15" 800Mhz runs great. I can surf, use the iLife apps, burn CDs and DVDs, everything I need to do. And even if the VERY next version of say iDVD wouldn't work on my iMac, I'd be happy with the one I have.

I plan on buying a 15" Powerbook in the next week or so. The G4 and even G3 probably has a lot of life left in it.

Enjoy!
 
I'm in the same situation as you are. I'd like to switch over to the Mac platform, and the iMac seems like the perfect choice. However, after playing around with the 1ghz iMac at my local apple store, I was not satisfied with its performance at all. The Jaguar UI felt slugish, and even older games like Warcraft 3 ran poorly, even compared to my friends old P3-800mhz. My Athlon 1600+ PC is at least 2x as fast as the current iMac, and my PC was build 2 years ago!

I for one am going to hold out for a iMac G5. If all you do is listen to music and browse the web, the current iMac would be fine. Although I don't use many processor intensive applications, when I occasionally DO, i'd like to have that power available there for me. And a $1799 computer SHOULD have that power.
 
Yeah, I guess most of you are right. Get the iMac if that's all you need. Personally, when I buy something like a computer, I buy it knowing that it is fast enough for the most hardware intensive task I'm probably going to do. If it can't handle the task well, then I don't buy it. The most I ever do is sound editing. My PC can't handle Soundforge at a satisfactory pace (it takes 3 to 5 minutes to process every single thing that I do), so I would never buy a Mac that can't handle it either. But 95% of the time, I don't use Soundforge on my PC, so it's good. But it would be such a downer to know that I spent soooo much money on a machine that already cannot handle something that I do occasionally (Macs are expensive for what you get). That's why I recommend(ed) the G5 + existing monitor. If it can handle everything you do, then okay, but if it can't handle something that you may do occasionally, then go with the better machine if it's going to be a pain.

The eMac suggestion was a good one. It's cheaper than an iMac, with better specs (except for the screen). But the iMac is a good choice for iTunes and Office work you may do.
 
Well, just to restate what some others have said, you don't seem to have too much of a problem making a little bit more of an investment in it, so go with the g5 if you want something that will have a bit longer of a life. The g5 is a major upgrade from the g4 imac. The imac prob won't be update to a g5 for like a year, o go with the g5 desktop.
 
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