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Firewire Specification Approved For Speeds Up To 3.2 Gigabits/sec

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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IEEE has approved a new version of IEEE 1394, better known to Apple users as Firewire. The standard, known as 1394-2008, encompasses all prior Firewire technology and provides complete specifications for speeds of 1.6 Gigabits/second and 3.2 Gigabits/second, which TG Daily notes utilizes the existing 9 pin cables of Firewire 800.

Firewire 400 devices have become widespread in the computer industry, though the faster Firewire 800 specification has seen slower adoption. Currently MacBook Pros, Mac Pros, and iMacs each feature both Firewire 400 and Firewire 800 ports.

IEEE says the new standard is expected to be available in October.

Article Link
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2008/07/31/firewire-specification-approved-for-speeds-up-to-3-2-gigabits-sec/
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-hh

macrumors 68030
Jul 17, 2001
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NJ Highlands, Earth
This puts Firewire on a par with eSATA performance.

And IIRC, the actual chips to deliver this new specification went to the foundry a couple of months ago.

...although Apple now has their own chip designer too...


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-hh

macrumors 68030
Jul 17, 2001
2,550
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NJ Highlands, Earth
Tallest Skil said:
YEEHAW! Bring on the FireWire 3200 in Mac Pros and MacBook Pros and FireWire 1600 in iMacs!
Click to expand...

Actually, there's no real reason to differentiate with FW1600. IIRC, its standard has been 'approved' for a few years, but not adopted by anyone.

The right approach is to just put FW3200 into everything. Even the iPhone :D


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C

CaptainHook

macrumors newbie
Jul 20, 2008
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Just great - now that Apple has dropped Firewire support for the iPhone 3G lol :(

But it is good news for the other platforms.
 
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himansk

macrumors regular
Oct 16, 2006
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It will be a while before we see it on the macs, especially since the cheaper hardware supporting this new format wont be out soon.
 
Rocketman

Rocketman

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Dec 2, 2001
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If you are an HD or 4K movie maker, this will facilitate injesting huge amounts of content. IN THE FIELD. You might need a disc farm attached to your PowerBook, but it will be practical to injest the content, store it, and manipulate it, with FCP right then and there.

Rocketman
 
~Shard~

~Shard~

macrumors P6
Jun 4, 2003
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It will be nice to see these new technologies hit the market, although I'm curious what the price points will be for the external hard drives and so forth which incorporate them. A FW3200 external HDD for backup sure would be nice!

But then that begs the question, will the external hard drives and the like be able to utilize all that speed? Where are the potential system bottlenecks?

Regardless, nice to see something compete with eSATA.
 
S

SailorTom

macrumors regular
May 15, 2008
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hardware?

I heard a while ago that you would only need a firmware update, as it utilizes the current FW800 hardware. maybe i'm wrong

Obviously much of the peripherals would need to be replaced.
 
~Shard~

~Shard~

macrumors P6
Jun 4, 2003
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himansk said:
It will be a while before we see it on the macs, especially since the cheaper hardware supporting this new format wont be out soon.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that was my thought as well - cost will no doubt be an initial factor in general, that and overall device availability.
 
~Shard~

~Shard~

macrumors P6
Jun 4, 2003
18,377
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SailorTom said:
hardware?

I heard a while ago that you would only need a firmware update, as it utilizes the current FW800 hardware. maybe i'm wrong

Obviously much of the peripherals would need to be replaced.
Click to expand...

It would be funny to see a sextuple interface external hard drive - USB 2.0, FW400, FW800, eSATA, FW1600 and FW3200. :p :D
 
B

Bad Paper

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Apr 20, 2007
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speakerwizard said:
hhhmm, so isnt this pointless unless you have an sas drive? those speeds are faster than a 7200 HD arnt they?
Click to expand...
erm, no. "7200" refers to the spin rate, which affects seek speed. This refers to the throughput, which is independent. This will also relate to SATA drives, though I don't see why we all wouldn't just use eSATA for those.

(fingers crossed for an eSATA port on the forthcoming Mini)
 
thecartoonguy

thecartoonguy

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Jun 28, 2008
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SailorTom said:
hardware?

I heard a while ago that you would only need a firmware update, as it utilizes the current FW800 hardware. maybe i'm wrong

Obviously much of the peripherals would need to be replaced.
Click to expand...

I wonder what the new pricing would be for new firewire devices would be. That would be hard to guess I would think
 
Apple Ink

Apple Ink

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Mar 7, 2008
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I dont know if this is true or not (and actually sounds ridiculous) but I read somewhere that a mere 'software update' can upgrade the Fw800 to 1600/3200:confused:
 
Rocketman

Rocketman

macrumors 603
Dec 2, 2001
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Existing multi-drive external units use ATA or eSATA or other internal busses, but have external connections to USB2 or Firewire 400/800 or even eSATA itself.

This would add circuitry to make the existing larger FW 800 plug also recognize FW 3200.

I would think some combination of a 4 drive enclosure, internal eSATA, external FW3200/USB2/eSATA plugs, a battery for portable usage, AC adapter, Car adapter, and ZFS as the file system, would make this a must have for professionals. As well as automobile audiophiles and RV media servers.

Rocketman
 
B

bdkennedy1

Suspended
Oct 24, 2002
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In my opinion I hope Apple doesn't adopt this.

USB 3 is about to be released with speeds up to 3gbps and it's backward compatible using the same connector.

Trying to find Firewire 800 products are a major pain in the ass.
 
Peace

Peace

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Apr 1, 2005
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Bad Paper said:
erm, no. "7200" refers to the spin rate, which affects seek speed. This refers to the throughput, which is independent. This will also relate to SATA drives, though I don't see why we all wouldn't just use eSATA for those.

(fingers crossed for an eSATA port on the forthcoming Mini)
Click to expand...

While it does refer to throughput is it faster than a hard drives write speed? If it is then there's your bottleneck.
 
thecartoonguy

thecartoonguy

macrumors 6502a
Jun 28, 2008
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zenspeaks said:
One more to the 'hopefuls' bandwagon of things we like to see on Macs.
1. Blu-Ray player.
2. IEEE 1394-2008.
:mad:
Click to expand...


I'm sorry I just don't get the "I WANT BLU RAY" chant. There are not many movies in this format yet, the pricing is still too high and a 13 screen is not the best viewing real estate. I could see the 17 or 30" on a desktop but honestly on a 13" laptop? Let's not forget the power drain.
Sorry I'm dealing a cold from the 7th level of hell.
 
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