PowerMacs and PowerBooks Delays?

[MacRumors]

Appleinsider provides some vague notes about the upcoming PowerMac and PowerBook updates.

According to the rumor site, PowerMac and PowerBook updates are reportedly delayed until late March and late April, respectively. Specs for the upcoming revisions are unclear, but Appleinsider points to ATI video card supplies as a possible reason for the delay.

Meanwhile, according to an unverified MacRumors source, the PowerMac G5 delays are reportedly related to difficulties with cooling in the faster machines.

While no specifics are available, one would assume that Apple will be using the new PowerPC 970FX upcoming revisions. The 90nm chip should run cooler than its 130nm counterpart.

[Trowaman]

well poop.

[g4pismo]

my $$ is waiting .. if this keeps up, I will have the cash for an extra display :-D

[scem0]

Has Apple Insider been right about anything recently?

And I don't mean that as a rhetorical, sarcastic question. Have they?

It seems like they have a new rumor every day.

scem0

[swissmann]

At this rate we might as well just wait till September for the promised 3 GHz chips. Also, I don't care about a G4 Powerbook update. No way I'd buy until it has a G5 in it.

[gorkonapple]

Originally Posted by Macrumors

While no specifics are available, one would assume that Apple will be using the new PowerPC 970FX upcoming revisions. The 90nm chip should run cooler than its 130nm counterpart.

This is the problem. EVERYONE has been assuming that the 90nm part should run cooler then the earlier chip, yet I think that is assuming too much. Assuming this, then yes...Powerbook G5's may yet be close on the horizon....yet my bet is Apple wants a G5 Powerbook to be as fast as a desktop and quite possibly be the first EVER to bring out a dual processor laptop. This is DEFINITELY something Apple would LOVE to do as it's a virtual impossibility with PC hardware and close to that with the G5. Apple likes to Think Different and I as well as many others on the net have been hoping for a portable that works as fast as the desktop with no compromises. This includes the first ever portable SMP system.

[arn]

Originally Posted by scem0

Has Apple Insider been right about anything recently?

And I don't mean that as a rhetorical, sarcastic question. Have they?

They've been less right lately.... (for example, that they also predicted PowerMac revisions for MWSF.) That being said, they do appear to have some real information.

arn

[army_guy]

Yes ATI and that R420, they should be releasing it MARCH/APRIL with availability sometime in MAY for the OEMS and board manufacturers so Id say early MAY-JUNE for the desktop G5's as for the powerbooks looks like they might get the ATI M11 (9700) but still be stuck with the G4 so...

[arn]

Originally Posted by gorkonapple

This is the problem. EVERYONE has been assuming that the 90nm part should run cooler then the earlier chip, yet I think that is assuming too much.

It's true, though.

http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2004/...21202659.shtml

A comparison chart reveals that the 970FX consumes 24.5W at 2.0GHz while the original 970 consumes 51W at 1.8GHz

[army_guy]

DUAL CPU laptop?
What at under 1" you must be joking, what about your battery life, it isnt Apple to do this.

[macilosh]

Meanwhile, according to an unverified MacRumors source, the PowerMac G5 delays are reportedly related to difficulties with cooling in the faster machines.

The new G5 towers are experiencing heat issues and causing hard drive failures on the latest working models. Inside IBM the folks point to Apple and not the 970fx chipset. They (Apple) are currently moving the heat sensors around and achieiving OK temp specs but he heat build up is still an issue... wait wait wait. Powerbook 970fx chips will be under top speeds to address this problem... still kinks to work out.

[klaus]

Originally Posted by macilosh

Meanwhile, according to an unverified MacRumors source, the PowerMac G5 delays are reportedly related to difficulties with cooling in the faster machines.

The new G5 towers are experiencing heat issues and causing hard drive failures on the latest working models. Inside IBM the folks point to Apple and not the 970fx chipset. They (Apple) are currently moving the heat sensors around and achieiving OK temp specs but he heat build up is still an issue... wait wait wait. Powerbook 970fx chips will be under top speeds to address this problem... still kinks to work out.

where did you get that info?

[stockscalper]

Originally Posted by macilosh

Meanwhile, according to an unverified MacRumors source, the PowerMac G5 delays are reportedly related to difficulties with cooling in the faster machines.

This is true and why you won't see a 2ghz FX chip in a Powerbook. They consume too much power and run way too hot. It is feasible to put a 1.6 ghz chip in a Powerbook and that would give a nice speed improvement over the current lineup, especially if faster hard drives and ram and more powerful video cards were included. Don't expect to see the 2 ghz and faster chips on laptops until the 60 micron chips are out (yes IBM is currently working on them).

[macilosh]

60 micro is still in design layout and aren't in prototyping so it will be a long while...

[Sabenth]

Dual chiped powered laptops are possible i think its all the power issues and yea getting burnt twice as fast

As for the G5 PB if they pop up this year ill be happy and buy one..

till then looks like a g4

[MrSugar]

Originally Posted by stockscalper

This is true and why you won't see a 2ghz FX chip in a Powerbook. They consume too much power and run way too hot. It is feasible to put a 1.6 ghz chip in a Powerbook and that would give a nice speed improvement over the current lineup, especially if faster hard drives and ram and more powerful video cards were included. Don't expect to see the 2 ghz and faster chips on laptops until the 60 micron chips are out (yes IBM is currently working on them).

I hate making comments about powerbooks, but I had to open this one up. This is nutty, the Xserve has a 90nm g5 and it's a 1U rackmount (1.75" or close) closure. Powerbooks will be able to run on a 90nm chip process, there is no question about this. It's just all the engineering BS that is probably taking a long time.

on to my post:

I don't understand how apple could have a Pmac that is already working and get so many more issues from it by introducing a new, smaller, less heat producing chip? I mean even if it's outside of the processor they already have all of those parts working and cooling, what huge problems could bring on delays like this?! I just don't understand!

So frustrating, I really really want to go all mac and I am not willing to do it on the current line, revisions are needed, soon.

[a17inchFuture]

I would be more than happy with a 1.6 or 1.7 ghz g5 pb, and like most others, I will not buy a pb until that happens.

That being said, I hope this rumor is rue, and that its lack of verification on the g4 front is a good sign. IMO, if they were going to release g4's, they would make it clear that they were going, to deflate people's expectations. The Moto g4 announcement was vague about in what comp it will be used, and even more vagueness pointing toward further down the road. . . .

Get your wallets ready, cause i think i smell something, and its not the overclocked g4's burning users laps. . . .

[mxpiazza]

well, this just soldifies my decision to sell my 12" and buy a 15"...

although i must say that the first revision of powermac g5's went off without a technological hitch, i'm not so sure that the powerbook g5's will switch to a g5 as fluidly... i WILL be the first in line for the rev. b g5 pb, i can tell you that.

[a17inchFuture]

macilosh, wy do you act like you know everything? What is this 60 thing?

and if you were anything but faking your knowledge, wouldn't you probably not be a "newbie"?

[a17inchFuture]

EDIT: woops, repost

[army_guy]

Originally Posted by MrSugar

I hate making comments about powerbooks, but I had to open this one up. This is nutty, the Xserve has a 90nm g5 and it's a 1U rackmount (1.75" or close) closure. Powerbooks will be able to run on a 90nm chip process, there is no question about this. It's just all the engineering BS that is probably taking a long time.

on to my post:

I don't understand how apple could have a Pmac that is already working and get so many more issues from it by introducing a new, smaller, less heat producing chip? I mean even if it's outside of the processor they already have all of those parts working and cooling, what huge problems could bring on delays like this?! I just don't understand!

So frustrating, I really really want to go all mac and I am not willing to do it on the current line, revisions are needed, soon.

Dont forget that powerbook will not have the same number of fans as the Xserve. As for the 90nm, as I said before they are more difficult to cool due to the smaller contact area hence even though they dissipate less heat they will run at higher core temperatures. The solution is to use bigger heatsinks or faster fans hence this could be one of the reasons for the delays though I would of thought Apple would have it sorted allready if they wanted faster CPUS.

There is no 60nm its 65nm, the cooling problem is much worse here.

[tgrundke]

I wouldn't get all that excited about either product line for the spring. If the timeline is true, it means that we're looking at a speedbumped G4 PowerBook and a slightly speedbumped PowerMac.

If Apple was being honest about "3 ghz by the end of next summer" that means that Apple has until September to pull it off. That's six months. To be honest, unless demand is slacking significantly, I wouldn't expect anything other than either a price cut on current models or a shift up to 1.8, 2.0 and maybe a 2.2 as an interim model until we get the 3.0, 2.8, and 2.6 (guesstimates) come late summer.

Or, Apple is going to move the PowerMac this spring to 2.0, 2.4 and 2.6 and take the iMac into G5 territory with a 1.6, 1.8 and maybe even a 2.0 model.

And the G5 PowerBooks - I'm placing bets that we won't see them until MWSF 2005.
Oh, the joys of speculation.

[Ge4-ce]

Originally Posted by macilosh

Meanwhile, according to an unverified MacRumors source, the PowerMac G5 delays are reportedly related to difficulties with cooling in the faster machines.

The new G5 towers are experiencing heat issues and causing hard drive failures on the latest working models. Inside IBM the folks point to Apple and not the 970fx chipset. They (Apple) are currently moving the heat sensors around and achieiving OK temp specs but he heat build up is still an issue... wait wait wait. Powerbook 970fx chips will be under top speeds to address this problem... still kinks to work out.

That doesn't make sense to me!

The 970 FX should produce less heat at 2 GHZ, so they could produce the same heat at 2.5 Ghz. They are already used in the new Xserves at 2.0 ghz and there they manage to cool them in a 1U unit!!

So I really do not believe that they have cooling problems.. Unless offcourse they want them to run at more than 2.5 Ghz!.. 3 Ghz for example or there really are making the Quad PowerMac G5's..

Also remember the highly requested feature: a high-end New Graphics card.

Personally I think it's a combination of several things:

- 1 - Delivery problems with some parts
- 2 - To much stock of old 2 Ghz Macs
- 3 - Apple wants enough production to keep up with the demands and doesn't want to end up in a situation like last time (angry waiting customers)
- 4 - Waiting for another product to be ready first (New Displays for example) because a lot of people would be pissed If they buy new G5s with old displays and then after a month, the New displays also arrive.
- 5 - OS 10.3.3 must be released first to support the new hardware! making CD's and spread them etc.)

[virividox]

bottom line
more waiting

[lasuther]

If there is a problem with G5 PowerMacs overheating, a PowerBook G5 is going to be nuclear hot. Even at the lower GHz, its going to be very hot. We'll be lucky to have a G5 PowerBook by the end of the year that has more than a 1 hour battery life and doesn't burn you. But I do think it will be here for the holiday shopping season. I'll be waiting for a Rev B G5 PowerBook, and thats a long way off. Just my take on the situation.

lasuther