Return of the PowerMac Cube?

[dieselg4]

Not to hammer the headless amc thing into the ground again, but how long will it be before they realize that not everyone who wants a lot of pixel real-estate wants to spend over $1000 on an LCD display? A head less mac (like cube or imac, competetively priced ) would be an excellent entry system. I know the eMac is supposed to have this covered, but really, a 17" screen? That's SOO 2000 . . . Whya make people pay for soemthing that they might not want or probably already have?

 

[Sol]

Permanent Cube must be cheaper

The original Cube failed because it was overpriced. If Apple plans to offer an Anniversary Mac Cube then it would make sense to update all the hardware components and keep it at the same prices as before.

If Apple plans to reintroduce the Cube into its product grid for good then the price will definately have to be lowered. Ideally the Cube would be priced less than an iMac and more than an eMac.

As for PCI slots, the Cube would not need them. FireWire and USB are all the I/O ports the majority of computer users need these days.

 

[SiliconAddict]

Think Orb

*shakes head* Jobs is a persistent SOB. Bet this cube will fail as well. Expansion is just as important as form.

But if I was looking for form and didn’t care about expansion. Screw a cube. I would want an orb with a smoky plastic shell and underneath you would have patches of metal (same type used I the G5.) that would cover the inside in a Tetris jigsaw type pattern. With the Apple logo embedded on the top that glows a soft white, think powerbook logo. The DVD drive would slide out the front seamless with the orb. The base would be a tripod with strips of metal, G5 type metal again, connecting each leg. On one of the strips you would have the connectors for the monitor, digital audio out/in analog out/in, a connector for power. On another leg you would have a connector for USB 2, FW400/800. The tripod would have 2 cables that would connect to the orb at its base and that’s all the ports that would be on the device itself.
If you are are going to go proprietary then GO proprietary.

 

[jayscheuerle]

Re: Permanent Cube must be cheaper

Originally posted by Sol
Ideally the Cube would be priced less than an iMac and more than an eMac.

Why in the world would it be more than an eMac?

Apple needs a $600 minimalist machine. It could even be an iBook without the keyboard or screen. Heck, keep the keyboard & there's your whole computer!

 

[Mr. Anderson]

It would be quite cool to have a G5 Cube with a super drive

It would be better than having an iMac in many ways. And I think that the big issue at hand is how will they have an iMac and Cube available at the same time and make them both sell.....

If it happens its going to be very interesting......

D

 

[Sweetfeld28]

Function over Form

If they are going to reintroduce the Cube it needs to contain:

1. A G5 processor (doesn't matter what speed)
2. At least 2 Gigs of DDR RAM
3. A SuperDrive
4. Dual Display Video Card w/ S-Video
5. At least one PCI-X slot (for maybe later proceesor upgrades or something else.

Now mind you that this cube would have a very high temperature. So, i think that Apple should incorperate either somekind of super quite fans, or build the case so that it is sound proof so that you can't hear the fans running. If thats not possible, then i would use the water cooling technology that is being used in PCs.

 

[iN8]

Seeing that the eMac is taking over the consumer space and the iMac is moving more toward the prosumer space, it is time for the iMac to lose the all-in-one form factor and move to a separate case and monitor deal. essentially a cube like everyone is saying. High performance minimum expandability and low price. I'd like to be able to get an "iCube" alone for around $1000 and with a 17" Cinema Display for around $1500 and with a 20" Cinema Display for around $2000 with bundle pricing.

That would frickin' sell.

 

[bronxred]

METAL G5

my thoughts on the new iMac G5 Cube...

1) it's an iMac (replaces the iMac completely...it MUST to avoid confusion caused last time around by having both a Cube w/o display AND an iMac with display in the same price range.)

2) it's METAL (one of the reasons I would never have bought the PowerMac G4 Cube was that it looked like a Kleenex dispenser to me...sorry, I love the cube aspect ala NeXT, but in the stand, it was not a true cube, and it just did not look "mean" enough for me. now that Apple's going metal, expect the iMac to be metallified as well, upping its class factor from the cheaper looking white plastic now used.)

3) it's a G5 (c'mon now...it's two years later? you think they're gonna come out with ANOTHER G4 Cube? I don't think so! make mine maximized! they can keep the MHz lower than the PowerMacs to differentiate and keep the cost low enough to include a flat panel display.)

4) new metal-casing displays -- deals for bundling at purchase (the current 17" display is $699. bundle a new version at $499 and they can price the Cube at $999 for the entry-level model and still make a killing.)

5) last but not least, it's a CUBE!!! (the old cube was NOT a cube factor when you take into account the clear case. was I the only person bothered by this? lol. NeXT fan here! black magnesium not necessary, but please give us a real cube. make it bigger and with a fan if you have to. nice matching display next to it that can be used with a PowerMac G5 purchased down the road too? I'm begging you to take my money Apple!!!)

ok. just my thoughts. ;->

 

[Spock]

Correct me if I am wrong but the 20th year is on January 24, 2004. Steve will have somthing up the sleeve of his mock turtleneck.

 

[bobindashadows]

It's the iMac Form Factor...?

Anyone think of this: It's the new, radical iMac Form Factor?

 

[Fukui]

Originally posted by stockscalper
Why don't Jobs just change the name of the company to NeXT?

He did..just the other way. He changed NeXT into Apple.

 

[hvfsl]

A new cube would need to have:

-2Ghz G5 (release it when 3Ghz PMs are avaliable)
-512MB DDR400 RAM
-80GB Hard Disk min
-Radeon 9600XT or better
-DVD combi drive min (with superdrive option)
-The normal extras; firewire800, USB2, Airport Extreme
-1AGP slot and maybe 1 PCI-X slot (although the PCI slot can be ditched to keep size down).

It would need to cost between an iMac and a PM G5 to be successful.

 

[gwuMACaddict]

Re: METAL G5

Originally posted by bronxred
it's METAL (one of the reasons I would never have bought the PowerMac G4 Cube was that it looked like a Kleenex dispenser to me...

hahahaha.

anyway... i LOVE the idea of a new cube! but no, it won't be water cooled- i'm so sick of hearing this idea. please people, take a basic basic basic heat transfer class and understand why it's a crappy idea. (the water would carry the heat around the computer and have no way of releasing it to the outside environment. this is why fans are good). the metal idea is very neat, just so long as it doesnt burn a hole through my desk.

 

[macshark]

The G5 Cube is what we really need - but it needs to be priced in the "moderate" range. Apple currently does not have a small form factor desktop system that can be used with user's choice of the LCD monitor (17", 18", 19", 20", etc.) and also supports dual monitor configs. For those people who are not planning to add PCI/PCI-X cards and/or a second internal HD, cube form factor would be the best solution.

Fanless operation may not be possible, but using the cooling system that is in LCD iMacs, or one of the large but slowly rotating fans that is used in the G5 PowerMacs may be sufficient to cool a 90nm G5 running at a reasonable speed and keep the system very quiet at the same time.

To keep the price under control and prevent cannibalizing PowerMac sales, the specs are likely to be somewhat more "tame":

- 1.2GHz or 1.4GHz 90nm G5 (power consumption around 10W)
- 256MB DDR SDRAM (up to 2GB)
- 80GB Serial ATA HD (160GB Serial ATA upgrade option)
- ComboDrive (SuperDrive upgrade option)
- NVidia GeForce FX5200 graphics with 64MB
- 2 FireWire 400 and 3 USB2.0 ports
- Bluetooth built in
- AirPort Extreme card option

Price:

- $1299 for the base model: 1.2GHz G5, 256MB DDR, 80GB SATA, ComboDrive

- $1699 for the upgraded model: 1.4GHz G5, 512MB DDR, 160GB SATA, SuperDrive

 

[Dippo]

A 'not too expensive' headless G5 mac would be very much welcome.

I think it is time to get rid of the iMac, it has lost all of the aspects that made it great in the first place. Those that just want a cheap mac will buy a eMac and those that want power will buy a G5.

There is nothing for the consumer that wants a powerful computer without all of the size & expandability of the PowerMac.

Now that I think about it, if they did come out with a G5 Cube it will probably still cost about $2000 which would be to much for me.

 

[freddiecable]

agree!!! this is certainly a shure shot! apple has to do this - and with a G4. it has to be fanless and it must not cost much. sub 700 USD.

Originally posted by jayscheuerle
That's exactly the type of cube that would sell. A high-end G5 cube would fail again and again and again...

Just take the display off the iMac and call it the Hemisphere.

$499 would be awesome, but I'd order one tomorrow at $599...

 

[gwuMACaddict]

Originally posted by Dippo

I think it is time to get rid of the iMac, it has lost all of the aspects that made it great in the first place. Those that just want a cheap mac will buy a eMac and those that want power will buy a G5.

i dont know about this... the imac contains a great computer system in a small package and looks pretty hot all at the same time. this is quite different from the emac that contains a great computer system in a huge case and looks like s$%t, and the powermac that costs more than and arm and a leg and takes up a lot more room than an imac.

granted... i wish i had one of ecah. minus the emac.

 

[pgwalsh]

To mark the 20th anniversary they should produce an aluminum Apple logo shaped Mac that’s about the size of the cube. It should have top of the line components too. That would be sick, but maybe I’m the only one that would think so. It would be cool to see a 3D render if anyone is so inclined.

I'd buy one just because I would have to have it...

 

[aidsbot2000]

the cube was indeed a looker(my lovely room mate has one.during our interview i told her i don't allow smokers or pc users.she laughed and said she wouldn't have moved in if i had a pc)
but,with all the aftermarket upgrades and that sick looking aluminum cube case,i think it's all sewn up for the cube on apple's behalf.the headless imac idea is great,but that ibook minus the screen idea is brilliant.a keyboard containing the cpu,hard drive,etc...beautifully hooked up to a studio display,and a wireless mouse.now that's lush.

 

[shake]

i think bringing back the cube is a great idea. Has anyone ever seen the Shuttle PC's? http://www.shuttle.com
these are great little PC's with everything built-in (usb2, fw400, 5.1 audio w/ optical out, ethernet, 4xAGP and 1 PCI etc). a minimalist mac is not a new idea... anyone remember CoreComputers? http://www.2khappyware.com
they had a great idea of making a small form factor power mac using gigabit motherboards and their own cool case... but apple shut them down.
if apple put in a G5 it would cost way too much. and an entry-level consumer mac doies not need to be 64-bit. and PCI-X just brings up the cost. does anyone even have a PCI-X card?

so, what i would like to see is:
dual G4 (using 7457's! less heat, more L2 cache!)
S-ATA controller (i'd even take ATA-100/133 if it brought the cost down)
Combo-Drive (superDrive as an option)
2gb of RAM
4X agp slot
1 PCI slot (not PCI-X! an entry-level mac does not need it and the price would go up)
usb & FW400 (of course)

and, an internal power supply. one of the worst thing about the original cube is its external power supply.
this is totally possible, (shuttle) and would sell tons of units!
if they made one, i would buy it!

 

[supercres]

Re: It's the iMac Form Factor...?

Originally posted by bobindashadows
Anyone think of this: It's the new, radical iMac Form Factor?

My thoughts exactly. With the G4-enabled eMac, the iMac really doesn't seem to have anywhere to go. The new iMac form-factor rumors and New Cube rumors probably aren't a coincedence.

Something's happening in Jan '04. Something big.

 

[Shifty]

The G5 PowerMac is friggin' huge.

A G5 Cube would be sweet as a scaled down version.

 

[chickengrease16]

i would buy one in a heartbeat. the only reason why i'm not buying a G4 cube is the fact that they're already pretty outdated, and doesnt compare to the speed of my 1GHz powerbook. but yeah. a G5 cube would be nice. a new imac would be nice too, but who knows.

 

[bcsimac]

I liked the original Cube and was very sad to see it discontinued. I feel it failed because it was over-priced. They need to learn from that mistake. I thought the Cube was gorgeous and would love to have one today if I could afford it.

 

[m_gerbik]

How much was the cube when it was introduced originally? I can't remember.