1.2GHz For March

[rice_web]

By the way Motorola and Apple are talking in press releases, etc., I am under the impression that the G4 will be upgraded in March, as Apple tries to "catch up" to Intel. If this is the case, then they better get the bus speed up. And, since the new processors are apollos, a move to 1.2GHz in March would allow for the bump to a faster bus.

For example:
Currently, only the 1GHz processor is an Apollo. If Apple could drop this model to its entry model for March, then they could offer the 1.2GHz model at the top. As both would then be Apollos, Apple could offer higher bus speeds to give users a reason to buy the PowerMac again (let's face it, even the dual 1GHz machine is still no real bargain in the face of the new iMac).

This would allow further development of the G5 for a release in January of 2003, or maybe if we are lucky, July or September 2002. The way things are shaping up, Apple might have a good year or two.

 

[DavidCL23]

Hopefully DDR by then...

 

[Macmaniac]

1.2ghz

It is possible but unlikely. I think they will keep it how it is, and release the G5 at MWNY. A speed bump so soon is very unlikely.

____________________________
Not all who wander are lost.

 

[rice_web]

However...

Apple DOES need to start pushing their computers to be... well, faster. Not that they aren't fast, but Intel and AMD DO have the lead, no matter what a few benchmarks in Photoshop suggest. Besides, Apple would not put DDR memory in with their current setup, as only the 1GHz processor is an Apollo.

As for Apple releasing a 1.2GHz to soon, remember the PowerBook issue? The iBook issue? They are releasing updates as soon as they are available (or so it has seemed, the 14" iBook update, the Combo drive, etc)

 

[oldMac]

If we are to expect the G5 in late summer...

If the G5 really does appear in late summer, then I suspect we may see the higher clocked G4s arrive, but as an iMac upgrade.

If the G5 machines are delayed until fall, expect G4 upgrades at MWNY.

To upgrade the line again in March would only serve to p*ss off those folks who just bought the top-of-the-line.

 

[Hemingray]

Too soon. No way. MWNY.

It's just now the end of January, for chrissakes. They JUST introduced the new PM's, and you think less than two months later they'll be updating again? I don't think so...

 

[rice_web]

Hmm...

If Apple released a 1.2GHz PowerMac, but kept the rest of the PowerMac line the same, would it be upsetting? To merely add choice to the PowerMac line would likely be a great thing. If Apple could lower the prices of the current PowerMacs by $100, and release a 1.2GHz PowerMac in March, they might have a winner. This eliminates the chance of consumers feeling "cheated."

 

[Six]

although i really cant back this up, my opinion is that if they release g5 at the next expo, the apollo would be left as an untapped resource. they wont upgrade the G4's till summer, but i bet it'll be a big upgrade, not just moving up a couple hundred megahertz.. not giant, but a pretty big increase.. upgrading the current g4's in march would just be cruel... too many people who ordered now would riot..

 

[Catfish_Man]

To the best of my knowledge...

...ALL the new G4s are Apollos (MPC 7455). The only changes in the Apollo are a few more of a certain type of register, SOI technology, and DDR level 3 cache. It doesn't support a faster bus which would be required for DDR (the Sahara or 750fx, however, does support a 200MHz bus). Any ideas on whether Apple will use the Sahara in something? New iBook maybe? They would have to release it at the same time as DDR pro things, so maybe not.

 

[Beej]

Although I don't think 1.2 GHz is likely in March, I do like the idea of Apple releasing new stuff as soon as they can. We don't need all the fanfare of a Macworld just to speedbump a computer.

If you've got it, flaunt it.

 

[shergar]

my two bob's worth...

is that we won't see a speed bump before summer and we won't hear anything about G5s until NEXT year.

Let's face facts, these forums are full of overly optimistic posts about speed bumps and G5s and Apple consistently fails to deliver upgrades with anything like the regularity we want.

I'm not knocking Apple - if anything I'm knocking Motorola - but based on past history it will be a long wait before the next MHz increase.

 

[gotohamish]

Originally posted by Hemingray
Too soon. No way. MWNY.

It's just now the end of January, for chrissakes. They JUST introduced the new PM's, and you think less than two months later they'll be updating again? I don't think so...

If Apple are truely trying to "catch up", then it does mean releasing speed bumps AS AVAILABLE - just as Intel do. Just because we're used to a fanfare about product releases, doesn't mean we'd all be happier if Apple continue to sit on great new arhictectures and chips just to make a show of it. Hell, release 'em when they're ready, and make a big deal of all of it I say. Why not?

 

[Brent Turbo]

POLL!

POLL!

What color underwear am I wearing???

Nobody here knows anything more about what Powermacs are coming out than they do my underwear.

 

[Ifeelbloated]

You don't wear underwear do you.

 

[zuffen]

keeping up with "Jones"

As fast as the G4 upgrade came on the Tower without fanfare, I can see Apple pumping out the next fastest chip as soon as feasible, marketing is king and they are getting killed by the Megahertz crap on the semi-pro level.

Any non-Mac user buying an iMac is looking at style. To sell a tower to a perfomance minded convert requires faster speeds, even if it is a lie to us.

But the real mac crowd would yell murder if Apple bumped the processor speed up as a comparison speed to match the wintel hype. Ya see what I mean, a G4 2 ghz pseudo ratingwould look pretty impressive to a non-Mac user. But we would be thinking what the hell? right?

So if Apple had an internal speed rating (for us Mac fans) and an outside speed rating for advertizing, would they seem two faced?

Now to the pro users, yeah you would pitch a fit if there was new speed bump every two months, but really does it matter. You do what you have to do to keep production up. The pc world has been living in the shadow of the next fastest chip for years. And you can't keep up unless your rich and use your computer as a play toy.

I see a fast shuffle of speed bumps gearing up to the G5 release in late summer/early fall. The point is to sell as many chips as possible before the G4 technolgy is left in the dust when the G5 comes out.

Of course you have to ask what will they showcase at the MWNY, the new G5 iMac of course. You are trying to impress the average consumer not the average mac consumer, so you hit the market with your best shot and the all in one flatpanel is the consumers dream, keep them coming bigger and faster and you will sell the crap out of them.

Also how else do you recoup development cost? And neither Apple and Moto can wait and hope the consumer buys the lowend speed while the competition is increasng the distance on the speed front.

Just a few thoughtsa from a poor mac user

 

[OSeXy!]

Clarification, please

This discussion has raised some interesting issues, which I would like to know more about.

Can anyone confirm which of the current G4s are actually Apollos? I thought only the 933MHz and 1GHz. Now I hear it's only the 1GHz... Or they all are... What's the real story?

Also, is it true that the Apollos won't support a 200MHz system bus? If so, what is the fastest bus they do support?

I agree as well that quick and quiet speedbumps might be an ongoing feature of 2002... in advance of the BIG change to G5 (which Steve will introduce, with all the usual hoopla, at MWXX in 20XX).

 

[OSUbuckeyefan]

I say this...

MW Tokyo '02: G5's in PM's and Apollo G4's in everything else.

 

[Ouroboros]

Keep in mind that because there is a lot of life left in the Apollo as the Motorola spokesman said is in no way making it impossible for the G5 to come out. This, in my interpretation, means that the G4 has a long way to go before it is done for good.

And the Apollo seems to be THE workhorse for all the lines. It's a low power, lower heat dissipating chip that can reach close to 2 ghz speeds. What better chip to populate the portable lines and eventually the upgrades for the iMac??? I mean this IS the chip for the iMac I think for at least a year. And the Powerbook has just met its power for AT LEAST a year. IF there is a G5 that is released this Summer (I think Apple would be hurt if it didn't), then we might see the Powerbook line get them in January of '03.

See the Power and Consumer lines are usually delineated by the type of processor too. I think all this hoo ha around early January/December about the G5 wasn't all bunk. It is out there, and being tested. I read somewhere that Motorola, for Apple's sake, isn't really going to announce the G5 for desktops, they are going to leave it to Apple. So looking to Motorola for the G5 news isn't going to help much. The fact the Architosh is mentioning that test machines with G5's have been around for about 4 months is encouraging for a Summer release.

I mean, how long have we wanted a ghz PowerMac??? We got it and it barely made the front section of Apple's site. They want us to know it, but not with the huge fanfare. The "something big" that people feel WILL happen this year.

Some sources at Apple (don't remember where I read) said something to the effect that this year is the year of the desktop, as last year was the year of the portable. If that is to be believed, then there's gotta be more to this year than just simply the new iMac introduction and a couple of G4 speed bumps coming.

Look at the Tower case, it is the ONLY product now that has been around for 3 years, albeit with small cosmetic changes. Something WILL happen. Why change the case and say, "And now, after three years, we've updated the towers with a new look to help augment the release of our NEW SPEEDBUMP OF THE G4's!!!!"

What did it for me was the massive leap in power with the flat panel iMac -- we moved processor lines!!! So the PowerMacs have to be next, look at the evidence, the evidence in the way things have been done in the past. Sure it isn't evidence like court evidence, but use a bit of deduction for a well educated guess for this Summer.

Also, note that the powerbooks are the only product (besides the old CRT iMac) that now doesn't have a NEW sticker on it at the store. I think we will see revisions to them in February or March, because why have a "Power" machine that is $3500 that can't compete with a consumer desktop in terms of performance???

 

[Xapplimatic]

G4 death?

I don't think we've nearly seen the end for the G4. It's still an amazingly fast chip (remember it used to be concidered a weapon and banned from export to certain countries). No, the G4 will be around for a while. It won't prevent launch of the G5. That would be as absurd as saying that increasing speeds developed in the G3 line hurt the G4 line. They were going on at the same time. Appollo G4s will make their way into all the lower end machines from iMac to iBook. IBook will especially benefit from Appollo because of the lower power requirements. SOI will also make it easier for Motorola to kick out a lower power G5 for the PowerBooks as well.