Maybe better yields per waffer? The smaller the chip the lower the chance of getting a dud because of impurities in the waffer. Does that make sense?
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90nm PowerPCs Arrive
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I believe they meant that X-serve G5 coexists on all of those types of networks and talks to all of those flavors of machines. If you go to the X-serve page at www.apple.com you will see a similar description.
Clearly the rmachines are BUNDLED with OSX server and only the cluster node even has a reduced license version reducing its effective cost by $500+.
I hope to see desktop speed demons buying one X-serve and 3 cluster nodes and using THAT as their desktop machine.
Rocketman
The better answer is "very few" but those few have $5m a pop!
The X-serve is both a premium price line and a prestige line now that the VT supercomputer is #3 (in theworld). This clearly means Apple has received feelers for "me too" people/organizations who want to become #2 or #1 or just duplicate the VT expereince on a "nearly as good" scale.
The opportunity to install several CLUSTERS of macs is hard for Apple to ignore and if all Steve has to do is set aside the chips rated at a mere 2.0 Ghz for that project, fine!
The ones that are specially tested to go to higher speeds can go into single and mere dual processor desktop macs for CONSUMERS.
PROSUMERS will want an X-serve and 3 cluster nodes on (near/under) their desk of course.
As for the Keynote and Garage Band and iPods, this was the first exclusively "consumer product" keynote. They are going after 50% of the market through the back door - music.
Then they released the X-serve (after the Keynote) WITH 90um 970 a NEW CHIP. They seem to be paying attention sir.
Rocketman
GarageBand - the question with this isn't who's going to spend $50 for it, it's how many musicians and aspiring musicians will now buy a Mac just to run GarageBand. It looks to me like a new "killer application". I bet they sell a ton of macs to musicians, sell a ton of iLifes to musicians who already own a mac, and sell a ton of the $99 Jam Packs.
not happy
This is disappointing.
I just want a reliable G5 sans kernal panics and black monitors. If something isn't out by the end of the month, we'll be forced to pick up a G4, and in this economy, that will be our hardware upgrade for a couple of years.
This is disappointing.
I just want a reliable G5 sans kernal panics and black monitors. If something isn't out by the end of the month, we'll be forced to pick up a G4, and in this economy, that will be our hardware upgrade for a couple of years.
I agree, I think Garage Band is iLife's killer app. I never use the rest - apart from iTunes - but this is the first time I'd definitely be willing to shell out money for the bundle. Well, actually I'd pay the money just for Garage Band, but it's no harm getting the others as 'accessories'!
I know lots of (non musicians) who are starting to buy decks, mixers etc. I think Apple's tapping into a rapidly expanding market with this app (not to mention the other, high end audio apps they offer).
But if Apple doesn't make an effort in the enterprise space, they'll never have any customer base except consumers. Given the recent info and rumors surrounding Apple's enterprise efforts, giving that side of things some keynote time makes sense, especially when you consider that this guarantees them press that a non-Expo announcement probably wouldn't. The message to enterprise: Macs aren't just consumer toys or creatives' playthings.
Also consider how little time it's been since everything was last speed-bumped. They'll want sales to drop off a bit before announcing G5 redesigns or further speedbumps.
I gotcher idiot right here.
No, seriously: the smaller size is really making me think about an iPod mini. I only have 1111 songs on my 10 GB iPod anyway, and at least some of those are one-star throwaways. A Mini would be even more concealable and portable than my 2nd gen iPod, which is becoming an ever bigger consideration for me--heck, I haven't replaced my worn-out winter coat yet, because I can't find one that both looks nice, and has an inside pocket for me to hide the iPod in. And I carry that little sucker every day, so that's important! If the buttons and battery life meet my requirements too, I think I might sell off the 10 GB and buy a blue iPod mini.Actually, from what I've heard, most professional musicians who use computers for music at all use Macs. And many people a few years back thought the masses wouldn't be doing digital video or DVD authoring, either, so it may be unwise to make predictions just yet. But I'd say GarageBand IS for the masses: for everyone who's listened to electronic music and said, "heck, if I had the equipment, I could do that," but thought it would be too complicated, or all the DIY bands who wish that recording could be cheaper, or even all those people putting up animation clips and Quicktime movies on the web.
Really, have you listened to any electronic music lately? So much of it is just: Start with a beat/add a sound/repeat for some multiple of four measures/add another sound/repeat for another multiple of four measures/repeat this cycle until it's time for the chorus/do something different for the chorus and bridge=tada! I can't tell you how many times I've thought to myself, well heck, any idiot can put something like that together, it's just that real musicians have all that expensive and complicated equipment. And GarageBand eliminates at least some of that advantage.
I think GarageBand could surprise us.....music is the universal language, and this allows the masses to do more than just listen to what the elite have made: it allows them to speak the language themselves, at least a little. Is it just me that loves music so much as to make this exciting?
You really need to try to understand my point better. It's great that Apple produces this software for creative professionals. Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Shake, etc. are all significant pieces of Apple's software lineup. However, none of them is included in the iLife suite for this very reason--they are for professionals, not the average computer user. Would you be happy if Apple bundled iTunes, iPhoto, iDVD, iMovie, and Final Cut Pro together and then charged you $1000 for all five? Of course not! I feel that Apple is doing just this, although to a lesser degree, with GarageBand. MOST MAC USERS WILL NOT USE GARAGEBAND. Who doesn't listen to music? Who doesn't take photos of friends and families? Who doesn't want to make short home videos and then want to put them on a DVD? Everyone does these things. But then ask the question--who wants to make digitally-synthesized music? Umm...maybe some of us, but certainly not everyone who uses the other iApps will want to use GB as well. So perhaps my initial response ("it is a waste of development resources") was a little incendiary, but my main point is just that is should not have been demoed so long, and it should not be part of iLife. Why not sell it separately for $49?
As for the 970s, arn and a few others make a good point. I guess they would have announced the updated PowerMacs had they been ready to ship immediately, but it is silly to effectively halt sales of the current generation if they won't be able to ship for a month or so. I just hate to see Apple waste such a valuable platform as the SF Keynote.
I agree! Most Mac users (currently) will NOT use Garage band (enough to matter).
What WILL happen is as users start using Garage Band they will tell their friends and viral marketing will take over in a "Garage band" niche for Mac sales. It might be a bigger niche than "Spaceward Ho!" was.
Well, maybe by far.
Rocketman
guessed processor road map
At first i was a bit worried that the G5 XServe only was at 2Ghz. This meant that any announcements of powermac Upgrades had to wait for at least 2.
The 90nm fab is great news. Now it is possible that upgraded powermacs will ship in 2 months.
Having said that, i am really one of those guys that is waiting for a G5 imac. The way i picture it is:
XServe: G5 - 512kb - 2 Ghz
PMac: G5 - 1mb -2Ghz - 2.4Ghz
I think that when the 2.6 Ghz Pmac is released the G5 iMac will be launched. (june?)
PMac: G5 - 1mb - 2.6Ghz
iMac: G5 - 512kb - 2Ghz
See how i differentiate in cache and Ghz.
At first i was a bit worried that the G5 XServe only was at 2Ghz. This meant that any announcements of powermac Upgrades had to wait for at least 2.
The 90nm fab is great news. Now it is possible that upgraded powermacs will ship in 2 months.
Having said that, i am really one of those guys that is waiting for a G5 imac. The way i picture it is:
XServe: G5 - 512kb - 2 Ghz
PMac: G5 - 1mb -2Ghz - 2.4Ghz
I think that when the 2.6 Ghz Pmac is released the G5 iMac will be launched. (june?)
PMac: G5 - 1mb - 2.6Ghz
iMac: G5 - 512kb - 2Ghz
See how i differentiate in cache and Ghz.
Well, I prefer to think of it this way.... Even if the new G5's were ready, it would have been (IMO) a bad move to announce them because it would have taken the spot-light off of the G5 servers, the iPod mini, the new iLife apps, etc. (though I'm aware some people could care less about these things).
Additionally, announcing too many products at one time can (may) confuse or overwhelm some people, which might lead some to forget about the other products. It's about focus.
Without new G5 PowerMac's, people will discuss/talk about the other products instead. Also, holding off on some product launches/announcements until later helps to keep Apple in the spot-light/public conscious as there will be products to talk about/get exicted about later in the year. Basically, if everything was released now, then there won't be any other products to announce later in the year. No new products = (many?) people forgetting about Apple until next year or whenever new products are announced.
Re: Next step PowerPC 980
This is quite possible. While the PPC970 is reasonably efficient per clock cycle, it definitely has room for improvement. For example, while the PPC970 shares clock speed and process parity with the AMD64 processors, processors like the Opteron are significantly more efficient on a clock for clock basis than the PPC970 for anything that isn't DSP-like (i.e. most everything).
AMD and IBM have active technology sharing arrangements, and this will create something akin to technology convergence over the long run, which is good for both architectures.
This is quite possible. While the PPC970 is reasonably efficient per clock cycle, it definitely has room for improvement. For example, while the PPC970 shares clock speed and process parity with the AMD64 processors, processors like the Opteron are significantly more efficient on a clock for clock basis than the PPC970 for anything that isn't DSP-like (i.e. most everything).
AMD and IBM have active technology sharing arrangements, and this will create something akin to technology convergence over the long run, which is good for both architectures.
If these really are 90nm chips and not some typo, then they sure are a dissapointment. Still 2.0ghz, still 512k L2, apparently no architecture improvements (because the transistor count didn't noticably change). Does IBM plan on making a 90nm G5 with a meaningfully-sized L2, and if so, why didn't Apple use it in their servers?
Re: 90nm PowerPCs Arrive
90 NANO is nice and all but it is rather disappointing that nothing more was apparently done to improve the processor. Obviouslly more details will follow and I do have more reading to do, but this looks like nothing more than a process shrink. Maybe Apple just waiting for IBM to officially launch some of what we suspected was to be in this rev of the 970. I did not see any references to Power Tune or any other suspected improvement in the 970.
This leads me to suspect that a Power Tune processor may still be off in the wings. I'm also bothered by what appears to be Apple and IBM taking the easy way out and doing nothing more than a process shrink. As one goes up in frequency the size fo the L2 cache becomes more important. I was really expecting an improved L2 cache especially if this is the processor to move us to 3GHz. As good as the Eleastic bus is, it will not make up for the slower rate of performance increases seen in main memory.
Over all I'm glad to see 90 NANO on the market but not to happy that we as the users are not benefitting in a bigger way.
Thanks
Dave
P.S.
The new XServe implementation is rather interesting but does seem to have lost some flexibility. What mainly bothers me is the missing AGP slot. It does not appear that this machine will be as flexible as the old XServe when attempting to implement solutions other that the traditional server. On the other hand it is a machine optimally optimized for server duty.
DAve
90 NANO is nice and all but it is rather disappointing that nothing more was apparently done to improve the processor. Obviouslly more details will follow and I do have more reading to do, but this looks like nothing more than a process shrink. Maybe Apple just waiting for IBM to officially launch some of what we suspected was to be in this rev of the 970. I did not see any references to Power Tune or any other suspected improvement in the 970.
This leads me to suspect that a Power Tune processor may still be off in the wings. I'm also bothered by what appears to be Apple and IBM taking the easy way out and doing nothing more than a process shrink. As one goes up in frequency the size fo the L2 cache becomes more important. I was really expecting an improved L2 cache especially if this is the processor to move us to 3GHz. As good as the Eleastic bus is, it will not make up for the slower rate of performance increases seen in main memory.
Over all I'm glad to see 90 NANO on the market but not to happy that we as the users are not benefitting in a bigger way.
Thanks
Dave
P.S.
The new XServe implementation is rather interesting but does seem to have lost some flexibility. What mainly bothers me is the missing AGP slot. It does not appear that this machine will be as flexible as the old XServe when attempting to implement solutions other that the traditional server. On the other hand it is a machine optimally optimized for server duty.
DAve
Thanks for keeping in mind that Apple has moved away from releasing a ton of new products at MacWorld - the new G5s will come in the next month or so.
Remember LAST YEAR??? Every friggin Tuesday there was something new.
Remember LAST YEAR??? Every friggin Tuesday there was something new.
I would suspect that quite a few people who aren't musicians, but who do make short home movies would use GarageBand to make some custom music for those movies. Right now, Apple sells SoundTrack for this purpose. GarageBand allows a non-musician to create music and allows a musician to have their own recording studio. This app will sell a ton of Macs and be used by a lot more people than you expect.
As for PowerMac G5 upgrades, the speculation of January 24th makes some sense. No reason to announce speed bumps until they CPUs are closer to ready.
Ahh, 'tis a pleasure reading something from someone who "gets it". I'm inspired by this, too.
And seeing GarageBand reminded me of Jaron Lanier's "... musical instruments being the musical instruments are the only good user interfaces that have ever been designed" comment in The Future of Virtual Reality: Part Two of a Conversation with Jaron Lanier.
Enjoy!
Actually, I use about half of the current iLife suite, and I'd get more use from GarageBand than I would from iMovie and iDVD. I don't burn DVD movies on my machine, since I don't have a camcorder that would make doung that worthwhile. Hell, I use Apple everything when given a choice. I use mail, Safari, iTunes, AppleWorks, iPhoto, and so on...
Because iLife has been selling at something like $49 for a while now, because of iDVD? Did you complain like this when they added that feature, too?
Originally posted by carletonmusic
Thanks for keeping in mind that Apple has moved away from releasing a ton of new products at MacWorld - the new G5s will come in the next month or so.
Remember LAST YEAR??? Every friggin Tuesday there was something new.
Macworld is a very big deal in the realm of mac users, but not so big a forum for the rest of the world. Let me see, if I was Steve and wanted to make the biggest splash for a new equivalent of the mac of 20 years ago, where would I announce it? Same damn place as they did 20 years ago - in front of the largest viewing audience available! I betting on a 90nm G5 iMac, at least, to be announce during the Superbowl. Along with all those Pepsi iTunes ads this going to be a very mac kind of end to the football season.
I think garage band will be a huge hit.
Do you guys listen to the radio? With half of that music out there, I know most of you can do a bettter job and come up with a better song. Garage Band will give you your chance. And if there is a way to mix with it, all the aspiring djs will have an easy option too!
Do you guys listen to the radio? With half of that music out there, I know most of you can do a bettter job and come up with a better song. Garage Band will give you your chance. And if there is a way to mix with it, all the aspiring djs will have an easy option too!
Re: Steve wanted to refocus attention on GOOD things
That was 1100 machines out of half a million. That was vastly overrated. There were very few real delays in shipping, they just gave conservative ship dates in case something slipped. People were just anxious because of the multi-month gap between announcement and ship date so they kind of went crazy. Hey, I would too if I was waiting for the Power Mac G5!
Yeah, I have one of those. Guess what? It's fine. I have white spots, but I don't care. I could get them fixed, but they aren't a big deal to me. It wasn't a fiasco.
You know, that's hilarious. Before iMovie, no one wanted to their home videos on the computer and burn them to DVD. It was a crazy idea until it was easy enough for mere mortals. Making music (especially for said home videos) is gonna be the same.
New Powerbooks on Tuesday.
That was 1100 machines out of half a million. That was vastly overrated. There were very few real delays in shipping, they just gave conservative ship dates in case something slipped. People were just anxious because of the multi-month gap between announcement and ship date so they kind of went crazy. Hey, I would too if I was waiting for the Power Mac G5!
Originally posted by CalfCanuck
And what about the Powerbook 15" screen.
Yeah, I have one of those. Guess what? It's fine. I have white spots, but I don't care. I could get them fixed, but they aren't a big deal to me. It wasn't a fiasco.
You know, that's hilarious. Before iMovie, no one wanted to their home videos on the computer and burn them to DVD. It was a crazy idea until it was easy enough for mere mortals. Making music (especially for said home videos) is gonna be the same.
New Powerbooks on Tuesday.
During the Superbowl
1st half- New Macintosh
halftime - G5 powerbook
2nd half - New G5 Powermac
1st half- New Macintosh
halftime - G5 powerbook
2nd half - New G5 Powermac