Apple Drops Single Processor 1.8 Ghz G5

[Alasta]

The eMac uses the 1.42 GHZ G4 already , so why risk supply problems using the same chip ? The Powerbook will probably be speedbumped to a 1.8 GHZ G4 by October. Not everyone can afford to buy a Powerbook , so I would expect a smaller volume of Powerbook sales compared to the rest of the Apple productline. If the iBook and lowend Mac Mini were speedbumped to 1.5 GHZ G4's in July , I suspect that Apple could immediately switch making Powerbooks with 1.67 and 1.8 GHZ G4's.

I imagine they're waiting until they can put the Freescale 7448 in the Powerbook, at which point the iBook will be updated to take on the specs of the current model of Powerbook.

The timing of the next iBook update depends largely on when Apple thinks they are likely to be able to release the first Intel notebooks. If they're a year away, and they only intend to release one PPC upgrade between now and then, then they could probably squeeze another couple of months out of the existing iBook and Powerbook models. We'll see.

 

[Plymouthbreezer]

Yes, I strongly agree. I'm going out tomorrow to buy a PC and a copy of Mac OS X for Intel.

Yes, because that will work.

 

[b-randomly]

Compare between a $500 PC with monitor versus a $2000 Apple desktop without monitor. A PC is defintely a much better bargain here .

Did you really just say that? Maybe it looks like a good deal, but there are many reasons why you'll see back the value from the $2000 Apple desktop. Not that we should start a flame war every time this gets brought up, or anything.

 

[wol]

iMac and dual monitors

The only problem with buying the iMac is that you can't do DUAL monitors (except mirroring). This is the one and only thing I HATE about iMacs. I'm still considering one for the next month, but I'd go with a real desktop computer, if my wife didn't want the iMac so much. It's really to bad Apple does this.

Well, actually, you can...

http://www.heise.de/ct/05/13/links/202.shtml

(Heise/c't softlink 0513202)

Sorry, page is in German - the tool is called iMacG5ScreenEnhancer
and according the article in c't 13/05, p. 204-205, it patches OpenFirmware.

Anyone here with experience in running the patch?

 

[tex210]

Hey, I'm an Apple fan (have and do own several Macs) and all, but people have to realize something about Mac sales and Amazon.com. People buy Macs from amazon for 2 reasons:

1. They do have good deals.

2. IMHO people want to support them because they are a nationwide retailer that sells Macs. Once they put up their "TOP 10", people want to keep it that way. That's probably why Macs are on top at Amazon. It's not the case at other retailers (online or brick & mortar).

The "top 10" best sellers is the reason a disproportionate percentage of Macs are sold through Amazon.com.

Fluidinclusion.... I'm sorry, but that is just ridiculous. Apple keeps the prices from retailer to retailer within the same range.
second.... Amazon is huge. The notion that Apple fanatics are swarming to Amazon in order to keep Apple on top is pretty far fetched. Even if that were somehow true, how could such a small user base affect something so large. Your assumption requires that the majority of people buying desktops and laptops on Amazon are current Mac users. Perhaps the fact that "It's not the case at other retailers" says something about the volume of buisiness that Amazon enjoys. Personally, I buy at Apple.com or my local CompUSA, so I didn't personally help inflate their statistics.
I apologize for veering so far off topic, but this running to the p.c. thing is just knotting up my shorts. The transition hasn't even started for the consumer yet. PPC may not be good enough for Apple's future roadmap, but it's certainly good enough for consumers and their applications now. Only those living on the edge feel constrained.

 

[Some_Big_Spoon]

Why buy a copy, when you can DL it for free ;-) :-D

Yes, I strongly agree. I'm going out tomorrow to buy a PC and a copy of Mac OS X for Intel.

 

[0098386]

still in the UK. wonder why its just the US store?

 

[sw1tcher]

Yes, because that will work.

Plymouthbreezer, meet sarcasm.
Sarcasm, meet Plymouthbreezer.

Originally Posted by dr_lha
Yes, I strongly agree. I'm going out tomorrow to buy a PC and a copy of Mac OS X for Intel.

 

[mr.steevo]

You can do dual monitors

The only problem with buying the iMac is that you can't do DUAL monitors (except mirroring). This is the one and only thing I HATE about iMacs. I'm still considering one for the next month, but I'd go with a real desktop computer, if my wife didn't want the iMac so much. It's really to bad Apple does this.

Hi fluidinclusion,

Hate no more.

If you can't read German or perfer to read English this would be a better link.

http://www.rutemoeller.com/mp/ibook/ibook_e.html

s.

 

[mashinhead]

big woop, after the intel announcement who would buy a mac anymore anyway. they're now selling all old processors. Just wait a year.

 

[jicon]

Still waiting for a DVI fix for the mini. Maybe the delay in shipping will mean that they are finally addressing the issue... (It's been a looooonnnnggg five months stuck on VGA)

 

[Belly-laughs]

big woop, after the intel announcement who would buy a mac anymore anyway. they're now selling all old processors. Just wait a year.

…you may be right in a year, not any sooner.

 

[boma]

big woop, after the intel announcement who would buy a mac anymore anyway. they're now selling all old processors. Just wait a year.

If you wait a year a one year old processor is old. That's true. But wait a minute! Is'nt a one year old processor always old?

 

[CalfCanuck]

iMac G5 is a great bargain machine!

The only problem with buying the iMac is that you can't do DUAL monitors (except mirroring). This is the one and only thing I HATE about iMacs. I'm still considering one for the next month, but I'd go with a real desktop computer, if my wife didn't want the iMac so much. It's really to bad Apple does this.

I was going to send you to the german site that allows spanning, but mr.steevo (see link a couple of posts earlier) beat me to it.

I just bought a 17" iMac 1.8 GHz G5 ffrom amazon last week for $1150 (with rebate), which is the SWEET spot in the Mac lineup. Since the upgrade to the line, it has a good GPU, a 160 GB 7200 rpm drive, and can drive external monitors fine with the spanning script. And it comes with OS X 10.4, which is a $100 upgrade in itself. Throw in a gig of RAM from crucial, and you have a great machine (with a monitor) for under $1300.

Sure, you can get the 20 inch iMac, but the speed difference for the processor is minimal, and you can use that $500 you save to buy a nice external 20" to span with (and use on your 2007 intel Mac!).

 

[Xeem]

The only reasonable hope I have for the Mini right now is for a 64 meg Radeon 9600 to be released in the Rev Bs soon. The crappy 9200 is the only reason I haven't purchased a Mini yet, and the 9600 would be just barely scraping by in my opinion.

 

[iDrinkKoolAid]

Did you really just say that? Maybe it looks like a good deal, but there are many reasons why you'll see back the value from the $2000 Apple desktop. Not that we should start a flame war every time this gets brought up, or anything.

I think Apple should lower their prices a little bit though considering that some of their products are not speed competitive with their WinTel counterparts. When one can buy a DULL Dimension 2400 desktop with 17-inch LCD for $538 (U.S.), I don't think it's appealing to the average consumer comparing this with a 17-inch CRT eMac going for $799. Yes, I know to achieve parity with the eMac, one would have to buy Adobe Premiere Elements to match iMovie for example, but I have a feeling many consumers will discover the value in the Mac platform only after buying it first. To entice Joe Consumer initially, I think pricing should come down a little. A single-processor G5 may sell well at $999, or maybe even $1299.

As an aside, I have a feeling that iBooks and PowerBooks won't see a form-factor redesign until they go MacTel.

 

[andiwm2003]

I think Apple should lower their prices a little bit though considering that some of their products are not speed competitive with their WinTel counterparts. When one can buy a DULL Dimension 2400 desktop with 17-inch LCD for $538 (U.S.), I don't think it's appealing to the average consumer comparing this with a 17-inch CRT eMac going for $799. Yes, I know to achieve parity with the eMac, one would have to buy Adobe Premiere Elements to match iMovie for example, but I have a feeling many consumers will discover the value in the Mac platform only after buying it first. To entice Joe Consumer initially, I think pricing should come down a little. A single-processor G5 may sell well at $999, or maybe even $1299.

As an aside, I have a feeling that iBooks and PowerBooks won't see a form-factor redesign until they go MacTel.

i'm sure the apple marketing department is looking at the numbers right now and calculates how much the mac sales drop due to the intel switch.

once they accept that sales are going down anyway the pressure to maximize revenue isn't there anymore. they could then lower the prices for macs. the reduced revenue per machine would be offset by the increased sales. in the end the overall decrease in revenue would end up the same as through the intel switch alone. the huge benefit would be a increased market share.

but that of course would only work under the condition that apple writes this year off and uses it as a year to advertise the mac and that they value market share over revenue.
the other condition is of course that mac sales truly go down because of the switch.

i would still buy a iMac right now and many other people say they will buy macs as well. so i'm not too optimistic for a price drop.

andi

 

[eXan]

I personaly liked SP PowerMac, I wonder why they droped it. It still was a powerful machine and had a video card with ADC port

 

[7on]

According to Apple's Quicktime recommendation page:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/hdgallery/recommendations.html

The single 1.8G can't play a full HD/264 stream, which is possibly an embarassment for Apple, if they're aiming these machines at creative professionals working on this sort of media.

I think Apple are soon going to launch some sort of HD on demand service, and it'll be important to them that there's no confusion - 'ALL OUR POWERMACS PLAY FULL HD' or something like that...

I hope ATI and nVidia get .h264 hardware decoders in their GFX cards soon then all macs could run HD content regardless of G5 or G4.

Also people above were pointing out $500 PCs and whatnot, just remember - Mac GFX cards are around $100 (if not more) greater than PC GFX cards.

 

[Kobushi]

Maybe Apple has a limited supply of 1.8 G5's left after giving IBM the boot and they've finally found a way to stuff one into a powerbook or ibook. And maybe they'll release a single 2.0 G5 PB with it. And maybe... just maybe..... there were lots of lead paint chips in my breakfast this morning.

 

[jeffreyg]

Surely the iBook is due for some love?

Something has to be done with the iBook. I can't believe they are going to hold out for the Intel switch before we see new notebooks so it must be due at least one more PowerPC refresh, and about now at that.

I hope so anyway - I've a toshiba laptop to replace and I'm holding out for a new iBook to replace it as a second machine for pure mobile computing. I was hoping we'd see something similar to a Vaio T2 with 10.6" screen from Apple this year but it seems unlikely now.

With you here - the iBook (dual-USB), which I think over it's life has been one of Apple's best ever Macs, is really showing it's age now. I'm still using my original 500mhz model - which is limping along surprisingly well for a 4 year old laptop - it's even running Tiger!

But come on, time for a total redesign. Something slimmer, faster, and with a small 13 inch widescreen - or even as small as one of those Sony Vaio T2s.

I think I'm dreaming though, can't see much happening till this whole Intel changeover has happened. I'll just have to spring for a closeout G4 12 inch PowerBook.

 

[aussie_geek]

The single 1.8 was a terrible deal, lucky the ones didn't have time to get them.

It is better to get an iMac in such case as long you do not need from PCI ports.

Always remember, I was the one telling Apple was in troubles with the G5, the G5 is not such fast processor, is way overrated.

I agree. IMO, the 1.8Ghz is a bit of G5 eye candy. Now days it is an iMac in a G5 tower case. And seriously, any pro user would go for a dualie.

aussie_geek

 

[joeboy_45101]

I wonder if Apple is going to continue using the dual processor design or go for a more compact design utilizing just one dual-core processor. It's interesting to note that a Dual Processor Dual-Core AMD based machine totally blew away the currently fastest PowerMac G5 (dual 2.7Ghz). It doesn't totally surprise me since the AMD based machine has the equivalent of 4 processors. It also is necessary to mention that Apple hasn't announced any AMD machines, but it's still a glimpse of the potential future. I would personally prefer an AMD based machine and I hope they can stay ahead, in performance, of Intel well into the next two years and beyond. So, I will still be holding out for an AMD based Mac machine in the next two years.

 

[fluidinclusion]

NO!

Well, actually, you can...

http://www.heise.de/ct/05/13/links/202.shtml

(Heise/c't softlink 0513202)

Sorry, page is in German - the tool is called iMacG5ScreenEnhancer
and according the article in c't 13/05, p. 204-205, it patches OpenFirmware.

Anyone here with experience in running the patch?

This is not a patch. It's a hack. I shouldn't have to hack the OS to get basic functionality!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[EJBasile]

I think apple should make a PowerMac G5 2.0ghz (single processor) 512mb, 160gb, Superdrive for $1199 or lower.