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Apple Drops Single Processor 1.8 Ghz G5

WTF is Apple doing?

Apple's lowest priced desktop is 2,000 ??? Way to go Apple that will sell'em!!!! The dual should start at less than 1,200 easily afterall a G5 processor cost less than 10 bucks each. No wonder Apple is slipping.
 
Besides

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


Besides, I'd be willing to bet money that a hack like that probably voids the warranty, since it would cause the VC to heat up more than a single or mirrored view. We've all heard about melting iMacs. I wonder how many of those used this non-authorized HACK.
 
CalfCanuck said:
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!).
Click to expand...

Can you have one of Apple cinema displays with the Imac using this spanning script? I thought only crt's are able to be use. Apple DVI connector might be a problem. please let me know.
 
gugy said:
Can you have one of Apple cinema displays with the Imac using this spanning script? I thought only crt's are able to be use. Apple DVI connector might be a problem. please let me know.
Click to expand...
There's a long thread running on about using different monitors attached to the iMac - here's a page with some info, but you might wander around for other info:

http://forum.macparts.de/viewtopic....start=45&sid=dfbc2a12a0d52eb18d2972e9a7abb76f

The only downside is that the iMac has a VGA output (for mirroring or otherwise), rather than a DVI.
 
fluidinclusion said:
Besides, I'd be willing to bet money that a hack like that probably voids the warranty, since it would cause the VC to heat up more than a single or mirrored view. We've all heard about melting iMacs. I wonder how many of those used this non-authorized HACK.
Click to expand...
???

Don't you think playing a DVD on an iMac for two hours would "heat up" the CPU more than running two monitors? Do you honestly think Apple would put a GPU into a unit that would melt it if it was used?
 
fluidinclusion said:
This is not a patch. It's a hack. I shouldn't have to hack the OS to get basic functionality!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
But is it the "patch" that's the hack, merely by restoring the built in ability of the OS and the hardware?

Or is it Apple that did the "hack" by DISABLING the built in capabilities merely so the iMac wouldn't compete with their weak "Pro" lineup?

Dual-monitor support is BUILT INTO the system - it has been that way for ages (OS 7.5??). Apple set merely set a variable in Open Firmware to limit the external screen to mirroring. All the patch does is to "restore" the system to it's built in capabilities.
 
CalfCanuck said:
Just be aware that VGA-DVI adaptors are expensive - it might make more sense to buy a PowerMac in this situation.
Click to expand...

right, that's what i am figuring out. I think I'll get an Imac and use with my old 21" crt for now. then pass the imac to my son.
Thanks anyway!
:)
 
Maybe with the slowing of the current PPC roadmap Apple want to make a clearer definition between the pro and consumer lines. All dual processors in the pro line make it possible for Apple to use faster G5's in the iMac without blurring the gap as much. Meaning they can provide affordable consumer iMacs more closely matching the speed of equivalent consumer PC's without cannibalising Powermac sales too much.
 
Why else?

CalfCanuck said:
???

Don't you think playing a DVD on an iMac for two hours would "heat up" the CPU more than running two monitors? Do you honestly think Apple would put a GPU into a unit that would melt it if it was used?
Click to expand...

Why else did the iMacs melt? my Powerbook's videocard is the hottest part of the machine. The processor is next and then the HD. Maybe the battery gets hotter, but that's not the issue in an iMac.
 
I disagree.

CalfCanuck said:
But is it the "patch" that's the hack, merely by restoring the built in ability of the OS and the hardware?

Or is it Apple that did the "hack" by DISABLING the built in capabilities merely so the iMac wouldn't compete with their weak "Pro" lineup?

Dual-monitor support is BUILT INTO the system - it has been that way for ages (OS 7.5??). Apple set merely set a variable in Open Firmware to limit the external screen to mirroring. All the patch does is to "restore" the system to it's built in capabilities.
Click to expand...


Apple's design is not a hack. It's a design to allow the OS certain abilities on the hardware. They did it for one or more reason - by design. The hack you all mentioned would be enabling features that were disabled BY DESIGN. That's a hack. I think their reason for disabling it in the iMac is for heat issues. I'd like to hope they don't just cripple machines to make you pay an extra $1000 to use a second monitor.

That would be downright SLEAZY. No other OS manufacturer or hardware manufacturer does this to my knowledge, not even MS.
 
r u sure?

fluidinclusion said:
Why else did the iMacs melt? my Powerbook's videocard is the hottest part of the machine. The processor is next and then the HD. Maybe the battery gets hotter, but that's not the issue in an iMac.
Click to expand...

I've found the bottom side of the power supply is the hottest on my PowerBook according to the Temperature Monitor application. The G5 on the other hand is a toaster oven! :D


aussie_geek
 
fluidinclusion said:
Why else did the iMacs melt? my Powerbook's videocard is the hottest part of the machine. The processor is next and then the HD. Maybe the battery gets hotter, but that's not the issue in an iMac.
Click to expand...
And why haven't they put a G5 in a PB? Because everyone admits that the G5 processor generates HUGE amounts of heat. SO to blame monitor spanning for this is a bit rich ...

And even if there is a hot GPU contributing to the problems, that's a design issue with the iMac in general, not due to screen spanning in particular.

The problem with causality is sorting out the random noise. There will be some iMacs that are barely used, which "melt down" with minimum hours, while there will be others used 18 hours a day for years and have no problems. So the larger issue, which neither of us has data for, involves the "frequency" of iMac problems compared to other system GPU's.

Now I'm not saying that the iMac has no thermal problems - but instead questioning whether they are in fact MORE frequent than other, similar type enclosures (i.e. laptops ...), and secondly whether screen spanning would add that much heat to the system.

Apple allows iMac users to set their CPU's to "Maximum" - in other words to allow the user to keep the hot CPU at max rpm's - yet don;t you think that would contribute a lot more heat to the enclosure?

If in fact the basic design is flawed with regard to thermal issues, then running or not running two screens is the least of Apple's worries.
 
fluidinclusion said:
That would be downright SLEAZY. No other OS manufacturer or hardware manufacturer does this to my knowledge, not even MS.
Click to expand...
You said it yourself ...

As much as I like Apple, don't forget a few years ago they used to charge us all an extra $100 for a keyboard! To me that's like Ford charging extra for tires.

(I just remembered that the mini is BYO keyboard - but that's a cheap system, not a top of the line one like their old systems w/o keyboards.)
 
I guess the single cpu powermacs weren't selling. Otherwise it may have got the same update the iMac just did.
 
With the single 1.8ghz Powermac out of the way, you could quite happily slap a 2.7ghz G5 in an iMac and it still wouldn't touch the entry level Dual 2ghz Powermac for speed.

...well after solving any possible iMac meltdown problems with such a hot processor. :eek:
 
Thank God! The SP powermac was a horrible deal next to the others in the line. After the imac updates, users looking for an upgradable mac would still be hard pressed to buy a computer with the same specs for 200 bucks more and without a built in monitor.

As for that dual monitor hack, I seriously doubt any harm to the gpu would come of using it. The powerbooks have long supported dual monitors without heat issues, and I bet the current ibooks would thus not have a problem with heat using the hack. Also, the emac's new 9600 card (same as in the discontinued SP powermac) presents an opportunity for a dual monitor system on the cheap. Apple most certainly cripples the low end systems' features to get users to move up the product ladder and has been doing so for a long, long time.
 
macgruff said:
With the single 1.8ghz Powermac out of the way, you could quite happily slap a 2.7ghz G5 in an iMac and it still wouldn't touch the entry level Dual 2ghz Powermac for speed.

...well after solving any possible iMac meltdown problems with such a hot processor. :eek:
Click to expand...
So you're saying that the iMac is a bad deal? But the data doesn't agreee with you, esp. as most apps aren't dual processor aware...

Barefeats:
"CONCLUSION
The iMac G5 is as much as 93% faster than the iMac G4 running iLife apps and as much as 37% faster running pro apps.

It is not just faster and slimmer than its predecessor. It's a great value. The 17" G5/1.8GHz iMac costs $1096 less* than the 17" PowerBook G4/1.5GHz. The 20" G5/1.8GHz iMac costs $1499 less* than the G5/1.8GHz dual processor Power Mac with a 20" Cinema display."

http://www.barefeats.com/imacg5.html
 
fluidinclusion said:
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.
Click to expand...

Just get two iMacs! :p
 
CalfCanuck said:
So you're saying that the iMac is a bad deal? But the data doesn't agreee with you, esp. as most apps aren't dual processor aware...

Barefeats:
"CONCLUSION
The iMac G5 is as much as 93% faster than the iMac G4 running iLife apps and as much as 37% faster running pro apps.

It is not just faster and slimmer than its predecessor. It's a great value. The 17" G5/1.8GHz iMac costs $1096 less* than the 17" PowerBook G4/1.5GHz. The 20" G5/1.8GHz iMac costs $1499 less* than the G5/1.8GHz dual processor Power Mac with a 20" Cinema display."

http://www.barefeats.com/imacg5.html
Click to expand...


Not at all, its a great deal! - I have one of the new 2ghz 20" iMacs myself and love it!

But for the pro apps that pro users need, a Dual PowerMac will still beat it as those progs are dual aware. So Apple can continue to upgrade the iMac without overlapping the Powermac range in performance even though speed bumps in the G5 processor itself are slowing. Up until now the processor speed of the iMac has had to be kept below the processor speed of the low end single PowerMac, now with them all dual they are free to move up to 2.7 and more over the next year or so.

hmmm, having re-read my post though I see why you think I was dissing the iMac, I wasn't, it was an extension of my earlier post - my bad choice of language.
 
I'm really getting tired of the "wait until Intel" comments. You guys do realize that there are people out there that HAVE to buy a computer right now, or in the near future, and don't have the time to wait for a Mactel. I'm personally going to college in the fall and I certainly need the best that I can get now. So I'm going with a 15" PowerBook... G4 and all, I love it. Hell, I've seen the thing run faster than a 1.8 GHz iMac, both with 512MB of RAM. There really isn't much reason for people to stop buying Apples right now. The support will be there for many years to come.
 
imac spanning

I have to chime in here on the one man imac/ibook spanning debate. Sleazy or stupid, the hardware is capable and it is disabled. It sounds like it is convincing you to buy something more expensive. You do have a one year warranty and can always buy an extended warranty. And how is anyone going to know if you void it since Apple is just going to send you the parts to do the repair yourself. Did I fry the midplane or did the midplane fry itself? The new revs are working fine with spanning enabled. I also have an ibook with spanning which has yet to fry itself and have not read any reports. I'm not even really sure why I am entertaining these posts except to say that you are getting overexcited; maybe you can just go buy a discontinued powermac with the same processor for more money and then you can buy two monitors instead of only one. I heart hackers.
 
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