Apple Releases New PowerMacs

[iGary]

November 2003
Dual 1.8ghz processor G5. Maximum memory = 8 GB
Standard memory = 512 MB
Standard hard drive = 160 GB

June 2004
Dual 1.8ghz processor G5. Maximum memory = 4 GB
Standard memory = 256 MB
Standard hard drive = 80 GB

I don't need, nor can I afford 8 gigs of RAM - neither do most people this machine is aimed at.

The HDD can be upped to 160 for a measley 100.00

Most are going to be adding in RAM from a second party anyway...

With an educational discount, this machine weighs in at $1799.00 - enough to make me bite - and more machine than I will need for a few years to come.

 

[voodoo007]

Are the new chips used in the 2.5? or is it just the old chips overclocked?

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Heart of the problem is the video, now does anyone really think imac will get a better video system then powermac? heck no we know Apple better then that so that means we will see more FX5200 garbage in Imac no matter what else they do to it. Very sorry video choices. How many billions does apple have in the bank? LAME as can be. Im about to jump off this sinking ship,damn the viruses,worms or what have you the otherside is running away from this greedy company. Greed will give them the 1% marketshare they are craving. In fact i think i have made my choice Aurora with a AMD64 3400 mated to a Ati X800. screw Apple. Bring on Far Cry,Doom3 and yes Half life2. you guys take care.

 

[jsw]

But the fact that Apple didn't build in WiFi and Bluetooth (like on even the cheapest of PBs) is really annoying....

As a prosumer who works at home, I agree - I'd like to be able to buy a Mac at the brick-and-mortar Apple Store and have this stuff built in.

However - and forgive me if I've somehow missed a previous post with this point amongst the hundreds here - it is not necessarily a good idea to build in wireless access (WiFi or BT) into machines that might go into a corporate environment. Laptops can generally assume wireless connectivity as a plus, but not all places want to buy a desktop with wireless built into it. Not yet, at least. And the upgrades are pretty cheap.

 

[DWKlink]

You're looking at it in the wrong terms. The absolute comparison factor is money. What could I get for my money then vs what can I get for my money now.

Only a fool would point out that a system is now $500 cheaper but is "downgraded" because one component costing $50 has been removed while another (Superdrive) has been upgrade.

Excellent point. And for that $50 you actually get a better card than the original - it was only a 64mb 9600 and the new 9600xt is 128mb.

 

[LaMerVipere]

You seem to be assuming that the picture is of the dual 2.5GHz system. How do you know that? The pictures on Apple's site could just be for the dual 1.8/2.0 GHz systems.

In any case, if these are pictures of the 2.5GHz system then it pretty much PROVES that the images posted on AppleInsider were completely fake (different motherboard, different layout of the USB/Firewire cable, etc.). Frankly, that would not bother me, since I seemed to be one of the very few who provided reasoned arguments as to why the pictures published on AI should not be trusted. However, I'm not yet ready to claim final "victory" in that debate. I'm waiting until we see images that are verified to be from the water-cooled, 2.5GHz system. Perhaps those will resemble the images posted on AI.

I think it's safe to assume that the photo apple would be using to publicize the new PMs would be of the higher end model, Dual 2.5. Also the press photo only has 2 fans, which would make sense if it was a photo of the new dual 2.5, since it wouldn't require the 8 which the other models probably do on account of the fact that they aren't liquid cooled

 

[jimbo999]

i was at best buy yesterday, they had dvd-dl+r discs on the shelves. You had to buy then in multipacs with 6 single layer discs, but they were there.

Don't know if this has been pointed out anywhere, but while dvd+r dual layer discs are available, dvd-r dl discs are not. The DVD Forum has not yet finished with the specs. Thus, since Apple is committed to dvd-r, dual layer burning is NOT yet available.

 

[iPC]

what it should be

dual 2.5
1gb ram
current dvd burner is good (dual layer capable would be nice)
built in bluetooth

offer a nice discount on the new version of office, and 300$ off for smaller sized LCD's.

*shrug*

 

[videogame_junky]

pro vs. XT

The 9600XT not the same old 9600pro the old macs had. Yes they are no r800 but there is more than just an extra 64mb of video memory. The 9600XT are great cards that will play half-life 2 and most likely doom 3 when they come out on the PC (I don't know about mac releases of those games).

VGJ

 

[Trekkie]

The thing that kills me is that even if you can be happy with the Radeon 9800XT, it eats up an extra PCI slot due to the size.

"Special note on the ATI Radeon 9800 XT: due to size of this advanced graphics card, the adjacent PCI or PCI-X slot will be blocked and cannot be used. This reduces the number of available PCI or PCI-X slots from three to two."

I have a G4 800 right now and it's bad enough for me that I would be going from 4 slots down to 3. Going down to 2 is out of the question as I'm already using all of them.

Just curious but what are you using 4 pci slots for?

 

[MrSugar]

Judging from the posts and threads that have appeared in the past 6 months on Macrumors, it seems to me that a lot of people got a huge wake-up call this morning/afternoon. Sure, SJ said 3.0 GHz within a year, BUT things happen; we just have to be adults about it, no need to whine: 3.0 will come eventually.

As for the "sweet spot", it's become a little difficult to decide. Hmm...:

• Dual 1.8 $1,999 ($1,799 Educational discount)
• Dual 2.0 $2,499 ($2,299 Educational discount)

2 x 1.8 GHz max. RAM = 4 GB + Std. 80 GB HD (<80 than first iteration)
2 x 2.0 GHz max. RAM = 8 GB + Std 160 GB HD (same as first iteration)

If we order a custom-ordered a Dual 1.8 adding:

• Upgrade to 1 GB of RAM ($202)
• Upgrade to 160 GB HD ($90)
• Subtract 56K modem (-$26)
• Possibility of upgrading vid. card to ATI 9600 ($+45)

Total price should be, AFTER educational discount $2,110.

S W E E T !

Weeee, this is exactly what I did !

 

[fpnc]

...Also the press photo only has 2 fans, which would make sense if it was a photo of the new dual 2.5, since it wouldn't require the 8 which the other models probably do on account of the fact that they aren't liquid cooled

Now you're really making assumptions and misleading statements. The original dual-G5 Power Mac had seven slow-speed fans (nine total), but only four were used to cool the processors. In the new pictures you can only see two of those original four. However, the remaining two could be covered by the new, larger, G5-labeled, processor enclosure.

In any case, I don't see the need for further posts on this subject. Since, at this time we don't really know for certain what the internals of each machine will look like. The only thing we do know is that at least one of the new machines will resemble what has been posted on Apple's site.

 

[ingenious]

Are the new chips used in the 2.5? or is it just the old chips overclocked?

It's a new chip (970fx) on the 2.5 GHz. This new chip is on the 90nm process.

 

[ratspg]

thats what im saying

thats what im saying, its 1999 now for the OLD 1.8 dual g5 at the local apple store.

this is why someone (like me) would buy a new dual 1.8ghz G5

well, it IS $500 less now.
bumping it up to 160gb ($100) amd 512mb ($75) (even with apple's bloated ram prices)
would cost only another $175 total. Or heck, for the same price of upgrading to 160GB, you could buy a new Maxtor SATA 160GB for $91 to give you 200GB total. 4GB of ram is plenty for me, and since the G5's have digital s/pdif optical audio output, i have no need for a PCI-X slot (or pci for that matter). and as you mentioned twice as fast SuperDrive.

that said, i am kinda disappointed in these upgrades, my hopes were higher. and if i had to choose between the old 1.8 dual G5 (that was $1999 Refurbished, yesterday). and this new one, i would obviously go with the refurbished older model. On the other hand, in a month or two, i expect to see the current model on apple's refurbished page for $1599.

 

[invaLPsion]

Huh? If you say a 50% increase in a year, and you deliver 25%, that by definition is underdelivering.

But, in context of what other companies have been doing, this is not undelivering.

 

[invaLPsion]

Heart of the problem is the video, now does anyone really think imac will get a better video system then powermac? heck no we know Apple better then that so that means we will see more FX5200 garbage in Imac no matter what else they do to it. Very sorry video choices. How many billions does apple have in the bank? LAME as can be. Im about to jump off this sinking ship,damn the viruses,worms or what have you the otherside is running away from this greedy company. Greed will give them the 1% marketshare they are craving. In fact i think i have made my choice Aurora with a AMD64 3400 mated to a Ati X800. screw Apple. Bring on Far Cry,Doom3 and yes Half life2. you guys take care.

Don't get an Alienware. Look at Falcon Northwest, first and look into building your own. It is much cheaper and you have a much wider selection.

I'd still wait to see what video cards will be used in the iMacs. I wouldn't put it past Apple to have a Radeon 9800 with 128mb of vram in the top of the line. They might do this because they know that the card is non-upgradeable (or will it be in the new iMacs?????????)

Wait till WWDC, DHM. You've made it this far...

 

[rog]

But, in context of what other companies have been doing, this is not undelivering.

OMG! This isn't rocket science. If I say "Next week I will bring you 3 cases of beer" then I show up in a week with 1.5 cases, I have underdelivered. It doesn't matter what anyone else on the planet said about bringing beer to someone else. They underdelivered. End of story.

 

[Soire]

Hey, anybody notice...

You can now buy the bluetooth adaptor, the wireless keyboard, and the wireless mouse- all three- for only $100.

Got that? the bluetooth adaptor alone is $50 normally. You get all that for $100. I call that a good deal.... even though I'm sure we all were expecting more...


...now when are those displays coming out... ThinkSecret?

 

[Multimedia]

I Think They Are Dumping Remaining Old Inventory Below The Top

2.5 looks fast, especially with that 1.25GHz Frontside bus...

The only not so cool bit is the gap between 2 and 2.5, I would've thought they might have gone for a 2GHz, 2.2Ghz and 2.5GHz...

Either way... looking forward to the benchmark results.

I Think They Are Dumping Remaining Old Inventory Below The Top. My guess is the slower models are the old 130 nm systems. I can't find anywhere that it says 1.8 and 2.0 are 90 nm. So Apple may be accumulating faster speed 90 nm processor inventory not for sale now. The press release is noticeably missing any reference to the 90 nm process. Anyone know about this aspect?

I'm going to go for a water cooled dual 2.5 after the WWDC. They do not ship until next month.

 

[xDANx]

...ten foot pole...

I think everyone who wanted a powermac better come up with another $500-$1000, because I don't see how you could justify purchasing anything but the dual 2.5GHz model.

i wouldn't touch the dual 2.5 myself...if it's the best Apple can do and requires liquid cooling even though the 90 nm is supposed to produce less heat, than it's a good bet that they're having trouble ramping up the frequency. the 2.5 Ghz G5 seems like a giant experiment to me and i wouldn't be surprised to see lots and lots of service issues.

to me, the best option of the these new offerings seems to be the dual 2.0 Ghz with a BTO ATI 9600 graphics card.

 

[e-coli]

Wow...Apple's stock took a dive.

 

[iriejedi]

2 month wait

There may be issues but looks like they have 2 months to fix them.... Aug 4th delivery date for the 2.5 gig machine! But I bet the delays were to make sure there WOULD BE NO problems. That is why we saw no speed bumps in Jan, March or May!

Worse case senario they fix it three time - I invoke lemon law and get a new 3gig for free!


Either way I'm stoked to upgrade my b/w G3 (w/ G4 550 card in it)

i wouldn't touch the dual 2.5 myself...if it's the best Apple can do and requires liquid cooling even though the 90 nm is supposed to produce less heat, than it's a good bet that they're having trouble ramping up the frequency. the 2.5 Ghz G5 seems like a giant experiment to me and i wouldn't be surprised to see lots and lots of service issues.

to me, the best option of the these new offerings seems to be the dual 2.0 Ghz with a BTO ATI 9600 graphics card.

 

[iriejedi]

liquid cooling

i wouldn't touch the dual 2.5 myself...if it's the best Apple can do and requires liquid cooling

I thought this was all the rage in the PC world.... after all they have used it in cars for "a few weeks" now - and that seems to work there.....

At the educational price it was so worth the risk!

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Don't get an Alienware. Look at Falcon Northwest, first and look into building your own. It is much cheaper and you have a much wider selection.

I'd still wait to see what video cards will be used in the iMacs. I wouldn't put it past Apple to have a Radeon 9800 with 128mb of vram in the top of the line. They might do this because they know that the card is non-upgradeable (or will it be in the new iMacs?????????)

Wait till WWDC, DHM. You've made it this far...

Thats what my wife is saying, should wait to see how they cripple the new Imac. I was going to order today but i guess she and you are right. History shows Apple will cripple Imac and that Imac never has a better video system then Powermac. Right now though im planning on a silver Aurora with AMDs 64 3400 with hyperthreading and has a 1600 mhz bus! mate a X800(256) to this and its going to be awesome. comes with 512 ram standard. Many have said it but Powermacs video and memory are pathetic in this day and age but i guess someone has to pay for Steve's millions and his Jet he flys around in. It aint going to be me unless he release a much better Imac. New powermacs after a year are a dissappointment. Could he surprise us by making Imac something better? I wonder

 

[Multimedia]

How Do You Know 970fx Is In Dual 2.5 GHz G5?

It's a new chip (970fx) on the 2.5 GHz. This new chip is on the 90nm process.

And how do you know this please? I can't find any documentation on which processors are used in each model. Thank you for your clarification through documentation with URL link please.