I personally see the PBs getting updated, and the Mini getting an 8GB drive and the normal iPod an 80 GB drive.
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Dual-Core PowerMacs, New G4 PowerBook, and G5 Mini?
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Who knows?
At this point it is anybodys guess!
But my guess is that you probably are in a great position to just wait 2 more years when Intel hardware and x86 binary versions of most software is complete for the Pro line of Macs.
berkleeboy210 said:
At this point it is anybodys guess!
But my guess is that you probably are in a great position to just wait 2 more years when Intel hardware and x86 binary versions of most software is complete for the Pro line of Macs.
mrhoratio said:
Well, if you're smart, then you are going to wait until at least the Rev. B, if not Rev. C, Mactels. So if you can milk a G5 mac mini for $600, with a 17" LCD for $200 and KB/Mouse/speakers for ~$100, about $1000 all together, for about a year to two, and then use it as a secondary comp. for another 1-2 years, it can last for up to four years. You can buy a 2000$ PC that will blow the mini, G4 or G5, in the dust, but there's no way it will last 4 years, you will surely find the windows blue screen of death before then. So yeah, I could imagine buying one of the updates. Hell, I could could see myself buying that mini setup in G4, though G5 would be a way better deal.
if apple comes out with a new Mac mini...G5...
may people would be enraged, as the update came less that a month ago.
including me.
otherwise, bump up the powerbook, sure... but they are still unreliable at best. i think apple should concentrate on making quality products instead... like they used to.... once upon a time.
may people would be enraged, as the update came less that a month ago.
including me.
otherwise, bump up the powerbook, sure... but they are still unreliable at best. i think apple should concentrate on making quality products instead... like they used to.... once upon a time.
Huh?
Why would people be enraged? The last so-called update of the mac mini was merely a price discount. There was basically no change in hardware, just the price points for various configurations changed.
Also if the mac mini is updated to a G5, I'm sure the price will change as well.
Finally, people who get "enraged" over computer technology improvements are bound to suffer from prolonged high blood pressure and heart attacks because technology is basically "old" before it hits the general consumer market. Any normal person expects to be continually updating their consumer products on a regular basis or learn to be content with old tech.
Oops! Time to change my 8-track, it's repeating again.
As for the PowerBook being unreliable, I don't have a clue what you are referring to? The PowerBooks I have used are rock solid and very reliable.
Demon said:
Why would people be enraged? The last so-called update of the mac mini was merely a price discount. There was basically no change in hardware, just the price points for various configurations changed.
Also if the mac mini is updated to a G5, I'm sure the price will change as well.
Finally, people who get "enraged" over computer technology improvements are bound to suffer from prolonged high blood pressure and heart attacks because technology is basically "old" before it hits the general consumer market. Any normal person expects to be continually updating their consumer products on a regular basis or learn to be content with old tech.
Oops! Time to change my 8-track, it's repeating again.
As for the PowerBook being unreliable, I don't have a clue what you are referring to? The PowerBooks I have used are rock solid and very reliable.
1984 said:
This is by far the most intelligent post that I've seen regarding the possibility of a G5 mini. Sure, at first the concept doesn't seem to make sense but when you dig a little deeper it makes a lot of sense.
The mini update was nothing other than making standard the most common BTO configurations and accompanying them with a modest price drop. There were a zillion posts about the lack of upgrade to the GPU. The most typical explanation (excuse?) was that the mini is for Windows switchers who wouldn't know better. No one ever came up with a credible explanation as to why the eMac should get upgraded to a R9600 GPU (and the iBook to a R9550) while the mini was left as the only model that Apple makes stuck without support for Q2DE. The mini getting a "real" update in September would be the best explanation yet put forward for why the mini was left with the R9200.
As for the x86 Macs: Is it presumptuous to think that the transition will happen with the consumer machines across the board first? I ask because of two concerns. First, the Rosetta translation running at 80% of native came from a Transmeta person and may not at all be correct. Second, if it really is 80% then it may need something like 1 or 2GB of RAM to effectively run at that speed. Or it may need dual processors. Or both duals and mega RAM. Consumer machines aren't going to have that. PowerMacs and Xserves might.
I agree
a G5 mac mini could very well be in the works, i mean why not? it's been selling like hotcakes and it's not in the powerbook market, because if you need a fast apple portable youre not even looking at the mini so you have to go for the powerbook, even if it's a G4 ....and they ARE pretty fast... so a little G5 thats ultrahot is bearable for a mac mini, remember that the mini has the power supply outside the case and that it's pretty huge, plus it would take a lot of heat out of the machine... so they'd just need a good fan to keep the low power G5 at a moderate temperature... lookout for that brick power supply to be a fire hazard tho... hehe I can see the recalls coming ... I dont think the G5 powerbook will see the light of day... I'm sorry guys... I just don't see it coming... the transition has to be safe and smooth... with no burning powerbooks .... look for the updated powerbook soon, although I don't think it's going to be a 30mhz upgrade...
*hoping for a dual-core
a G5 mac mini could very well be in the works, i mean why not? it's been selling like hotcakes and it's not in the powerbook market, because if you need a fast apple portable youre not even looking at the mini so you have to go for the powerbook, even if it's a G4 ....and they ARE pretty fast... so a little G5 thats ultrahot is bearable for a mac mini, remember that the mini has the power supply outside the case and that it's pretty huge, plus it would take a lot of heat out of the machine... so they'd just need a good fan to keep the low power G5 at a moderate temperature... lookout for that brick power supply to be a fire hazard tho... hehe I can see the recalls coming ... I dont think the G5 powerbook will see the light of day... I'm sorry guys... I just don't see it coming... the transition has to be safe and smooth... with no burning powerbooks .... look for the updated powerbook soon, although I don't think it's going to be a 30mhz upgrade...
*hoping for a dual-core
MudLake said:
You are putting the cart before the horse. The hardware has to come before the software or more specifically the apps. My guess is that developers are working on their conversion right now as I type this but there isn't anything to light a fire under there butts right now. A Mac Mini shot across the bow in January with a shipping date in a month or two will definitely wake developers up to the fact that the products are fast approaching.
Rosetta looks to be a good 'Better then nothing" solution but no pro user who needs to get work done is going to use it unless they are forced to. In other words if pro users have hardware that runs their apps faster then the x86 in Rosetta they are going to stick to that hardware until their core apps are converted. Meanwhile back in Windows land switchers have no software to tie them down and may are simply looking for a solution to browse, manage there audio, video, write letters, etc. All of which the Mac Mini will do out of the box. So in reality there is a legit reason to suggest that consumer hardware (At least the Mac Mini and eMac will be the first out of the x86 gate.)
I don't see a lot of this happening. Apple probably does not even have more then a couple engineers still working on PowerPC if that. They are putting all of their resources into x86 now. What is the point of a Dual-Core PowerMac G5 when they could be putting more resources into Intel? Even the current Pentium 4 has way more Mhz then anything IBM could make. I don't see Apple wasting anymore resources on the PPC and especially the G5 which is a dead, outdated processor. I hate to say it, but even the current old tech P4 is WAY ahead. I have an iMac G5 and it is pretty fast, but their are people that need a lot more power then I do.
Speed bumps are all that will be left at this point. There won't be anything completely new based on PowerPC anymore. I think however, it would be safe to assume that the 7448 G4 chip will find it's way to the Powerbook and it should help it compete with the current Pentium M. It's pin-for-pin compatible, so it is an easy solution to improved clock speed, L2 cache, reduced heat, and a slightly faster FSB.
Speed bumps are all that will be left at this point. There won't be anything completely new based on PowerPC anymore. I think however, it would be safe to assume that the 7448 G4 chip will find it's way to the Powerbook and it should help it compete with the current Pentium M. It's pin-for-pin compatible, so it is an easy solution to improved clock speed, L2 cache, reduced heat, and a slightly faster FSB.
Looked it up. You are right. Jobs didn't do the expo last year because of his cancer. Sorry. My bad.treblah said:
But I think that was the reason it was announced a month later....Jobs couldn't make AE for obvious reasons. I call extenuating circumstances. On the bright side it gives me more time to buy my extended warrantee on my iPod Photo. I thought I had until September. Nice.
New G4 PowerBook
As earlier noted by a FEW realistic Mac users, the inevitable update to the PPC PowerBook will be substantial even though it might be the last of the series and it will be designed to carry the Pro user well into 2007 AND BEYOND! If the eager beavers think the first, second, or even third Mactels will be perfect just recall some very recent history: the iMacG5 (version A), Tiger still needs 10.4.3 or better, and the 23" Cinema Displays. I do not believe Apple thought the hackers would get into the MacTel Developer Kits and start spreading OSX onto PC boxes .... that had to be a wake-up call that Apple Computer Hardware and OSX must remain reliable, durable, and secure well past the "transition" period. Regardless of the iPod, Apple is not going to risk losing M-O-N-E-Y from the absence of desirable and useful high profit products. If things don't work out with the new bride, a quickie divorce by Steverino is not impossible. Therefor, Apple must have a tried and true fallback plan to carry the load during rough and uncharted waters! Amen.
As earlier noted by a FEW realistic Mac users, the inevitable update to the PPC PowerBook will be substantial even though it might be the last of the series and it will be designed to carry the Pro user well into 2007 AND BEYOND! If the eager beavers think the first, second, or even third Mactels will be perfect just recall some very recent history: the iMacG5 (version A), Tiger still needs 10.4.3 or better, and the 23" Cinema Displays. I do not believe Apple thought the hackers would get into the MacTel Developer Kits and start spreading OSX onto PC boxes .... that had to be a wake-up call that Apple Computer Hardware and OSX must remain reliable, durable, and secure well past the "transition" period. Regardless of the iPod, Apple is not going to risk losing M-O-N-E-Y from the absence of desirable and useful high profit products. If things don't work out with the new bride, a quickie divorce by Steverino is not impossible. Therefor, Apple must have a tried and true fallback plan to carry the load during rough and uncharted waters! Amen.
DIXIE said:
Apple probably doesn't even have their engineers working with PowerPC machines anymore. My guess is whatever will come down the line the next year or so has already been engineered. I would say that most if not all resources are being put into Intel now.
What is the point of a better PowerPC Powerbook or even a dual core PowerMac? They won't sell because people are waiting for Intel. They want computers that will be a lot faster and have a future of support.
SiliconAddict said:
The quote you provided simply does not say January 2006 anywhere. 'Starting next year" does not mean MWSF '06. And I never said announcing and shipping at WWDC '06.
Furthermore, you lose so much credibility when you say things that are so easily disproved. Despite ordering an iPod photo 5 minutes after Steve announced it, you obviously don't know when he did so. Since Steve didn't even keynote Apple Expo Paris '04 (Phil did) it couldn't have been there. It was in fact at a special event on October 24th.
Apple Introduces iPod Photo
And again, the original iPod was introduced in a special event on October 23rd, 2001, not at Apple Expo Paris 2001. In fact, Apple Expo Paris 2001 never even happened due to 9/11.
Apple Presents iPod
Apple Cancels Apple Expo 2001
While most of this is meaningless, it does show that Apple has announced important things at special events.
I will say it again. Nothing Steve said at WWDC '05 should allow anyone to think that MWSF '06 will be about x86 Macs. And the lack of an planned super big Apple event between MWSF '06 and WWDC '06 should not advance the theory of x86 at MWSF.
Edit: I see you corrected yourself above. Thank you.
Edit 2: I hope this doesn't read as ultra-confrontational. I'm really not trying to be. Sorry if it comes off bad. No hard feelings. lol
Abercrombieboy said:
Uh, dude. Do you have any idea how long 2 years is in the computer industry? It's an eon. Add another 2 years to that before a dual core PPC chip starts to become compatible with less software. Let's add that up. That's 4 years. Do you have any idea how long 4 years is in the computer industry?
Abercrombieboy said:
Something to the tune of 10 GHz would probably be quite snappy, don't you think?
Abercrombieboy said:
And, as there appears to be a lot of people interested in these last-generation PPC-Macs, I bet an uber-fast PowerMac would sell quite nicely. I'd sure like to have one.
Squire
Freg3000 said:
Freg3000, what do you suppose will be introduced at MWSF '06? Software? More info on Leopard? (And, by the way, that is in no way meant to be sarcastic; it's a genuine question.) Typically, it's the biggest event of the year, isn't it? It would be incredibly convenient if the x86 macs were at least introduced.
If Steve said "shipping by this time next year," doesn't that at least make an announcement somewhat plausible? How long after the PowerMac G5 introduction did they actually start shipping in quantity? I'm not pretending to know what SiliconAddict is thinking, but my guess is that he's betting on an announcement. It seems reasonable, I think.
Squire
Abercrombieboy said:
Development on these upcoming PPC models would likely have begun 6 to 12 months ago depending on the model so they probably don't need more than a skeleton crew at this point. We know that Apple has been working with various iterations of the dual-core and low-power G5 chips for over a year now. If there is to be a G5 Mac mini they probably started working on it the day the Mac mini was announced if not before. There is no reason to scrap all of their efforts not to mention development costs when the Intel transition is going to be a slow and gradual process.
The single and dual-core versions of the upcoming Pentium M (Yonah) are great for portables and consumer desktops but not for something like the PowerMac. The dual-core "desktop class" Intel chips Apple is after will not be available to them until mid to late 2006 at best. The current models simply will not make it that long without an update and I don't think small speedbumps will have any effect. However, imagine a double dual-core PowerMac G5 and what it would do for sales. Having up to four 2.5 GHz cores or virtually 10 GHz in processing power would be very tempting even despite the looming Intel transition. This would easily tide them over until the proper Intel chips are available.
Those who leaked the Intel transition story said the Mac mini would be the first to move to Intel while the PowerMac would be the last. I think this makes perfect sense. The new mobile and consumer class Intel chips will be available first and the desktop and professional class chips will be available last. It sounds like a perfect match up. Also consider that mobile and consumer users in general are not as likely to feel the slowdown that emulation brings.
I think come September we may actually have more to talk about than new iPods!
Very Possible indeed
I would have to say that it is very possilbe that Apple will come out with a G5 Mac Mini and a G5 PowerBook. They said that it was going to be a 2 year trasistion over to the Intel CPU. And that they were not going to completly phase out the PPC until Q3 of 2007 so it is very possilbe that Apple introduce the G5 MacMini and a PowerBook G5 in that time... That is if IBM doesn't sit there and say that they are only going to give them 2% of the CPU's that they make. Which is what promted the Intel switch...
I would have to say that it is very possilbe that Apple will come out with a G5 Mac Mini and a G5 PowerBook. They said that it was going to be a 2 year trasistion over to the Intel CPU. And that they were not going to completly phase out the PPC until Q3 of 2007 so it is very possilbe that Apple introduce the G5 MacMini and a PowerBook G5 in that time... That is if IBM doesn't sit there and say that they are only going to give them 2% of the CPU's that they make. Which is what promted the Intel switch... 
BenRoethig said:
Exactly. Has anyone else picked up on the fact that this is another 'analyst' posing as a rumour-monger / insider? Analysts have been spruiking the proximity of the iPod Video update for ages - in short, they know little to nothing, and speculate about any and everything to keep themselves in a job.
No offence to any fellow analysts out there - but as far as Apple hardware updates go, it's true