eMac G5?

[takao]

[snip]

I don't see any problem with having a G4 PB and a G5 eMac - they are only brand names after all. Maybe they will start calling them the PowerBook G4+ or something like that, or even calling these newer chips G5s anyway. I also don't see why a pro can't buy a "consumer" eMac or iMac. If you want all out power, the most grunt you can get, and can afford it, get a dual G5 tower. Otherwise, settle with seomthing less.

completly agree..your post sums it up perfectly....a new 'brand name' for mobile chips makes perfect sense (at least to me) somthing like <insert favourite char except G or P> + number
1 line for desktop (can keep the 'G' line)
1 line for mobile (something else)

and please...no intel 530 745 number circus for the user..please ...

 

[swissmann]

If true I would buy a couple if they could keep the prices where they are at now.

 

[griz]

The eMac was a failed project. It was originally intended to be an educational only system. When schools didn't buy enough of them, apple opened it to the public to buy them. It's a great deal on a machine, however, the price to performance on the new iMac is superb.
Apple would be shooting itself in the foot to keep the eMac alive. What are they really saying about the iMac. It becomes stuck in the middle as a non relevant machine and it all design. A G5 eMac for $799 would kill the low end iMac sales. If I was a consumer in the market for a PC or an office manager on a budget, I would certainly go for the eMac. It will last just as long from a speed/technology standpoint as the iMac G5 will and I will be saving $400. That's a 30% savings over the iMac. It's like Buy 3 get one Free if you are working on a budget to buy multiple systems.

 

[Some_Big_Spoon]

Faster and Faster are 2 seperate things. The G5 is far more efficient than the G4 (and granted hotter). If you could have a 1.2GHz G5 PB with a 600MHz bus, and 4 memory slots instead of 2, you have the possibility for an amazingly fast computer, laptop or otherwise. The buss and memory addressing are what makes the G5 so appealing from a speed point of view. 4GB's of memory would be mighty fine for this mobile professional.

People have been harping on about G5 PowerBooks ever since the G5 was released. In reality, what they have currently is faster than the 1.2GHz G5 processors everyone was wanting them to have.

 

[Styvas]

I'd buy one if it came out

The truth is that I'm currently tempted to shell out the "big bucks" for the new iMac immediately, but I'd buy an eMac G5 for price reasons, primarily, if they released it right away. They are just that much cheaper and, notwithstanding how great the new iMacs look, they're not that much less of a computer.

Apple knows that and, for that reason, I agree that any change in the eMac is likely to be a G4 bump up. I gather that iMacs are selling pretty well. There's the whole tie in with the iPod (same "stylist", etc.). I think Apple's smarter than to try and fix something that ain't broke.

Just my two cents (which I should be saving for a new Mac!).

Steve

 

[ijimk]

how much would this new G5 emac cost to the public? I would imagine it would be more than the G4 based emac right now. I am not sure that this would be a smart move on a business stand point due to the cheapest mac probably being over 1,000 dollars. Now if they can get the emac a g5 processor for the same price WELL THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!!!

 

[cubist]

The eMac was a failed project. It was originally intended to be an educational only system. When schools didn't buy enough of them, ...

Don't know why you say this. The eMac isn't a failed project in any way - it and the iBook are far and away Apple's biggest sellers. Putting a G5 in the eMac at the current prices would sell a lot of computers - and who knows, they might even reduce the price.

 

[maya]

LOL, I find this so funny. WHY?

When the PM went rev B the iMac G5 was introduced.

So until the PM goes rev C the iMac will go rev B and the eMac G5 will be introduced.

It's simple since an eMac G5 will destroy iMac G5 sales, and you can only cripple an eMac so far until its worthless.

Me thinks this is a future as in 2005 product announcement.

This could also be a good thing since it means that IBM has solved its yield issue at 90nm, and who know maybe the PB line will sport a Power5lite dual core at MWSF.

Steve will say yada yada, we had issues with the G5 and PB form factor so today we solved it and boom we have a G5PB with 2.0 GHz low and 2.5 GHz high with 4-8 gigs of expandable memory, and it can also run your house since it has a nuclear reactor core

 

[maya]

Unless the low end G5 chips are actually cheaper than the G4s. The G5 chips are manufactured at 90nm, so they get more chips from each wafer, right?

Also, if IBM has some (many) chips left over that are only stable at speeds lower than 1.6GHz, then they would be perfect for an upgraded eMac.

It would seem a bit strange with G5s in the eMac and still G4s in the PBs, but a 1.5GHz G4 is just as fast as a 1.5GHz G5, so I guess it doesn't really matter.

I'm still not sure if I believe this rumor, though ... It seems very vague.

G5 chips would be cheaper than the G4 considering the contract shift, more attension on IBM.

It would seem fair that there will be many 1.4-1.6 GHz G5 chips waiting to be used or sold for that matter.

G5 is faster than a G4, the only reason you see no difference now is because the OS is 32-bit, once it goes 64-bit with Tiger you will see how the G5 shines. Considering you have a fair amount of memory and not a crippled sys bus. And even if you had the same guts and only a different chip the G5 will still shine a fair bit faster than the G4 with Tiger installed.

Apple will def put the G5 in the eMac not until it has release a rev b iMac G5 first, or at a clock speed of 1.4-1.6 GHz.

When the PB sports a G5 it is going to be a big jump, in speed and MHz rating.

I do feel however that Apple should drop the prices on the mobile line, i mean WTF the iMac has a G5 at least shave a few hundred on the PB and iBook already.

 

[CMYanko]

I think progress in any area is good. Especially with all the good press Apple is getting now.

That being said, as a new switcher (2 months ago), I would be a bit upset if I could have gotten almost what I got in the iMac G5 for about $1000 less in an eMac. Don't get me wrong, I love the new iMac. However, I can say that I definately would have bought the eMac over the iMac if they both had very similar specs except for CRT/LCD.

Between the front side bus and the video card you have a much better performer than what a slower G5 eMac would offer. The iMac ihas something like a 3:1 chip to bus ratio while the eMac is at 7.5 :1

 

[CraigS]

Doubtful

I agree that it seems like incredibly poor timing if nothing else to try to manufacture a G5 eMac right now when G5 chip shortages are already constraining PM and iMac production. That's why it seems doubtful to me.

That said, I can see why Apple would want to get the G5 into their entire product line ASAP. The sooner all their hardware is 64-bit, the sooner they can move all their software to entirely 64-bit.

 

[nagromme]

Re PowerBooks... sure, Apple doesn't WANT PowerBooks to be lower in spec than consumer desktops. But they still might do so, just because of the reality of G5 heat at present.

Re iMac vs. eMac: the difference between a 17" LCD and 17" CRT, if other specs are equal, will be considerably less than $1000

Based on what? What if the bulk price of the G4 is higher than the price of low speed G5 processors? That could well be reality.

That would be a Good Thing.

 

[Jovian9]

eMac updates would seem to make the most sense when the G5 iMacs are bumped up. They could then give the eMacs the 1.6 G5 while the iMac has the 1.8 and 2.0..........while the PowerMac has the 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0

Apple should not cripple iMac sales right now. The iMac G5 is HOT (not temp) right now......why hurt it's momentum by introducing a G5 Mac that's less than $1000. At least wait until after Christmas.

As far as notebooks......dual-core G4's sound good....but they seem to be a ways off.....as do G5's in portables. Perhaps a drastic price reduction would help to counter the less than stellar speed increases the portables are getting nowadays.

 

[afields]

What about the Powerbook!? I'm not even saying it has to be a G5 necessarily...just something. I can't believe the lowly emac would get an update before the powerbook. The iMac, I can understand...but not the emac.

 

[Zigster]

<------- soon to be switcher waiting for $999.00 G5 eMac.

 

[mchoii]

Really, my buying power is looking for a headless, $500 g5, sold!

 

[CMYanko]

Really, my buying power is looking for a headless, $500 g5, sold!

Don't hold your breath! Apple say's they are not interest in the sub $800 market. We may see a single chip Power Mac again but that is it.

 

[VicMacs]

powerbook g5

does this mean that the powerbook G5 is almost here too??

 

[slu]

Re iMac vs. eMac: the difference between a 17" LCD and 17" CRT, if other specs are equal, will be considerably less than $1000

Agreed, but I said similar specs....I spent about $1700 dollars on the iMac (with edu discount). So you caught me in some hyperbole....assuming a slightly slower G5 and similar, but slower, specs everywhere else (FSB), I would have saved about $600 to $700 dollars. I would have done that in a second.

I am still happy with the iMac though!

 

[Santaduck]

...the pressure to produce as many 2.0 and 2.5 units as possible is most likley creating a lot of sub 1.8 chips. A 1.4/1.6 GHz eMac would seem reasonable.

good point

I wonder if, whenever the new emac comes out (be it g4 or g5), if it will remain with the CRT shape or take the previous generation iMac LCD-plus-dome shape?

 

[Mord]

Based on what? What if the bulk price of the G4 is higher than the price of low speed G5 processors? That could well be reality.

g4's cost a fair bit more than g5's i would bet apple wants to go g5 across the board asap, motorola is skanky.

a 1.4/5GHz emac g5 would make allot of sense but the gpu is worrying, they would put a core image card in and the only one available that would not compete with the imac is a 5200 with 32MB of vram which would be slower than the old 9200 just is would run core image, albeit slowly.

i hope that apple makes 512MB of ram standard across the board asap 256MB of ram just dose not cut it.

 

[Rod Rod]

short term memory

After five comments to the effect of "the eMac MUST be slower than the iMac," I just want to remind those who forgot:

the last lineup of iMac G4s matched (17" & 20" model) or lagged behind (15" model) the eMac.

Apple's profit margin is going to be similar on either machine, so don't worry about revenues.

If and when the eMac gets a G5, it SHOULD be the same specs as the iMac (processor, graphics, fsb, RAM ceiling). People who already own the new iMac can be happy they got a beautiful LCD, and people who want a G5 eMac will be happy they got a CRT and saved money.

I can understand where all this zero sum game thinking comes from ("waaah one product line will cannibalize sales from another product line waaah cry cry"), but I hope it stops sometime soon.

 

[Ensoniq]

I'm with you, Rod Rod. The eMac should go G5 because it would be one more machine that would have the "G5 marketing sparkle" on it, and at sub-$1000 prices. There is no way that selling a G5 for $999 and under could be "bad" for Apple. For the same exact reasons that eMac G4, iMac G4, and PowerMac G4 machines all sold at the same time to different markets (low-end, medium-range, high-end), the same applies now with the G5.

I see two possible configuration choices on eMac G5 systems:

Configuration 1:

$799 / 1.6 GHz G5 / 533 Bus / 40 GB HD / ComboDrive / 5200 Ultra w/64 MB VRAM
$999 / 1.6 GHz G5 / 533 Bus / 80 GB HD / SuperDrive / 5200 Ultra w/64 MB VRAM

In configuration 1, the two models are identical in speed, with only the hard drive size and removable media drives differentiating them. (This is exactly how the two current eMac models differentiate themselves.)

Configuration 2:

$799 / 1.6 GHz G5 / 533 Bus / 80 GB HD / ComboDrive / 5200 Ultra w/64 MB VRAM
$999 / 1.8 GHz G5 / 600 Bus / 80 GB HD / SuperDrive / 5200 Ultra w/64 MB VRAM

In configuration 2, the two models exactly mimic the two 17" models of the iMac G5. Hard drive size is the same (as on the iMac), and the processor speed and removable media drives differentiate them.

I prefer Configuration 2 ... as I think that Apple should keep the eMac models as close to the iMacs as possible, not intentionally cripple them. It worked before with the G4 eMac/iMac situation, so why not now?

Also, remember that Apple was selling eMacs for $799/$999 with the two low-end iMacs priced at $1499/$1799 ... so the iMacs were $700/$800 more expensive than their eMac counterparts. And yet the iMacs still sold.

Based on the above, selling eMacs at $799/$999 with low-end iMacs priced at $1299/$1499 make the iMacs only $500 more expensive than the eMac counterparts this time. So for $500 more, many people will choose the space spacing LCD over the CRT eMac...EVEN if Apple does offer the more powerful machines I list in Configuration 2.

Oh well...enough rambling. (You can tell I've spent way too much time thinking about this...probably because I'd buy a $999 1.8 GHz eMac tomorrow if it existed...)

 

[aswitcher]

Well a G5 would be nice. But due to the constraint Apple says G5s are in at present I dont see it happening this year.

I would though like to see a faster G4, better vram and a new better quality screen.

 

[pinto32]

What everyone seems to be forgetting is that we are talking about Macs...not PCs. For most people, Macs are as much about style as ease of use, reliability, etc. That is why Apple needn't worry about introducing a G5 eMac so soon after the G5 iMac...because so many people will continue to prefer the iMac due to its unsurpassed style. Apple knows this; that is why they had no qualms about keeping the specs of the G4 versions of each machine so close, to the point that the eMac surpassed the iMac for a time!

Plus, style is not the only thing that will keep the iMacs selling....lets not forget the space-saving design that Apple has perfected with the iMac. Space may not be a concern for everyone, but anyone who has lived in a college dorm or townhouse knows how much every inch matters. Plus, the base iMac now includes a widescreen 17" LCD, which not only is larger and easier on the eyes than the eMac's 17" CRT, but consumes far less electricity, which is a godsend to those running multiple machines and the enviromentally concious.

Finally, a G5 eMac is something of a nessessity for Apple in all markets. An incresing number of businesses and governments are looking at Macs, and these customers demand as much choice as possible, especially when budgets are concerned. Then there is the education market, which, despite being very budget concious, still demands the best bang for its buck (and right now, many of them correctly see this as getting a G5 system). Finally, there is the consumer market, which has been trained by the wintel world to look purely at specs. Imagine, a possible switcher goes to apple.com and sees a last-generation G4 Mac going for $800, and then goes to dell.com and sees (what they percieve to be a cutting edge) Pentium 4 for $800, they are going to buy the Dell, because it is natural to want the cutting edge (its the same reason that many people, as was pointed out before, hate to see thier recently-purchased systems surpassed).