Future pricing and features of G-5 Powermacs

[hydrocetacean]

Based upon Apple's track record of past marketing decisions and any facts that may be known to you, what is most likely to happen to the features and pricing of the G-5 Powermacs as we enter the 2004 holiday season and 2005 MacWorld SF, given the rather quiet introduction of the speedbump to 2.5 ghz yet also the sluggish shipments of the same and reports that introduction of 3.0 ghz machines may still be a while in the future? When will we see them switch to a graphics card that inspires more enthusiasm from commentators? When will we see a price reduction or a special deal if one buys an Apple monitor at the same time?

 

[bousozoku]

You'll see faster processors when IBM is able to deliver them. They're using the same processors for rack-mounted servers, so their interest is to speed things up as much as possible. When they're ready, Apple will get their share of them. I don't imagine the trouble going on past summer. I think they'll find someone who has a great idea on how to get things moving and implement it now.

If you've seen the news this week, Intel is backing away from higher clock speed processors, so the race to 4 GHz may not matter for a while.

It would be nice if the professional video cards were available. I expected them to be there by now and it's good that the nVidia 6800 is there, even if it's not in the class. I believe that ATI is considering what to do right now. After all, with Maya Unlimited available, the world of 3D rendering needs more power to display it.

 

[ravenvii]

Probably nothing for the holiday season 2004, but in 2005 I would expect some speed bumps, and hopefully a move from AGP8x to PCI Express.

 

[molcas&e'sdad]

I'd like to see dual-layer DVD-RW (and reasonable dual-layer media).

 

[wdlove]

It would seem that the focus will be on the PowerBook and Tiger at MWSF. Then hopefully we will see something for the Power Mac at WWDC.