G5 is behind yet again. AMD FX-53 announced

[arogge]

Have you tried contacting 3dlabs and asking them when they are going to start making Mac compatible drivers/firmware/software?

Yes, but the reply is always that the Mac market isn't big enough. That's what they used to say about Linux, and enough requests from users and distributors finally got Wildcat drivers for Linux. Like the problem with getting full OpenOffice.org support on OS X, Apple could help by giving resources to alternative projects. The difference between getting Linux support for AMD and Intel systems and getting support for the PowerMac is that there is a rapidly growing market for Linux support. People are tired of using Microsoft Windows and want to migrate to Linux on the same hardware platforms. Companies like 3Dlabs understand that rapidly growing markets, as are caused by the migration from Microsoft to Open Source, mean more potential sales if those new demands are supported. There are few people who will contact 3Dlabs, or any company that does not make products for the Mac, and hope that the company will support the platform. The people who are looking to buy a system with professional graphics might go to Apple, and, finding no graphics support, go to IBM or any of the other high-end computer manufacturers that will support their needs. They don't usually wait for years hoping that Apple will wake up.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Yes, but the reply is always that the Mac market isn't big enough. That's what they used to say about Linux, and enough requests from users and distributors finally got Wildcat drivers for Linux. Like the problem with getting full OpenOffice.org support on OS X, Apple could help by giving resources to alternative projects. The difference between getting Linux support for AMD and Intel systems and getting support for the PowerMac is that there is a rapidly growing market for Linux support. People are tired of using Microsoft Windows and want to migrate to Linux on the same hardware platforms. Companies like 3Dlabs understand that rapidly growing markets, as are caused by the migration from Microsoft to Open Source, mean more potential sales if those new demands are supported. There are few people who will contact 3Dlabs, or any company that does not make products for the Mac, and hope that the company will support the platform. The people who are looking to buy a system with professional graphics might go to Apple, and, finding no graphics support, go to IBM or any of the other high-end computer manufacturers that will support their needs. They don't usually wait for years hoping that Apple will wake up.

I'm still not sure what you want Apple to "wake up" and do, exactly? What can Apple do to make 3dlabs write drivers and such for the Mac? It's a bit of a catch 22 I guess. 3Dlabs won't make Mac products because there is not enough demand. But there can't be any demand because the product doesn't exist yet.


Lethal

 

[arogge]

What can Apple do to make 3dlabs write drivers and such for the Mac?

Apple could create some demand for the hardware by increasing customer awareness of the products. How many people would buy the cards as upgrades and how many more sales would Apple get if it had comparable graphics to the competing workstations? The problem is that Apple doesn't even recognize the mid- to high-end graphics market. Apple pushes the small selection of ATI and NVIDIA cards at inflated prices and won't talk about anything else.

 

[thatwendigo]

The problem is that Apple doesn't even recognize the mid- to high-end graphics market. Apple pushes the small selection of ATI and NVIDIA cards at inflated prices and won't talk about anything else.

Has it ever occured to you that there might be some factor outside of Apple's control that is causing this, like 3dlabs and other companies not cooperating? For some companies, the balance sheet doesn't come out how they'd like when looking at the mac world, and so there isn't much done for them. ATI and nVidia are both guilty of this in smaller degrees (the underperforming, overpriced cards you mentioned), but what you're not talking about is the fact that they mostly optimize for DirectX performance.

Since the mac has no DirectX, there will be performance lags. Period.

 

[Peyote]

I get so tired of all these doom and gloom whiners on here, predicting the fall of Apple every time they don't upgrade their product line all the time.

Guess what people, Apple doesn't have to do business the way you think they should...how many businesses have you run? That's what I thought. Enough is enough.

Everyone that thinks Apple is collapsing or some such nonsense needs to think about the following:

Apple is a niche company. That means it's not out to get every bit of marketshare....so quit bitching about marketshare numbers! It's irrelevent until it effects something like third party product development. Everyone complaining about marketshare numbers needs to realize this: the population of the world grows very fast... 5% of one million people is the same as 2.5% of two million people....get it? Just because market share goes down, doesn't mean that less people own macs.

Apple's stock is higher than it's ever been...and it doesn't matter the cause if we're talking about Apple staying afloat.


Lastly, if you don't like how Apple is doing business, think macs suck, think they're overpriced, or think that they are too slow, BUY SOMETHING ELSE. Don't waste your time and everyone else's time here whining about Apple or Apple products. Buy something else and quit bitching.