Intel Developing Next PowerMac for Apple?

[Lord Kythe]

Intel

I'm really optimistic regarding Intel's involvement in Macs; sure, the P4 is undeniably a very bad CPU compared to AMDs and PPCs, but we aren't getting P4s in our macs!

I expect an overall better, more affordable machine from the Apple-Intel partnership. The real concerns I have are whether or not we'll see significant price drops (I'm talking 10%+ price drop), will Intel be able to deliver the goods in time and as promised (cool-running, stable and powerful dual-core CPUs in January-February for laptops, June-July for desktops, were those the ETAs?) and will Apple refrain from advertising Intel on the actual casing (that small Intel Inside logo would just kill me... I guess that's why razor blades were invented)

Just my 2 cents.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

Whatever. As long as I have OS X I'm fine.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

I think the real question here is, will Intel make the motherboards accept CPU upgrades? I am all for the ability of ordering new CPUs for my motherboard when I want to upgrade. Even with my PCs, I keep a motherboard for a couple years while I make CPU upgrades. I just hope they do not solder the CPU to the board.

Cheers,

:: Chuck

They probably will. You never know, really, with Apple. PowerMacs? Probably not. Everything else? Compared fom other Macs - probably soldered.

EDIT: 1,500th post. Sweet.

 

[Hattig]

Meh, at the worst this will be Apple giving Intel the technical requirements and physical layout and port locations so that it will fit in the case, and Intel placing the components as required.

Far more likely this is merely Intel providing reference designs customised for Apple's requirements to Apple, and thus Apple being able to design their next generation PowerMac's motherboard quite simply with few modifications apart from relocating the ports or whatever.

As for value for money, current PowerMacs are quite good value for money when priced as workstations, which is what they are. Apple merely doesn't cover as many market areas as other PC manufacturers, so in many of them they appear overpriced because something way overspecced is having to cover that area instead of having a dedicated bit of hardware.

 

[finchna]

I just hope that silent/quiet computing remains a goal through all of this... I'm sure Apple will have at least some say in the shape/design of the motherboard, in order to ensure that the overall case design works well with regards to air flow.

Some of those beefy PC boxes are just too dang noisy...

Several of the G5 dual cores (and earlier duals) are too noisy--especially with the 7800 GT video card.

 

[~Shard~]

EDIT: 1,500th post. Sweet.

Congrats! 1500 seems so long ago for me...

Several of the G5 dual cores (and earlier duals) are too noisy--especially with the 7800 GT video card.

I have heard this as well. Although I'm a fan of the PowerMac case, it is rather large, and I think now that Apple will be using dual core processors, they could definitely get a way with a case redesign, as there is so much wasted space in those boxes.

 

[EricNau]

I have heard this as well. Although I'm a fan of the PowerMac case, it is rather large, and I think now that Apple will be using dual core processors, they could definitely get a way with a case redesign, as there is so much wasted space in those boxes.

I would gladly trade a little "wasted space" for the clean, organized insides of the Powermac. When you need to replace something in a PC it seems like you have to take everything out just to get to a simple little battery.

 

[~Shard~]

I would gladly trade a little "wasted space" for the clean, organized insides of the Powermac. When you need to replace something in a PC it seems like you have to take everything out just to get to a simple little battery.

Very good point, and I agree - all I am saying is that there is indeed ample room with which Apple could redesign things if they wanted to. PC cases don't always have that luxury.

 

[EricNau]

Very good point, and I agree - all I am saying is that there is indeed ample room with which Apple could redesign things if they wanted to. PC cases don't always have that luxury.

Yeah, I see your thinking. And apple is very good with design, I wouldn't be surprised if they could make the Powermac smaller and keep the pretty insides too.

 

[Eric5h5]

Then how come only 4% of the population uses them, and the other 96% uses Windows?

Your math is off. That adds up to 100%, and there are certainly other OSs other than MacOS and Windows.

Anyway, the sarcastic comment about Apple not making a dent with their system is just plain wrong, unless you consider being the fourth biggest computer maker in the U.S. "not making a dent".

--Eric

 

[EricNau]

Your math is off. That adds up to 100%, and there are certainly other OSs other than MacOS and Windows.

Anyway, the sarcastic comment about Apple not making a dent with their system is just plain wrong, unless you consider being the fourth biggest computer maker in the U.S. "not making a dent".

--Eric

Last I heard they were 5th. (behind Dell, HP, IBM, & Sony)

Maybe I'm wrong.

 

[finchna]

umm, I'd rather see this than the mysterious crashes, hangups, and other problems the G5's have now with bad memory. In the office where I provide support, 4 out of 10 G5s have had problems with memory bought from quality vendors.

Intel, save us....

I've worked with several G5s, from the original dual 2Ghz to the Quad, always using Crucial memory, and I've never seen crashes in the G5s or bad memory from Crucial.

 

[~Shard~]

Yeah, I see your thinking. And apple is very good with design, I wouldn't be surprised if they could make the Powermac smaller and keep the pretty insides too.

Exactly - just look at what they did with the iMac after all, from its progression from G3 to G4 to G5 designs. I don't even know how they could make that thing any smaller, minimalist and simple than its current incarnation.

 

[EricNau]

Exactly - just look at what they did with the iMac after all, from its progression from G3 to G4 to G5 designs. I don't even know how they could make that thing any smaller, minimalist and simple than its current incarnation.

That's what I said about the Rev A/B iMac G5... then Rev C came along.

 

[jhu]

Last I heard they were 5th. (behind Dell, HP, IBM, & Sony)

Maybe I'm wrong.

apple was 4th at 3.7% on 7/2004 behind dell, hp, and ibm in the us market. globally they're much smaller.

 

[Stella]

4th place..

And?!!

It still doesn't change the fact Apple have around 4% marketshare.

FOUR PERCENT.

Personally, I prefer worldwide market share because the usa is only one market, and the world is much larger than just the usa. usa != World.

Your math is off. That adds up to 100%, and there are certainly other OSs other than MacOS and Windows.

Anyway, the sarcastic comment about Apple not making a dent with their system is just plain wrong, unless you consider being the fourth biggest computer maker in the U.S. "not making a dent".

--Eric

 

[amateurmacfreak]

Intel iBooks at MWSF?

Ok, sorry to annoy with such a question so late in this discussion that doesn't have to do with the Powermac (and one that is probably one that will not be well answered until MWSF) but what is the possibility of new Intel iBooks in January (you think)? Of course I know this is speculation at this point but... I'm really hoping it will happen! And there's a good chance? Right? Or no?

 

[EricNau]

apple was 4th at 3.7% on 7/2004 behind dell, hp, and ibm in the us market. globally they're much smaller.

OK, I won't argue because 4th is better than 5th.

 

[~Shard~]

That's what I said about the Rev A/B iMac G5... then Rev C came along.

Oh, I know Apple will always do it and find a way somehow - I just never know how, but they always seem to pull through and amaze me time after time.

 

[amateurmacfreak]

That's what I said about the Rev A/B iMac G5... then Rev C came along.

*looks at computer* They are small and sleek and nice and quiet aren't they?

 

[EricNau]

Ok, sorry to annoy with such a question so late in this discussion that doesn't have to do with the Powermac (and one that is probably one that will not be well answered until MWSF) but what is the possibility of new Intel iBooks in January (you think)? Of course I know this is speculation at this point but... I'm really hoping it will happen! And there's a good chance? Right? Or no?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/167964/

 

[Eric5h5]

Final Cut Studio, Logic, iLife '06, OS X, All OS X Software Applications. For me that is a lot. I also expect Rosetta to be very efficient.

I guess you don't know much about CPU emulation then. Rosetta is a fancy JIT emulator, and will generally get JIT speeds or a little faster. Apple's own developer documentation describes Rosetta as most suitable for programs that spend most of their time waiting for user input (like word processors) and not very suitable for anything CPU-intensive. What you should realistically expect is a lot of people with Intel Macs constantly whining to developers of their favorite programs to make universal binaries, because those programs are now laggy and slow, and occasionally glitchy. (People have seen OpenGL graphics problems for example, and some programs just don't run at all for unknown reasons.)

To believe that no third party software will be Universal Binary at MacWorld Expo SF is a very cynical view I do not share.

Did I say "no software"? I do believe I said "90%" won't be native for some time. It generally takes effort to make a universal binary. It's not just clicking on a "X86" box. With some programs the effort is quite trivial, for other programs it's very involved. Don't believe the hype, either about the ease of making universal binaries or the speed of Rosetta. I'm not being cynical, I'm being realistic, because I have some idea as to how software works. Being a programmer and all. Anyone expecting x86 Macs to be magically better and faster in every way is just begging to be disappointed. Eventually everything will be sorted out, but there will be a lot of annoyances along the way.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that anyone buying a PPC Mac now should be happy with what he or she has got, because the next shiny new thing will have its share of problems for sure. It's not really as shiny as all that.

--Eric

 

[Eric5h5]

4th place..

And?!!

It still doesn't change the fact Apple have around 4% marketshare.

FOUR PERCENT.

And? How many other computer manufacturers, in the world or in the U.S., are profitable? Apple's made quite a big dent indeed, and arguments about OS marketshare are beside the point. They get decent margins on their hardware, and don't have to come up with dodgy schemes relying on charging excess amounts for support in order to make a buck. So yeah, proprietary is good. As long as you're making rather substantial wads o' cash shifting substantial numbers of boxes, who cares if the global marketshare of the OS is .0001% or 100%?

--Eric

 

[pjkelnhofer]

And? How many other computer manufacturers, in the world or in the U.S., are profitable? Apple's made quite a big dent indeed, and arguments about OS marketshare are beside the point. They get decent margins on their hardware, and don't have to come up with dodgy schemes relying on charging excess amounts for support in order to make a buck. So yeah, proprietary is good. As long as you're making rather substantial wads o' cash shifting substantial numbers of boxes, who cares if the global marketshare of the OS is .0001% or 100%?

--Eric

That is a good point. Also, what are the actual percentages of the three manufactures above Apple? And, one more question, when people say marketshare does simply mean sales within a given quarter. I would be interested to know what are the percentages of different manufacturers computers in use. I often wonder if since Macs seem to last longer they sit on a bigger percentage of desks than the 4% marketshare number suggests.

 

[pjkelnhofer]

I have tried to read through this read and see if anyone else picked up on this, but I thought the general consesus was that Apple would not be participating in the "Intel Inside" or other similiar Intel programs where companies stick the Intel logo on the outside of the PC?