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Low End G4 Box?

it could be for enterprise switchers

I could see the boys and girls in Apple's corporate sales division salivating over this. Especially, if this is a well designed and small box, it would have multiple user logins on a sturdy unix-based 10.3, and a fleet of these would be administered by an Xserve and backedup by an X-raid.

All that's missing is a complimenting cheaper than Cinema Display that's not CRT, but a small TFT that would look cool in an office environment. Does anyone have any news about an alternative display in the works?
 
Originally posted by P-Worm
This is some of the best news I have heard recently on this site because I think this is exactly what Apple needs. But it makes me wonder, this makes three expected computers does it not? The xStation, PowerMac 970's, and now this. How realistic is all of this?

P-Worm
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I don't expect an Xstation. That's a crazy rumor. Assuming MacBidouille's info is true, that motherboard is probably from a new Xserve.

I'm expecting 970 Powermacs, Powerbooks, and possibly a 970 Xserve at the WWDC keynote. We should also expect new iBooks in the coming months.

This rumor is interesting, but it's definitely a while away (if correct).
 
I think the headless low-end machine is a great idea that should have happened a long time ago. I have a ton of friends who would love to get a mac except they're all too expensive with built-in monitors. Most people have a monitor they can throw on a machine from an old computer but don't want to spend the hardcore $$$ on a powermac. Oh, and about compatibility, I use the DVI-VGA adapter that came with my powermac and it works great, I don't think compatibility will be much of an issue.
 
Yes, please. Oh please. Oh please, oh please, oh please!

I've been waiting for so long to switch! Could this be at last my opportunity to get a low-cost Mac, and keep my hardware?

Boy, do I look forward to the WWDC conference!
 
Re: here's a thought

Originally posted by mkaake
here's a thought for you - instead of creating a new segment machine, how about this: after the 970 (hopefully) comes out this summer/fall/winter/whatever, just take the leftover pm g4's and sell them for 700 bucks! :).

or not.

but imagine the switch campaign you could do with this: have some guy come up to his pc, slowly disconnect his monitor, mouse, keyboard n usb printer, and then just pick the peecee up and throw it on the ground. then he calmly picks up his new cube (or whatever), plugs the monitor, mouse, kb, and printer back in, fires it up, and away he goes!

matt

p.s. i'd really like to see that commercial...
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that would be an awesome campaign. they cold have little kids doing it, soccer moms. professionals and other people.
 
Sounds good!

I just hope that this computer is sold and soon! If they based it on the Cube but upgraded the FireWire to 800, the AGP to the current standard (is it 4X?), the IDE to ATA 133 (with 2 hard drive bays) and the optical drive to a SuperDrive I would replace my dual 800 QuickSilver with it. Like the Cube I am sure someone will find a way to upgrade the CPUs but I doubt these would be underpowered for anything that I do with my current computer (video editing, QuickTime rendering, video games, DVDs, etc).
 
The most disappointing thing about the flat panel iMac was the price. The original iMac came out in the middle of the low-end price range. That range has fallen and something like this could be the true successor to the original iMac.
Of course I hope it has a case that can sit on its side on top of say, an AV receiver. I really want iTunes in my living room...
 
Originally posted by pyrotoaster
I don't expect an Xstation. That's a crazy rumor. Assuming MacBidouille's info is true, that motherboard is probably from a new Xserve.

I'm expecting 970 Powermacs, Powerbooks, and possibly a 970 Xserve at the WWDC keynote. We should also expect new iBooks in the coming months.

This rumor is interesting, but it's definitely a while away (if correct).
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If it is true, the best timeframe for the product rollout out would be August-September, in time for the eduction and Christmas buying season. Apple could be ready to really shake up the product line, all at once. Good idea -- it's time. It's difficult to imagine them trying to announce as much as is rumored at WWDC. But then, it's the first time Apple won't be on the East Coast for MacWorld. I'm still looking for signs of a big media event at WWDC, but haven't seen any so far.
 
This would be great. I'll take three. One for me, one for my wife, and one for my parents. Sweet! And I will take them now please.
 
The iMac's and eMac's are too expensive to replace a lab of PC's with. When you can get PClones at the $500 range, it becomes real tough to convince people to buy the Mac. TCO is a great argument, but it dies when talking about familiraity and yearly budgets.

A $400 - $600 external monitor Mac would allow a lot of groups that can't buy Mac's now, to buy a Mac.

I do wonder about using the G4. What was the price per 1,000 for the G3, G4, and 970 supposed to be?
 
Originally posted by pyrotoaster
I know I won't be crushed if the eMac is discontinued (but it made such a good paperweight!!), but Apple needs to have an all-in-one machine available to the education market.

Maybe we'll see the eMac return to its old edu-only position, or maybe we'll a new machine take its place there. Either way works.
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I have to disagree with this. I think the education market would be indifferent to whether the machine was all in one or not. In fact I think it would be better for Apple if the machine was not all in one. At my University all the macs we have are old multicolored imacs. All the windows machines we have are Fujitsu Siemens towers. There are a couple of all-in-one PC's in our library's administration, but from all the IS Services people I talk to they much prefer the towers. They actually can be worked on and upgraded if need be, and when they do need to do something with the machine they can leave the monitor and just carry back a box. Whereas with the iMacs they usually have to get dollies. Plus, monitors generally outlast many of the machines so it seems unnecessary and short-sighted to me to make educational institutions and businesses shell out extra money to replace a monitor that is in perfect working order just to get the processor specs up to date. All in one is great for families and kids. It is only a pain for any institution or firm. Get rid of the eMac!!!

If this is true it is one of the smartest things apple has done since OSX. They cannot survive with only a high-end (read expensive) product line. They need to diversify their range so that they can increase marketshare and continue to keep companies developing the major software programs for the platform. It is the only way to survive.

Low-end: G4 "box"

Mid-Range: iMac

High-end: 970 tower
 
Cube or another reincarnation?

I have a friend who is STILL using my old Quadra700 box. It still IS in many ways a box designed ahead of it's time. Given the level of integration today, one could easily create a rather potent machine out of these dimensions. It was a very quite, silent box tool! Don't need the floppy drive, replace it with CD/CD-RW/DVD or whatever and still have room for a decent say 60 - 80 Gig HD, plenty of RAM, and even a couple of slots, with all your favorite connectors out the back. One thing about the Q700: Could be "horizontal" in configuration or "vertical". User's Choice (an Apple speciality). Hmm, since the Q700 is after all 11 years old and has been reduced to a "glorified typewriter" running OS 8.6 and and old copy of Office, this would be a perfect replacement box for her (as she has a decent 17" CRT already). I await with baited breath!
 
Not just switchers. I have 4 kids who are starting to get into computers. They are using my old B&W G3 and it would be great to be able to buy 2 cheap Macs for them to use. Especially if I could buy a cheap monitor.
 
This might be an ok addition but I hope it would not take over completely for the all-in-one design. I love all-in-one. No wires, saves space and a simple solution. Apple does it well.
 
it's true that apple is good at al in ones, partially because pc companies are so bad at it. i don't think this would be used in school though, because most schools (at least in my area) look for all in ones.
 
Re: its a good idea

Originally posted by Bunzi2k4
lol my thoughts exactly... its gatta be a cube its the perfect idea, just add a fan in there and there you go! lol this would be a great switch pc wonder how fast its gonna be... 800? 1ghz? or mayb 1.25?
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My ideal machine right now actually would be a modernized cube... but only if it was still made without a fan. I like my machines to be ultra quiet! I don't need the mega-expandability of a PowerMac. I want a small, beautiful, powerful, quiet, mildly-expandable machine. Hmm, that last sentence kinda applies to this girl I have a crush on too!
 
Just to jump on the bandwagon, this would be a really good thing for Apple - this is a segment of the market that's been lacking for quite some time for them, so I hope they'll make a go of it. Too many times I know people who would have bought a mac if the entry price point had been lower, since they can see the "deals" in the sunday circular for Best Buy's POS of the week (if you have to ask what POS is, you don't need to know.)

While I don't think they need to have a sub-$500 machine, they should have some sort of non-refurb headless option for $500-$1000. Remember they're not just switchers, at this point they're upgraders. They've already got monitors and printers. Adding a built-in monitor can actually drive away more business than it invites.
 
Re: Re: its a good idea

Originally posted by kanaka
My ideal machine right now actually would be a modernized cube... but only if it was still made without a fan. I like my machines to be ultra quiet! I don't need the mega-expandability of a PowerMac. I want a small, beautiful, powerful, quiet, mildly-expandable machine. Hmm, that last sentence kinda applies to this girl I have a crush on too!
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What kinda of girl is small yet powerful and...mildly-expandable?
 
Digital Hub on steroids?

The product this discussion has me imagining is a Mac "pizza box" that serves as a "digital hub" for iPod, digital cameras, AND a Wintel machine. The monitor can be switched between Windows and OS X -- or there's software on OS X that lets you run the Windows machine as a coprocessor inside a Mac Window (or on another "layer" of display).

This could be one way to get folks to switch without tossing the Wintel equipment and software they are familiar with. Any limitation of the MacBox could be solved by stepping up to an iMac or iBook.

Total speculation.
 
it would be so good if Apple brought out a low-end headless G4. but then this could also be bad for the PowerMacs. could this mean that Apple thinks more and more people won't be able to afford PM's? perhaps because they're planning to put up the price of the 970 PowerMac?

oh well, this would have to be good anyway.
 
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