From www.MacOSRumors.com:
With the new G4-based iMac on the verge of shipping, speculation is running rampant that new PowerMacs may be on the way in short order. From among the more intriguing of the past week's submissions, we present a few of the more interesting tidbits:
* Late-January PowerMac announcement: Although the grapevine is choked with rumors aplenty of new powermacs before the end of the month -- and we wouldn't be entirely shocked if this were the case -- we're not betting on it at this point. Until we see evidence to the contrary, Apple's strategy of more frequent high-profile announcements and events still doesn't dictate a completely new product barely more than two weeks after Macworld. If there is indeed a near-term PowerMac update (and we believe there will be, albeit not quite that soon), we currently project something in mid-February or early March based on the grapevine consensus at this time.
* G5 or G4 processors: This one is hands-down the key point of contention at present. Although there are many signs that 1-1.6GHz PowerPC 8500 chips are nearing volumes sufficient for Apple to base a product upon, that may not be enough for something that will ship within the next three months. The sooner the new PowerMacs are announced, the more likely it will be that the processors in them will instead be 933MHz-1.33GHz G4 Apollo chips. Also, if the processors are G4s, it is more likely that most if not all configurations will come standard with dual processors now that Mac OS X is the default operating system on new Macs.
* GeForce 3 Ultra graphics cards. Yes, Virginia, you heard right. GeForce 3 graphics cards will now be standard on all PowerMac models, with high-end models coming standard with the improved Ultra version that sports faster memory and a higher CPU clock speed. This is confirmed to be Apple's plan as of late December. Also, ATi RADEON 7500 and 8500 graphics cards are expected to be available as build-to-order options since they are faster than the GF3 in many functions at this time.
* New enclosure: At this time, we are not expecting a new enclosure with this revision. If we see a PowerMac G5 at this point a revamped case would not come as a total shock, but given the leaning towards faster G4s and a G5 update later in the year, we would expect the former to continue to use the Quicksilver enclosure and the latter to be the first to sport the all-new minitower form factor Apple has been working on for close to two years now. More on this soon...
* New features: Beyond CPU and graphics card changes, we expect the new PowerMac to be the first to support DDR SDRAM memory, as well as Gigawire (800-1600Mbps Firewire), redesigned Airport antennas with improved resistance to interference as well as support for the next-generation 54Mbps version of Airport due out later this year. Also in the works, according to Apple sources, are the availability of SuperDrives on all models (standard on all but the entry-level model), an onboard ATA-133 controller doubling the theoretical bandwidth available to internal UltraDMA ATA/IDE hard disks, as well as standard 60GB 7200RPM hard drives on entry-level model will range up to 100GB 10,000RPM drives on the high-end version. Optional multi-drive configurations will be available to take advantage of Mac OS X 10.1.x's built-in RAID array support.
Much remains unknown about the new PowerMacs, and for our money, we don't expect an update sooner than six weeks hence. 1GHz+ G4s are slightly more likely than an immediate jump to G5s, the Quicksilver enclosure will most likely remain, and several of the long-awaited feature updates like DDR SDRAM will finally make it into the Pro lineup if all goes according to plan.
With the new G4-based iMac on the verge of shipping, speculation is running rampant that new PowerMacs may be on the way in short order. From among the more intriguing of the past week's submissions, we present a few of the more interesting tidbits:
* Late-January PowerMac announcement: Although the grapevine is choked with rumors aplenty of new powermacs before the end of the month -- and we wouldn't be entirely shocked if this were the case -- we're not betting on it at this point. Until we see evidence to the contrary, Apple's strategy of more frequent high-profile announcements and events still doesn't dictate a completely new product barely more than two weeks after Macworld. If there is indeed a near-term PowerMac update (and we believe there will be, albeit not quite that soon), we currently project something in mid-February or early March based on the grapevine consensus at this time.
* G5 or G4 processors: This one is hands-down the key point of contention at present. Although there are many signs that 1-1.6GHz PowerPC 8500 chips are nearing volumes sufficient for Apple to base a product upon, that may not be enough for something that will ship within the next three months. The sooner the new PowerMacs are announced, the more likely it will be that the processors in them will instead be 933MHz-1.33GHz G4 Apollo chips. Also, if the processors are G4s, it is more likely that most if not all configurations will come standard with dual processors now that Mac OS X is the default operating system on new Macs.
* GeForce 3 Ultra graphics cards. Yes, Virginia, you heard right. GeForce 3 graphics cards will now be standard on all PowerMac models, with high-end models coming standard with the improved Ultra version that sports faster memory and a higher CPU clock speed. This is confirmed to be Apple's plan as of late December. Also, ATi RADEON 7500 and 8500 graphics cards are expected to be available as build-to-order options since they are faster than the GF3 in many functions at this time.
* New enclosure: At this time, we are not expecting a new enclosure with this revision. If we see a PowerMac G5 at this point a revamped case would not come as a total shock, but given the leaning towards faster G4s and a G5 update later in the year, we would expect the former to continue to use the Quicksilver enclosure and the latter to be the first to sport the all-new minitower form factor Apple has been working on for close to two years now. More on this soon...
* New features: Beyond CPU and graphics card changes, we expect the new PowerMac to be the first to support DDR SDRAM memory, as well as Gigawire (800-1600Mbps Firewire), redesigned Airport antennas with improved resistance to interference as well as support for the next-generation 54Mbps version of Airport due out later this year. Also in the works, according to Apple sources, are the availability of SuperDrives on all models (standard on all but the entry-level model), an onboard ATA-133 controller doubling the theoretical bandwidth available to internal UltraDMA ATA/IDE hard disks, as well as standard 60GB 7200RPM hard drives on entry-level model will range up to 100GB 10,000RPM drives on the high-end version. Optional multi-drive configurations will be available to take advantage of Mac OS X 10.1.x's built-in RAID array support.
Much remains unknown about the new PowerMacs, and for our money, we don't expect an update sooner than six weeks hence. 1GHz+ G4s are slightly more likely than an immediate jump to G5s, the Quicksilver enclosure will most likely remain, and several of the long-awaited feature updates like DDR SDRAM will finally make it into the Pro lineup if all goes according to plan.
