this is purely speculation and should be taken with a grain of salt, but since the current PM is 7,2 and this "new model" is 8,1 it may be proof that this new model is in fact using the 975 chip as previously rumored since they jumped from 7 to 8. I have no idea what I'm talking about though so if i'm way off base, slap me silly....but gently...
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New PowerMac Model?
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one explanation for the appearance of 7,3 without an accompanying model may be that they had planned (at release of 10.3.3) to bump the powermacs to say 1.8, 2.0, and 2.2 (or something along those lines), until they received word from IBM that the 975 would be available or something which made them change their mind to just wait till wwdc, also a reason for the big jump from 7,x to 8,x
I find it interesting that the current G5 Powermac series is codenamed "Omega"... the last letter in the greek alphabet, commonly a sign for "end".
Does it mean we will see a whole new beast next???
Reminds me of some dream I had - already in January. I dreamed about four PowerMac configs... I could dig up the post once more what exactly it was
Does it mean we will see a whole new beast next???
Reminds me of some dream I had - already in January. I dreamed about four PowerMac configs... I could dig up the post once more what exactly it was
i'm fairly certain we'll see another update to panther, depending on how long it will be before tiger comes out. the previous 7,3 in 10.3.3 was the g5 xserve, wasn't it?
klaus said:
IMO, this can only mean two things:
Apple planned to release a new PM revision sometime between March and May (the release dates of 10.3.3 and 10.3.4, respectively), but had to change that plan for whatever reason, probably IBM's yield problems.
OR
10.3.4 was released sooner than originally planned which is less likely to be the reason than the first possibility
bathysphere said:
I agree. Given that it is unlikely that we'll see Tiger until 2005 (Spring perhaps?) leaving 10.3.4 as the last update for that long seems VERY unlikely.
(This refers to the comments made that Apple isn't going to be updating OS X yearly now. I doubt they'd have made that announcement if it was going to be, say 15 months. It means at least 18-24 months between major updates, which puts it April-Oct 2005.)
centauratlas said:
Although I think that we'll see at least one more update to Panther, if Tiger is released at around the same time Panther was released last year (i.e. October), there is a chance we'll never see 10.3.5 as Panther seems to be finished with 10.3.4.
EDIT: I guess we'll find out soon if work on 10.3.5 has begun or if Apple is already concentrating solely on Tiger.
Wait, wait and wait
PowerMac7,2 = PowerMac G5.
PowerMac7,3 = ? Probably revB of PowerMac G5.
RackMac3,1 = Xserve.
PowerMac8,1 = new product.
<key>PowerMac8,1</key>
<string>SMU_Neo2_PlatformPlugin</string>
Neo was the codename of PPC970, so Neo2 could be the 970fx? Anyway PowerMac 8,1 probably is the new iMac G5, in fact all the latest iMac have an even revision number (PowerMac 4.x, PowerMac 6.x...).
One more thing, /System/Library/Extensions/AppleMacRISC4PE.kext/ is only the .kext necessary for the G5 support, no 4 processor Macintosh yet ;-)
PowerMac7,2 = PowerMac G5.
PowerMac7,3 = ? Probably revB of PowerMac G5.
RackMac3,1 = Xserve.
PowerMac8,1 = new product.
<key>PowerMac8,1</key>
<string>SMU_Neo2_PlatformPlugin</string>
Neo was the codename of PPC970, so Neo2 could be the 970fx? Anyway PowerMac 8,1 probably is the new iMac G5, in fact all the latest iMac have an even revision number (PowerMac 4.x, PowerMac 6.x...).
One more thing, /System/Library/Extensions/AppleMacRISC4PE.kext/ is only the .kext necessary for the G5 support, no 4 processor Macintosh yet ;-)
just gimmie my [bleepin] updated g5 apple! i got money just sitting here waiting to get the top g5 with a monster cinema display.
Mudbug said:
I hate to burst this bubble but the above kext is used by all Apple PowerMac G5 systems. The number generally imply a major mother board / chipset not the number of CPUs... likely we should read it as "Apple Mac RISC version 4 platform expert".
The following is a listing of what platform expert is in use on my PowerMac Dual 2GHz G5...
Code:
[G5:~] shawnce% ioreg
+-o Root <class IORegistryEntry, retain count 12>
+-o PowerMac7,2 <class IOPlatformExpertDevice, ...>
+-o MacRISC4PE <class MacRISC4PE, ...>
...If you crack open (view contents) of the above mentioned kext and view the plist you see that the driver class involved is MacRISC4PE (<key>IOClass</key><string>MacRISC4PE</string>).
Now it could very well be that the platform expert and the PowerMac G5s chip set are designed to support dual core PPC chips but the platform expert noted above is not new, it has just been updated which is normal if new system support has been added or bugs fixed, etc.
sinisterdesign said:sweet! a G8 PowerMac!! or does that mean it's running at 8.1GHz?? or does that just mean it's a slow rumors day?
oh well, more things to speculate before WWDC...
Um, I hope you know that the 8.1 has nothing to do with clock speed or what generation (i.e. G5) it is. Someone else can probably explain this better though.
I suspect either a PowerMac revision and/or a G5 iMac, based on the numbers here. If it's true that previous iMacs had numbers starting with 4 and 6, then a number that starts with 8 surely indicates a new iMac that requires additional hardware support. This is furthered by the fact that the PowerMac G5's number starts with a 7. Number 7,3 is going to be a G5 revision using a new processor, while Number 9,1 will be the first G6-based Mac.Calebj14 said:
SpiceMustFlow said:Macbidouille.com
If you can translate the post, writing in english is not easy for me!
Here is my translation for you:
The update 10.3.3 also contained an unrecognized 'code' as here: Power Mac 7.3. No machine yet released form Apple has carried this code name designation. In fact, the current series of powermacs (G5s) have the code name Powermac 7.2. You need to know that the Powermac G4s had the code name Powermac 3.x, the Cubes Powermac 5.1 and the iMac TFT and emacs each had the names Powermac 4.x and 6.x respectively... the complete list of code names can be found here: http://www.theapplemuseum.com/index.php?id=tam&page=products&subpage=newworld
However, if you look a little closer at the 10.3.4 update, you will notice that mention of a Powermac 8.1 is made, which makes you think that it is not just a minor update but a completely new machine.
You will also find a reference to SMU_Neo2 which might also make you think that the Neo2 would be a new version of the processor. What is certain is that Neo2 would be a derivative of the current G5. But it is still difficult to confirm whether it is a stripped- down version (like the 970fx of the X-Serves) or, BOOSTED!
If you would like to know more, do the 10.3.4 update, open this file:
/System/Library/Extensions/AppleMacRISC4PE.kext/
Contents/info.plist
and search for "8.1".
I shall leave you to dream... (for me the 8.1 is an iMac G5 of new design, to be announced/released ?? at the end of June. As for the 7.3, that will be a Powermac G5 update, on the same date. END of translation.
hope this helps. hope it's true.
Zaty said:
seriously? you think .4 is the last panther update between now and octobrer(ish)? god i hope not. what was jaguar's 10.2.x number 9 months after it was released? that could give us some clues...
I think this makes sense;
7,2 is still the next G5 tower, and
8,1 is the new iMac G5.
Makes sense.
7,2 is still the next G5 tower, and
8,1 is the new iMac G5.
Makes sense.
I think one thing no one has thought about is that fact that imacs use the same numbering system.
iMac,1 iMac (Rev.A - Rev.D)
PowerMac2,1 iMac FireWire
PowerMac2,2 iMac FireWire
PowerMac4,1 iMac "Flower Power"
PowerMac4,2 iMac Flat Panel
PowerMac4,4 eMac
Only the first generation used a different name.
Would it not be safe to assume that PowerMac7,3 is an upgraded Powermac G5? The powermac line was PowerMac3,x from AGP to windtunnel. I believe that the PowerMac7,3 is also in 10.3.3 which shows that apple thought about upgrading them earlier but decided against it or couldn't at the time.
Now what other products are people expecting to be upgraded soon? The iMac, I am quite surprised that they continued to use PowerMac4,x for the flat panel imac because it is so different.
I really hope that because both theses products work with the current version of the system that they will be available immediately.
iMac,1 iMac (Rev.A - Rev.D)
PowerMac2,1 iMac FireWire
PowerMac2,2 iMac FireWire
PowerMac4,1 iMac "Flower Power"
PowerMac4,2 iMac Flat Panel
PowerMac4,4 eMac
Only the first generation used a different name.
Would it not be safe to assume that PowerMac7,3 is an upgraded Powermac G5? The powermac line was PowerMac3,x from AGP to windtunnel. I believe that the PowerMac7,3 is also in 10.3.3 which shows that apple thought about upgrading them earlier but decided against it or couldn't at the time.
Now what other products are people expecting to be upgraded soon? The iMac, I am quite surprised that they continued to use PowerMac4,x for the flat panel imac because it is so different.
I really hope that because both theses products work with the current version of the system that they will be available immediately.
