PowerMac G5 Upgrades Announced (Officially)

[Demon]

with upgrades like this... the Powermacs are going DOWN! damn... where did all the "supposed" technology go? this is just a speed bump... old graphics cards.. same machine... different numbers. terrible.
bring in the new Mac Mini's! how about the new iMacs?
and Damn it.... bring the iBooks already!

 

[hadleydb]

Ooops looks like apple accidentally updated their home page too soon. Here's a couple of pics: Pic 1 Pic 2

I was using windows at my office at the time...

Note: apple fixed this real quick.

 

[MattG]

also the apple site now says Tiger is available in stores now!?!?

Where does it say that? Everywhere I look it says "Available in 2 days."

 

[rockthecasbah]

let's be friends

Hint to the future: don't tell people to quit complaining until you're sure you haven't missed anything. It doesn't exactly work in your favour.

Relax Quebex, Trout74 said "or am i missing something," you don't have to lash out at him for making mistakes. I'm sure you as well as most of us have done something similar at least once, it happens to the best of us . Let's all be friends .

On the topic, I am happy about this update. Sure it was a disapointing one since people had gotten our hopes up about 3ghz dual processors and more recently dual-cores, but technology takes time to develop, and this update was merely a speed bump, not a revamping of the Power Macs. Argue all you wish that other companies have the dual-core technoloy out already, but does that make it better? I'd rather have something that works 100% as it should and wait longer, and not have lackluster performance at professional price. Maybe that'll give you something to ponder about...

 

[GUSTO]

Well looks like my dual 2Ghz (Rev A) will have to last me another year til apple break that 3Ghz barrier.

 

[Mudbug]

indeed it did - here's the thread on that: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/122611/

 

[JOE40]

I have an X800, and it's a great card - my recommendation would be to buy one and leave the nVidia cards alone.

Here is an interesting tidbit. In the online apple store, under PowerMacs, when you click on "Learn More" under displays while configuring a build-to-order machine:

Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)
The Apple Cinema HD is the first high-resolution, 30-inch flat-panel display.- 2560-by-1600-pixel resolution. ...

Requires Power Mac G5 with either the NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL or GeForce 6800 GT DDL graphics card.
Requires Power Mac G5 with ATI Radeon X850 XT or NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL graphics card.

I thought that was very interesting, especially considering Apple does not even seem to have the X800 available for sale.

 

[Frump]

Relax Quebex, Trout74 said "or am i missing something," you don't have to lash out at him for making mistakes. I'm sure you as well as most of us have done something similar at least once, it happens to the best of us . Let's all be friends

Should that not have been directed at trout. He was the one who lashed out...

 

[scu]

Think Secret is still King.

Everyone thought they might be wrong on this one. This time they hit it out of the park. By telling us the exact speed at least two weeks before is pretty good to me. Missing the date was not a big deal

Apple is pretty bold in keeping their prices the same. Obviously at this time they don't see the need to move many machines. The discounting my come only when there is a significant drop in iMac and Mac mini demand. I can see a price drop in about two months.

If they sell enough of the new PowerMacs we could see profit margins go up given the whimpy and cheap hardware in this update.

 

[rockthecasbah]

Should that not have been directed at trout. He was the one who lashed out...

No, while Trout did originally lash out at people complaining about this being a disapointment, Quebex then lashed out at Trout74 for getting the PCI-X thing mixed up, which was not too kind of him.

 

[plastique45]

From Macbidouille.com. It spells out so well the frustration that any intelligent computer user can feel with Apple hardware...

(translated)

- Let's talk about it once and for all - Lionel - 16:07:01

Now that the "new" G5s are officially released, I'll make comments I'd usually post on the blog, but that I prefer publishing here. As you may see, I will say "I" so the entire Macbidouille team will not be involved, everyone will have their own view about this event [T's note :I for one do agree].
I am, as many of you, very disappointed of the new Powermac G5 line. This Powermac line renewal is probably the biggest letdown for this product ever since it's been introduced.
Almost nothing has changed, except a 200 MHz frequency increase in a year...

Of course we may have fooled ourselves when learning IBM had a 970MP CPU, perhaps it's too early to see it released it in a PC, but that's not the only disappointment.
Where are the 3 GHz Steve promised 23 months ago? Have we come to a dead end, much like with the G4?
How is it possible that in April 2005, a machine that's supposed to be top notch may come out with an AGP based video card?
How dare they put Radeon 9600 ou 9650 in those? To find those chips, Apple probably had to raid ATI's basement.
Apple may now boast they earn a lot of money, is it because of those cheeseparing economies? or is it just to show the whole world that people buy those machines just because there's an apple on it?
Don't be mistaken here, Apple will earn a lot more money by selling a G5 now than they used to one year ago. R&D costs have been covered, a DVD burner, even 16x, is twice cheaper than a 8x one year ago and 512 Mo RAM cost much less than 256 last year. SATA HDs also went down dramatically those 2 two last years.

I've only got one hope: that Apple will sell those PowerMacs 6 months instead of a year, and that during Apple Expo, we'll eventually have, not necessarily the machine we dreamed of, but the least we can expect from an arrogant and expansionist manufacturer (and a VERY costly one, too).
Until then, if you don't really need a G5 now, buy a Mac mini.

Ok, that's enough for criticism. Let's hope this will only be a transition, and not the beginning of a new descent in hell.

___________________________________

Personally, I also can't believe that Apple took out PCI-X on the dual 2GHz, and limited it to 4GB of Ram.... They are so @%$#?&* cheap...

And why can't you order an ATI x800? You need to pay for a video card that you won't need, THEN order the x800 separately, brilliant.

 

[cosmoed]

Think Secret, those bastards.

Wheres my damn iMac 2.0.

 

[Trout74]

No, while Trout did originally lash out at people complaining about this being a disapointment, Quebex then lashed out at Trout74 for getting the PCI-X thing mixed up, which was not too kind of him.

im sorry im sorry im sorry.

I didnt know the difference.

trout

 

[rockthecasbah]

transition to hell

From Macbidouille.com. It spells out so well the frustration that any intelligent computer user can feel with Apple hardware...

(translated)

Ok, that's enough for criticism. Let's hope this will only be a transition, and not the beginning of a new descent in hell.

___________________________________

Personally, I also can't believe that Apple took out PCI-X on the dual 2GHz, and limited it to 4GB of Ram.... They are so @%$#?&* cheap...

And why can't you order an ATI x800? You need to pay for a video card that you won't need, THEN order the x800 separately, brilliant.

I have nothing to say about the graphics cards, as I am not too well versed in the latest and greatest, but the transition to hell really got to me from macbidouille.com. THIS UPDATE WAS JUST A SPEED BUMP, NOTHING MORE!!!! Everyone got excited about technology that was still too new (dual core) and tech that just hasn't worked out..yet (3ghz dual processor). If the dual core rumor hadn't come out and Jobs hadn't promised a 3ghz machine, you guys would be praising Apple for its wonderful technology.

Sometimes tech is promising, but in development problems arise, and what seemed to be the end all greatest becomes nothing more then a failed design. That's business and that's life. Please, for the sake of the threads, get that into your heads! Look at what we've got now and if it's not for you, then don't buy it. But saying the Power Mac update is bad because it is not what was promised by Jobs or a fantasy-filled rumor won't make it change into what you want. Sorry i seem angry, i'm trying not to seem like a little ball of anger here

 

[camomac]

DLdvd Now???

okay i am at work right now on a windows machine so i have no way to find this out...

my question is since i have a 117 dvd+/-RW that is a dumbed down pioneer DVR-108, will apple be releasing a firmware flash to make my recorder to at least a DVR-108 dual layer?

if apple does not release a firmware update then i will probably flash my drive since tiger should now natively support the DVR-108.


Thanks.


i am sure most all of you know about this but just in case check it out here.

 

[BarfBag]

This could mean 1 of 2 things...

1) They don't want to release something as spectacular as a dual-core PowerMac without a large event. (WWDC)

2) IBM is having a hard time keeping up with demand and/or having trouble producing the new state-of-the-art chips.

I think Apple should go AMD... seriously... but that would mean a major rewrite of everything.

 

[tromboneaholic]

This Powermac line renewal is probably the biggest letdown for this product ever since it's been introduced. Almost nothing has changed, except a 200 MHz frequency increase in a year...

Apple will earn a lot more money by selling a G5 now than they used to one year ago. R&D costs have been covered, a DVD burner, even 16x, is twice cheaper than a 8x one year ago and 512 Mo RAM cost much less than 256 last year. SATA HDs also went down dramatically those 2 two last years.

Hmmm... This is the kind of upgrate that can shake customer loyalty.

 

[rockthecasbah]

AMD switch

1) They don't want to release something as spectacular as a dual-core PowerMac without a large event. (WWDC)

2) IBM is having a hard time keeping up with demand and/or having trouble producing the new state-of-the-art chips.

I think Apple should go AMD... seriously... but that would mean a major rewrite of everything.

1. I agree, maybe not as soon as WWDC, but possibly Mac Expo in France .
2. It is possible that IBM is having these issues, but it is also possible they are just releasing a speedbump to stave off the crave for an update until dual core is released late at Mac Expo in Paris, or later if need be. It was a year, something HAD to be done, so they gave a little bump in speed. Rewriting everythign for an AMD switch would hardly be worthwhile in my opinion, i'm sure IBM has something special to wow us with soon anyway .

 

[tromboneaholic]

Sometimes tech is promising, but in development problems arise, and what seemed to be the end all greatest becomes nothing more then a failed design. That's business and that's life. Please, for the sake of the threads, get that into your heads! Look at what we've got now and if it's not for you, then don't buy it. But saying the Power Mac update is bad because it is not what was promised by Jobs or a fantasy-filled rumor won't make it change into what you want. Sorry i seem angry, i'm trying not to seem like a little ball of anger here

It's a fact of life that Apple is ripping off consumers with this pricing. I agree with you: no one should by this over-priced, outdated box.

This must be Apple's way of moving us all to laptops. Kind of like when they decided non more floppies. Only now it's no more desktops.

 

[rockthecasbah]

AMD switch

1) They don't want to release something as spectacular as a dual-core PowerMac without a large event. (WWDC)

2) IBM is having a hard time keeping up with demand and/or having trouble producing the new state-of-the-art chips.

I think Apple should go AMD... seriously... but that would mean a major rewrite of everything.

1. I agree, maybe not as soon as WWDC, but possibly Mac Expo in France .

2. It is possible that IBM is having these issues, but it is also possible they are just releasing a speedbump to stave off the crave for an update until dual core is released late at Mac Expo in Paris, or later if need be. It was a year, something HAD to be done, so they gave a little bump in speed. Rewriting everythign for an AMD switch would hardly be worthwhile in my opinion, i'm sure IBM has something special to wow us with soon anyway .

(for some reason my post was put on twice guys, um sorry about that? It never appeared on my screen, it kept timing out when I was writing it...

 

[zimtheinvader]

anyone else notice the 56k modem is no longer standard?

 

[pgwalsh]

Apple and Steve Jobs must be frustrated as hell. Think about making a promise to your customers to deliver a speed boost in a year and two years later not being able to deliver. That sucks, but they’re not in control of IBM’s fabrication issues.

I’m sure if the 3 Ghz part were available they’d be shipping right now instead of the 2.7. I’m not quite sure if the dual core were ready they’d ship in the new PowerMacs. From what I’ve seen dual core processor servers are selling or going to sell for an arm and a leg. Perhaps the part is just a little too much for Apple to offer in the PowerMacs. A very sad situation.

So the speed bumps and dual core problems lay with IBM and effect Apple customers. Poo poo on them. I guess the CELL is the focus.

The lack of other aspects as PCI Express and HyperTransport 2.0 are most likely due to Apple not wanting to change the mobo when they’re not brining in a new processor family. That’s sad, but understandable to a point. They could afford it; they are number 5 in the PC business.

Not putting a better video card, more ram, larger hard drive, and other top of the line components in the machine is a sign of cheapness. I bet the margins on these machines are huge and Apple is going to milk it’s customers all it can. Steve is greedy on this one. The company is doing really well and they’re taking full advantage of the iPod Halo effect, but I think it’s wrong thing to do.

<venting>Apple, since you’re falling short with the delivery of a 3 ghz part or dual core, why not make up for it by juicing the machine with top of the line extras? They call this a PowerMac? These updates are PowerCrap in my opinion. </venting>

 

[rockthecasbah]

56k modems

anyone else notice the 56k modem is no longer standard?

I didn't notice that but I assume Apple thinks that since this is a pro machine, they are most likely going to have broadband internet, making a 56k modem useless. If I were them, I would have cut that out as well, it's not necessary.

 

[PeterQVenkman]

I noticed that. That's lame. I ordered one today. If I need one I will install it myslef.

Can anyone suggest a good RAM manufacturer? I looked on dealmac.com and found good prices on some 1 GB chips, but it is from Kingston. I hear the G5s are notoriously picky when it comes to RAM.

 

[daveL]

I think Apple should go AMD... seriously... but that would mean a major rewrite of everything.

Of course, you realize the Apple would have to continue to support the G3/G4/G5, in addition to switching to AMD - and all the third party apps would have to do the same. That would be suicide. Never going to happen.

Perhaps it would be a bit different if Apple had a significant market share and could bully the market, the way M$ does, but that isn't the case.