PowerMac Light at WWDC?

[gekko513]

- Recently the PowerMac line has been upgraded to all-dual.
- The PowerMac G4 is end-of-life

This leaves a hole in the product line for the much discussed headless iMac (PowerMac Light (edit: mini)). I think we may see both iMac G5 and a smaller single processor PowerMac G5 line at WWDC. It doesn't make sense to me that the cheapest non-monitor Mac should cost $1999.

Anyone else think this is likely? If not. Why not? I think Apple needs this kind of product.

 

[Sun Baked]

Well the new PowerMac 7,3 were the speed bumps...

The new PowerMac 8,1 are still undeclared, this could be a PowerMac-Lite or the newest iMac.

Everyone is betting on a consumer machine, but Apple has lately been mixing up consumer and professional machines over in the notebook line -- it could happen with the desktops.

 

[DGFan]

There's already an iSight light but that's for portables. I think we need something for the PowerMacs too! I hate trying to type in the dark!

 

[gekko513]

There's already an iSight light but that's for portables. I think we need something for the PowerMacs too! I hate trying to type in the dark!

Oops ... English isn't my native tongue ... let's call it PowerMac mini then

(Diet Coke is called Coca Cola Light here in Norway. Where does this come from, and where else do they call it this?)

 

[JasonElise1983]

NO, i've got it. PowerMac Express. PowerMac Mini sound like a PDA with a G5 in it and a scalable 5-20" floating display, but maybe thats just me. Or how about calling it the iPower hahaaha. Sorry, thats pretty bad. What if they made one iMac with optional display sizes, processors, video cards, and HD's. Something like an iMac, with some expandablity. Maybe even a removable display. I'm just talkin now.

 

[LeeTom]

You guys are all wrong. There will be no PowerMac mini, express, or lite.
Only an iMac G5.

Lee Tom

 

[blue&whiteman]

You guys are all wrong. There will be no PowerMac mini, express, or lite.
Only an iMac G5.

Lee Tom

I guess you're Steve Jobs right hand man to know such things..

 

[Capt Underpants]

I guess you're Steve Jobs right hand man to know such things..

Of course he's not steve job's right hand man. He was just giving his best guess as to what the powermac 8,1 is. I would LOVE for the 8,1 to be a headless, single processor G5 mac, so I could make the full switch (I still have my dell as a desktop machine). But, simply put, the chances of this happening are slim to none. Here comes the G5 iMac.

 

[PowerMacMan]

I believe that we will only see the G5 iMac for hardware... but that could improvise as being the PowerMac 'mini'...

 

[ChrisFromCanada]

G5 cube?

 

[jeremy.king]

G5 cube?

Performa G5

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Despite the cry from some for a headless iMac, the iMac G4's have found a niche with consumers. Sales have been declining for it IMO for lack of power. A G5 1.5 (better yet the 1.8) would give the iMac a boost that is really needed.

What would really be neat is if the rumored new displays had the capability to be attached to a headless iMac. Giving the best of all worlds for the nay sayers here.

 

[gekko513]

Despite the cry from some for a headless iMac, the iMac G4's have found a niche with consumers. Sales have been declining for it IMO for lack of power. A G5 1.5 (better yet the 1.8) would give the iMac a boost that is really needed.

What would really be neat is if the rumored new displays had the capability to be attached to a headless iMac. Giving the best of all worlds for the nay sayers here.

That would be kinda nice, but there are reasons to keep the all-in-one concept for consumers.

There's also reasons to give a cheaper headless option to prosumers and to business customers.

 

[dbauer]

What I would like to see is something that Apple could sell to corporations. Something in mass quantities, go after the Dell and IBM market. Some on this site have called it a headless iMac but you can't call it that. Something you can walk into a board room and say, here is an alternative to those virus attracting Windows PC's; it runs on Unix, built in firewall, no need for antivirus software, a five year life cycle, and it looks professional: The bizMac! or corpMac! or workMac! or the Apple Workmate!. Something like that. Here are the specs (remember that business's don't run cutting edge hardware):

1.25 Ghz G4
512 MB Ram
20 gig HDD
Bluetooth and Airport Extreme built-in
ATI 9200 64MB
CD-ROM
$599 in 1,000 unit quantities
$899 in lower quantities
OS X 10.4 with built-in port of Wine (you still have to run the Windows business apps, and I'm not talking about Office)

Now this is something that corporate America could latch on too. The company I work for purchases IBM desktops for $600 a piece, 6,000 units a year. This ensures a three year life cycle, which makes the accountants happy. If we could stretch our hardware purchase to 5 years, wow, that's a lot of savings. From an IT standpoint, not having to roll out a Microsoft patch every 3 weeks only to find out that the patch fixed a hole but created a bug in another area would be a godsend.

 

[themadchemist]

maybe they'll use a slow-clocked g5 in something. Perhaps a G5 1.5 GHz or something like that. Perhaps there wouldn't be so many heating issues with that.

It would represent a tiny gain in frequency, but probably a significant gain in performance from the architecture.

 

[gekko513]

1.25 Ghz G4
512 MB Ram
20 gig HDD
Bluetooth and Airport Extreme built-in
ATI 9200 64MB
CD-ROM
$599 in 1,000 unit quantities
$899 in lower quantities

I was thinking more like
1.6 GHz G5
256 MB Ram
80 gig HDD
Combo drive
1 PCI slot
Geforce FX 5200 64MB
And a smaller form factor
From $1299

 

[dbauer]

I was thinking more like
1.6 GHz G5
256 MB Ram
80 gig HDD
Combo drive
1 PCI slot
Geforce FX 5200 64MB
And a smaller form factor
From $1299

I agree with the small form factor and the one PCI slot but the reasons behind the rest of the specs are driven mostly by how businesses use their PC's.

512 MB Ram because all of the apps that our users would be using would have to run in Wine or VPC 7, and you need as much as you can get for that. In reality, 1 gig would be preferred but I know that our company would never put that much in memory.

20 gig HDD, this is because we have 20 gig drives now and most people never use 5 gig because they keep their user data on the network servers. If we gave them 80 gig drives, I would stop answering the phone when a HDD crashes. I just couldn't deal with someone who lost that much data, not to mention all those iTunes songs!

Our company would go with a CD-ROM over a combo drive only because we don't want users to burn company data and take it out of the office. A DVD-ROM would be best but apple hasn't offered one in years.

I agree with your video card choice but I was hoping for a 9200 anyway

I would love Apple to be able to get a G5 in such a machine but at $1299, no company would ever buy it. If Apple could offer a G4 (which is more than enough for business use, I mean they used to make Hollywood blockbusters off of G4's) in a small package for $600 with Windows application compatibility, no company would have a legitimate reason for choosing Dell or IBM anymore. Especially when you take into account the firewall and virus protection offered by Unix. Throw in the open source community with X11 and that is one hell of a bargin.

 

[Xenious]

NO, i've got it. PowerMac Express. PowerMac Mini sound like a PDA with a G5 in it and a scalable 5-20" floating display, but maybe thats just me. Or how about calling it the iPower hahaaha. Sorry, thats pretty bad. What if they made one iMac with optional display sizes, processors, video cards, and HD's. Something like an iMac, with some expandablity. Maybe even a removable display. I'm just talkin now.

Ok in the spirit what about a new iChat client called iThink....

wait for it....

iThink therefore IM.

AHAHHA sorry its a bad joke evening.
-jim

 

[gekko513]

I would love Apple to be able to get a G5 in such a machine but at $1299, no company would ever buy it.

OK, how about:
1.6 GHz G5
256 MB Ram (upgradable of course, can't have more than the low end dual G5 by default)
40 gig HDD
CD-ROM
1 PCI slot
Geforce FX 5200 64MB
And a smaller form factor
From $999

I used Apple's current prices to sort of approximate the $1299, but what do I know. Is there any price difference at all between 20, 40 and 80GB hard drives these days? $100 price difference between CD-ROM and Combo Drive for the Xserve.

 

[gekko513]

There's already an iSight light but that's for portables. I think we need something for the PowerMacs too! I hate trying to type in the dark!

Here's the reason I sometimes get problems when writing English These ads are in front of a Norwegian grocery:

 

[smllpx]

Our company would go with a CD-ROM over a combo drive only because we don't want users to burn company data and take it out of the office. A DVD-ROM would be best but apple hasn't offered one in years.

Because those expensive thumb drives are so hard to find and use?

 

[sockeatingdryer]

1.25 Ghz G4
512 MB Ram
20 gig HDD
Bluetooth and Airport Extreme built-in
ATI 9200 64MB
CD-ROM
$599 in 1,000 unit quantities
$899 in lower quantities
OS X 10.4 with built-in port of Wine (you still have to run the Windows business apps, and I'm not talking about Office)

For the most part, you just described the eMac, though without the 64MB video and WINE.

 

[Grimace]

If Apple ever wants to appeal to the business world - it needs to rid itself of the "plastic toy" look, or design something a little more bland.

Yes, I said it - Apple should make a corporatebox that is bland. An eMac is a CRT - it looks old - businesses may not want that. The iMac look doesn't remind managers of reports and memoranda. Designing a big-corporate mac would be a little bit of a sellout; Apple doesn't currently seem to want a big piece of that market anyway.

I dunno, I'm just rambling now, feel free to flame.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

If Apple ever wants to appeal to the business world - it needs to rid itself of the "plastic toy" look, or design something a little more bland.

Yes, I said it - Apple should make a corporatebox that is bland. An eMac is a CRT - it looks old - businesses may not want that. The iMac look doesn't remind managers of reports and memoranda. Designing a big-corporate mac would be a little bit of a sellout; Apple doesn't currently seem to want a big piece of that market anyway.

I dunno, I'm just rambling now, feel free to flame.

I see what you are talking about. Though if corporate mangers would really look it from a business perspective the current iMac is the best PC design. It answers the monitor ergonomic issue the best IMO. And if the rumors are true about the new G5 iMac having a wireless keyboard and mouse as the standard bundle, this is even better.

 

[Spock]

If Apple ever wants to appeal to the business world - it needs to rid itself of the "plastic toy" look, or design something a little more bland.

Yes, I said it - Apple should make a corporatebox that is bland. An eMac is a CRT - it looks old - businesses may not want that. The iMac look doesn't remind managers of reports and memoranda. Designing a big-corporate mac would be a little bit of a sellout; Apple doesn't currently seem to want a big piece of that market anyway.

I dunno, I'm just rambling now, feel free to flame.

I am going to agree with You I like the look but they do need a Pro-Line/Consumer line hybrid like a black Headless eMac yes eMac.