Stopped G4?

[iMax531]

I was just thinking about all of this and I realized -

The fastest G4 we have ever seen in the flesh was 1.42 Ghz G4 that was released last January... and in a year, the G4 has gone nowhere, and it ahs eve, decreased in speed... the fastest G4 chip apple sells right now is at 1.33 Ghz.

Is G4 development stopped? We were supposed to see Motorola 7457s but those seem to have never materialized, correct me if I'm wrong... So what's going on?

We now have reports of a G3+ altivec IBM thing, but apparently it won't be shipping for another 3 quarters... so what's going to happen to the Powerbooks if they don't go G5, the iMac, etc?

The iBook and eMac can still go up a notch to the old 1.25 even 1.42 Ghz G4's if they show up ever again... but might 1.42 ghz be the limit of the G4?

 

[pjkelnhofer]

In my opinion, the days of the G4's are numbered. The fact that only minor speed increases are even availible (with the exception of the iBook which still has a bottom end of 800 MHz) makes me believe that Apple must get G5's into as many computers as quickly as possible.
I think once the 1.6 and 1.8 GHz (and possible the 2) are out of the PowerMacs (in January hopefully). You will soon see them in other Macs (iMac or Powerbooks first).
It only makes sense. Why have a 1.6 GHz G5 in nothing and basically three or four year old G4 chips in others?

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

my favorite pet pea, imax531 has hit the nail on the head Moto hasnt gone anywhere this year. the 7457 will probably get the g4 up to 1.6 if apple overclocks it but it has been at a standstill for a year now, just like the year of 500mhz just to let you know i iam using a 1.4 clocked up a tad to 1.467 i was very surprised not to see a 1.33 or a 1.4 in the 20" imac. If apple comes out with a 1.4 or 1.6 g4 imac i think we will all be very dissappointed but it does look like that is about it for the g4. G5 is whats coming and we know that there may be a 970+, or g6 whatever so i would say moto's days are numbered best thing Apple could ever do is get away from that sorry company. they have held Apple down. IBM has the stuff there is no doubt about it and thats why we now have a G5 powermac. Next year will be awesome if you are a mac lover. Once Powermac gets another bump they will be able to say in all honesty that it really is the fastest personal computer you can buy and it wont matter what bench you use because Apple will really have the fastest machine.

 

[blue&whiteman]

the G4 isn't going anywhere for a while. think about it. the ibook just got the G4 in it. you won't be seeing a G5 emac for a LONG time. just look at how long of a run the G3 had 1997-2003. the G4 will now be what the G3 was, ie. a chip used in the consumer machines. as I see it the G4 will be in at least 1 mac model for another 2 years minimum.

 

[Gymnut]

The G3 has had a nice run but now that it has been completely phased out, the G4 now will become the processor for low end Mac's, making the G5 the future. Kind of sad how Motorola seemingly dragged its feet in producing faster processors.

 

[x86isslow]

any thoughts on who will buy up whats left of moto semi?

ti/amd/intel?/ibm/via?

 

[blue&whiteman]

you can't really blame motorola for this decline in cpu productivity. they now make far more money off cell phone technology so thats where their r&d money goes. its just buisiness.

 

[iMax531]

my point isn't that the G4 won't be in apple's lineup for long - the thing is, I will be surprised if we see any G4's ever that clock higher than 1.42 Ghz. I think it's plausable to assume that sure, iBooks and eMacs will see one or two more G4 revisions scaleing them up to as high as 1.3 or 1.4 Ghz with G4's. but after that it's either going to have to be IBM's G3+ or the G5.

It just seems like the G4's ceiling will be stuck at 1.42

 

[Gymnut]

Hmm...mhz within PC processors have escalated within recent years between AMD and Intel. Certainly it's all within speculation but from the outside looking in, it does seem that Motorola hasn't been cranking on all cylinders with its partnership with Apple. Yes, it is "just business" but if you don't produce and produce well, that "business" partnership will be non-existant.

 

[blue&whiteman]

"We now have reports of a G3+ altivec IBM thing"

thats exactly what the G4 is, a G3 with altivec.

motorola already knows that they will be phased out. its been obvious for a long time. the point here is that it will not be a big loss to them as cpu sales to apple account for less than 10% of the money they bring in now. they will keep making the G4 till apple doesn't want it any longer and then probably stop making them all together.