Jim Dye Posted June 20, 2003 Report Share Posted June 20, 2003 The online Apple Store inadvertently posted the specs of the Power Mac G5 late Thursday. The system details came in the form of a .gif image that appeared on the store's Power Mac G4 page. The specifications are as follows: - 1.6GHz, 1.8GHz or Dual 2GHz PowerPC G5 processors - Up to 1GHz processor bus - Up to 8GB of DDR SDRAM - Fast Serial ATA hard drives - AGP 8X Pro graphics options from NVIDIA or ATI - Three PCI or PCI-X expansion slots - Three USB 2.0 ports - One FireWire 800, two FireWire 400 ports - Bluetooth & AirPort Extreme ready - Optical and analog audio in and out The new Power Mac is expected to be officially announced Monday at Steve Jobs' keynote from Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. So Chris, how long until you get one of these bad boys? B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted June 20, 2003 Report Share Posted June 20, 2003 So Chris, how long until you get one of these bad boys? B) Well, Jim, I think I'll wait until it settles and all the wrinkles are straightened out. It was not so long ago that I bought the latest dual-processor G4. I'll undoubtedly do some drooling, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Dye Posted June 20, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2003 So Chris, how long until you get one of these bad boys? B) Well, Jim, I think I'll wait until it settles and all the wrinkles are straightened out. It was not so long ago that I bought the latest dual-processor G4. I'll undoubtedly do some drooling, however. I agree. With a new processor and architecture, it's probably best to wait until the second or third revision of the machine. I remember the early G4's were rushed out, only to be replaced with machines that had a faster bus and support for more RAM. I am getting my bib ready though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Larsen Posted June 20, 2003 Report Share Posted June 20, 2003 I was trying to wait for MRAM to come out before upgrading my laptop, but as that keeps getting pushed back I will probably pick one of these up sometime next year. The PowerBook I bought in early 2000 (the firewire model) is increasingly limiting for me. As mentioned above, it's not wise to buy one of these too soon after their release. The early releases of Apple hardware are almost invariably problematic. The earliest G4s were not as fast or reliable as the final G3s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Use3D Posted June 20, 2003 Report Share Posted June 20, 2003 Wow what a powerhouse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Larsen Posted June 20, 2003 Report Share Posted June 20, 2003 (edited) With Macs running UNIX now (the main reason I've stuck with them), who's going to buy Sun workstations after these come out? Sure, if you buy the fully loaded model you'll be spending about $5000, but Sun Ultra Creators are about ten times that for similar performace to what I expect from these new Macs based on the specs. EDIT: I've just been informed that Sun Workstations have already come down in price dramatically. Evidently you can get a very good workstation for $15,000 now. I remember my Ultra Creator 15 that was ordered for a project I was working on in 1999 costing around $40,000. Edited June 20, 2003 by J Larsen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Larsen Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 I just checked on apple.com, and it turns out that these guys are nearly $9,700 fully loaded. The 8GB of ram accounts for $3,750 of that, and the top-of-the-line graphics processor tacks on about $300 more. The $9700 also includes the cost of a 23 inch monitor, which is another $2000. The least expensive monitor you can buy from Apple is the 17 inch model for $700. If you don't already have a monitor, the lowest price you can get on the dual processor model is $3700. I find the prices a little depressing. I guess it was naive of me, but I was hoping that the 8GB dual-processor model would be available for $5000 to $6000. $3000 computer + $3750 RAM + $2000 monitor = $8750 = way more than I'm willing to pay for a Mac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 What an awesome machine. I'll never be able to afford it, but hopefully the dual G4s will come down in price and I can grab one of them!!! (drool) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Larsen Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 What an awesome machine. I'll never be able to afford it, but hopefully the dual G4s will come down in price and I can grab one of them!!! They will. It usually takes Apple two or three months after a new line comes out to "find a way" to make the older lines about 25% less expensive. The G4 will definately be staying around for a long time, as the G5s will run far too hot to make a marketably small G5 laptop. Workstation laptops tend to be bulky like those old portable electric typewriters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cali Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 I just bought my G4 a month and a half ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Larsen Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 Cali, on second thought you *might* not have anything to be upset about. I'm starting to think that the G5s are so expensive that they'll market them as a high-performance line and leave the G4s alone. As I indicated before, the G4 laptops are not likely to come down in price, as for the foreseeable future a G5 laptop is not feasable (if it were an easy problem to solve, Sun would have made sleek laptops a long time ago). Also, the vast majority of computer users don't need 64 bit processors. 64 bit chips have been around for a long time. If PC manufacturers thought that there was a commercial market for them, they would have started selling them by now. It may be that the G4 line gets merged with the iMac line into one low-end "home user" line, and the G5s become the "professional" line. But that's just wild speculation on my part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Use3D Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 I just bought my G4 a month and a half ago. What? G4s are still awesome. Sell it to me then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Dye Posted June 24, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 (edited) They dropped the price of the G4's! Plus they can boot OS 9 again. You can get your dualie 1.25 now for only 1599.00. The single processor for $1299.00! Single processor specs 1.25GHz PowerPC G4 1MB L3 cache 256MB DDR333 SDRAM 80GB Ultra ATA drive Combo Drive ATI Radeon 9000 Pro Mac OS 9 boot supported Dual processor specs Dual 1.25GHz PowerPC G4 2MB L3 cache/processor 256MB DDR333 SDRAM 80GB Ultra ATA drive Combo Drive ATI Radeon 9000 Pro Mac OS 9 boot supported Pretty damn good price, I must say. I might just have to look into this. I always liked the look of these last G4's. Reminds me of an old Buick. Edited June 24, 2003 by Jim Dye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Larsen Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 I just bought my G4 a month and a half ago. What? G4s are still awesome. Sell it to me then! I think he was upset about the immenent price drop, which had actually already happened. I was unaware of that. Thanks, Jim. The price drop would seem to indicate that they really are going to market G5s as their main desktop line. Seems risky to me, especially given that there is no laptop on the horizon. I guess with a falling 2% market share, they figure they have little to lose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Dye Posted June 24, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 I think a lot of professional (scientific and publishing) customers have been waiting to upgrade their PowerMacs for a long time. The G5s are a bit expensive, but you can save a lot by getting your RAM from someone other than Apple. I heard that they are planning on a G5 laptop. Rumors have been going around for a while. IBM may even be working on a PPC970 chip that runs cooler. One can only hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 Damn, those are some good prices on the G4s. Wish I had the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Larsen Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 I think a lot of professional (scientific and publishing) customers have been waiting to upgrade their PowerMacs for a long time. The G5s are a bit expensive, but you can save a lot by getting your RAM from someone other than Apple. Jim, I agree. The thing is that they've manufactured a machine that's really desgined to compete with Sun workstations yet they're trying to market them to the PC audience. I think that could backfire. OTOH, as far as the scientific market is concerned, I think Sun has reason to worry. A fully loaded G5 is very competitive with the new Sunblade workstations in terms of both price and specs. As with Sun workstations, I don't think I can justify having one for my home, but I really want one for my office! I don't think the NSF will feel like buying me one anytime soon, though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted June 24, 2003 Report Share Posted June 24, 2003 To be further impressed with the G5 and Panther (the OS X update that's coming later this year), check out Steve Jobs' keynote address from yesterdays WWDC opening: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/wwdc03/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cali Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 They dropped the price of the G4's! Plus they can boot OS 9 again. Is OS 9 the same thing as what Mac calls Classic 9? OS X gives me several compatibilty problems with peripheral devices. The online Mac stores are offering 512 mgs of ram for free with purchase of some of the G4s. That means they ship with 768 mgs of ram. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Dye Posted June 25, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 They dropped the price of the G4's! Plus they can boot OS 9 again. Is OS 9 the same thing as what Mac calls Classic 9? OS X gives me several compatibilty problems with peripheral devices. The online Mac stores are offering 512 mgs of ram for free with purchase of some of the G4s. That means they ship with 768 mgs of ram. Kind of. Classic allows you to run OS 9 apps from within OS X. Booting OS 9 is different. You start your machine and run OS 9 as the only operating system. Classic is a bit rough. If you can, try booting your system from a OS 9 cd-rom. Then you can know for sure. Hope i'm making sense here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cali Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted June 25, 2003 Report Share Posted June 25, 2003 From OS X, go to System Preferences and select Startup Disk. When the Startup Disk window comes down, select OS 9, and restart your machine. That will boot you into OS 9 until you repeat the procedure and select OS X as your startup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cali Posted June 26, 2003 Report Share Posted June 26, 2003 From OS X, go to System Preferences and select Startup Disk. When the Startup Disk window comes down, select OS 9, and restart your machine. That will boot you into OS 9 until you repeat the procedure and select OS X as your startup. Can't start up in OS 9 until I install it. My options for system preferences are OS X and Classic 9. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted June 26, 2003 Report Share Posted June 26, 2003 If you have Classic 9, you should be able to boot on it. My newest machine (a 1 GHz dual) did not come with Classic 9, and I decided not to install it--forcing myself to make a serious switch to X. On my other machines, however, I do have Classic 9. Classic 9 is not inherently a part of X. I know that sounds confusing, but if you see Classic 9 as a Startup Disk option, you can boot into that system. If you don't see it there, you need to install it (if you feel a need to use it). Which Mac are you running? Unless you bought it within the past few months, it should have come equipped with Classic 9. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrugs Posted June 26, 2003 Report Share Posted June 26, 2003 re: professional customers upgrading computers aren't there some nice tax loopholes for this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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