Apple's plans
Apple has to go with G5's soon, there is little difference between the pro and consumer models. OS X is optimized for the G4, not the G3 (despite Apple's promises). In order to keep up with the demanding processor requirements of OS X, Apple must move to a minimum of G4's for all of their products, except the iPod of course.
Indeed with the introduction of the eMac, it proves Apple can make a very cheap G4-based machine, However I do not see customers paying a premium for the towers, which have the highest margins, if they have 1.4 Ghz G4 chips after Macworld in July. Especially when Apple upgrades the iMac in July with faster processors. Why? Well, its the six-month product cycle. There has to be some sort of upgrade or the product becomes stale. Remember how sales of the iMac were anemic, until they came out with the G4 iMac.
Apple painted itself into a corner, so there is only two ways out. Apple can either come out with a true G5 processor, or Apple will implement a dual strategy for all towers if they have to keep using G4's. Of course, a new case design is in the works. Its basically the same case for the past four years, its become quite stale (aesthetically, it is still the best looking case out there). However, it does not fit in with Apple's product line which seems to be all white, except for the Powerbook.
[ 04-30-2002: Message edited by: aparkermarshall ]</p>
Indeed with the introduction of the eMac, it proves Apple can make a very cheap G4-based machine, However I do not see customers paying a premium for the towers, which have the highest margins, if they have 1.4 Ghz G4 chips after Macworld in July. Especially when Apple upgrades the iMac in July with faster processors. Why? Well, its the six-month product cycle. There has to be some sort of upgrade or the product becomes stale. Remember how sales of the iMac were anemic, until they came out with the G4 iMac.
Apple painted itself into a corner, so there is only two ways out. Apple can either come out with a true G5 processor, or Apple will implement a dual strategy for all towers if they have to keep using G4's. Of course, a new case design is in the works. Its basically the same case for the past four years, its become quite stale (aesthetically, it is still the best looking case out there). However, it does not fit in with Apple's product line which seems to be all white, except for the Powerbook.
[ 04-30-2002: Message edited by: aparkermarshall ]</p>
Comments
Before the "flaming" about MP's not relaizing the real world performance, I am aware of this. But we are talking about Pro Applications, and Photoshop, and Illustrator are MP aware in OS X (Illustrator 10 is barely usable in OS 9 on my Dual 1ghz, but according to a tech in our IT department, it fly's in OS X). So are most of the high end 3-D applications, so the MP IS a viable option in this market now that OS X is here.
I agree totally. Either bust out a G5 at screaming clockspeeds, or make all Powermac Towers dual processor, standard, at the same pricepoints as today. The only other option is for Apple to lose even more professional sales.
I also agree that it's time for a new tower case. The current case is nice, but it MUST have an extra full sized drive bay for those who want to add another optical drive but don't want to pay a premium for a Firewire peripheral. More space for HDs would be nice, and I'd also like to see a better cooling system that runs QUIETER. The current towers sound like jet engines on takeoff, surely Apple can use higher quality fans and redesign the cooling layout so that the towers run quieter. I'm not asking for towers as quiet as the iMac, but certainly there is room for improvement.
I do think something is on the horizon for Powermacs, because Apple's recent software acquisitions and developments such as Maya all suggest that Apple plans on capturing significant marketshare in 3d animation and effects. However the current Powermacs simply are not competitive with Wintel offerings in this market, and apps such as Maya need more power than Powermacs can provide. Clearly, Apple has something in the works that will give them the performance they need to play in such a hard-core market. Is it a G5? A new mobo design with emphasis on multiprocessing and bandwidth? Or is it something even more radical, like an IBM designed PPC chip that ownz all other consumer CPUs on the planet?
I think virtually anything is possible except for OS X on x86. That is a dumb idea that needs to be end-of-lifed ASAP.
MP awareness is highly overrated if your looking for pure speed gains.