Compatibility with older products and new G5s

strubcubestrubcube
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
I noticed the new macs, if all holds true, uses USB 2.0, and firewire 800 as its inputs. My Wacom 9x12 tablet is regular USB,as is my card reader, and mouse, so does this mean it wouldn't work with the new towers? I don't know much about Firewire either, but I use an external cd firewire burner, and was wondering if it would work with either their new formats? Thanx for enlightening me. Be kind, this is my first post, but I've been using Macs now for 6 years. I'm eagerly anticipating how Apple is going to handle the situation on Monday if that's when things will be revealed.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    both USB 2.0 and Firewire 800 are backwards compatible.



    no worries
  • Reply 2 of 6
    heishheish Posts: 4member
    Firewire 800 port needs an adapter to be used with the old firewire devices, though.
  • Reply 3 of 6
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    The ports are actually exactly the same as the ports now, with one extra USB.



    The current Power Macs have USB 2 ports, but without drivers for supermegahighspeed operation.





    The current Power Macs have 2 FireWire 400 and one FireWire 800 port. The leaked specs say the G5 will have exactly the same.



    Barto
  • Reply 4 of 6
    tomb of the unknowntomb of the unknown Posts: 364member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Barto

    The ports are actually exactly the same as the ports now, with one extra USB.



    Not so. The FW 800 port is likely to be physically distinct from FW 400 ports.



    Edit: To be more specific, FW 800 or 1394b supports both Beta and DS signaling modes. (DS signaling is what 1394a or FW400 uses.) Beta is FW 800 and will require a physically distinct port in order to prevent FW 400 cables from being attached.



    There is also a Bilingual port that supports both 1394a and b signaling modes and is physically compatible with legacy 1394a cables. This, however, is more expensive than plain Beta ports so it's unlikely Apple would use a Bilingual port for the FW800 if they also include FW 400 ports.
  • Reply 5 of 6
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    That's not what I meant.



    The FireWire and USB ports on the new Power Mac G5s are exactly the same as the FireWire and USB ports on the current Power Mac G4s (P58B), with the addition of an extra USB port.



    1x FireWire 800

    2x FireWire 400

    2x or 3x USB 2



    A firmware/software difference is that Hi-Speed USB operation is disabled on the P58B.



    Sorry for the confusion.



    The FireWire 800 port on the PowerBook 17" is bilingual, I'm not sure about the port on the P58B.



    Barto
  • Reply 6 of 6
    strubcubestrubcube Posts: 18member
    They may use these inputs on the newer Powermac G4's, but I'm currently using a Powermac Blue and White G3, so as long as these ports are backwards compatible, I'll be happy. So is that the story, or will I need special adapters to use my older products. Would I also need special driver updates as well for these said products. I'm using the Wacom Intuos tablet, not the Intuos 2 tablet, which is the newer model. I'm using a Firewire Que Drive cdrw burner as well.
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