Macbidouille: 970's on sale at the end of May - Page 3

i don't think that's what they are saying now. after the correction it seems apple will not show untll WWDC.

its confusing...

There's another hint (but nothing more than that) indicating that we might see a 970 PowerBook: The PowerBook has become the developer machine of choice. You can't go to a Mac or Linux development conference without seeing them everywhere.

There would be no better way to get developers to beta test Panther en masse than to dangle a new, superfast, 64-bit notebook in front of their faces.

I don't think this is an either/or proposition with respect to desktops. I get the feeling that 970s are not in short supply, and Apple uses different assembly lines to make 'Books and PowerMacs so there's no bottleneck there. If we see one, we'll see the other. I'm pretty confident of that.

OK, let me take a stab at a third translation:

[Rumour] PPC 970 small correction

A mistake in interpretation slipped into yesterday's news. The PPC 970 will be announced to the developers at WWDC and to the public the following week. It will be on sale immediately thereafter. But without a doubt, due to expected global demand, Apple intends to build up inventory levels and will begin distribution to channels as of the end of May.

We are terribly sorry for this mistranslation

sweet, that translation finally makes sense!

Hm.....seems like we are going to see either

1.4GHz SINGLE
1.6GHz SINGLE
1.8GHz DUAL

--or--

1.4GHz SINGLE
1.6GHz DUAL
1.8GHz DUAL



Curious....how can a dual 1.8 compete with the dual Xeon

That I find possible, but as with anything unannounced with Apple I am not getting my hopes up until I hear it straight from SJ's mouth.

Although, it sounds promising. I am still curious if the nForce 3 is going to debut in a Dual processior highend version. That's what I need.

If that plays DOOM 3 better than any other Mac, that's what I need too.

A little speculation, based upon everything I have pieced together from all the rumor threads and speculation.

Current Power Macs
1.0 single, 1.2 dual, 1.42 dual. price points from $1499 to $2699 (US$).

New 970 Power Macs
1.4 single, 1.4 or 1.6 dual, 1.8 dual. Price points to remain about the same.
(Probable with some leaway for exact speeds. Nothing below 1.4, nothing above 2.0)

New 15" PowerBook
Tough call here. 1.2 to 1.4 970 is possible. My best guess is a 1.2ghz 970 single 15" followed shortly by an updated 970 17". (maybe a dual 17")
Price Points? Who knows!
(Very speculative but possible. Something is definitely cooking with the 15 inch Powerbook, and I think it is more then just a new graphics chip.)

eMacs - just faster G4's and a new port of some kind.
iMacs - possibility of a major redesign with a bump to 1.2ghz 970, but not before July or August.

iBooks? I haven't a clue, even though I own one.

The 970 powermacs will be first mentioned at WWDC. An official public introduction will be made at an Apple event the following week. In the meantime, finished units will have been shipping since May to warehouses, and stockpiled to allow for immediate shipment of some but not all models. 1.4ghz 970 singles will be immediatly available followed by dual processor models either at same time or withing a couple of weeks.

All new PowerMacs will ship in July, running a special version of 10.2.x for the 970. Free upgrades to 10.3 will be provided for those machines in when Panther is released.

Powerbooks will be announced at same time. If 15" powerbooks are announced earlier, then they will be G4's not 970's.

Really don't see anything above a dual 1.8 ghz to start for the PowerMacs, with speedbumps up to 2.5 no later then MWSF.

I expect a surprise announcement related to Final Cut Pro and shake, when the 970's are announced.

And so I sit, prepared to be elated, or disappointed. I am betting though, on an exciting summer for Apple announcements. It is time!

and the surprice announcement is: besides fast, faster, fastest powermacs, ultimate: 2.5 Ghz duals for the high-end user. for only $4,499.00

The French word for week is semaine. This spelling/typo must have been passed through unchanged by an automatic translation.

Meh. I'll believe it when it's sitting on my desk. When was the last time Apple introduced a completely new product and shipped it immediately? Not the Cube, not the iPod, not the dual-USB iBooks, not the LCD iMacs, not the Ti. Given Steve's penchant for secrecy and surprises, I just can't imagine Apple letting warehouses of new Power Macs fill up so that any stock boy can leak photos and specs. \

For those of you skeptical that Apple can't possibly release the 970 in a PowerBook first, or a 970 in both PowerMacs and PowerBooks simultaneously, I think you need to look back at history.

According to LEM (lowendmac.com):

First PowerMac with a G3
First PowerBook with a G3

The PowerBook, when it first received the G3 processor, was introduced on November 10, 1997. Meanwhile, the PowerMac, when it first received the G3 processor, was introduced on November 15, 1997.

That is way too expensive.

www.macrumors.com
One reader noted that a new Apple Store banner contains a side view of a revised Apple keyboard -- with a larger base, and no USB ports on the sides (as on current keyboards).

Additional reports indicate that in the new Keyboard design, the USB ports have been moved to the back, positioned on either side of the keyboard cord.

Minor mouse revisions are expected as well.

http://www.macrumors.com/downloads/k..._macrumors.jpg

Could this not be additional proof of an updated PowerMac coming sooner than expected? One can only hope!

well since I am in need of a 15 inch powerbook... and this being "the year of the portable" I have no problems with the powerbook being the first to get devirgintized by the 970... Maybe we will see a convertible tablet config along with the new 970 I would like that to... it would be nicer to watch movies on the powerbook if you can twist around the screen so you don't have to look at the keyboard...

A lot of Apple's problems with "late deliveries" has been in part to supply and assembly chain problems, and the effort to tie announcements to a single major event like MacWorld that is planned and scheduled months in advance.

Apple is moving away from big event announcments to a process of creating an event when the product is ready, and the inventory is on hand. Now instead of having announcements tied to events that are planned months in advance, they can be more flexible and announce at special events that require a few weeks, pre planning or less, when the inventory and product is ready. The latest example is the iPod event. If supply or manufacturing channels experience a problem, the event timing can be adjusted. If finished product is starting to be delivered to warehouses by the end of May, Apple could safely plan an event following WWDC that would allow them to announce immediate or very short-term availability.

The process might be like this.

1. End of May, confirmation that satisfactory product is being produced and inventory is being warehoused.

2. the Event is mostly planned except for dates and last minute details. A date and location is set for 1 month later.

3. No major glitches occur, the PPC 970 and supporting core technology is introduced in "general terms" at WWDC. We know what is coming, but lack the details. Developers are provided with the tools to begin immediate development of products capable of taking advantage of it in preperation for Panther.

4. June 27-30th, shipping orders are dispatched to the secure warehouse(s) to begin the delivery process, trucks and containers are loaded and dispatched accross the country to retail outlets.

5. Tuesday, July 1st, beginning of financial Q3 Apple announces the new Macintoshes, with immediate ordering availability and retail availability on Friday, July 4th. (Independence day in the US.)

6. Many of us will feel liberated but a few will complain that they didn't introduce a machine at least 2 times faster then the current P4 from Intel. 10-20% faster won't be enough.

7. A few others will complain because somebodies custom home built gaming machine they read about runs UT or Quake 20 frames faster.

8. Within a week after, someone will post a thread in a rumors forum asking when the &*%#@ is Apple going to update their PowerMacs again, because they are too slow.

9. A PC columnist will write that the Athlon 64 is expected to eventually outperform the new PowerMacs.

10. Intel "announces" a new 8ghz P4 with liquid nitrogen cooling.

LOL I think you have it about right! But of course the 15" PowerBook will be updated this month just because I want one!

I still vote for the 970 machine (either PB or PM or both) at WWDC with Beta of Panther. 8)

Immediate ordering availability will be the most important thing. We should don't care so much what is the realease date for 970. The most important thing for us should be availability of new 970 Macs (when the machines are in shops)!!!

yup, your absolutly right, but now nobody can say may price expectations where way too optimistic.

(i actually think that apple will use it's former fastest price tag for this ultimate machine: $3,499.00, with some BTO options)

Has anyone noticed that the apple store for education (as well as the developer store) no longer lists anything as "New" except the iBook and iPod? In the past it's seemed that they kept things listed as "New" quite a while, and not even the AlBooks have that cute green circle on them.

Might this be further evidence that both the P'Books and P'Macs are going to be updated with the 970 (in some reasonable amount of time)?

Just a thought...

From Macdoobiedoo :

AlBooks are four months old now.

Well, at MacBidouille , they are now saying that IBM wants to try and get the 970 out at 90nm by years end and that these would be the cpus used in laptops.
"They hope to produce the first PPC 970 90nm at the end of the year. These processors will replace G4 in the portables. "


Edit: Oh, I see that's already a whole other thread. So, redundant post I guess.

Yeah, we'll probably not see 970 PBs before MWSF-04 \

Hmmm.

...the smoke signals say an early 970 'POWER'Mac before the fall.

That would be way ahead of what I was expecting. Macdoobiedoo's teasing to release the benches on May 15th? Would be a stunning coup!

If the 970 hits circa June then it's before when I was budgeting to buy one. Heh. I was figuring for a G5 this Sept. At this rate of going, I'll be buying .09s instead of .13 G5s.

Powerbook 970? I can't see why not if it's downclocked to 1.2. Do Apple have to wait for .09 970s? Wouldn't a 1.2 970 be cool enough?

We'll see. I've felt quite serene about the whole 970 issue. Instinct from the rumours says it will be ready soon. And I'll be checking out how it benches Photoshop and Lightwave. If it truly slaps around 300dpi piccies and drills 3D renders, I may bite for the dual 1.8. At current prices? Not too bad. If IBM moves to .09 soon after, they'll be a steal.

I've already had the room decorated in Egyptian Blue and Aqua for the G5! And I have a chrome and glass table for the display!

Very 'X' inspired, eh?

Anyhow, it's not as if Apple don't need to get those 970 towers out as soon as possible. The pushing back of the WWDC to June was a big clue...

Lemon Bon Bon

can i see a pic of that room? haha

Here is Lemon BB room with some of his staff. The room does need a few mods.

The one on the right is showing a LOT of leg!!

http://www.architosh.com/news/2003-0...02-ee-g5.phtml

Interesting cpu speculation re the eet article.

Hey, BigC, of course the machines need an update...I've been waiting for Apple to move onto a modern, high performaing cpu for years. It's not my fault they keep selling those big box, small performance machines.

I'll post a new picture (in colour) with a modern machine when Apple sells one.



8)

Lemon Bon Bon


Yeah, when Apple sells me my 'Power'Mac, I'll post the pic.

ok. there seems to be a new mini flood of 970 info at the macboudille site.

_one possible explanation: 970s ARE starting to move off the line. if we are really that close to a rollout then MORE and MORE people need to know to do things like prep ressellers and make those pretty boxes they come in.

if this were any other non secret product. Wouldn't we all be saying info leaking out _now is just a natural evolution of events?

This actually seems to bolster their claims IMO.

of course it could be some really mean french windows user giving macbouldille troll-ish info....

What do the fans sound like on those machines anyway? Any louder than the MDD's.

As to the the architosh article, MOTO comments may just be postering for an Apple non-performance lawsuit.

The fact that all the other rumor sites, including pie-in-the-sky MOSR, are much more conservative with respect to the 970 makes it hard to believe MacBidouille's reports. On the other hand, I keep reminding myself that MacBidouille posted pre-release pictures of the Quicksilver PowerMacs (or whathever other model it was). In the end, I have to give my fellow Frenchmen the benefit of the doubt.

Escher

Or perhaps Powerdoc is trying to increase ad revenues for AppleInsider...

I swore never to do this as every post I have read in regards to Apple product releases has been wrong but here goes anyway.

Any word on the FSB speed. Seems to me you can stick the fastest chip you can into a box but it will still bottleneck at the bus. I would say the one biggest change Apple would need to make is up the 133 the boards currently run at to something like at least 233 or higher. The current crop of chips already have a major advantage over current pentium models in regards to processing power, pipeline and chip architecture. If I were Steve Jobs, I would emphasise a softly, softly approach that would first take advantage by increasing throughput on the board. This would be part of a sweetener deal I think as noted below to entice customers to buy while the G5's are coming.

Market demand or not, Apple marches to the beat of its own drum in regard to its timeline, sometimes to its own detriment. They have a record of doing things one step at a time. Apple have already announced their market intentions by going dual processor. I would say they will release a G5 machine in dual processor config with Panther after updating the current range of systems to 1.5ghz or beyond with some sweeteners like price drops and equipment/tech upgrades in between. This will allow them to iron out any bugs the architecture may have before unleashing the G5's to market. Current G4 chips will fall into the consumer i-range (ibook, imac) and the 970's will become the pro range. You can see that now in the 12.1 powerbook and the 1ghz imac. I would even hesitate a huge guess and say that the 970 cases will sport a new and unique design completely seperate from the current series.
Panther isn't due for release until September and Apple won't stifle sales by announcing a new product and not selling it. It makes people hold off their current decision to buy which hurts their bottom line. The release of the new model is just as important as the release of OsX to them so theirs no point in announcing it and having a problem like the 17" notebook again. To recap here is a theoretical timeline.

- next 2/3 months - release of speed/equipment/tech upgrades to current range to 1.5 and beyond with sweetener deals for current models, price drops etc happening within the next 4-6 months.

- Around September major releases of Panther and new 970 systems. G4 will become relegated to consumer series but will still be regularly updated.

This will give Apple an advantage of two chip manufacturers, IBM for the pro series and Motorola for the consumer models. Keeps everyone happy and relations good with Motorola in case Apple needs them again.

Don't flame me for any of this or laugh if its completely wrong. Like everyone else, all I know is what I have read and what has happened before.

Regards
MarkG

Mark G
The Pro =IBM and imac/book=Motorola has a serious problem. And that is the very slow scaling of Motorola. Initially the iProduct can keep up at a allmost suitable distance from the professional line by jumping from 1 GHz G4 to 1.4 GHz. The problem is that one 970 at 1.5 GHz corresponds to a G4 running at 2.5 to 5 GHz. So very soon if not right away the G4 will be to far behind to be a viable budget alternative.
The 601 CPU came in 1994 and in about two years it was replaced byt the 604 as the leading CPU. And about two years later the G3 took over the lead. The G4 came 1999 so it is about two years overdue to be replaced.

A G4 at 1.42 GHz seem to be running quite hot, a 900 MHz 970 would have about parity in integers be twise as fast in floating point calculation and perhaps be faster in Altivec as well and still run cooler...

In my mind Motorola is on its way out, fast! How fast? I do not have a clue but my guess is that the only "new" Macintoshes with Motorola CPUs will be during this year and it will be similar to the new iBook.

Apple is using 133 and 167MHz bus speeds because that's what the G4s can handle - they can't go any higher.

From Macdoobieboo: (also posted in another thread):


These rumors are getting better and better. What next. Apple building personal space shuttles

Being seriosly though, does anyone think developeing a high end ($10000-75000) is something that Apple would do. There may be a market for such a high-high-end machine, but how big is it. And how many people know the roadmaps a full year in advance. Only the top top people, and the developer groups I guess. Somebody must be joking macdoobie around.

THis is all such Bull Sh*t. I find it soo unreal I can't believe this cr@p even get's posted.