No new PowerMacs until March? - Page 3

Edit: deleted all. sorry, no humour.\

Apple just posted a promo that ends of the 27th of March. It encompasses iMac, PowerMacs, and XServes. Maybe we have to wait another month. Darn.

It is a Leap year and the Academy Awards are on Sunday (leap day). I predicted a possiblility that he would run a big add during this event. It is the second largest tv audience all year, and it is also the only other time of year that people intentionally watch commercials. The AA's are also watched by more diverse audience than the SB. And not alot of people getting drunk. This is the perfect high profile point to run an add.

It seems like they're pushing their 512 meg strips more than anything. (look how they're doing the configuration for the 2 and 4 gigs, it's all 512 rather than gig strips). I dont know, to mee it looks like they're trying to clear out their 512 inventory. That promo doesn't mean much because if it's just to clear inventory on ram they can still run it on new machines if they were to be released. I dont know, it's just speculation.

That's a pretty damn good deal.... Best RAM prices I've ever seen from Apple - I must just cave in and buy my Mac now too good to loose!!!!

New iMacs right after March 27? 2 iMac promo-offers are ending March 27 on the http://www.apple.com/promo/ page...

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14347

I wasn't quite sure which thread to add this too.
This is the winning one. I am not even sure what to
make of the article.

Notice how only DDR333 and DDR400 qualify? Supposedly the rev B power macs will be DDR533... so they wouldn't qualify for this promotion.

Just FYI... ram from apple even with this promotion is still really expensive... 2x512 is 400 dollars for DDR400... you can get some of the best possible ram from Newegg.com
Corsair 512x2 for A LOT cheaper.

it's not really relevant, but ok.

and with regards to expensive apple ram, i'd rather pay more now than have some third party ram crap out on me during a huge project.

I was drawing relevency to the pic and really didn't want to start a new thread on it.

I probably need reading-glasses... The iMac is included in two of the offers (both March 27th), the Power Mac i three (March 27th and Feb 28th).

And I don't see why Apple should continue using 130 nm G5, especially not clocked at 2,2 GHz - think of the heat 90 nm PPC970fx are cheaper and produce less heat. Stability is important.

Where do you think apple gets their ram? A lot of their ram comes from Crucial and Hitachi (spelling). Crucial is known to be some of the best ram in the PC world. This Ram has a CAS of 2-2-2... I have been developing for 10 years. I have NEVER had any ram go out on me. Ram doesn't die for no reason unless you buy that really really cheap stuff from the yahoo stores that has a 30 day warranty... everything from Crucial has a lifetime warranty.

Just face it... Apple over charges for ram and everything else for that matter. Take their Superdrive for instance... you can buy a pioneer 107 for $165... thats 8x -r & 8x +r... I don't even think they have 106's in their g5's... You can remove the Superdrive for 200 dollars and get a Combo Drive instead. You then buy a 107... for 40 less.... then you get a free Combo Drive and a faster Dvd burner... This coming from the first computer manufacture to release a dvd burner in their machines.

The only people that get ok prices are developers. There are huge differences between what developers get and what apple sells to the average consumer. They are still making money off of the developers.

The time frame of late march could be correct, and I completely agree that the 130nm G5 processors are done, and forgotten in all Mac's after they are revised.
WWDC starts June 28th though which is exactly 3 months after the March 28th prediction. My prediction is Apple will update the PowerBook, eMac, iMac, and possibly iBooks between March 28th, and June 28th to quiet some of the user-base until the big WWDC show.
I wouldn't put it past Apple not to update PowerMacs until then, (June 28th) and at speeds greater than 3GHz maybe closer to 3.2, or 3.4 in the highend models just to make a big splash. Could possibly use a 3GHz version as the base configuration which would be stellar.

No, Apple should not do that. I think there needs to be an interim release before the 3 GHz barrier is broken. Everything is stale right now.

I never said it was what they should do. What I meant was I wouldn't put it past Apple to do it that way.
Nevertheless. How many new PowerMac updates do you foresee in the next 4 months then 2? If we get an interim update in late March it will postpone any update way past WWDC because they wont update the PowerMac every 2 months. You also have to take into consideration that Steve Jobs knows we all (Mac users, PC users, and the Press) are going to be waiting to see how that WWDC 3GHz Pre-announcement from 2003 is going to turn out. It would be a huge sh*t storm of bad publicity not only for Apple, but IBM as well if there was no 3GHz, or better by WWDC.

Actually now that I think about it. If Apple, and IBM did do it the way I said we would probably have a better chance at faster PowerMacs sooner.
Apple could possibly have faster processors in hand that they may not have originally intended to use in more quantity originally because there would not have been enough of them if they confined them self's to doing two revs of the PowerMac. It also gives Apple, and IBM time to prepare. Apple would likely be able to prepare for orders, and any other modifications to the boards, and/or devices that we have no idea about such as new video cards (hopefully), and maybe a move PCI-Express (but I doubt the latter).
I think Apple knows how annoying it is to us when they announce something, and the actual release/shipping date is another 2 months down the road. Two weeks is more acceptable, and if they delay just the PowerMac, and updated some of the other lagging lines for the reasons I mentioned we would be better off in the end. I think.
It also gives you more time to save up for it.

Has the sale of Power Macs stalled? Is it not only us, a couple of hundred or thousand Mac-lovers lurking at rumor-pages that are waiting for the revs?

I agree that Apple need to show that they're in the game. Those 2GHzes are so last fall...

it's bad business not to keep current. they gotta do SOMETHING, even if it's just addressing the current issues (video card, powersupply and fan noise probs). they'll update the line as soon as they can...keep in mind too that RELEASING and ANNOUNCING are two very different things. Jobs, probably without a doubt due to what his promise was, will ANNOUNCE for sure the 3ghz. THe stipulation with that announcming might be "we've hit 3 ghz...and the machines will be available by the beginning of winter..." or something like that. they'd lose too much busniess, and they know that, if they stopped being incrementally current.

I think Apple needs to be doing regular speed bumps from here on out. None of this waiting for the Developer Conference to make a big spash...or waiting for that. ENOUGH WAITING.

Regular incremental speed bumps shows stability and predictability. This way when your ready to buy there will be something there for you to buy that is up to date. The next speed bump while faster won't be a night and day jump in performance and nothing someone plunking down a couple G's would loss sleep about.

We should have our revs'2 and revs'3 should be three or four months out and revs'4 should be six or seven months out, etc.

I agree mostly. However, I don't believe they will release 3ghz at WWDC... unless they postpone shipping until fall.

There are a lot of problems with the current line. They can not (from a business standpoint) last until the minimum of July (WWDC). Not only are they having hte problems listed above.. they are also having motherboard problems. Aren't they on Rev E powersupply's now?

The XServes are more powerful then the PowerMacs right now... how can that be good for any company? A server being faster then the Professional line?

Any ways... I'm really starting to doubt myself at this point. Today I spent 2 hours browsing for a used PowerMac g4 so I could get back on OS X. Seems like it will never happen now. It really sucks because I have a 20% off discount off of apple hardware waiting for me too.

Excellent point tink. I get sick every time a new Rev comes out after I bought my computer. If they did incremental updates... no one would really be getting screwed over. The argument to this would point at apple in the mid 90's... They had 10 different types of processors... 10 different machines at a time... but hardly any of them sold... They lost lots and lots of money at that time.

But why can't they update more then just the proc every so often. Like graphics cards every few months?

What exactly are you talking about? Where did you get this information?

The ides of March approach...

I've heard about some problems, e.g. the powersupply, but I have no impression of this being a major problem...

And what about the opening of the SF Applestore: http://www.apple.com/retail/sanfrancisco/ Feb 28th. They won't open a store full of 1.6, 1.8 and 2GHz Power Macs and then release new models the next tuesday... There goes my March 2nd prediction

Yah I never said it was a major issue... but it took apple a long time to nail down the problem. I believe they are fixed now. But like I said... I heard Rev E... My best friend is an Apple Repair tech at an ESD. He has already had to replace about 10 motherboards in DUAL g5s... The singles have been fine. Apple has acknowledged to the techs about this. Therefore, no url. They claim they have come up with a fix for this.

Well if it's fixed where is the problem? Not everything comes out perfect especially off an assembly line, but once the problem is identified, repairs are made, and defective units are taken care of your problem is over. It sounds to me like this problem was over before it even became a big stink because few of us even knew about it.

You're right...

My original point was (I dont' think I was clear on this) this was the reason I didn't want to buy a Rev A g5. The odds were there were going to be problems with these machines. I didn't want to deal with it. Now they have been refined and have been fixed. The Rev B's are less likely to have as many problems with them. I didn't want to deal with these problems. Also just because they are fixed doesn't mean that there are some g5's in stock at some stores that contain the old parts. These users are still likely to witness problems with the Rev A machines.

Of course all of these machines will be under warranty and the newer parts will be installed. But its a hassle...

http://www.apple.com/retail/sanfrancisco/gallery.html

where are they hiding the PM G5s?

There are no iBooks either. While it is interesting that they don't show Power Macs at all, I think the reason is that they chose to not disturb the harmonic disposition of AIOs (Powerbooks, eMacs, iMacs) with 2-part machines. I don't see other than aesthetic reasons.

But then again, where are the iBooks ?

No PM untill March, that's like 3-4 days away.8)

And then we probably have to wait 30 days in March for new.. something.

these applestores look like goddamn churches of some crazy 1984ian religious sect. It's a bit scary, really.

At this rate, we might as well start a new topic, "No new PowerMacs until April."

Sheesh. Let's get these things out already.

Waiting for a better machine is all well in good but there is a question as to how much of a rev the rev"B"s will be. If Apple revs the machines enough you could very well be starting all over with the bug / fix cycles.

For example if the Rev Bs have PCI-Express in place of the AGP port that will be a major change. If they switch memory technologies it will be a major change. If Apples goal is to scale the machines then there are a number of considerations that they have to deal with. There is no reason to expect that the Rev Bs will be that much more stable in the begining.

Dave

Sure there is... the Rev A g5's had brand new processors brand new mobos, brand new everything.. these will only have minor changes. rev b's will have the same technologies that have been tested over the last 6/7 months. This gave everybody a chance to see how they would handle in the real world. But you are right the rev b's probably won't have much change. Therefore, they should be sturdy! Don't hold me to my word, it's a computer. 8)

Then why would anyone ever buy anything? There is always going to be a faster machine coming down the pipeline. The g5s were a huge speed improvement over the G4s - now moving from 2.0Ghz to 2.5 - is that really going to change things all that much? Probably not unless you are crunching huge databases or doing media work. Even then it is not going to be that huge a deal.

Plenty of people don't ever visit this forum and have no idea that new machines are on their way - I would say that the machines are moving fine but that is just a guess - if they aren't, then I would hypothesize that speed has nothing to do with it...

Most people don't visit these forums, but most people also don't make a $2000 - $3,000+ computer investment without doing a little homework.

In addition, most APPLE Pro users or others attracted to these machines are well aware of how long they have been on the market and what they are buying.

This points back to the need of having regular dependable, predictable speed bumps so people will buy with out worrying about the next big bump.

For example I've been waiting to buy 2 G5's. Now I'm a bit apprehensive because PCI-Express may be coming out. If I wait much longer then well maybe the 975 will be just around the corner, etc.

The point is that while there are always technological advances, if the rev2's had already been out I would have already purchased 2 of them. Now, however, since I've waited so long there is another technology jump with PCI-Express and DDR-2 right around the corner....

Not the ideal marketing method IMHO.

If you look back to the original iMac, it seemed like every three to five months they had a bump in specs of some sort. This is part of the reason they did so well. Apple needs to get back on this path.

Agreed, Like i've mentioned before... I get sicker to the stomach the longer apple waits. THe guy I sold my g4 to brought it here to be worked on today, I wanted to grab it and go running!

I don't see how putting off updates is beneficial to company or consumer.

It is beneficial because things are not ready (or have not been tested enough) create massive problems for Apple and every other company. Throwing things out there because there is demand has to be weighed against the possibility of putting out an item that has a major issue after prolonged use (ibook logic board, PB 5300, TiBook white spots, G4 noise and G5 power supply/heat problems, powerbook case warpage) And those problems just listed were probably things that AAPL was willing to take the risk on to deliver things... none of them were major failures. Recalls and after-sale fixes, not to mention class action suits, really screw the margin on a machine. Dell can fudge. Apple can't.

It is certainly not beneficial to the consumer, because we have to wait. But I would rather wait an extra month or two, rather than have to haul my Mac in for service because something slipped by.