Timeframe for next PowerMac? - Page 2

I am afraid I must reiterate: This thread seems to be jam-packed with nothing substantial, but a lot of frustrated, high-end PowerMac G5 buyers, potential buyers, and/or would have boughters like me left hanging out by the whole situation. It would not be so bad if there was any serious G5 alternative, but I cannot see the iMac G5 with all my screens et al just sitting there waiting for a new master.

I've never been a fan of Gargantua, but Petagruel in Paris would not be bad!

I'm also looking into a dual 2.7 G5 for my main render machine but have been waiting on it since the IBM 970 MP announcement.

I'm waiting till the Paris Expo, and here's why:

They might release dual core machines on that date, and if so then I have that option.

If they don't release them then I buy the current top of the line, after having waited only a month.

If they do release the dual cores but they are not optimized for my software or they are too costly, then at least I can buy the current top of the line at a lower price point.

Any way you look at it, its only a month. (- :

I agree with PB that we won't see new PowerMacs anytime soon. I suspect the iMac will get a 970MP first, perhaps this fall.

Anyway, I got tired of waiting and bought a discontinued 2.5 GHz PowerMac. I put in a refurb Radeon X800 that I got for cheap. All in all, a sweet machine that will tide me over until the Rev. B PowerMacTels ship.

I'm getting desperate for a PowerMac. I've been waiting 5 years now. Maybe more. (PowerTower 200mhz Clone..., 'Manhattan.' Computer Warehouse...UK. Bless, it was a good soldier...but I had to let it go...)

I've even been looking at Apple's PowerMac benches on the G5 pages.

Convincing myself, I know...

I can't understand why Intel cpus score that much higher on Open GL that a dual PowerMac can. It's bizarre.

What happened to all those 2.5 G5 chips in the last revision?

They going into a new low end tower come San Fran 06?



I'm still waiting. I'd like to see a PowerMac dual core beastie launched this fall or by San Fran'. IBM have already announced the chips.

So I guess it's up to Apple?

Lemon Bon Bon



I know the feeling. If I could get anything like that near £1200 second hand I'd jump.

Amen and seconded here. I want a new PM. I'm waiting, with much regret, until Paris.

Looks like ship times of the dual 2.7 are down to 7 to 10 days in the US. I wonder what is going on.

It's back to 2-3 weeks!

Make it stop, I can't take this waiting anymore. My CD expired Monday and I can't resist the urge to buy. Tomorrow is Tuesday after all.

We might possibly see dual-core G5s at the Paris Expo, but I think MWSF in January is more likely. High end and Xserve will get dual dual cores.

I hope so, I think I'll probably crack by then...

Lemon Bon Bon

I have no thoughts because I am totally Zen man

But I have a question cos I know very little.

Will DUAL CORE processors make much difference to Photoshop speed?

Please reveal all


thanks everso

Everyone seems to be low on the dual 2.7. Amazon says they have 2 left but promise more Soon and Compusa is down to in store pick-up only and the two local stores are short on their inventory. So I think we might see something for the IBC at the beginning of September which is next on Apple's event list. The IBC would be better suited anyway for PowerMacs than Paris would as far as presenting to the intended market. We shall see.

excited! (rubbing hands with glee in the warm glow of a real log fire)

I'm not sure if Dual Core will make a difference.

We've already kind of had 'Dual Core' for a while now with 'Dual Processors', really.

The MP seems to have more Cache than the FX...so it might make a difference.

Plus...PCI Express may happen along...plus...the speed grades will tumble down the PowerMac range.

I'd be happy with a dual core 2.5 as an entry level machine...

It's a shame we're not going to get to that Psychological 3 gig barrier...

But that was IBM's ball to drop...

Lemon Bon Bon\

I know nought about the technicalities of it but have read here that perhaps dual core won't make a difference unless the apps are optomised for it.
Where does that leave photoshop ( the app I use most)?

My position is thjat I will buy a G5 soon but am waiting to see if dual core will make a big difference to speed of PHSP or not, and if not get a non DC machine a little bit cheaper once tey're out

It really depends on what you are doing, I know video and audio folks will benefit the most but Photoshop might be in that category as well but I'm not really sure how it is coded. I'll let someone else fill in the details.

Anyway I'll try to explain dual core to you. It's basically like taking the current dual G5's and putting both processors on one piece of silicon so they only take the space of one processor. What would be nice and, what I think Apple is going to do is put two of the dual core processors into the PowerMacs making it essentially a 4 processor machine. This is good in some cases but a draw back in others. Say you have only one process that needs all the computing power but is not designed to use more than one processor it will run only as fast as one of the chips you have. If you were to add another process that requires the same resources it would be put on a different processor by the OS letting each process run and the maximum potential and you can do this until you run out of processors. Another scenario is if the program itself can effectively utilize multiple processors then the instructions sent from the program will then be distributed over each of the available processors by the OS, these are what are called threads. Most programs use only one main thread but some like Final Cut and Logic and possibly Photoshop have more than one main thread which will be sent to different processors making it go faster overall even though one specific task might not be faster.

I hope that helps.

To Lemon:

I'm betting the two upper slots will be dual core dual processor machines with the current 2.3 and 2.0 moving down a price point, so the 2.0 will be about the same price point as the single 1.8 was. I personally would rather have a quad 2.5 GHz than a Dual 3.0 GHz but thats just me.

Apple is back at 7-10 days but everyone else is sold out. So maybe Tuesday or maybe it's just to annoy me further. Also somebody over at Mac Rumors said that his order was pushed back to the 24th of Aug. Now if TS would only say something.

I third tha amen with another...Ive been waiting since 99 when I bought my G3 B&W 300mhz, Im using it right now...ugh its a slug...but it gets my jobs done...just quite bit slower...compaird to the the 3.1 ghz intel I use at work, its Win, but it runs sooo slick with PS CS.

namachtag, Apple invested a few hundred million a few years back in Samsung who makes their screens for the HD displays. That few hundred million essentially bought Apple the first picking rights to chose the highest quality LCD's that they produce. Steve jobs has said in keynotes before that Apple displays are made from the highest quality screens off the assembly lines, and everybody else takes what Apple throws back. It's pretty much true. Unless the others are getting their screens somewhere else, but what Apple throws back is still of a higher quality than most.

Maybe Apple is building up stock with the new PM revision. Eventually there will be less waiting times and everybody gets their machine within 5 working days or less if you go at apple store.

The dream is over, when Apple releases them their will be waiting times of a month.

One wonders if lost sales now - for those who are waiting - on the PM line won't partly be made up through a lot of people like me, who want the last PPC desktop - coming soon? Paris? - to hold us through and into the Intel transition. New PM purchase this fall - and then again in 3 years (or sooner, $$ and impressive performance permitting).

FWIW, MOSR is talking up a new PM with PCI express - seems logical - and perhaps dual-cores. I'm counting on that being in '05, not '06... shipping updated PPC PMs too near the time (and press) of shipping Intel-based PBs or Minis seems like an poor path to take.

Mosr is meant to be read for amusement, not for real world stuff.

I read the same just a few hours ago and they took their info from macobserver and they tend do this all the time.

Ah well, hope springs eternal. Almost. I would like to buy a PM sooner rather than later. Paris?

My hopeful bet: @IBC

Dual Dual 2.7 GHz
Dual Dual 2.3 GHz
Dual 2.3 GHz

SATA-2
DDR2
PCI-e

Realistic Bet: @Paris

Dual Dual 2.5 GHz
Dual 2.5
Dual 2.3

SATA 1
DDR
AGP

When is IBC and when is Paris?

IBC is Sept. 9-13

Paris is Sept 20-24

"Realistic Bet"? Not very. You want a "realistic bet", here's one:

IBC: Nothing (perhaps the ROKR phone)

Paris: Flash mini iPod.
.Mac improvements.

No new PMs or Xserves until the Intel versions come out. Those "great new PPC products in the pipeline"? A 7448-based iBook at MWSF.

Bad day today?

IBM has announced the availability of the 970MP(for testing?). The transition won't be complete until end of 2007. For what reason would Apple not use the 970MP in a Powermac or an Xserve.

Eesh. I'm hoping - pretty much counting - on a new PM in the near future (Paris?) - offered by Apple, and on my desk soon after.

OK, here is a list, from complex to simple.

1. Because the Intel Macs will be dual-core but not dual-processor, they don't want to sell any dual-duals. But a single-processor PM is a huge waste of space.
2. They don't want to waste any money on G5 product design or development. (Allegedly all the staff has been pulled out of this area for some time.)
3. The chips are expensive, will be delayed, etc.
4. Intel will tell them not to.

I say hogwash! This is a PowerMac thread. If your speaking in reference to iMacs, iBooks, and Minis that could be true, but all the Pro level PC's are available with Dual Duals so putting merely one dual core processor in a PowerMac would be PowerMac suicide.

BTW, Intel wont be telling Apple to do sh*t. Intel wont be designing the Mac, Apple will.

I just read today that Adobe is saying their Creative Suite may not be ported to Mac OS X on Intel until 4th Quarter 2006 or 1st Quarter 2007.

The implication here is obvious. Apple must offer faster G5's( the 970MP for example) or completely lose this market.

1. ?
2.I'd venture to say the design has been finished for months now.
3.The G5 dual core chips will be smaller than Intels using less transistors and probably will cost less.
4.Intel at this point could care less. They are looking to the future not the present.

That's right, and Q4'06 is probably the right quarter for Intel's PowerMacs which certainly will use Woodcrest CPUs (and not Conroe CPUs, except in the low range).
I believe Apple HAS to update the PM line with Dual-Core CPUs for at least a year and make at least ONE dual-dual-core model (dual 2.0, dual 2.5 and dual-dual 2.0 if not 2.5 - and the best would be dual 2.5, dual-dual 2.0 and dual dual 2.5).
This will help waiting for the Woodcrest CPUs with dual-core and dual processor support.
Apple needs the support from software developpers to make the switch a success. Now I'm not sure will see MacTels before june '06, some 3rd parties SW has to be available, I'm sure Apple is working hard on that part of the switch, but we have no information yet!
So, lets bring the G4/G5 updates before the end of the year, so sales can continue...
7448 powerbooks up to 1.8GHz, sept-oct '05
970MP powermacs dual-dual 2.5GHz, nov '05 (or jan '06)
iMac speedbump 2.5GHz, dual 2.0Ghz, dec '05 (or mar '06)
Mac mini yonah dual 2.0GHz: jun '06
iBook yonah dual 2.0GHz: aug '06
PowerBook merom dual 2.5GHz: oct '06
PowerMac woodcrest dual-dual 3.0GHz: jan '07
iMac conroe dual 3.0Ghz: mar '07
Xserve whitefield dual-quad 3.0Ghz: jun '07

Xstation Whitefield octo-quad 3.0Ghz: Aug. '07 (Siggraph)