When will Next-Generation Hardware Come?
Apple can sell computers with good looks, but the Pro really don't care. How long was Bondi out before PowerMacs lost their Beigeness?
What Apple needs to stay ahead is a serious overhaul for internals. There are so many protocols available to Apple to push it's technology so far ahead of Current Off-the-Shelf models. Apple lagged behind with Bluetooth, they should not do the same thing again.
Apple recently acquired Zayante which is a leader in FireWire technology. I'm not sure what the intent was except to get manufacturing capabilites.
Apple is also a promoting member of the HyperTransport Consortium. This is great stuff. There is already working silicon for everything Apple needs. They have a HyperTransport-PCI Bridge. AMD has AGP 8x and PCI-X Tunnels in silicon. If they don't come out now they will when the G5 finally arrives. The G5 with HT bus, bridged and switched to PCI-X, AGP, and InfiniBand. With support for FireWire 2 (IEEE 1394b), USB 2, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.3z (Gigabit Ethernet), etc. nVidia has a board out that uses HyperTransport as well. Every single technology here is currently working and IEEE approved (modifications to Bluetooth became IEEE 802.15, I'm not sure what Apple supports in their Bluetooth implementation. I would assume that IEEE 802.15 is backward compatible).
Apple has how much money, they can take a small hit to the wallet as long as they gain market share. The Bluetooth adapter is something like $34, in mass with no case and USB port they might loose $5 a Mac sold with it at current prices. That would cut profits by a large chunk if they sold as many as normal, but since they'll be such great computers, they'll be back-orders for weeks. HyperTransport and PCI-X (1 or 2) are backward compatible with PCI. AGP 3 works at 4x and 8x but since you usually don't downgrade from an included card, AGP 3 should work. With Zayante's manufacturing capabilites, Apple now has access to FireWire with less cost from margins. USB 2 maybe Intel technology but Apple has to maintain compatiblity with this technology as it's relatively cheap from its wide use and allows hardware manufacturers to only need Mac drivers. That's part of the reason Apple buys companies, instead of paying another $10 mil so the other company makes a profit or buying them for $60 mil and spend $3 mil to manufacture yourself. In the long run you're saving big bucks.
Apple has everything they need (including the time to develop this into a board), now when do we get it?
<a href="http://www.bluetooth.com"; target="_blank">Bluetooth</a>
<a href="http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/"; target="_blank">IEEE 802.X Main</a>
<a href="http://www.hypertransport.org/"; target="_blank">HyperTransport Consortium</a>
<a href="http://www.1394ta.org/Technology/About/1394b.html"; target="_blank">FireWire 2</a>
<a href="http://www.infinibandta.org/"; target="_blank">InfiniBand TA</a>
<a href="http://www.pcisig.com/"; target="_blank">PCI</a>
<a href="http://www.rapidio.org/home/"; target="_blank">RapidIO</a>
What Apple needs to stay ahead is a serious overhaul for internals. There are so many protocols available to Apple to push it's technology so far ahead of Current Off-the-Shelf models. Apple lagged behind with Bluetooth, they should not do the same thing again.
Apple recently acquired Zayante which is a leader in FireWire technology. I'm not sure what the intent was except to get manufacturing capabilites.
Apple is also a promoting member of the HyperTransport Consortium. This is great stuff. There is already working silicon for everything Apple needs. They have a HyperTransport-PCI Bridge. AMD has AGP 8x and PCI-X Tunnels in silicon. If they don't come out now they will when the G5 finally arrives. The G5 with HT bus, bridged and switched to PCI-X, AGP, and InfiniBand. With support for FireWire 2 (IEEE 1394b), USB 2, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.3z (Gigabit Ethernet), etc. nVidia has a board out that uses HyperTransport as well. Every single technology here is currently working and IEEE approved (modifications to Bluetooth became IEEE 802.15, I'm not sure what Apple supports in their Bluetooth implementation. I would assume that IEEE 802.15 is backward compatible).
Apple has how much money, they can take a small hit to the wallet as long as they gain market share. The Bluetooth adapter is something like $34, in mass with no case and USB port they might loose $5 a Mac sold with it at current prices. That would cut profits by a large chunk if they sold as many as normal, but since they'll be such great computers, they'll be back-orders for weeks. HyperTransport and PCI-X (1 or 2) are backward compatible with PCI. AGP 3 works at 4x and 8x but since you usually don't downgrade from an included card, AGP 3 should work. With Zayante's manufacturing capabilites, Apple now has access to FireWire with less cost from margins. USB 2 maybe Intel technology but Apple has to maintain compatiblity with this technology as it's relatively cheap from its wide use and allows hardware manufacturers to only need Mac drivers. That's part of the reason Apple buys companies, instead of paying another $10 mil so the other company makes a profit or buying them for $60 mil and spend $3 mil to manufacture yourself. In the long run you're saving big bucks.
Apple has everything they need (including the time to develop this into a board), now when do we get it?
<a href="http://www.bluetooth.com"; target="_blank">Bluetooth</a>
<a href="http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/"; target="_blank">IEEE 802.X Main</a>
<a href="http://www.hypertransport.org/"; target="_blank">HyperTransport Consortium</a>
<a href="http://www.1394ta.org/Technology/About/1394b.html"; target="_blank">FireWire 2</a>
<a href="http://www.infinibandta.org/"; target="_blank">InfiniBand TA</a>
<a href="http://www.pcisig.com/"; target="_blank">PCI</a>
<a href="http://www.rapidio.org/home/"; target="_blank">RapidIO</a>