G5 : not what, but WHEN !

little_dudelittle_dude
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
I currently do my work on a first generation powerbookG4, but I'm really looking into buying a desktop machine. I can hold of fthis purchase a few months, even a year if I want to, but I'll eventually buy a high end desktop with 23 flatscreen. The only thing I DON'T want, if to buy a $5000 computer and find out 1 week later that there's a new model for the same prices which is twice as fast. I'd have no problem with a 1.25GHz -> 1.5GHz speedbump, but a G4 -> G5 would be very painful since I can spend such budget only once every 3 years.



SO the inevitable Q is : what are the insider predictions for the G5 timeframe ? So far, I have the impression that most peeps here don't expect the IBM chip te be here before end of 2003. And motorola's new G5 isn't very much expected at all.



any comments ?



PS : I know the statement 'the best time to buy a new mac is always now', but that one is applied for MHz increases, not for processor upgrades. Especially since there's 0% chance of upgrading a current G4 tower with the new IBM G5 (looking at the bus issue)

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    mrmistermrmister Posts: 1,095member
    Um...perhaps you should read some of the other threads all currently being discussed? That should catch you up on things.
  • Reply 2 of 5
    telomartelomar Posts: 1,804member
    I'm not sure even Steve Jobs would have anything beyond a very rough timeframe in place. I'd assume late September. My birthday falls on a Tuesday so that would be a good day for them to announce
  • Reply 3 of 5
    spiffyguycspiffyguyc Posts: 285member
    When the G5, or whatever they'll call it, does come out ... it won't be as large a jump as you think. The G4 is going to continue to scale until the G5 introduction, and while the architecture will have vast improvements it's not going to be "twice as fast for the same price" as the G4's previously introduced. As always, get what you need when you need it. If IBM is predicting volume production of these chips in "Late 2003," and it's Apple's game plan to use them in a pro system, you might not actually see systems based on the chip until MWSF in January 2004. Take to heart that "Late 2003" is still a year or more off, and a lot can happen in the way of unexpected setbacks between now and then. It usually does in this industry.



    Don't forget that this IBM processor is going to require Apple to make OS modifications and also undergo a large redesign of the underlying hardware technology in their pro systems. It's not going to be a quick road to the G5 just because IBM has one or two of these things going. Once the chip is finalized, Apple is going to have to release an OS X update and get developers going on 64-bit apps based on the information IBM is able to provide. They have to test it to decide what kind of bus they want to put on it, go through hardware seeds ... we're nowhere even near this point yet. Trust me, a "late 2003" processor by IBM does not translate into "late 2003" macs. Those who consider those dates to be one and the same are going to be sorely disappointed come Christmas.



    -S
  • Reply 4 of 5
    moviemaker11xg4moviemaker11xg4 Posts: 9member
    [quote]Originally posted by SpiffyGuyC:

    <strong>Don't forget that this IBM processor is going to require Apple to make OS modifications and also undergo a large redesign of the underlying hardware technology in their pro systems.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Actually, I believe you are wrong.. IBM has had their PROCESSORS running OSX just fine since March, and OSX fully supports 64bit architecture. There is no need to update the OS at all. The only updates that would be needed, would be if a software company felt the need to change their software to be optimized for 64 bit processing. -
  • Reply 5 of 5
    haraldharald Posts: 2,152member
    What Programmer said.



    Somewhere else.



    Er, stuff about why you're wrong.
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