Apple 'officially' upgrades Power Mac G5 product line

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Apple today unveiled the fastest Power Mac G5 desktop line ever, featuring dual 64-bit PowerPC G5 processors running up to 2.7 GHz and including Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger."



The new Power Mac G5 line delivers improved graphics options with more memory and built-in support for Apple's 30-inch Cinema HD Display on the 2.7 GHz model. The new line also includes larger hard drives, a faster 16X SuperDrive with double-layer support and 512MB of memory across the line.



"The Power Mac G5 continues to deliver the ultimate performance for our most advanced customers running bandwidth- and compute-intensive applications," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With dual 2.7 GHz 64-bit G5 processors, dual 1.35 GHz front side buses, ATI Radeon 9650 graphics, 16X SuperDrive with double-layer support and Mac OS X Tiger, the new Power Mac G5 is the most powerful and advanced Mac we have ever made."



Powered by dual 64-bit PowerPC G5 processors, the Power Mac G5 provides a 128-bit memory architecture, delivers expansion of up to 8GB of fast 400 MHz DDR SDRAM and supports graphics cards with up to 256MB of video memory. The top model features two 2.7 GHz processors, each with an independent 1.35 GHz front-side bus for an bandwidth of up to 21.6 GBps.



All new Power Mac G5 models come standard with dual-display support with either the ATI Radeon 9600 graphics card with 128MB of video memory or the ATI Radeon 9650 with 256MB of video memory.



The new Power Mac G5 line gives users new graphics options to drive Apple's massive 30-inch Cinema HD Display. The dual processor 2.7 GHz Power Mac G5 features built-in support to drive the 30-inch Cinema HD Display right out of the box. Available as a build-to-order option on every model, the NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL high-performance graphics card can drive up to two 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays.



Every Power Mac G5 ships with a new, faster 16X SuperDrive with double-layer support capable of burning up to 8.5GB on a single DVD, 512MB memory and larger hard drives for up to 800GB of internal storage, all within the Power Mac G5's signature aluminum enclosure featuring computer-controlled cooling for quiet operation. All Power Mac G5 desktops deliver connectivity, high-performance I/O and expansion including Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, three PCI-X or PCI expansion slots, USB 2.0, optical digital audio input and output, and analog audio input and output.



All dual processor Power Mac G5 systems will also ship with Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger," providing advanced 64-bit computational power on a desktop system. Tiger has more than 200 new features and innovations including Spotlight, a revolutionary desktop search technology that lets users instantly find anything stored on their Mac, including documents, emails, contacts and images; and Dashboard, a new way to instantly access important information like weather forecasts and stock quotes, using a dazzling new class of applications called widgets.



Pricing & Availability



The new dual processor Power Mac G5 models will be available this week through the Apple Store, at Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. The new dual Power Mac G5 models complement the existing 1.8 GHz single processor Power Mac G5, providing customers with an entry-level system priced at just $1,499 (US).



The Power Mac G5, with a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US), includes:

Dual 2.0 GHz 64-bit PowerPC G5;

512MB 400 MHz DDR SDRAM (4GB maximum);

160GB Serial ATA 7200 rpm hard drive;

AGP 8X Pro graphics slot;

ATI Radeon 9600 with 128MB DDR SDRAM;

3 PCI slots (64-bit 33MHz); and

16X SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD+/-R/CD-RW).

The Power Mac G5, with a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes:

Dual 2.3 GHz 64-bit PowerPC G5;

512MB 400 MHz DDR SDRAM (8GB maximum);

250GB Serial ATA 7200 rpm hard drive;

AGP 8X Pro graphics slot;

ATI Radeon 9600 with 128MB DDR SDRAM;

3 PCI-X slots (one 64-bit 133 MHz, two 64-bit 100 MHz); and

16X SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD+/-R/CD-RW).

The Power Mac G5, with a suggested retail price of $2,999 (US), includes:

Dual 2.7 GHz 64-bit PowerPC G5;

512MB 400 MHz DDR SDRAM (8GB maximum);

250GB Serial ATA 7200 rpm hard drive;

AGP 8X Pro graphics slot;

ATI Radeon 9650 with 256MB DDR SDRAM and support for one 30-inch Apple

Cinema HD Display;

3 PCI-X slots (one 64-bit 133 MHz, two 64-bit 100 MHz); and

16X SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD+/-R/CD-RW).



Build-to-order options include up to 8GB of RAM, 250GB, 400GB and two 400GB Serial ATA hard drives, Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) drive, graphics cards (ATI Radeon 9600, ATI Radeon 9650, and NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL), AirPort Extreme Card, Bluetooth module, internal v.92 56K modem, Apple Fibre Channel PCI-X Card, Apple PCI-X Gigabit Ethernet card and Mac OS X Server version 10.4 "Tiger."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 88
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    1st post! sweet i am liking being in my current time zone, PrimeTime TV time slot is about the time when Apple california updates the Apple store and stuff... ;-)
  • Reply 2 of 88
    jasenj1jasenj1 Posts: 923member
    So, basically they got a little speed bump, added more RAM and a bigger hard drive, and new dual layer DVD burner. Nothing at all on the cooling side or motherboard redesign/enhancement?



    I'm sure the 2.7GHz machines will sell to those who make $$$ with their Macs and every MHz of speed cuts number crunching time, but otherwise, I suspect most everyone else who wanted a PowerMac bought one two years ago. From a fence sitter's point of view, there is no reason to buy one of these machines.



    I cut Apple some slack back when IBM hit the GHz wall and Apple had to put in that radiator to keep things cool. But Apple has now had over a year to move on to PCIe - which CoreImage and CoreVideo will benefit from (if I'm not mistaken) and put in some other goodies on the hardware side. Sure, TODAY, these are pretty powerful machines, but in a year or two, when PCIe is REALLY replacing AGP these machines will be sad. IMHO, most people don't buy a machine for today, they buy it for the expected lifetime, probably 2-3 years. In that time, these machines will be eclipsed. Sad.



    - Jasen.
  • Reply 3 of 88
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jasenj1

    .... Nothing at all on the cooling side or motherboard redesign/enhancement? .....



    notice that the 2.5ghz "entry point" for liquid cooling appears to be still there. 2.7ghz is liquid cooled, while 2.3ghz is not liquid cooled.



    so one might surmise that no advances have been made in this almost past one year... i am not slamming apple, i am just making a point, almost in admiration with apple marketing skillz.



    notice there is no 2.5ghz model offered.
  • Reply 4 of 88
    maccrazymaccrazy Posts: 2,658member
    The graphics cards have finally got rid of that nVidea! It's a good update - but I would have liked two optical drives.
  • Reply 5 of 88
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sunilraman



    notice there is no 2.5ghz model offered.




    Yeah, it has been overclocked to 2.7 GHz.
  • Reply 6 of 88
    eric_zeric_z Posts: 175member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacCrazy

    The graphics cards have finally got rid of that nVidea! It's a good update - but I would have liked two optical drives.



    The single 1.8Ghz still has it.
  • Reply 7 of 88
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacCrazy

    The graphics cards have finally got rid of that nVidea! It's a good update - but I would have liked two optical drives.



    nope... it's still there on the single 1.8ghz model for $1499



    which is ironically also the cost of the 17" iMac 1.8ghz



    so the single 1.8ghz PowerMac and the 17" iMac 1.8ghz have these in common:



    -256mb ram

    -1.8ghz g5

    -600mhz frontside bus

    -NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra

    64MB DDR video memory

    -80GB Serial ATA hard drive

    -single layer SuperDrive



    hmm...
  • Reply 8 of 88
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacCrazy

    The graphics cards have finally got rid of that nVidea!



    Look again. The 1.8 GHz model has this 5200 with 64 MB VRAM. Without a price drop. Shame.
  • Reply 9 of 88
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    well, it is interesting to see that this update, well overdue (it feels like) was INSTANTLY demoted to second-teir status on their homepage below the tiger imminent release. i guess that's no big surprise, but i kinda expected some sort of image rotation thing if they really felt strongly about this update.



    by the way, anyone also notice a link to apple's environmental policy on the G5 page? was that always there, or did it just appear following the comments by his steveness last week?



    G5 Page (Look for "Design for the Environment" Link in Sidebar



    Apple Environmental Policy Page
  • Reply 10 of 88
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by PB

    Yeah, it has been overclocked to 2.7 GHz.



    are you joking or being serious? if it is just an overclocked 2.5ghz chip, after almost a year, i don't know, something very cynical i feel about apple's PowerMac strategy...
  • Reply 11 of 88
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sunilraman

    are you joking or being serious? if it is just an overclocked 2.5ghz chip, after almost a year, i don't know, something very cynical i feel about apple's PowerMac strategy...



    If it is listed explicitly in IBM documents, then it is a real 2.7 GHz chip. Otherwise, the possibility that Apple overclocked the 2.5 Ghz chips cannot be excluded (look also at the availability: 1-2 days).
  • Reply 12 of 88
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rok

    well, it is interesting to see that this update, well overdue (it feels like) was INSTANTLY demoted to second-teir status on their homepage below the tiger imminent release. i guess that's no big surprise, but i kinda expected some sort of image rotation thing if they really felt strongly about this update.



    given iMac g5 and iBook is in line for updates just about now, i think the rotation on friday will be Tiger/ updated iMac g5/ updated iBook



    ...maybe... updated iBooks, for sure is my guess
  • Reply 13 of 88
    maccrazymaccrazy Posts: 2,658member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by PB

    Look again. The 1.8 GHz model has this 5200 with 64 MB VRAM. Without a price drop. Shame.



    I was reading the press release - I reckon these will be dropped later. Only 256MB RAM and an 8X superdrive - sounds like the iMac snow all over again - not updated just left to die!



    Quote:

    are you joking or being serious? if it is just an overclocked 2.5ghz chip, after almost a year, i don't know, something very cynical i feel about apple's PowerMac strategy...



    Also it's not Apple's fault but IBMs
  • Reply 14 of 88
    Seems PowerMacs have the only changes... so far



    Not even a RAM bump to 512Mb on the other models - something a lot of people were expecting prior to Tiger.



    But the night is still young
  • Reply 15 of 88
    maccrazymaccrazy Posts: 2,658member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sunilraman

    given iMac g5 and iBook is in line for updates just about now, i think the rotation on friday will be Tiger/ updated iMac g5/ updated iBook



    ...maybe... updated iBooks, for sure is my guess




    I doubt it'll be in the same week - or the same day as Tiger - unless the PowerMac was early because of Amazon?!
  • Reply 16 of 88
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacCrazy

    ...unless the PowerMac was early because of Amazon?!



    Their availability suggests that it is the other way around.
  • Reply 17 of 88
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacCrazy

    I doubt it'll be in the same week - or the same day as Tiger - unless the PowerMac was early because of Amazon?!



    yeah, amazon really forced apple's hand, and i think they would have RATHER announced all of this on Friday, and have the image rotation thing going, and then be able to show off EVERYthing with those people attending the apple in-store tiger events. kinda like "come for tiger, stay for all the new gear!" sort of thing.
  • Reply 18 of 88
    maccrazymaccrazy Posts: 2,658member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by PB

    Their availability suggests that it is the other way around.



    yeah, i was just outlining the possibilities. I expect iBook etc. updates next week or later. I want to see a more substantial update to the PowerMacs by September - with two optical drives!
  • Reply 19 of 88
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacCrazy

    I expect iBook etc. updates next week or later.



    Likely. I expect Apple will leave Tiger alone in the scene for at least one week. After that on can reasonably expect updates.
  • Reply 20 of 88
    chris vchris v Posts: 460member
    Availability = they're shipping with 10.4 installed, which will be released in 1-2 days. Nothing more, nothing less.
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