That's usually my advice, but this time I think it is wrong. Apple just announced that they are orphaning this whole architecture in 18 months. I've been sucked in too many times by promises of support into the future and fast emulation. If you have even a decent Mac, I can't see not waiting till this time next year and seeing how things play out.
Ask how many people that bought Yikes machines if they wished they had waited six months. This seems comparable.
This strikes me as flat-out wrong. What has Apple said that makes you think PPC will be "orphaned" in a year and a half?
Firstly, it's going to be about 30 months from now, not 18, that Apple will stop selling PPC machines.
Secondly, it appears that the only machines that will start their transition in 12 months are G4 machines. Apple didn't explicitly say that but that's how I put 2 and 2 together.
Thirdly, they stated that their developer tools are designed so that applications will compile for both PPC and x86. That suggests that applications made three years from now are likely to run as well as ever on PPC architecture.
The important point in all of this is that Apple is not moving away from OS X. Rather, they've made it dual-platform and have provided the means for applications to be so, too.
Apple really should have made it clearer what this is going to mean for owners of current PPC Macs and anyone who buys one between now and the transition date.
This strikes me as flat-out wrong. What has Apple said that makes you think PPC will be "orphaned" in a year and a half?
...
The important point in all of this is that Apple is not moving away from OS X. Rather, they've made it dual-platform and have provided the means for applications to be so, too.
Well, if they'd announced plans to continue with a two-platfor system I'd be with you. But they have said they are moving the platform completely over to Intel. Past history with Apple and other computer manufacturers does not leave me confident about the future development on a platform you plan to stop producing.
From the press release "Apple plans to move lower-end computers such as the Mac Mini to Intel chips in mid-2006 and higher-end models such as the Power Mac in mid-2007." So I guess I should have said two years--still, it's obvious where Apple is putting its development resources, and it's not on the PPC platform.
And orphaned computer is what we called a machine that was no longer being produced--back in the dark ages of computerdom. It didn't mean is stopped working, just that it wasn't going to grow anymore. That certainly seems the case with PPC macs.
This announcement just killed my planned purchase. Was all set after OS 14.2 or OS 14.3 to buy the top of the line iMac. Now I' m going to wait.
Me too - all ready to buy my first laptop... a Powerbook. I've never owned an Apple but have wanted one for a few years. I finally decide to buy one and two weeks later this happens. Now I have to wait for at least a year to get it... oh well. This is going to KILL me, though - I was so excited!
I wasn't going to drop 2 grand on an "old", slow G4 so I was waiting for a Powerbook G5. That is why I'm now going to wait...sigh.
i want a mac mini, have the cash FINALLY and now what do i do? I wanted to get it to start using this summer. are we better off buying it now with the old processor or wait for the intels
Buy the mini. It'll last you three or four years before you would want a new machine anyway. And, in 3 years, they'll have worked out the bugs in the transition & OS, so you'll have a legit reason to upgrade. Plus, your monitor, keyboard, etc. will all move up to the new machine then, too.
I'd say anyone who's in the market for a mini or iMac should go ahead and buy now. It's the PowerMac and laptop crowd that should hold off for a while...
Wow. Screw this. What the heck am I supposed to take to college now? Thanks Jobs. Seriously, if this isn't some type of smokescreen, I may not be ever buying a Mac. This is bull.
Er, a current PowerBook? My soon-to-be wife is a professor at an Art/Design school, and, up until last February, used a 12" iBook 700/G3 for all her design work (InDesign, Dreamweaver, light After Effects, Photoshop, Flash). She now has a 17" PowerBook.
A current PowerBook is fine for 2D graphic design. If you're doing Maya, you'd need a tower anyway (to run it well). If you're doing Motion, you'd need a G5 anyway (to run it well).
It's best that the Intel switch is first for G4 based machines (if I've read all of this correctly); they are the ones that need the most aid in speed. I have a Dual 800 G4 that's almost 4 years old. Am I going to wait till 2007 to wait for an Intel PowerMac? Hell no. A 2.7 G5 will more than hold its own for what I need for the next four years.
It's not as if next June, Apple will be coming out with an 8Ghz Pentium 7 iBook.
I have a 933MHz PowerMac G4 with 1.5GB RAM and a 120GB drive and it's just fine. I'm waiting until I can get a x86 Mac or hopefully I can build one myself.
After thinking about this and letting it sink in, this isn't as bad as it feels. In fact it may be the best thing to happen to the Mac in a long time. I use the Mac for the MacOS, no neccessarily for the architecture.
would you kids stop worrying? it's gonna be at least two years. also, apple is telling developers to make the "universal" builds of their software, bundling PPC and x86 ala FatBinaries. PPC will be relevant for at least 4 years. Apple knows its computers stay in use longer than and wintels, I know they wouldnt take the risk of alienating their cult fanbase by ditching support.
Apple really should have made it clearer what this is going to mean for owners of current PPC Macs and anyone who buys one between now and the transition date.
I think everything will be fine though
Actually, why should an announcement at the WWDC *have* to make anything clear to consumers? This show isn't and shouldn't be about consumers.
would you kids stop worrying? it's gonna be at least two years. also, apple is telling developers to make the "universal" builds of their software, bundling PPC and x86 ala FatBinaries. PPC will be relevant for at least 4 years. Apple knows its computers stay in use longer than and wintels, I know they wouldnt take the risk of alienating their cult fanbase by ditching support.
I'm not buying a PPC based mac (unless Apple lowers prices by 40 to 60%) because as of today, PPC based macs are marked for obsoletion. And I can't imagine most developers writing two sets of code knowing this.
As of today, I bet there will be an increase in PPC based macs on ebay and also at the same time, a large and sustained drop in all mac computer sales.
(I bet anything that Gates loves this stupid move by Apple).
See the thing is, I have been holding out for something new in Apple's portable line, to put it on the level with centrinos in terms of speed and battery life. Well turns out, I may get that, but the problem is having to wait so long. I dont want a g4 now anymore than I did a month ago. I want something new, but now it is almost certain it will be at least a year because apple isnt going to release a big step technology when they plan to transition in a year.
Actually, why should an announcement at the WWDC *have* to make anything clear to consumers? This show isn't and shouldn't be about consumers.
It didn't have to. Had Jobs handled it differently it would just show that they are ready to release something they have been working on for quite some time. But that wasn't how it was presented. It was presented as the end of the line for the PPC. How often do you use OS9 or a pre-PPC Mac? That is the comparison he drew to the current crop of Macintosh's. This isn't going to make people rush out and buy the systems.
Watching the video, I'm struck by how quiet all the developers are when this is announced. They don't see this as a big win, but a lot of work. Work that their bosses may not pay for them to do.
i'm going into college and i've only got a g3 700mhz ibook...i don't think it'll last...so either i'll go for a cheap ibook g4 to last me until the intels come out...or i'll go for a decent imac g5 because those should be quite good still, even when the intels come out
I've gotta tell you that I am not as worried about this as I was last night. The support from the audience was tentative at worst. It seemed pretty upbeat if you ask me. You've gotta realize that this is all new to them (and us), and they are taking it all in.
Having had some time to chew on it, I look at it as a smooth transition. If I had to equate it, I would say this is like when you driving down a highway, and the roadcrews have just laid down a fresh stretch of new pavement. I think the thing we were worried about was how big the bump would be from the old pavement to the new. I didn't notice much of a bump, did you?
I think the sales of PowerPC Macs will stay strong...there really isn't a need to abandon the Mac for a year because Intel is coming. If you watched the demo, it was clear that software for the time being is going to be produced for both PPC and x86 Macs, and at the same time, older PPC native software will run with a minor performance hit through Rosetta translation.
Lastly, I interpreted Jobs to say that by this time next year, Intel Macs would be on the market. So the optimist in me thinks we may see some products in at the San Fran Mac World? It seemed as though a lot of the work on the Intel side was strictly based on making applications x86 native, and not Apple/Mac OS Applications, which are already ported.
Don't get me wrong...there's always a bit of worry, but I am much more at ease now than I was last night. I can't wait! This should open Apple up to a whole slew of new product design innovations, especially with the portables/notebooks. It will probably free Apple from having to wait for PPC manufacturers for key processors, as the Intel stuff seems to come out of the gate much quicker and at a much more rapid pace.
I'd say anyone who's in the market for a mini or iMac should go ahead and buy now. It's the PowerMac and laptop crowd that should hold off for a while...
Can you tell me why the Powermac and laptop crowd should wait?
Powermac were just upgraded. Steve did not give any hope of a PB G5 to ever happen. IBM looks stuck on their current G5 models (just look at the minor Powermac upgrade). So I don't see any significant upgrade coming until probably middle or end of next year.
i'm going into college and i've only got a g3 700mhz ibook...i don't think it'll last...so either i'll go for a cheap ibook g4 to last me until the intels come out...or i'll go for a decent imac g5 because those should be quite good still, even when the intels come out
I'm not buying a PPC based mac (unless Apple lowers prices by 40 to 60%) because as of today, PPC based macs are marked for obsoletion. And I can't imagine most developers writing two sets of code knowing this.
As of today, I bet there will be an increase in PPC based macs on ebay and also at the same time, a large and sustained drop in all mac computer sales.
(I bet anything that Gates loves this stupid move by Apple).
On the contrary, i bet Bill Gates shat a brick today (although he probably already knew), with OS X running on x86, Apple is a step closer to being a head on competitor to Microsoft. If Gates is afraid of anything, it's competition.
I'm not buying a PPC based mac (unless Apple lowers prices by 40 to 60%) because as of today, PPC based macs are marked for obsoletion. And I can't imagine most developers writing two sets of code knowing this.
I do not think that Intel based Macs will be much cheaper if any than the current Macs. I would go ahead and buy now. I bought mine a month ago and I am OK with the decision to go Intel. It does not mean that Apple is going to the Wintel platform. It means they are using an Intel chip inside.
With the announcement that the Mac OS has been compiled for the past 5 years for both platforms and Xcode 2.1's release to produce universal binaries, I do not see any reason that there will not be support for G5 systems well into the future.
Comments
Originally posted by D.J. Adequate
That's usually my advice, but this time I think it is wrong. Apple just announced that they are orphaning this whole architecture in 18 months. I've been sucked in too many times by promises of support into the future and fast emulation. If you have even a decent Mac, I can't see not waiting till this time next year and seeing how things play out.
Ask how many people that bought Yikes machines if they wished they had waited six months. This seems comparable.
This strikes me as flat-out wrong. What has Apple said that makes you think PPC will be "orphaned" in a year and a half?
Firstly, it's going to be about 30 months from now, not 18, that Apple will stop selling PPC machines.
Secondly, it appears that the only machines that will start their transition in 12 months are G4 machines. Apple didn't explicitly say that but that's how I put 2 and 2 together.
Thirdly, they stated that their developer tools are designed so that applications will compile for both PPC and x86. That suggests that applications made three years from now are likely to run as well as ever on PPC architecture.
The important point in all of this is that Apple is not moving away from OS X. Rather, they've made it dual-platform and have provided the means for applications to be so, too.
I think everything will be fine though
Originally posted by Hudson1
This strikes me as flat-out wrong. What has Apple said that makes you think PPC will be "orphaned" in a year and a half?
...
The important point in all of this is that Apple is not moving away from OS X. Rather, they've made it dual-platform and have provided the means for applications to be so, too.
Well, if they'd announced plans to continue with a two-platfor system I'd be with you. But they have said they are moving the platform completely over to Intel. Past history with Apple and other computer manufacturers does not leave me confident about the future development on a platform you plan to stop producing.
From the press release "Apple plans to move lower-end computers such as the Mac Mini to Intel chips in mid-2006 and higher-end models such as the Power Mac in mid-2007." So I guess I should have said two years--still, it's obvious where Apple is putting its development resources, and it's not on the PPC platform.
And orphaned computer is what we called a machine that was no longer being produced--back in the dark ages of computerdom. It didn't mean is stopped working, just that it wasn't going to grow anymore. That certainly seems the case with PPC macs.
Originally posted by Normworld
This announcement just killed my planned purchase. Was all set after OS 14.2 or OS 14.3 to buy the top of the line iMac. Now I' m going to wait.
Me too - all ready to buy my first laptop... a Powerbook. I've never owned an Apple but have wanted one for a few years. I finally decide to buy one and two weeks later this happens. Now I have to wait for at least a year to get it... oh well. This is going to KILL me, though - I was so excited!
I wasn't going to drop 2 grand on an "old", slow G4 so I was waiting for a Powerbook G5. That is why I'm now going to wait...sigh.
Originally posted by alliancep.s.i
i want a mac mini, have the cash FINALLY and now what do i do? I wanted to get it to start using this summer. are we better off buying it now with the old processor or wait for the intels
Buy the mini. It'll last you three or four years before you would want a new machine anyway. And, in 3 years, they'll have worked out the bugs in the transition & OS, so you'll have a legit reason to upgrade. Plus, your monitor, keyboard, etc. will all move up to the new machine then, too.
I'd say anyone who's in the market for a mini or iMac should go ahead and buy now. It's the PowerMac and laptop crowd that should hold off for a while...
Originally posted by ryanschmidt
Wow. Screw this. What the heck am I supposed to take to college now? Thanks Jobs. Seriously, if this isn't some type of smokescreen, I may not be ever buying a Mac. This is bull.
Er, a current PowerBook? My soon-to-be wife is a professor at an Art/Design school, and, up until last February, used a 12" iBook 700/G3 for all her design work (InDesign, Dreamweaver, light After Effects, Photoshop, Flash). She now has a 17" PowerBook.
A current PowerBook is fine for 2D graphic design. If you're doing Maya, you'd need a tower anyway (to run it well). If you're doing Motion, you'd need a G5 anyway (to run it well).
It's best that the Intel switch is first for G4 based machines (if I've read all of this correctly); they are the ones that need the most aid in speed. I have a Dual 800 G4 that's almost 4 years old. Am I going to wait till 2007 to wait for an Intel PowerMac? Hell no. A 2.7 G5 will more than hold its own for what I need for the next four years.
It's not as if next June, Apple will be coming out with an 8Ghz Pentium 7 iBook.
After thinking about this and letting it sink in, this isn't as bad as it feels. In fact it may be the best thing to happen to the Mac in a long time. I use the Mac for the MacOS, no neccessarily for the architecture.
buy now or soon!
Originally posted by xflare
Apple really should have made it clearer what this is going to mean for owners of current PPC Macs and anyone who buys one between now and the transition date.
I think everything will be fine though
Actually, why should an announcement at the WWDC *have* to make anything clear to consumers? This show isn't and shouldn't be about consumers.
Originally posted by cj171
would you kids stop worrying? it's gonna be at least two years. also, apple is telling developers to make the "universal" builds of their software, bundling PPC and x86 ala FatBinaries. PPC will be relevant for at least 4 years. Apple knows its computers stay in use longer than and wintels, I know they wouldnt take the risk of alienating their cult fanbase by ditching support.
I'm not buying a PPC based mac (unless Apple lowers prices by 40 to 60%) because as of today, PPC based macs are marked for obsoletion. And I can't imagine most developers writing two sets of code knowing this.
As of today, I bet there will be an increase in PPC based macs on ebay and also at the same time, a large and sustained drop in all mac computer sales.
(I bet anything that Gates loves this stupid move by Apple).
Originally posted by bostongeek
Actually, why should an announcement at the WWDC *have* to make anything clear to consumers? This show isn't and shouldn't be about consumers.
It didn't have to. Had Jobs handled it differently it would just show that they are ready to release something they have been working on for quite some time. But that wasn't how it was presented. It was presented as the end of the line for the PPC. How often do you use OS9 or a pre-PPC Mac? That is the comparison he drew to the current crop of Macintosh's. This isn't going to make people rush out and buy the systems.
Watching the video, I'm struck by how quiet all the developers are when this is announced. They don't see this as a big win, but a lot of work. Work that their bosses may not pay for them to do.
Having had some time to chew on it, I look at it as a smooth transition. If I had to equate it, I would say this is like when you driving down a highway, and the roadcrews have just laid down a fresh stretch of new pavement. I think the thing we were worried about was how big the bump would be from the old pavement to the new. I didn't notice much of a bump, did you?
I think the sales of PowerPC Macs will stay strong...there really isn't a need to abandon the Mac for a year because Intel is coming. If you watched the demo, it was clear that software for the time being is going to be produced for both PPC and x86 Macs, and at the same time, older PPC native software will run with a minor performance hit through Rosetta translation.
Lastly, I interpreted Jobs to say that by this time next year, Intel Macs would be on the market. So the optimist in me thinks we may see some products in at the San Fran Mac World? It seemed as though a lot of the work on the Intel side was strictly based on making applications x86 native, and not Apple/Mac OS Applications, which are already ported.
Don't get me wrong...there's always a bit of worry, but I am much more at ease now than I was last night. I can't wait! This should open Apple up to a whole slew of new product design innovations, especially with the portables/notebooks. It will probably free Apple from having to wait for PPC manufacturers for key processors, as the Intel stuff seems to come out of the gate much quicker and at a much more rapid pace.
Originally posted by Kesh
I'd say anyone who's in the market for a mini or iMac should go ahead and buy now. It's the PowerMac and laptop crowd that should hold off for a while...
Can you tell me why the Powermac and laptop crowd should wait?
Powermac were just upgraded. Steve did not give any hope of a PB G5 to ever happen. IBM looks stuck on their current G5 models (just look at the minor Powermac upgrade). So I don't see any significant upgrade coming until probably middle or end of next year.
Originally posted by cj171
i'm going into college and i've only got a g3 700mhz ibook...i don't think it'll last...so either i'll go for a cheap ibook g4 to last me until the intels come out...or i'll go for a decent imac g5 because those should be quite good still, even when the intels come out
That's my logic exactly.8)
Originally posted by sc_markt
I'm not buying a PPC based mac (unless Apple lowers prices by 40 to 60%) because as of today, PPC based macs are marked for obsoletion. And I can't imagine most developers writing two sets of code knowing this.
As of today, I bet there will be an increase in PPC based macs on ebay and also at the same time, a large and sustained drop in all mac computer sales.
(I bet anything that Gates loves this stupid move by Apple).
On the contrary, i bet Bill Gates shat a brick today (although he probably already knew), with OS X running on x86, Apple is a step closer to being a head on competitor to Microsoft. If Gates is afraid of anything, it's competition.
Originally posted by sc_markt
I'm not buying a PPC based mac (unless Apple lowers prices by 40 to 60%) because as of today, PPC based macs are marked for obsoletion. And I can't imagine most developers writing two sets of code knowing this.
I do not think that Intel based Macs will be much cheaper if any than the current Macs. I would go ahead and buy now. I bought mine a month ago and I am OK with the decision to go Intel. It does not mean that Apple is going to the Wintel platform. It means they are using an Intel chip inside.
With the announcement that the Mac OS has been compiled for the past 5 years for both platforms and Xcode 2.1's release to produce universal binaries, I do not see any reason that there will not be support for G5 systems well into the future.