Apple secures supply of G4 chips through 2008

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  • Reply 21 of 46
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by AppleInsider

    [B]However, Apple is "under no obligation to purchase Freescale microprocessors other than work in progress that was in place at the time the agreement was executed," the company said in a regulatory filing.



    While I love to rumor monger as much as the next guy, the above line makes it impossible to predict anything.



    No matter if Apple completely switches to intel by next year, companies of this size simply must have contingency plans. They obviously have a fall back plan incase the intel transition gets hung up somehow. In the same way that apple kept OSX on intel as a backup strategy, they have simply reversed the rolls. If something happens to the intel transition, they can keep on using PPC.
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  • Reply 22 of 46
    I'm surprised everyone thinks this means the transition will take longer. The appleinsider article even said it-



    "Through its Apple Care extended warranty service, the company sells 3-year coverage plans that run well into 2008."



    This is just covering them for replacement chips for powerbooks and ibooks sold this year that include the 3-year Apple Care.
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  • Reply 23 of 46
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,717member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacRonin

    Linky no worky...



    Sorry, it seems to work for a few hours after I open them up, and then close down. They didn't always work that way.
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  • Reply 24 of 46
    webmailwebmail Posts: 639member
    A computer that has a top speed of 1.67ghz is not high end. A computer that has an LG displayed manufactured in 1997 (And this is in the latest powerbook revisions) is NOT high end.



    Seeing the beachball is NOT high end.





    Quote:

    Originally posted by chris000001

    What do you consider the powerbook to be?



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  • Reply 25 of 46
    webmailwebmail Posts: 639member
    Actually when he said that on stage, he meant it. A statement that broad and not delivered on is subject to investigation by security exchange. You can't make bold-direct lies that might effect the value of your stock.



    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mike Moscow

    Jobs/Apple/Intel/Motorola all say lots of stuff that are totally open to interpretation... best bet is to sit tight and watch.



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  • Reply 26 of 46
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by webmail

    A computer that has a top speed of 1.67ghz is not high end.



    If it was a Pentium M or Mobile Athlon64 at that clockspeed, would you complain?
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  • Reply 27 of 46
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,717member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by webmail

    A computer that has a top speed of 1.67ghz is not high end. A computer that has an LG displayed manufactured in 1997 (And this is in the latest powerbook revisions) is NOT high end.



    Seeing the beachball is NOT high end.




    I take it that you can show us evidence that the LCD is from '97?



    The LCD is still one of the most praised parts of the Powerbook line, except for the 12" model perhaps.



    Yes, the cpu is behind the times, but even now reviews describe it as being powerful enough. Jerry Pournell from BYTE seems to think his is about as fast as his PC laptops. If you know anything about him you would know that this means something.



    PC guys are always hung up on price/performance. It's important, but other things are important as well.



    Yes, it is a high end machine. It's not as fast as we would like, but we can do anything on it that needs to be done pretty well.
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  • Reply 28 of 46
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kickaha

    Well, all this really says is that Freescale is committed to filling any orders Apple *MIGHT* make through Dec 31 2008. Apple might not make a single order past say, Dec 31 of 2005. This just provides them with a proper route for obtaining chips for repairs, etc, for a couple of years, is my guess, and doesn't reflect any new products coming down the pipe. I could be wrong, but... just a hunch.



    well if apple makes any orders for a G4 past Dec 31 2005 then at this stage those G4s could not really be covered by the 3-year-warranty.



    but if one thinks about it, lets say you bought a G4 mac mini in Feb 2006, assuming no Macintel Mini then, when you reach the end of the third year of warranty, say, Jan 2009, apple has no more G4s and could say, here, have a new Macintel



    anyway G4 EOL by Macworld SF2006 best case scenario, EOL by WWDC 2006 worst case scenario (by my perceptions )
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  • Reply 29 of 46
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by melgross

    I take it that you can show us evidence that the LCD is from '97?



    The LCD is still one of the most praised parts of the Powerbook line, except for the 12" model perhaps.



    Yes, the cpu is behind the times, but even now reviews describe it as being powerful enough. Jerry Pournell from BYTE seems to think his is about as fast as his PC laptops. If you know anything about him you would know that this means something.



    PC guys are always hung up on price/performance. It's important, but other things are important as well.



    Yes, it is a high end machine. It's not as fast as we would like, but we can do anything on it that needs to be done pretty well.




    isn't it weird that windoze is now a toy/gaming os and a Mac is what one needs for *serious work* ???
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  • Reply 30 of 46
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,717member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sunilraman

    well if apple makes any orders for a G4 past Dec 31 2005 then at this stage those G4s could not really be covered by the 3-year-warranty.



    but if one thinks about it, lets say you bought a G4 mac mini in Feb 2006, assuming no Macintel Mini then, when you reach the end of the third year of warranty, say, Jan 2009, apple has no more G4s and could say, here, have a new Macintel



    anyway G4 EOL by Macworld SF2006 best case scenario, EOL by WWDC 2006 worst case scenario (by my perceptions )




    This warrantee thing is misunderstood. A company must provide service and parts for 7 years after a product has been discontinued. This law came into effect 35 or so years ago because importers, mostly from the far east weren't providing any. When they stopped bringing in a product that would be the end of the service. US companies didn't have that problem for the most part, but it affects them as well.
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  • Reply 31 of 46
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    PPC EOL date + 1-3 years of Apple Care = supply through 2007-08. This way anything coming in within a year will get repaired, leaving behind enough chips for anything that could potentially come back in two or three years -- if the actuaries have done the math right. Expect one or two tales of Apple replacing faulty PPC product with an Intel offering towards the very end of this period...
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  • Reply 32 of 46
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by melgross

    This warrantee thing is misunderstood. A company must provide service and parts for 7 years after a product has been discontinued. This law came into effect 35 or so years ago because importers, mostly from the far east weren't providing any. When they stopped bringing in a product that would be the end of the service. US companies didn't have that problem for the most part, but it affects them as well.



    hi mel, as matsu mentioned, i'm sure towards the end of G4 3-year-warranty period apple would easily give you a fresh macintel. i may be wrong re: US/international law on this situation, but the companies can argue that they are giving you an "equivalent or better" replacement product
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  • Reply 33 of 46
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,717member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sunilraman

    hi mel, as matsu mentioned, i'm sure towards the end of G4 3-year-warranty period apple would easily give you a fresh macintel. i may be wrong re: US/international law on this situation, but the companies can argue that they are giving you an "equivalent or better" replacement product



    Of course they could. But do you really thing that Apple would give you a new $3,000 Powermac? I don't. Let's see, 500,000 Powermacs at an average price to Apple of maybe $1,750 would equal $875 million. Because they would have to do the same thing with IBM for the G5's as well.



    That's not including iMac G5's, eMacs, Mini's, Powerbooks, iBooks, etc.



    Still think a new Macintel is in the cards?



    All they have to do is repair your old one. They might be willing to give a discount on a new one, but it wouldn't be that much. Apple won't lose money on this. Repair facilities have to be profit centers. Kodak was the first company to think this way 30 years ago. Everyone else has followed.
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  • Reply 34 of 46
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by melgross

    Of course they could. But do you really thing that Apple would give you a new $3,000 Powermac? I don't. Let's see, 500,000 Powermacs at an average price to Apple of maybe $1,750 would equal $875 million. Because they would have to do the same thing with IBM for the G5's as well.



    That's not including iMac G5's, eMacs, Mini's, Powerbooks, iBooks, etc.



    Still think a new Macintel is in the cards?



    All they have to do is repair your old one. They might be willing to give a discount on a new one, but it wouldn't be that much. Apple won't lose money on this. Repair facilities have to be profit centers. Kodak was the first company to think this way 30 years ago. Everyone else has followed.






    well, hence matsu's "one or two stories on PPC got replaced by macintel". my brothers powerbook g4 867mhz 12" was replaced by 1.25ghz 12" powerbook because after three months he still had no notebook and the apple repair courier company or something "lost" the notebook somewhere in transit. so perhaps i'm on the hopeful side here, but fair enough, apple's done the math (damn those actuaries..!!) to come out of this on top. apple repair centres are definitely profit centres, judging by how much they charge to fix stuf and how HARD they push applecare (compusa horror stories of salespeople there not letting you walk out without buying 3 year applecare)



    heh. getting applecare 3 years, i would encourage people to do it though, its a bit like "the house always wins" in vegas but hey, like my brother, and my dad's iBook g4 lcd dying and replaced free, we've come out on top. thank the lords of kobol
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  • Reply 35 of 46
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,717member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sunilraman

    well, hence matsu's "one or two stories on PPC got replaced by macintel". my brothers powerbook g4 867mhz 12" was replaced by 1.25ghz 12" powerbook because after three months he still had no notebook and the apple repair courier company or something "lost" the notebook somewhere in transit. so perhaps i'm on the hopeful side here, but fair enough, apple's done the math (damn those actuaries..!!) to come out of this on top. apple repair centres are definitely profit centres, judging by how much they charge to fix stuf and how HARD they push applecare (compusa horror stories of salespeople there not letting you walk out without buying 3 year applecare)



    heh. getting applecare 3 years, i would encourage people to do it though, its a bit like "the house always wins" in vegas but hey, like my brother, and my dad's iBook g4 lcd dying and replaced free, we've come out on top. thank the lords of kobol




    I always recommend extended warrantees for portable equipment if the stuff costs enough to begin with. Never for a Shuffle or something on that order.



    The problem here is that if something horrible happens to your nachine, like getting lost, they have no choice. And if your machine is discontinued, sure, a new one is called for.



    But can you see people trying to figure out how to damage their machines in a disguised and unrepairable way so that they could get a new Macintel for their old, now becoming obsolete PPC model? I'm sure Apple does.
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  • Reply 36 of 46
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by melgross

    .....But can you see people trying to figure out how to damage their machines in a disguised and unrepairable way so that they could get a new Macintel for their old, now becoming obsolete PPC model? I'm sure Apple does.



    oh i'm sure apple will be well-informing their repair channels about this sort of deviancy now you've put the idea in my head!!!



    edit: confession: i've essentially thrown away the remaining 1.5 years of applecare on my dad's iBook g4 by modding in a 5400rpm drive but its teh snappier(tm) and with the lcd being replaced after white spot issues (a month after the the 1yearlimited would have ended) i feel we've got our money worth with the applecare3year



    edit2: confession2: so since the iBook g4 hard disk mod (an exhilarating but harrowing experience) i've gone on to upgrade an old pc and fooling around with linux -- so far is proving to be a less risky and less financially destructive channel for my energies.. plus i think my parents are happy that i'm not hogging their iBook so much \
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  • Reply 37 of 46
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,717member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sunilraman

    oh i'm sure apple will be well-informing their repair channels about this sort of deviancy now you've put the idea in my head!!!



    edit: confession: i've essentially thrown away the remaining 1.5 years of applecare on my dad's iBook g4 by modding in a 5400rpm drive but its teh snappier(tm) and with the lcd being replaced after white spot issues (a month after the the 1yearlimited would have ended) i feel we've got our money worth with the applecare3year




    You could always swap the drive back out when bringing or sending it in. I always keep those things. Call ahead though, Apple doesn't mind those upgrades if they are under the stated upgrade path that Apple allows you to do for that machine.



    You do seem to have gotten your money's worth though, as you said.
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  • Reply 38 of 46
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by melgross

    You could always swap the drive back out when bringing or sending it in.....



    Urmm... the iBook will not survive another hard disk change

    the mod was successful, but it does not meet the "reversible" criteria. that iBook plastic is one tough bunny. and was somewhat warped by heat and stuff so it don't fit or undo so good, or maybe it's just me...



    I will keep those points in mind when taking it in and maybe my mum can do the "crazy irritable old woman customer" act ~ that's how she helps us get bargains and stuff... it usually scares the young sales guys quite a bit...
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  • Reply 39 of 46
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,717member
    Now the nonsense is coming out of the woodwork.



    http://www.forbes.com/2005/08/29/app...acescan07.html



    Read this link before it disappears.
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  • Reply 40 of 46
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by melgross

    Now the nonsense is coming out of the woodwork.

    http://www.forbes.com/2005/08/29/app...acescan07.html

    Read this link before it disappears.






    bloody hell. there is no way that article would have made it to any forbes printed material. more like a rant/blog for some forbes "journalist". shite.



    heh. my main problem is the title. "hedging" your bets with a G4 for the next 3 years is like getting a PhD degree and then saying, well, i can always work at burger king if things don't work out...
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