Mac Midtower Desires
Lets pretend for a moment that Apple will build a midrange tower for consumers. Let's not argue if they will or not, that's already been happening in other threads. This thread is just about what you'd want that tower to consist of if it were made.
For me I'd like to see a small case in either black or white plastic. Similar in design to the black and white macbook. With rounded corners and a sleek gloss or matte finish. Simple clean design Apple is famous for.
I'd like to see at least 1 PCIe slot and one PCI slot for expandablity. That's not asking for much.
I'd also like to see a built in TV tuner card. Apple has always been a media centric company and they haven't really yet embraced the whole TV/PC thing the way PC's are starting to do with Windows Media Center. I think this would be a cheap add for them and make a great perk to buyers.
Slot loading drive. It's what available on every other mac and would look cool on one of these new midrange towers.
For me I'd like to see a small case in either black or white plastic. Similar in design to the black and white macbook. With rounded corners and a sleek gloss or matte finish. Simple clean design Apple is famous for.
I'd like to see at least 1 PCIe slot and one PCI slot for expandablity. That's not asking for much.
I'd also like to see a built in TV tuner card. Apple has always been a media centric company and they haven't really yet embraced the whole TV/PC thing the way PC's are starting to do with Windows Media Center. I think this would be a cheap add for them and make a great perk to buyers.
Slot loading drive. It's what available on every other mac and would look cool on one of these new midrange towers.
Comments
Slot-loading might be barely acceptable for consumers. Any would-be power user would want the higher speeds that tray-loading drives offer.
x16 graphics slot w/ options for x1800GTO, x1900XT
x4 PCIe slot (x16 length, x4 lanes)
4 RAM slots
2 HDD slots - starts with 250 GB HDD
slot-loading DL Superdrive
2.4 or 2.67 GHz Conroe
can stand horz. or vertical
$1500-$2000
Slightly taller than a Mini, but a good bit wider (pizza boxish)
x16 graphics slot w/ options for x1800GTO, x1900XT
It needs to be bigger than your pizza box. A X1900XT is 110W alone so you need room for cooling, for a decent power supply and for the additional PCIe cards. Perhaps something in the size of the old Quadra 700?
slot-loading DL Superdrive
It's small but it's slow too. I don't know whether slow laptop parts will be accepted in a (mini) tower.
Single, dual-core CPU with options in the 2 to 3 GHz range.
4 RAM slot with single, 1 GB strip standard configuration.
2 HHD slots with single, 250 GB standard configuration.
PCIe Graphics card with options above and below standard card.
2 open PCIe slots.
Tray loading DVD burner standard with other options.
Case should look something like the Mac Pro, but about 2/3 as tall.
Single, dual-core CPU with options in the 2 to 3 GHz range.
4 RAM slot with single, 1 GB strip standard configuration.
2 HHD slots with single, 250 GB standard configuration.
PCIe Graphics card with options above and below standard card.
2 open PCIe slots.
Tray loading DVD burner standard with other options.
Not a bad scenario. Any more would be unreasonable for what people are willing to pay for this thing.
What does everyone think on this machine. Is it a step up from iMac, or a step Down? With what your including I'd say a step up. And the price obviously should follow accordingly - monitor.
The thing is, Apple's next iMac may not look like the current one, and what if they decided to put all this stuff into the design. What would you say about that?
. . . The thing is, Apple's next iMac may not look like the current one, and what if they decided to put all this stuff into the design. What would you say about that?
A mini tower could be configured up or down, and cover both sides of the iMac. The iMac should be aimed at the maximum demand spot, and will be a better value for those who don't need the expandability. I'd say the low and high ends would be as follows.
Low End: 2 GHz CPU or slightly less. i GB RAM. 80 GB HDD. Lower end graphics card, cheap. Combo DVD/CD-RW drive. Good for office or simple home use.
High End: 3 GHz CPU. 4 GB RAM. 2-250 GB HDDs. Very high performance graphics card. DVD burner. Good for games and some professional graphics work that doesn't need Mac Pro performance. Good for music workstations.
Oh wait, then it would be a cube.
A taller mac mini with a graphics card in it would probably shut-up the most of you.
Oh wait, then it would be a cube.
I love the old cubes. If the cube was resurrected with dedicated graphics and expandable HDD, I would most certainly shut up and get my wallet.
I love the old cubes. If the cube was resurrected with dedicated graphics and expandable HDD, I would most certainly shut up and get my wallet.
I own a cube, and I still like it. In the talk on this thread, the cube is a very particular kind of xMac. It had the fastest G4 processor available (when the big towers had 1x 500 Mhz), no slots, limited memory expansion, and a special graphics card that could not be significantly upgraded. I think that if Apple were to make an xMac, that it would have to be very much like the cube in that there would be limited expansion, because this is the only way to contain costs.
4 RAM slot with single, 1 GB strip standard configuration.
2 HHD slots with single, 250 GB standard configuration.
PCIe Graphics card with options above and below standard card.
Superdrive.
Bluetooth/Airport in option
Don't think most peoples would need more than 1 expansion slot, the expansion for the graphic card, unlike we are wanting to allow some sli or crossfire.
Only take care he is able to be upgraded in the future, let enough place around it (option let choose between a large graphic card or the use of a second limited PCI), and enough power. And yes, let a standard graphic card be placed there, not a """special"" one.
The price, including the 20' monitor, could be a bit more then an iMac 20' (wich have bluetooth, airport and isight in standart ...).
Some kind of alu-cube would be cool.
Benefit of a cube-like Mac is that it gets a decent name: Mac Cube.
One thing I really hate is how even when dreaming up new mac products people have to cripple their ideas. We have to say stuff like "maybe only one or two PCI slots" for a $800-$1800 machine, even though every $300-500 budget PC out there has at least 2 or 3 PCI slots no problem. In that world it's not even a consideration that there should be less. It's really sad if you think about it. Just because the Mac Pro has four why should the midrange tower suffer. These features are pennies on the dollar for any computer maker.
Because if you start with a Mac Pro, leave all the PCIe and memory slots, all the savings that can be achieved is one processor and a slightly less complicated motherboard. With a reasonably speedy Conroe, the computer will cost more than $2000.
I think that designing a mid-grade tower should involve some sort of calculation of what the actual cost of the computer would be. What people seem to be asking for is a computer that costs 60 - 75 % of the cost of a standard configuration Mac Pro. I don't know anything about the costs of making a computer, but I can't see how snoopy's computer, just as an example, would be substantially less expensive than the MacPro. The savings would be: 1 processor, 4 memory slots, 2 HD slots, and 1 PCIe slot. How much savings does this really add up to? 25% of the cost of the MacPro?
Good point.
Should this " Midtower" have fw800, Or is that a Pro feature?
Benefit of a cube-like Mac is that it gets a decent name: Mac Cube.
How about Mac Squared? It's funny cuz it's a cube!
Unless you intend to use any of the expansion options on the Powemac/MacPro within 2 years, it's a very bad value.
Having another cube that's affordably priced yet remains upgradable would simply destroys most of the reasons to buy a Mac Pro.
Imagine a shuttle-sized mac, with room for 2pci cards and full-sized optical disc, it would sell like hotcakes but what will happen to the Mac Pro? How many people absolutely needs all that PCI slots?
Oh wait, then it would be a cube.
Something as a Next Cube ?
One thing I really hate is how even when dreaming up new mac products people have to cripple their ideas. We have to say stuff like "maybe only one or two PCI slots" for a $800-$1800 machine, even though every $300-500 budget PC out there has at least 2 or 3 PCI slots no problem. In that world it's not even a consideration that there should be less. It's really sad if you think about it. Just because the Mac Pro has four why should the midrange tower suffer. These features are pennies on the dollar for any computer maker.
It's obvious that you want apple to make cheap "DELL"computer, in your first post you set the premises for the discussion so that you don't get arguments against that. Day dreaming is everyones right and it's also fun, but I hope you do have read at least some of the responces why Apple would or should not create your dream machine. Most people still like to speculate under more real terms, what future might bring.
Apple has positioned it self to selling niche market computers and has done farely well in it. In my mind what makes Apple computer, is the design, build quality, silent operation, and OSX. The whole quality how things are integrated together, and that in my mind qualifies the extra dollars Apple computers cost.
I somewhat agree that there might be room for ~1800$ Mac Pro lite. Ability to upgrade your computer a little would be nice. Intel and Amd on purpose change processor socket every second year, about the cycle people would need to upgrade anyway, so hardly any processors ever get upgraded. Ability to change graphics card is totally another story, and in that I do agree with others. Still my vision would be more like Apple cube, with replaceable video card, and socket mounted processor and maybe an extra pci slot.
I own Shuttle PC and only drawbacks with it are the unearthly fan noise it makes and the fact that it's not an Apple product, otherwise I have been very satisfied with it's extensibility. Would I pay 1800$ from it, even if it was Apple quality, I don't know.