Power Mac case: El Capitan Revamp or all-new case?

dstranathandstranathan
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Lets not "Think outside the box", instead, let's think ABOUT the box! I know I know, the G5 wish list is more geeky, but for a moment lets talk about the industrial design and not the chips.



What do you think? Here are my predictions:



* New Power Mac enclosure will be similar to the El Captian. SIMILAR, but very different than it's cousin.



* It will have a drop-down door. This is a no-brainer. Look at Dell's new PCs. They steal this idea and botch it! Sorry Mikey, but they suck.



*Apple will continue to use drop-down optical media bay doors. Apple is good a designing boxes with a minimal, modern, seemless feel. Hiding drives was a good idea. I had my doubts about the drop-down door when the Yosimite G3 was announced in 98, but now I like them. Actually, I saw a generic PC the other day that used doors just like the Sawtooth/Yikes box!



* It will have handles on the corners. (by the way, the old IBM Aptiva's had a handle on the top front back in 95) I love these. Working in IT, handles are a good thing!



*It will have a front access door for a USB and FireWire port. If Apple is gonna be my "Digital Hub", they better let me have convient access to the hub! LOL. Front panels ala' HP or Compaq make sense. The question is: Can Apple make the access panel look cool and original, or will it look like thay are playing catch-up with PCs?



* I predict the tower will be less of a "tower" and more like the Cube. I bet it has a squatty, fatter look to it.



*I am almost positive it will be silver, clear, and graphite in color like the current line.



*Less noisey? I hope so!



* Harmon Kardon style silver cone speakers will be present, but I bet we might see 2 speakers. Either way I hope the speaker(s) has a GRILL COVER!

Or perhaps the box will ship with 2 external speakers ala' the Cube?



Chime in here guys!



:0)

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Even if the G5 is released, I doubt much IF ANYTHING is changed about the case. It's 6 months old for crying out loud! That's a short amount of time for a case to be kicked to the curb.



    Reference: The previous G4 case before Quicksilver came out August 1999 and actually is still available on the lowest educational PowerMac. That's over 2 years.



    [ 01-03-2002: Message edited by: CosmoNut ]</p>
  • Reply 2 of 12
    junkyard dawgjunkyard dawg Posts: 2,801member
    Good ideas, especially the front USB and Firewire ports. But it's missing one thing:



    A new powermac tower should have 2 extra drive expansion bays. Not one extra, but TWO. A $2000+ tower owner should never have to buy an external optical drive because the tower lacks the expansion capability.



    Unfortuneatly, this is unlikely, since Apple gets royalities off Firewire. Apple makes extra cash by forcing us to buy Firewire peripherals. Sad but true.



    Also, a new tower should have audio input for line level and microphone level inputs.



    That's all I can think of for now. The current case rocks, except for the lack of expansion capability with respect to external drive bays.
  • Reply 3 of 12
    dstranathandstranathan Posts: 1,717member
    [quote]Originally posted by CosmoNut:

    <strong>Even if the G5 is released, I doubt much IF ANYTHING is changed about the case. It's 6 months old for crying out loud! That's a short amount of time for a case to be kicked to the curb.





    [ 01-03-2002: Message edited by: CosmoNut ]</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Cosmo: Remember the B/W Yosimitie G3 design? That thing came and went faster than any design Apple ever made (besides the Cube). The QuickSilver was not a "redo", it was a new color, a silver grill-less speaker, and a new drive bay door idea.
  • Reply 4 of 12
    dstranathandstranathan Posts: 1,717member
    I forgot:





    A %$#@& CD/DVD eject button would be nice!





    :0)
  • Reply 5 of 12
    suckfuldotcomsuckfuldotcom Posts: 550member
    I'd be happy if they rejiggered the motherboard so the heat sink wasn't in the way of the lower bay.



    I should be able to do CD (or DVD) burning drive to drive, at a bare minimum.



    I'm not sure what I'd use a 3rd bay before, having never had a 3rd device in any of my computers in my life.



    The PCI slots at 4 is good enough by me.



    Some front mounted USB adn FW should also be included, at the front bottom.



    SdC
  • Reply 6 of 12
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    If the case was more square and less curvy it would make more effective use of the internal space. The iBook and Powerbook went that route so i expect the Powermac to do the same.
  • Reply 7 of 12
    toofeutoofeu Posts: 73member
    quote:

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Originally posted by CosmoNut:

    Even if the G5 is released, I doubt much IF ANYTHING is changed about the case. It's 6 months old for crying out loud! That's a short amount of time for a case to be kicked to the curb.



    Quicksilver is just A slight change of the original design!!!

    I want a new and defferent case design, this one is OLD!!!

    One of the things that attracts consumers on Mac is the design, and even on this side Apple seems to be laging....
  • Reply 8 of 12
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    [quote]Originally posted by dstranathan:

    <strong>



    Cosmo: Remember the B/W Yosimitie G3 design? That thing came and went faster than any design Apple ever made (besides the Cube). The QuickSilver was not a "redo", it was a new color, a silver grill-less speaker, and a new drive bay door idea.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Well just the colors lasted that short. The case design itself lasted until July 2001.
  • Reply 9 of 12
    glurxglurx Posts: 1,031member
    There should be no new case until the G5 is released.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    I quite like the look of the quicksilver case. They just ought to fiddle the insides a bit to make that secong external bay a full 5.25" slot. And maybe add a front mounted firewire port in addition to the rear ports.
  • Reply 11 of 12
    ventralventral Posts: 51member
    [quote] Unfortuneatly, this is unlikely, since Apple gets royalities off Firewire. Apple makes extra cash by forcing us to buy Firewire peripherals. Sad but true.

    <hr></blockquote>



    I think they get 25¢ for each device. I don't think that is the reason they don't put in another bay.



    I think they rely on Firewire to get away with avoiding the expense and size inherent in adding another bay. Helps with the margins, especially as most people would not add a drive anyway.



    OK go ahead everyone and tell me how you are all just dying to add a second optical drive and how apple is missing a huge opportunity. Tough nuts, your not most people.
  • Reply 12 of 12
    cobracobra Posts: 253member
    The current case is nice. I have a G4 400 (July 2000).



    But, it will be 3 years old next week.



    Its time for a redesign.



    But, keep the door please.





    Its all about image baby.
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