Why there are no new Powermacs and Powerbooks: A logical perspective
1) Apple has never, AFAIK, upgraded everything all at once.
2) More importantly, they were forced to make a choice between seeing if Moto can get a new chip fabbed, or going primarily dual (again). Apple hates to guess on Moto (g4 intro disaster), so they opted to wait and see.
3) Any announcement of new Powermacs would have stolen attention away from their new iMac roll out. Hype is about staying on message, not spreading the message thin. Remember, the keynotes aren't directed at the faithful, they are directed at others, who probably don't think about Apple more than once or twice a year.
So, I'd suspect that MWTK, which has gained importance in the past few years as 'the show that gets all of the stuff that wasn't ready or couldn't be crammed into MWSF' will be the proshow.
After all, the 14" iBook starts to encroach on TiBook land, so the way to increase the space BETWEEN the iBook and the TiBook would be to increase the space ON the TiBook (screen).
And the Japanese love their portables!
SdC
2) More importantly, they were forced to make a choice between seeing if Moto can get a new chip fabbed, or going primarily dual (again). Apple hates to guess on Moto (g4 intro disaster), so they opted to wait and see.
3) Any announcement of new Powermacs would have stolen attention away from their new iMac roll out. Hype is about staying on message, not spreading the message thin. Remember, the keynotes aren't directed at the faithful, they are directed at others, who probably don't think about Apple more than once or twice a year.
So, I'd suspect that MWTK, which has gained importance in the past few years as 'the show that gets all of the stuff that wasn't ready or couldn't be crammed into MWSF' will be the proshow.
After all, the 14" iBook starts to encroach on TiBook land, so the way to increase the space BETWEEN the iBook and the TiBook would be to increase the space ON the TiBook (screen).
And the Japanese love their portables!
SdC
Comments
They didn't release them BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE THE PARTS for them. Apollo just isn't ready, let alone a G5.
There is no good marketing reason why they shouldn't release faster PowerMacs if they could have. Last MWSF they released the new PowerBook along with faster PowerMacs and the new G4 chips, plus iDVD etc. And speed-bumped iMacs, IIRC.
Motorola just ain't delivering. That's all.
<strong>Last MWSF they released the new PowerBook along with faster PowerMacs and the new G4 chips, plus iDVD etc. And speed-bumped iMacs</strong><hr></blockquote>
As you just mentioned they "speed-bumped" the iMacs. There was no thunder to steal. Nobody really cared, nobody was going to go rushing to buy a new iMac. Time Magazine certainly wasn't going to put it on thier cover. This is different though. This is the rebirth of the iMac. The new industry pace setter, just like the origional iMac was. Think about it for a bit.
<strong>
They didn't release them BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE THE PARTS for them. Apollo just isn't ready, let alone a G5.
</strong><hr></blockquote>
They don't have the 'parts' for the new iMac, and that didn't stop 'em, did it?
Shipping in late Jan, my ass. If the new iMac weren't so cool, I'd be pissed.
SdC
The Apollo landing has been scheduled for "Spring." Spring does not mean January.
The only known member of the G5 family won't be popped out into the world for another 9 months. The G5 everyone here has been talking about is purely fictive, and will remain so until one of the AIM members posts a model number and a ship date.
The run through the iApps was probably done so that the reporters on hand could write an entire article on Apple's strategy from their notes. I doubt it was targeted at us.
The pro line didn't get a refresh, so my guess is: New Power Macs and PowerBooks within 90 days. With Apollo G4s and all-new motherboards. Until then, anyone who buys anything other than the top of the line PowerMac is, frankly, insane.
Finally, as posted in the topic list, rants go in General Discussion. Moving...
[ 01-07-2002: Message edited by: Amorph ]</p>
I was, have the money, cash in hand.
But now buying a low end PowerMac would be mmhh well, let's just say less than desirable.
I need to upgrade from my 8100 badly, but I do not want an iMac. Nice computer and hope Apple sells millions in the next few months, but I want an extra PCI slot and extra drive bay.
I'm going to have to seriously consider an upgrade card to tide me over until the PowerMacs are bumped. Not what I wanted but well that's life.
I would have to say that PowerMac sales just went down the sewer until the next upgrade.
I personally do not want the all in one solution Steve Jobs is forcing people down. Great solution for many people, just not me.
Warning: Do not flame me. I am not Steve Jobs, I am not responsible for Apple's decisions or policies. These are my opinions, influenced by what I work with and see internally.
I'm not sure how to say this, but let's assume a hypothetical situation:
Let's say at the present time you coulds ship a CPU of type A running at clock speed B.
Let's say that in one or two months you would have CPUs of type A running at clock speed B * C where C is a number that is greater than 1 (within reason, ie: C is obviously not going to be 2 or 3).
It wouldn't make sense to ship at the present time, when in a two months; you have noticeably faster CPUs available. I'm not talking about the natural progression of CPU development. I'm talking about a situation where a short (relatively) wait makes sense from both a business and engineering standpoint.
[ 01-07-2002: Message edited by: PipelineStall ]</p>
[ 01-07-2002: Message edited by: sizzle chest ]</p>
<strong>
Let's say at the present time you coulds ship a CPU of type A running at clock speed B.
Let's say that in one or two months you would have CPUs of type A running at clock speed B * C where C is a number that is greater than 1 (within reason, ie: C is obviously not going to be 2 or 3).
It wouldn't make sense to ship at the present time, when in a two months; you have noticeably faster CPUs available. I'm not talking about the natural progression of CPU development. I'm talking about a situation where a short (relatively) wait makes sense from both a business and engineering standpoint.
</strong><hr></blockquote>
Now, in plain English please.
Ok, if I grok what you are saying, then your observation is that it is better for Apple to hold off and incur the wrath of the unsatisfied, if they can deliver a bigger hunk o' joy in a short time down the road.
Now, my own personal two cents:
replace "incur the wrath of the unsatisfied" with "stay with current generation of G4s" and
"A bigger hunk o' joy" with "the next iteration of the G4 (Apollo, DDR, etc.)"
and I think everyone would agree that the right decision had been made.
SdC
[ 01-07-2002: Message edited by: suckfuldotcom ]</p>
I would imagine we can expect the announcement of the new PowerMacs to come in the next two-three months.
And besides, the intro of the new PowerMac whould have overshadow the intro of the iMac!