If you could design and release any Mac...

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
What would it's specs and price be? You must use components available today (so no G5s), and the price must be enough to make a profit selling it.



Would you have any interesting design features? What would the case look like? How would you market it to PC morons?



Amorya

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    spartspart Posts: 2,060member
    First of all it would have to be from 800-1GHz single proc (or the same procs as the next iMac, but slower than the PowerMacs)...this is sort of a remake of the Cube BTW.



    It would have a GeForce 4mx (the iMacs will have this as well) with the option of a GeForce 4 ti for 300 more dollars.



    This machine would have enough space for 2 HD's and come default with the Super Drive on the high end, Combo on the midrange, and CD-RW on the low end.



    This machine would also have 2 PCI card slots.



    3 USB and 2 FW on the back.



    The case of the machine would be a 3/4 sphere, only oblong so it is deeper, sort of like a capsule. It would have clear plastic over black and have the appearance of having depth. The machine would sit about a half inch off of the ground, with small feet underneath not easily seen, which would give it the appearance of floating. Right on the front would be a chrome Apple logo similar to the one on the imac, with the text G4 Orb in grey under it, very slight. its ventilation wouldn't be very visible, but there would be vents on the back and on the bottom where the case curves in, about 1 inch high, raised up slightly from the outer case, which would curve in gracefully. The door for the optical drive would be insanely seemless, and I am talking fine jewelry precision here. When it comes out it would very smoothly fold down into the same smiley-shape the iMac has. The power switch would be a sensitive patch right under the apple logo with the power icon that glows white when on, then pulses white when asleep.



    The guts would slide out the back, the PCI cards being vertical and having the ports in the rear, the mobo being small like the iMac's, only without the graphics card, which would be in a seperate 4x AGP slot. The proc would be un-upgradable so as not to make it have an advantage over the powermacs.the drives would be to the side of the mobo.



    This machine would come with Harmon/Kardon Sound Sticks, redone with the same clear plastic over black finish that the Orb has, with chrome in the center of the speakers, and no covering for them.



    The keyboard would be the depthy-black finnish with chrome keys, that are greyish plastic underneath and don't show much if scratched. The Pro Mouse would be the same as now except for the Apple logo would be chrome.



    The G4 Orb would be priced 100 dollars above the price of the iMacs at the same proc speed. There will be a rebate to buy a monitor with it, and the monitors would be redesigned to match. Presumably the PowerMac and PowerBook will be redesigned to match (don't b!tch abut this part, you know Apple could pull it off with style. And it isnt the point of this post in any event.)



    So here are the specs:



    800MHz G4 Orb

    128MB SDRAM

    40 GB HD

    CD-RW Drive

    100MHz Bus

    GeForce 4 MX



    900MHz G4 Orb

    256MB SDRAM

    60 GB HD

    Combo Drive

    100MHz Bus

    GeForce 4 MX



    1GHz G4 Orb

    256MB SDRAM

    80 GB HD

    SuperDrive

    100MHz Bus

    GeForce 4 MX





    I would market this to PC morons as the baddest comp on the block...a cheapish game comp.



    How many of you would buy this prosumer machine?



    [ 03-03-2002: Message edited by: Spart ]</p>
  • Reply 2 of 20
    ferroferro Posts: 453member
    I would want an "wireless" touch screen "iScreen"...



    Basically a thin-like iBook2 LCD with a battery and Airport, a sort of desktop sharing thingy...



    that'd make me happy...



    &lt;&lt;No I dont want to play games on it...&gt;&gt;



    No keys No buttons, just touch screen...



    just a simple wireless touch screen...



    Or you could encase it in alot of lucite and call it the "iCee" (I See)... get it... "iCee"... "iCeBook"... ... ...



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



    © FERRO 2001-2002



    [ 03-03-2002: Message edited by: FERRO ]</p>
  • Reply 3 of 20
    corvettecorvette Posts: 561member
    I would have a g4 cube (can be bigger but has to be quiet) with 1.5ghz g4, and DDR motherboard. 2 RAM slots if need be, and 1 hard drive slot. I would give 256 mb with the computer and start it at 899 without montitor and $200 off any apple LCD monitor.
  • Reply 4 of 20
    spartspart Posts: 2,060member
    [quote]Originally posted by corvette:

    <strong>I would have a g4 cube (can be bigger but has to be quiet) with 1.5ghz g4, and DDR motherboard. 2 RAM slots if need be, and 1 hard drive slot. I would give 256 mb with the computer and start it at 899 without montitor and $200 off any apple LCD monitor.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    1.5GHz G4 doesn't exist...read the rules .



    And that would kill the iMac...thers no way the would make it that cheap.
  • Reply 5 of 20
    neutrino23neutrino23 Posts: 1,561member
    I would like to see several machines.



    1. Generic Mac

    The specs are not real important. Something like a 600MHz G4, room for 1GB RAM, room for a couple of HDs, primitive graphics card, several PCI slots, beefy power supply, plain box, FW, USB, optional SCSI and serial ports. This would be an industrial Mac that could be used for cases where you just need the computer and OS and don't care about the case. Things like instrumentation control, data logging, machine control.



    2. Subnotebook

    Weight under 3lbs., battery life &gt;4 hours, otherwise similar to iBook.



    3. Hand Held Mac

    Something roughly the size and shape of a checkbook running Mac OS X on a low power G3 (Sahara). Input via a stylus through the touch sensitive screen. Also voice operation. FW, USB, sound in and out ports.
  • Reply 6 of 20
    spartspart Posts: 2,060member
    [EDIT: Editing last post made this post redundant.]



    [ 03-04-2002: Message edited by: Spart ]</p>
  • Reply 7 of 20
    aries 1baries 1b Posts: 1,009member
    My needs are simple, for I am a simple man; and as a simple man, I see things simply:



    <a href="http://www.kuro5hin.org/?op=displaystory;sid=2001/5/24/51222/2909"; target="_blank">http://www.kuro5hin.org/?op=displaystory;sid=2001/5/24/51222/2909</a>;



    <a href="http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&ic=1&th=545b778a95fe42b7 ,2" target="_blank">http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&ic=1&th=545b778a95fe42b7 ,2</a>



    That's all I want. Allegedly, the work's all done. <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />



    Aries 1B
  • Reply 8 of 20
    nicstanicsta Posts: 9member
    Take the base model desk lamp iMac for $1299



    Get rid of the LCD screen



    Replace with 17 inch CRT capable of sharp 1280 by 1024 resolution.



    With the money saved on the monitor, add a second processor for great Mac OS X performance.



    Now you have an iMac that I would actually buy.
  • Reply 9 of 20
    jasonppjasonpp Posts: 308member
    iBook



    800mhz, G4, 14.1" 1400x1080, 30GB, 512MB, LiPolymer batt, Bluetooth 1.2, 8011.1g, PC Card slot (or integrated GPRS)



    $1799 US
  • Reply 10 of 20
    stimulistimuli Posts: 564member
    A new laptop, one that uses those superslim, low power drives like in iPod. Get the 10GB drive, put it in a Magnesium case, with minimal, smooth lines, and a crisp white Apple logo on it, both top and bottom.



    Add a 13.3", 1024x768 resolution bright crisp screen, make the case the same dimension as the screen, save for MAX 1/4" extra of border between case and screen.Give it the hinge mechanism iBook now has.



    Pop in a 750FX G3 (at 800mhz-1ghz), with phenomal power/battery life/ 1/2 MB L2 on-chip, etc., make Airport on-board, not as an add in card, to save power and size. Add the newer, lower power Radeon 7500 or 7000 or whatever, with at least 16 MB ram. Give it one firewire, two USB, and a VGA and sound out adapter.Give it 100 bt ethernet.



    ONE ram slot, no soldered-in ram, so max 512MB ram. Standard 256MB.



    Make it (due to onboard airport, much smaller/slimmer HD, and ultra low power/hella fast g3) about half an inch thick, 3 pounds or so due to small size and 100% magnesium case.STURDY, though. Solid-feeling, not cheap and plasticy.



    Make the keyboard non-flexy, and shallow yet functional. I like the Wallstreet PBG3s keyboard, myself.



    Make it slate grey, but I'm partial to black so make a matte black limited edition of 1, call it 'stimuli edition' in honour of the genius who conceived of it, and give it to me permanently for 'prototype testing'.



    This book would have an integrated next-generation LiIon battery distributed through out the case.



    Very thin, very light, very minimal, very fast, very low (advanced) power consumption, cool (temp) due to the various chips in it, with minimal ports and maximum functionality.



    No PC cards, infrared, on board modem, bluetooth, composite video, sound in.Just the basics. No fan. It wouldn't need one.External DVD drive (firewire).



    Sell it at a reasonable price, say $1200-$1800.



    [ 03-04-2002: Message edited by: stimuli ]



    edit: This laptop is born out of the laptop I've been using since August 1998. It has a fan, but it never comes on. It has the same chip, but larger, slower and more power hungry.



    I love my wallstreet, but hardly ever use any of the ports, ie SCSI, ADB, S-Video, modem/printer, never use the internal modem, wouldn't need PC cards slots w/ Firewire and USB built in, and my graphics accel. blows (64bit, 4MB vram). I use my cd-rom, but not enough for it to be built in. An external could be lugged around if needed, but left at home if not. Infra-red is useless to me.



    13.3" screen is decent, a nice balance between power consumption, visibility, and size.



    [ 03-04-2002: Message edited by: stimuli ]</p>
  • Reply 11 of 20
    G4 cube 800mhz dp, 512md ddrram up to 2gig, 120gb 7200rpm hdd, 2(total) hdd slots, Superdrive, DVD-RAM drive, both on front, 2 pci, upgradeble vid, nVidia Geforce 4ti, 3 firewire, 4 usb, gigabit ethernet, airport card, 10in x 10in, soundsticks, apple pro keyboard, logitech mouseman wireless optical, pro speakers, compact flash reader built in,
  • Reply 12 of 20
    I would want a new G4 Cube. You could buy it with processors ranging somewhere between 733, and 1 ghz. They would make one that is a DUAL 733 or 800 mhz model. Also, this one would have built in gigabit ethernet, superdrive as an option, but the biggest thing would be a larger AGP 4X slot, that would allow a much wider range of graphics cards to be used. They would also eliminate the powerbrick, and due to the bulkier insides, it would be 9-10"... The base model would start for 1,400, and the high end would be 2 grand.. That seems low for a DP, but I think it would be awesome if they could pull it offf. Maybe sell the dual, though, for ~2,200-2,400, and the GHZ for 1,600....
  • Reply 13 of 20
    xhorxhixhorxhi Posts: 46member
    A KILLER desktop portable in the form of a brief case! A JUMBO notebook made of bare (exposed unpainted) carbon fibre hardside case w/solid billet aluminum trim about 4 or 4.5 inches thick that opens breif case style. The top of course would house the 17" flat screen and that screen could either flip down to expose 1.5" or so of lid storage for all kinds of gadgets and whatnots. Also you could detach the monitor and close the case and have the keys mouse and monitor on the desk and the case on the floor or simply use the open case with everything in it like a giant notebook! The bottom (thicker half) of the brief case would contain the CPU & other essentials of course and that would include some mega batteries and a light weight but powerful power supply! A short keyboard like the older iMac would be snapped into the bottom deck appearing in every way to be a notebook BUT BIIIGG! As for a trackpad I'm not certain I would include that on the "key deck" of the machine but there would be a handy optical mouse stashed neatly underneath it's own fold out hard mouse surface. Outboard on one side of the bottom (thicker half) of the case would be a neat long retractable door like on the back of the TiBook to expose all the out board connections and there would be corresponding connections inside the case as well. Other side of the case would have door behind which would be the external power cord connection, a slot loading superdrive and 2 expansion bays and 2 PCMCIA slots! An airport base station would of course be built in!

    The only fantasy part of this would be if the keys & monitor could detach and remotly operate the computer from say less than 200'. Now that would be awesome. Tech specs. for proccessor and MOBO/RAM would be same as available on the highest end towers including graphics card that woukd run dual desktop monitors and a TV output. I would pay $5,000-$6,500 for a fantasy machine like this!!! No Problemo!!! I would be a 1000% TOTALLY MOBILE POWER USER!! That is my Dream Machine.
  • Reply 14 of 20
    macratmacrat Posts: 35member
    A big mofo of a desktop machine (maybe would have to be a 'floor' machine):

    massive, giant case

    8 1Ghz G4's

    2 AGP slots, 8 pci slots

    6 usb ports on the back with each one on its own controller, 2 on the front

    4 firewire ports on back with each on its own controller, and 1 on the front

    built-in dual ATA-133 raid controllers

    8 slots for DDR ram, 20gb max limit (or no limit)

    duel, reduntant, hot-swappable power supplies

    insanely fast system bus

    4 5.25 external drive bays

    10 internal 3.5 drive bays

    built-in dolby 5.1/thx sound controller

    several large-diameter/low rpm fans

    internal flourescent lighting, with cool apple logo cutouts on case like lid of laptops

    apple-branded noise canceling headphones

    <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
  • Reply 15 of 20
    idogcowidogcow Posts: 111member
    A black Flat panel iMac (working on mock-up)

    GeForce3Ti

    256mb RAM

    60gb

    DVD/CDRW

    800mhz G4

    $1,799



    Who needs no freakin' SuperDrive
  • Reply 16 of 20
    All Macs get a 2 button + scrollwheel mouse standard. The mouse will be ergonomic and well made, and of course optical. No bullsh!t. Laptops also get two buttons, and a scrollwheel!



    Also, no more ADC! In place of ADC, all Macs have DVI and VGA output, as well as S-video output.



    Every single Mac sold comes with a full gamut of software, every piece of Apple software is standard (except for the pro versions of stuff like FCP).





    New low-end Macintosh: The iCube.



    Purpose: The iCube is an entry-level Mac designed for those on a budget who already own a display and thus do not need an iMac w/display. It is based on the original cube's design, and it is a viable alternative to the iMac. Essentially, it is a headless iMac, but without a superdrive. The iCube is also aimed at the education market, where value is a priority. One exceptional difference from the original cube is that the iCube is much taller, to help with cooling, and to make room for a conventional AGP slot and video card. The iCube also has a fan, so that it runs cool.



    The iCube does not interfere with Powermac sales, because it is not expandable and only the video card and RAM can be upgraded. There is only room for a single HD. Alternatively, the Powermacs as I have speced them out are fully expandable. The iCube will cannabilize some iMac sales, that is inevitable, but it will also bring new sales among people who want a Mac, but are either on a budget, or are interested in something with an upgradable video card. Of course, the iMac is a better deal for base+display than the iCube.



    Common specs for all iCubes:



    Bus: 266 MHz

    RAM: DDR

    HD: 7200 RPM, 133 ata

    Ports: Full assortment of ports on the bottom, including s-video out, FW, USB, DVI, VGA, digital and analog audio I/O, and microphone input.

    Frontside ports: one each of USB and FW, a microphone input, and headphone output.





    Education iCube: $700

    800 MHz G4

    CD-ROM

    20 GB HD

    GeForce 2mx 32mb vRAM

    192 MB RAM



    Low end iCube: $1000

    1 GHz MHz G4

    CD-RW

    40 GB HD

    Geforce 4MX 64 mb vRAM

    256 MB RAM



    High end iCube: $1200

    1 GHz G4

    Combo Drive

    40 GB HD

    Geforce 4 Titanium 128 MB vRAM

    512 MB RAM



    iMac:

    I'd want to make the iMac lineup totally killer:



    CPU: All iMacs would get a 1 GHz G4 with 266 MHz system bus.

    HDs: All are 7200 RPM, ATA 133 interface.

    RAM: All RAM is DDR, 266 MHz.



    Low end iMac: $1200

    15" LCD

    256 MB RAM

    CD RW drive

    Geforce 2mx 32 mb vRAM

    30 GB HD



    Mid range iMac: $1400

    15" LCD

    256 MB RAM

    Combo drive

    Geforce 2mx 32 mb vRAM

    40 GB HD



    Gamer's edition iMac: $1600

    17" LCD

    512 MB RAM

    CDRW Drive

    GeForce 4 Titanium 128 mb vRAM

    40 GB HD



    iMac DV: $1900

    17" LCD

    256 MB RAM

    Superdrive

    Geforce 4 MX 64 mb vRAM

    80 GB HD



    Other changes to all iMacs:



    One Firewire and one USB port on the front of the iMac.

    Power switch on the keyboard or display.

    Optional iSub for $25 (That's all it's really worth...you can buy an entire 3 piece speaker system for $100 that sounds better than the iSub/pro speaker combo).



    I think this iMac lineup would satisfy everyone's needs....it sure as hell would sell me! The 17" LCD display is a must, and the fast processor helps with Wintel competition. The gamer's edition puts the best GPU chipset available in the iMac for a nice gaming machine. Finally there is the superdrive model for anyone into DV editing, and it's got a big enough display to get the job done.



    iBooks:

    All iBooks get a 133 MHz bus and PC133 RAM

    HDs are all



    Student iBook: $999!

    12.1" LCD

    700 MHz G4, 100 MHz bus

    CD-ROM Drive

    128 MB RAM

    Rage mobility, 8 mb vRAM

    15 GB HD 4200 rpm



    Low end model: $1300

    12.1" LCD

    800 MHz G4, 133 MHz bus.

    Combo drive

    256 MB RAM

    20 GB HD, 4200 rpm



    High end model: $1600

    14.1" LCD

    933 MHz G4, 133 MHz bus.

    Combo drive

    256 MB RAM

    Radeon mobility, 16 MB vRAM

    30 GB HD 5400 rpm





    Titanium powerbook

    All Powerbooks are 1 GHz G4 w/ 266 MHz bus and DDR RAM.

    All have combo drives.



    Low end: $2200

    15.2" widescreen

    Radeon mobility, 16 MB vRAM

    256 MB RAM

    30 GB HD 5200 rpm



    High end: $3000

    16.2" widescreen (huge mofo!)

    Radeon mobility, 32 MB vRAM

    512 MB RAM

    48 GB HD 5200 rpm



    Finally, the towers:



    Tower design:

    Three expandable optical drive bays, one used.

    Front ports: 2 FW, 2 USB, Audio I/O.

    Back ports: same as current, + S-video out, audio input and output, both digital and analog, and microphone input.

    6 PCI slots

    1 AGP 8x

    All HDs are 7200 RPM, ATA 133 interface.

    Room for up to 6 HDs total:

    Standard support for up to 4 ATA drives (w/OS X's RAID).

    Memory: 266MHz system bus w/ DDR RAM.



    BTO: All models have extensive BTO options, including ability to downgrade drives, or upgrade to the superdrive for any model.



    Low end model: $1500

    1 GHz G4

    CD RW drive

    256 MB RAM

    Geforce 4mx, 64 MB RAM

    40 GB HD



    Midrange: $2000

    1 GHZ G4

    Combo drive

    256 MB RAM

    Geforce 4 titanium 64mb RAM

    60 GB HD



    High end: $2500

    Dual 1 GHz G4

    Superdrive

    512 MB RAM

    Geforce 4 titanium 64 MB RAM

    80 GB HD



    Displays:



    LCD size price alone price w/iCube price w/powermac.

    17" $600 550 $500

    19" $1200 1000 $1000

    24" $2400 Yeah, right! $2000
  • Reply 17 of 20
    A Newton that has he storage and music capabilities of an iPod. You could not only keep track of your appointments and take notes, but listen to tunes and tote your presentation or whatever files you want all with one device.(I don't want/need a "MiniMac", I mean OS X on a 5' screen, get real).

    Make it out of Aluminum and "ice" plastics, about the side of a Jornada, put a nice crisp black on white screen on it, and sell it for $500
  • Reply 18 of 20
    airslufairsluf Posts: 1,861member
  • Reply 19 of 20
    neutrino23neutrino23 Posts: 1,561member
    [quote]Originally posted by Aries 1B:

    <strong>My needs are simple, for I am a simple man; and as a simple man, I see things simply:



    <a href="http://www.kuro5hin.org/?op=displaystory;sid=2001/5/24/51222/2909"; target="_blank">http://www.kuro5hin.org/?op=displaystory;sid=2001/5/24/51222/2909</a>;



    <a href="http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&ic=1&th=545b778a95fe42b7 ,2" target="_blank">http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&ic=1&th=545b778a95fe42b7 ,2</a>



    That's all I want. Allegedly, the work's all done. <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />



    Aries 1B</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Amen!
  • Reply 20 of 20
    spartspart Posts: 2,060member
    [quote]Originally posted by BobtheTomato:

    <strong>A Newton that has he storage and music capabilities of an iPod. You could not only keep track of your appointments and take notes, but listen to tunes and tote your presentation or whatever files you want all with one device.(I don't want/need a "MiniMac", I mean OS X on a 5' screen, get real).

    Make it out of Aluminum and "ice" plastics, about the side of a Jornada, put a nice crisp black on white screen on it, and sell it for $500</strong><hr></blockquote>



    OS X on a five foot screen? Who wouldn't want that?
Sign In or Register to comment.