If you could design and release any Mac...
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
Would you have any interesting design features? What would the case look like? How would you market it to PC morons?
Amorya
Comments
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>
Basically a thin-like iBook2 LCD with a battery and Airport, a sort of desktop sharing thingy...
that'd make me happy...
<<No I dont want to play games on it...>>
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>
<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.
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 >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.
[ 03-04-2002: Message edited by: Spart ]</p>
<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
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.
800mhz, G4, 14.1" 1400x1080, 30GB, 512MB, LiPolymer batt, Bluetooth 1.2, 8011.1g, PC Card slot (or integrated GPRS)
$1799 US
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>
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.
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]" />
GeForce3Ti
256mb RAM
60gb
DVD/CDRW
800mhz G4
$1,799
Who needs no freakin' SuperDrive
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
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>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!
<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?