I have to admit this thing seems real (unfortunately.) Maybe FW2's on there somewhere, but it doesn't seem to be.
This must be that stop-gap motherboard that someone mentioned (moki, dorsal? I don't know.) DDR isn't enough to make me buy a new machine.
I'm curious how they'll price this. Of course the CPU speed will make a difference, but with a $2000 iMac with a 17" monitor out there, they can't price it too low.
It has a chip mounted like that but it's not the CPU.
And notice how this board says copyright 2001 and has a part number of what looks like 820-1309-02. Is that at least similar to a G4 mobo part number? And where are the RAM slots on this thing? Mounted on that odd looking board at the bottom?
Hm, the big green card in the front is no PCI card, as you can see its only attached to the case only. It also "hangs" a little displaced on the left side.
What it is? Its in fact a Debugging card that enables to change a big amount of electrical connections and confiogurations without having to take the Mobo out or even create a new one.
My guess is that either this is the "old" DDR MoBo (kinda UMA2) that apparently was ready at MWNY01 in a new case,
or it is a new board in fact using an old CPU board.
As has been pointed out, the CPU on the board looks like a 7450 chip (OK, at least a MPC745x while noting I havent seen a 7460 Chip yet). The entire Daughtercard looks as it would fit a QuickSilver MoBo, its almost striking that the three mounting holes have the same geometry than my daughtercard in the QS. Why would they "insist" on this design ?
So... new Case, old CPU, new board.
Be aware that Apple sends dozens of Testboxes out with different configurations. AND, Motorola hasnt been know to have huge amounts of really new G4s around, so it might be easier to stick with an "old" 800 Mhz G4 to test the new MoBo...
A couple of observations... This thing does look real to me, however:
I think it is an unfinished test box. the "air vents" on the front are about as un-apple as you can get, and utterly impractical. I think they are "place holders" for ports, most likely 2X USB and 2X Firewire. Also, the aluminum panel at the front is pre-production. There are no optical drives in the box, and that aluminum plating is what the inside of all Apple towers is lined with. It is clear that this machine does not have drives, or the faceplate that covers them. The screws to remove the metal are clearly visible. All in all not too bad looking though!!
SEEMS to me this is just a prototype and we will have to wait until "August 14th" to get the real new powermac <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
<strong>A couple of observations... This thing does look real to me, however:
I think it is an unfinished test box. the "air vents" on the front are about as un-apple as you can get, and utterly impractical. I think they are "place holders" for ports, most likely 2X USB and 2X Firewire. Also, the aluminum panel at the front is pre-production. There are no optical drives in the box, and that aluminum plating is what the inside of all Apple towers is lined with. It is clear that this machine does not have drives, or the faceplate that covers them. The screws to remove the metal are clearly visible. All in all not too bad looking though!!
Look at the photo of the case again where the drive bays are. The surface is showing a reflection of another G4 type case. I see no drive bay face plates or screws.
I do find it od that apple would use such a mirror like surface on the front of a computer where you will be touching all the time to place cd's and dvd's. A brushed metal face like the xserver would make more sence.
I suppose that button above the drives is the power, but what is the button or watever it is to the upper left hand corner of this thing? I would say this is not the new machine because the PCI/AGP would hit the powersupply which must still be in the top of the back. That si why the PCI slots are at the bottom, also because if you add any extra IDE cards you don't have to run a cable across the computer from top to bottom. Also the computer looked vertically stretched and if you take it into photoshop and try to scale it, it doesnt scale properly. The pictures are conviently vague enough not to be able to tell anything for someone who would have access to a prototype or specially final product liek this. I don't think this is what you will see, the internal stuff just doesn't add up, and apple isn't in the market to make things taller, smaller is their style
<strong>I suppose that button above the drives is the power, but what is the button or watever it is to the upper left hand corner of this thing? I would say this is not the new machine because the PCI/AGP would hit the powersupply which must still be in the top of the back. That si why the PCI slots are at the bottom, also because if you add any extra IDE cards you don't have to run a cable across the computer from top to bottom. Also the computer looked vertically stretched and if you take it into photoshop and try to scale it, it doesnt scale properly. The pictures are conviently vague enough not to be able to tell anything for someone who would have access to a prototype or specially final product liek this. I don't think this is what you will see, the internal stuff just doesn't add up, and apple isn't in the market to make things taller, smaller is their style</strong><hr></blockquote>
Look how wide the unit is relative to the 5 1/4 bays, it has to be a fair bit wider than the current QS case
Otherwise I would say that this case means business. In otherwords it looks like a case designed to accomodate a rather more professional configuration than the El Capitan. Perhaps we are going to see a top end machine designed at the high end video industry with multple processors or possibly one large hot processor? Taking the comments above it seems likely that this case has been designed to take a different board to the one currently in situ.
The middle Button is indeed the on/off Button and the thing right of it is the headphone Jack.
The metal is shiny because there is still plastic foil on it, you can tell this from the edges of the metal part. It might be brushed and less reflective underneath, but it is covered in plastic like the rest of the case for proper transport.
<strong>Y'know, that picture looks quite fake indeed.
The external one, anyway.
The handles: they're the old Yikes! - V'Ger style handles... the hollow, ribbed ones.
The edges are terribly pixelated... many of them. It's really a terrible job, if it is a fake.
This is countered very cleverly covered by the tape, which Apple would not apply that way. Any prototype machine would come packaged as the production machines would.
It's a horrible chop-job done on the main panel. The speaker is misshapen, and smaller than the Hal-speaker.
That, and it's UGLY. Plastic with brushed aluminium? Please...
Now, it states "G5 ready" - you think Apple would allow people to swap from the G4 to G5 like that? Yeah right... unless it's a G5 already.
Same pin count as a G4? I don't know about that...
SDRAM feeding a G5? Yeah right... the G4 is starved as it is.
They NEED DDR to feed the damn things to get any performance increase, or it'll seem just like a G4 with a fancy new name.
EDIT: Oh, and the bottom is also airbrushed.</strong><hr></blockquote>
The g4 in the powermac is three years old, I think Apple would think of redesigning, if not the whole case, the g4....to create the g5
just imagine, if Apple came out with a dual g5 1.7Ghz machine....I think I would buy it, it would really be the last machine i would need until the next three year point rolls around!
YEAH YEAH !!!!!''
All for One, All for Love\t4:45\tBryan Adams, Sting\tThree Musketteers\tSlow Jam\t100
EDIT:hey i am on a nueva pagina! <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
Comments
This must be that stop-gap motherboard that someone mentioned (moki, dorsal? I don't know.) DDR isn't enough to make me buy a new machine.
I'm curious how they'll price this. Of course the CPU speed will make a difference, but with a $2000 iMac with a 17" monitor out there, they can't price it too low.
<strong>No, I've seen that color board, with whatever that chip is, mounted diagonally like that... I've seen that sucker before, I'm sure of it.
Either I got a look at an Apple MoBo without knowing it, I had a premonition, or that thing is fake.</strong><hr></blockquote>
It looked familiar to me too. Were we thinking of the nForce 1/2 motherboard?
<a href="http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=1654&p=7"; target="_blank">http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=1654&p=7</a>;
It has a chip mounted like that but it's not the CPU.
And notice how this board says copyright 2001 and has a part number of what looks like 820-1309-02. Is that at least similar to a G4 mobo part number? And where are the RAM slots on this thing? Mounted on that odd looking board at the bottom?
<strong>
Why not a french site ?
What a dumb post !</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yeah, that's what I thought. They should know Apple Europe is headed in France.
Hope you have better weather than we have here at the moment ;-)
What it is? Its in fact a Debugging card that enables to change a big amount of electrical connections and confiogurations without having to take the Mobo out or even create a new one.
My guess is that either this is the "old" DDR MoBo (kinda UMA2) that apparently was ready at MWNY01 in a new case,
or it is a new board in fact using an old CPU board.
As has been pointed out, the CPU on the board looks like a 7450 chip (OK, at least a MPC745x while noting I havent seen a 7460 Chip yet). The entire Daughtercard looks as it would fit a QuickSilver MoBo, its almost striking that the three mounting holes have the same geometry than my daughtercard in the QS. Why would they "insist" on this design ?
So... new Case, old CPU, new board.
Be aware that Apple sends dozens of Testboxes out with different configurations. AND, Motorola hasnt been know to have huge amounts of really new G4s around, so it might be easier to stick with an "old" 800 Mhz G4 to test the new MoBo...
I think it is an unfinished test box. the "air vents" on the front are about as un-apple as you can get, and utterly impractical. I think they are "place holders" for ports, most likely 2X USB and 2X Firewire. Also, the aluminum panel at the front is pre-production. There are no optical drives in the box, and that aluminum plating is what the inside of all Apple towers is lined with. It is clear that this machine does not have drives, or the faceplate that covers them. The screws to remove the metal are clearly visible. All in all not too bad looking though!!
[ 07-21-2002: Message edited by: warpd ]</p>
<strong>I hope Apple will not take these pictures down, I'd rather see something else coming.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Apple will take 'em down, even though these are NOT the new PMac...and the rumor forums (fora?) will start sprouting "New PMs **CONFIRMED**" threads!
<strong>A couple of observations... This thing does look real to me, however:
I think it is an unfinished test box. the "air vents" on the front are about as un-apple as you can get, and utterly impractical. I think they are "place holders" for ports, most likely 2X USB and 2X Firewire. Also, the aluminum panel at the front is pre-production. There are no optical drives in the box, and that aluminum plating is what the inside of all Apple towers is lined with. It is clear that this machine does not have drives, or the faceplate that covers them. The screws to remove the metal are clearly visible. All in all not too bad looking though!!
[ 07-21-2002: Message edited by: warpd ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
Look at the photo of the case again where the drive bays are. The surface is showing a reflection of another G4 type case. I see no drive bay face plates or screws.
I do find it od that apple would use such a mirror like surface on the front of a computer where you will be touching all the time to place cd's and dvd's. A brushed metal face like the xserver would make more sence.
Later Steve
-----------------
.mac what a great deal!!
<strong>it doesnt scale properly</strong><hr></blockquote>
it does scale properly, just keep in mind that this is not a frontal shot of it so the speaker is still oval when scaled.
bye.
[edit:]Â*aargh, missed the most important part, it's NOT a frontal shot.
[ 07-21-2002: Message edited by: GnOm ]</p>
<strong>I suppose that button above the drives is the power, but what is the button or watever it is to the upper left hand corner of this thing? I would say this is not the new machine because the PCI/AGP would hit the powersupply which must still be in the top of the back. That si why the PCI slots are at the bottom, also because if you add any extra IDE cards you don't have to run a cable across the computer from top to bottom. Also the computer looked vertically stretched and if you take it into photoshop and try to scale it, it doesnt scale properly. The pictures are conviently vague enough not to be able to tell anything for someone who would have access to a prototype or specially final product liek this. I don't think this is what you will see, the internal stuff just doesn't add up, and apple isn't in the market to make things taller, smaller is their style</strong><hr></blockquote>
Look how wide the unit is relative to the 5 1/4 bays, it has to be a fair bit wider than the current QS case
Otherwise I would say that this case means business. In otherwords it looks like a case designed to accomodate a rather more professional configuration than the El Capitan. Perhaps we are going to see a top end machine designed at the high end video industry with multple processors or possibly one large hot processor? Taking the comments above it seems likely that this case has been designed to take a different board to the one currently in situ.
[ 07-21-2002: Message edited by: Addison ]</p>
The metal is shiny because there is still plastic foil on it, you can tell this from the edges of the metal part. It might be brushed and less reflective underneath, but it is covered in plastic like the rest of the case for proper transport.
[ 07-21-2002: Message edited by: Apfelsaft ]</p>
look at the bottom of the exterior picture.
it's airbrushed.
poorly airbrushed.
[quote]Originally posted at MacNN by Cipher13:
<strong>Y'know, that picture looks quite fake indeed.
The external one, anyway.
The handles: they're the old Yikes! - V'Ger style handles... the hollow, ribbed ones.
The edges are terribly pixelated... many of them. It's really a terrible job, if it is a fake.
This is countered very cleverly covered by the tape, which Apple would not apply that way. Any prototype machine would come packaged as the production machines would.
It's a horrible chop-job done on the main panel. The speaker is misshapen, and smaller than the Hal-speaker.
That, and it's UGLY. Plastic with brushed aluminium? Please...
Now, it states "G5 ready" - you think Apple would allow people to swap from the G4 to G5 like that? Yeah right... unless it's a G5 already.
Same pin count as a G4? I don't know about that...
SDRAM feeding a G5? Yeah right... the G4 is starved as it is.
They NEED DDR to feed the damn things to get any performance increase, or it'll seem just like a G4 with a fancy new name.
EDIT: Oh, and the bottom is also airbrushed.</strong><hr></blockquote>
just imagine, if Apple came out with a dual g5 1.7Ghz machine....I think I would buy it, it would really be the last machine i would need until the next three year point rolls around!
YEAH YEAH !!!!!''
All for One, All for Love\t4:45\tBryan Adams, Sting\tThree Musketteers\tSlow Jam\t100
EDIT:hey i am on a nueva pagina! <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
[ 07-21-2002: Message edited by: Nebagakid ]</p>
A very poor photochopped fake.
Do not waste you time getting excited.