MicroMac G5; PowerCube G5; Tesseract G5

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Here's my vision of a mini G5 cube like Mac. It would be made on the cheap. One or two configs. The motherboard is split in 2 connected by a short hyper transport cable. CPU is right on the upper motherboard as is 256MB of RAM and 2 DIMM slots and the system controller. The bottom board handles all the IO like ATA, AGP, ports, etc. The hard drive is in a cage right below the laptop sized optical drive and right above the AGP slot. Power is supplied by a brick that looks just like the powerbook brick, but about twice as large by volume to supply at lease 80 watts.



I would hesitate to put a G5 unless the power output and usage can be brought to acceptable levels for a machine of this size. Perhaps a Freescale designed processor.



Here's a mock up:



http://www.angelfire.com/mac/outsider/cube
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 29
    chris vchris v Posts: 460member
    Angelfire kinda sucks.



    CV
  • Reply 2 of 29
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    Yeah i know. I made a simple HTML page for easier viewing.
  • Reply 3 of 29
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Outsider

    Yeah i know. I made a simple HTML page for easier viewing.



    Outsider: You should remove the inline image in your original post, since it doesn't show up when linked from a non-Angelfire page (unless you visit the Angelfire HTML page, hit reload to flush the no-outside-linking placeholder, and your browser can cache the real image for display in this thread --> way too complicated).



    Your MicroMac G5 mockup looks great. Although it passes up the Cube's convective cooling and presumably uses a fan(s), I would put one of these on my desk in a snap. Would the four "handles" be solid aluminum?



    The time for a sub-$1000 headless iMac G5 is right!



    Escher (off to catch some zzzzzz)
  • Reply 4 of 29
    ionyzionyz Posts: 491member
    Not bad, but two things.[list=1][*]The unit would require active cooling, since it couldn't be cooled naturally like the G4 Cube. I hate noise, a pet peeve. They could put a low-rev 120mm in it, unlike the eMac which uses a 120mm but way too fast (and turbulent!).[*]The brick would require more then 80W, especially if it has to power an ADC connector. The G4 Cube came with a 200W brick.[/list=1]



    Curiously the Cube was built with an 80mm fan slot installed but never a fan. Again the design of the Cube helped dissipate more heat then this would, but was expensive.
  • Reply 5 of 29
    g-newsg-news Posts: 1,107member
    broken link...
  • Reply 6 of 29
    Link works fine.



    But why open yet ANTOHER thread on a G5 iMac/whatever?????
  • Reply 7 of 29
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by IonYz

    Not bad, but two things.[list=1][*]The unit would require active cooling, since it couldn't be cooled naturally like the G4 Cube. I hate noise, a pet peeve. They could put a low-rev 120mm in it, unlike the eMac which uses a 120mm but way too fast (and turbulent!).[*]The brick would require more then 80W, especially if it has to power an ADC connector. The G4 Cube came with a 200W brick.[/list=1]



    Curiously the Cube was built with an 80mm fan slot installed but never a fan. Again the design of the Cube helped dissipate more heat then this would, but was expensive.




    If certain rumors are correct it wouldn't have to supply power for ACD
  • Reply 8 of 29
    Nice mock-up, although I still reckon this would be better:







    It seems most of the mock-ups are of a headless, vertically oriented design...



    I guess we'll all have to wait until next week to see.



    Also, I wouldn't be too disappointed not to see a G5 in this baby, although that would be a definite selling point ? First consumer 64-bit computer.



    Lastly, waddaya reckon it will be called? The iMac, or something else? m.
  • Reply 9 of 29
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Merovingian

    It seems most of the mock-ups are of a headless, vertically oriented design...



    Merovingian: A vertical design is very appealing from a case design perspective. But a horizontal design like Outsider's mockup makes more engineering and sales sense. Drives that function vertically are more expensive, because they have to be slot-loading.



    IMO, it is critical that any iMac design be able to use less expensive, horizontal, tray-loading, desktop/standard-size optical and HDD drives, rather than more expensive and slower laptop "equivalents." That's one of the advantages of the iMac G4 over the iMac G3 design. The dinosaur egg lagged behind because it used a laptop optical drive for no good reason. In that respect, I think Apple should combine lessons it learned in designing the iMac G4 and Cube, but also look to PC companies like Shuttle XPC (or whatever they are called) for inspiration.



    Escher
  • Reply 10 of 29
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Escher

    Merovingian: A vertical design is very appealing from a case design perspective. But a horizontal design like Outsider's mockup makes more engineering and sales sense. Drives that function vertically are more expensive, because they have to be slot-loading.



    Totally agree with that. I can't see the problem with a horizontal optical drive in the above design. It would look much like the opening on the current iMac G4 base... m.
  • Reply 11 of 29
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Apple should abolish pro and consumer machines, and just make little HT or PCI-e connected slabs -- no bigger in footprint than a 12" Powerbook, and about 2" thick.



    Want a consumer machine, buy one CPU brick which has a fully integrated Mobo -- containing CPU, GPU, and I/O, as well as the optical and a single large HDD. Nothing should really be "upgradeable" at all, except for a small panel that lets you add more RAM.



    Below the unit is a connector that seamlessly snaps the CPU "brick" to a number of other bricks. An outboard GPU (which PCI-e can do), a second CPU brick, an HDD unit, whatever.



    Want a pro machine? Buy a "bundle" tricked out with a PCI-e card bay, outboard GPU, more HDD's.



    A pro machine might have 3 such 2" thick slabs stacked -- one CPU slab, one card slab, one storage slab. All told it'd still be only 8.5x11 by about 6" tall.



    Maybe a dual-CPU slab would be required for truly "pro" applications, but still... it makes for nice sealed tamper-proof units with expansion/flexibility.
  • Reply 12 of 29
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Matsu

    Apple should abolish pro and consumer machines, and just make little HT or PCI-e connected slabs -- no bigger in footprint than a 12" Powerbook, and about 2" thick.



    Want a consumer machine, buy one CPU brick which has a fully integrated Mobo -- containing CPU, GPU, and I/O, as well as the optical and a single large HDD. Nothing should really be "upgradeable" at all, except for a small panel that lets you add more RAM.



    Below the unit is a connector that seamlessly snaps the CPU "brick" to a number of other bricks. An outboard GPU (which PCI-e can do), a second CPU brick, an HDD unit, whatever.



    Want a pro machine? Buy a "bundle" tricked out with a PCI-e card bay, outboard GPU, more HDD's.



    A pro machine might have 3 such 2" thick slabs stacked -- one CPU slab, one card slab, one storage slab. All told it'd still be only 8.5x11 by about 6" tall.



    Maybe a dual-CPU slab would be required for truly "pro" applications, but still... it makes for nice sealed tamper-proof units with expansion/flexibility.




    Interesting idea. I think I may make a mock up of that.
  • Reply 13 of 29
    existenceexistence Posts: 991member
    I want something like this from Apple.



    http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...dor/index.html
  • Reply 14 of 29
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Existence

    I want something like this from Apple.



    http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...dor/index.html




    Not crazy about the vertical optical drive. And Mac users don't need 3 PCI slots like PC users would.
  • Reply 15 of 29
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Merovingian

    Nice mock-up, although I still reckon this would be better:







    It seems most of the mock-ups are of a headless, vertically oriented design...



    I guess we'll all have to wait until next week to see.



    Also, I wouldn't be too disappointed not to see a G5 in this baby, although that would be a definite selling point ? First consumer 64-bit computer.



    Lastly, waddaya reckon it will be called? The iMac, or something else? m.




    oooooo the crushed beer can look



    it is actualy realy cool but dell already makes one dangerousley close to that, steve would say no.
  • Reply 16 of 29
    smalmsmalm Posts: 677member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by IonYz

    The unit would require active cooling, since it couldn't be cooled naturally like the G4 Cube.



    No G5 Mac will run without active cooling. BTW I haven't seen a Cube with a G4 > 1GHz that doesn't need active cooling.
  • Reply 17 of 29
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    I like the mockup. Yes use the cube idea falcon-nw does one for lan parties and it is pretty powerful has 2 fans one for the GPU and one for the power supply. also has cool see through sides and a blue light inside.



    neat.



    http://falcon-nw.com/fragbox.asp



    apple could do something like this but with color changing to show data. Blue for low processing red for high white for standby. grey sleep.



    also an aluminum case could provide for better recycling when its life is over. Apple could even have a disassembly diagram for seperation of the parts into eco-friendly piles. Highest risk items could be shipped to recycler via compact pouch inside case. Gets the green folks to buy apple. Costs more saves the planet.
  • Reply 18 of 29
    existenceexistence Posts: 991member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Outsider

    Not crazy about the vertical optical drive. And Mac users don't need 3 PCI slots like PC users would.



    1. The verticle optical drive is no problem for people. Look at the G4 Cube or the numerous mockups posted here.

    2. It's 2 PCI and 1 8x AGP. I'm sure most people don't want to pay $2000+ for a fullsize dual-processor G5 but still want some measure of upgradability...that's the point of an iBox G5!
  • Reply 19 of 29
    banchobancho Posts: 1,517member
    Graphics upgradeability and processor mounted on daughtercard would be sufficient to me. I can't think of any other add on card I would need and extra PCI slot for. A nice compact case and I'd be real happy.



    I am a bit picky about noise though so every effort should be made to ensure it's quiet.
  • Reply 20 of 29
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Existence

    I'm sure most people don't want to pay $2000+ for a fullsize dual-processor G5 but still want some measure of upgradability



    This is essentially why The Cube failed. Despite Apple's limited upgrabability (HD, RAMM, etc.), everyone -- and I mean everyone complained that it was too expensive for a non-upgradable computer.



    The people who are selective enough about computers to buy CPUs and monitors separately are the people who want expansion options (like PCI slots). People who want a cheap computer buy all-in-ones (eMac/iMac) or whatever PC/monitor bundle that Wal-Mart has on sale that week.
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