iMac staying with the G4?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Do you think that the iMac will stay with a G4 processor for the rest of it's lifespan? I wouldn't be upset if it did as long as they kept it at a competitive speed. It makes sense for Apple's "Power" lineup to move to the 970 and the "i" lineup to stay with a G4/be upgraded to a G4. What are your thoughts?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    The G4 will be in the iMac for a while. Apple will be looking to boost and sustain powermac sales with the "970."



    Naturally, like they have done with past products, they will boost the mhz on the iMac periodically.
  • Reply 2 of 8
    rodukroduk Posts: 706member
    The iMac stayed with the G3 for quite some time after the G4 was introduced into the towers. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple returned to the idea of using processor type to distinquish between the consumer and professional models. That's not to say it's a bad thing for the iMac, there are still improvements being made to the G4.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    I dont think that IBM can keep up with the demand for PM's AND iMac's the first 6 months.. And probably not at all when they move to 0.09...

    Maybe a year later..
  • Reply 3 of 8
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    The iMac will definately continue to have a G4 in it for a long time.
  • Reply 5 of 8
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    This is one of the most important questions, I think. We assume the 970 will go into the PowerMacs, but where else will they go, and how soon? iMacs? PowerBooks? I could easily see the 970 going in everything but iBooks as early as next year. And the iBook could even stay with Sahara and its G3 variants for some time.



    I think it depends on two critical factors that remain to be seen:

    1. the cost of the 970, and

    2. the future of the G4



    If the 970 is expensive and the 7457 appears to be a good chip, I'd say G4s in everything but the PowerMac for at least a year, probably more. On the other hand, a clean break from the G4 is possible if the 970 kicks the new G4's ass in cost and speed and IBM can really pump them out.
  • Reply 6 of 8
    [quote]Originally posted by BRussell:

    <strong>This is one of the most important questions, I think. We assume the 970 will go into the PowerMacs, but where else will they go, and how soon? iMacs? PowerBooks? I could easily see the 970 going in everything but iBooks as early as next year. And the iBook could even stay with Sahara and its G3 variants for some time.



    I think it depends on two critical factors that remain to be seen:

    1. the cost of the 970, and

    2. the future of the G4



    If the 970 is expensive and the 7457 appears to be a good chip, I'd say G4s in everything but the PowerMac for at least a year, probably more. On the other hand, a clean break from the G4 is possible if the 970 kicks the new G4's ass in cost and speed and IBM can really pump them out.</strong><hr></blockquote>





    I like the idea of the G3 continuing to scale for awhile in iBooks. ibook performance w/a quartzGL capable card is very respectable with 800Mhz 750fx chips, and it is so nice and quiet - almost never a fan. runs cool. of course that goes out the window if you run altivec-intensive apps, but generally i think the g3 is a solid portable chip. wish we had an option for a faster g3 machine with better architecture - faster bus, with a better graphics chip with DDR VRAM...oh well.



    of course a 970 might change my opinion....
  • Reply 7 of 8
    If the 970 gets good yields and scales up quickly and is becomes progressivley cheaper than you will see the 970 in the imacs depending on how long the above criteria is met. if ibm does better than motorola with g4s which i have no doubt it will since motorola sucked horrible arse than i assume your minium wait should be 1 year after 970 is introduced and tops 2 years.



    ALSO depends how well motorola continues to do with the g4 all signs seem to point to a rapid adoption of the 970 however price is the main point so it will be interesting how to see how this pans out. I think probably 1.5 years after 970 is introduced is being more realistic...we'll see
  • Reply 8 of 8
    I think Apple will eliminate Motorola CPUs from its product line as soon as it can (which isn't soon enough for me) .



    IBM already has a G3 running at 1Ghz which would be perfect for the iBooks. Their CPU roadmap shows a few more revisions to the line which would bring it up to 1.8 Ghz or more.



    Soo....if IBM is willing/able to get this new G3 to work on the PPC970's bus architecture (900mhz FSB, better I/O, Altivec unit), Apple can use it on the eMac/iMac line.



    I don't know how hard it would be to adapt the 970's bus arch to accommodate the G3...does anyone with a little more tech know-how wanna speculate?
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