G5 fading away at full price?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Are the current Power Mac G5s just going to sit there at their full price until the Intel replacements are announced?



I can wait, but I would be tempted to buy the end of the line pro machine if Apple gave some kind of price incentive. Otherwise I guess I will see what comes along or buy a refurb quad after they are discontinued.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 48
    crampy20crampy20 Posts: 68member
    typical apple



    money money money
  • Reply 2 of 48
    g_warreng_warren Posts: 713member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by crampy20

    typical apple



    money money money




    ]



    What do they think they are - a business or something?!



    At least this way, when they bring out the Intel macs, it doesn't look like there was a huge price jump.
  • Reply 3 of 48
    mr. dirkmr. dirk Posts: 187member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by NShirkey

    Are the current Power Mac G5s just going to sit there at their full price until the Intel replacements are announced?



    I can wait, but I would be tempted to buy the end of the line pro machine if Apple gave some kind of price incentive. Otherwise I guess I will see what comes along or buy a refurb quad after they are discontinued.




    Why would they discount them? The dualcore G5 processors cost the same now as they did back when they were first introduced, presumably... Not to mention the fact that the PowerMac is a good product. If Intel had anything out there right now that would be worth putting in a PowerMac, you can bet Apple would use it.
  • Reply 4 of 48
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by NShirkey

    Are the current Power Mac G5s just going to sit there at their full price until the Intel replacements are announced?



    I can wait, but I would be tempted to buy the end of the line pro machine if Apple gave some kind of price incentive. Otherwise I guess I will see what comes along or buy a refurb quad after they are discontinued.




    If anything I'd say they are doing it intentionally, but for other reasons. By purposely discouraging you from buying a past model G5 before you see the new intel Pro-Macintosh they are increasing their chances of you buying a newer model computer. They don't want you to regret your purchase from them before you have all the facts. If you still want a G5 after the new ProMac is released good for you, and I'm sure the prices will drop to a cheaper point after the intel versions are released.

    They are really trying to push the new intel ProMac line, and this will be the first real showcase of the fruits that intel can provide them. AFAIC The iMac, and the Mac Book Pro were merely to stabilize them on intel in the minds of the consumer base. The Pro Mac will be their first great achievement using x86 processors.

    There will still be plenty of people that will buy G5's after the intel ProMac's come out, but they made this transition for this machine and they want you and everyone to know about it,
  • Reply 5 of 48
    cubistcubist Posts: 954member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mr. Dirk

    ... If Intel had anything out there right now that would be worth putting in a PowerMac, you can bet Apple would use it.



    Good turn of phrase. There are some of us who feel that Intel will never have anything worthy of putting in a PowerMac.
  • Reply 6 of 48
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by cubist

    Good turn of phrase. There are some of us who feel that Intel will never have anything worthy of putting in a PowerMac.



    What would you suggest? AMD?
  • Reply 7 of 48
    g_warreng_warren Posts: 713member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by cubist

    Good turn of phrase. There are some of us who feel that Intel will never have anything worthy of putting in a PowerMac.



    But hopefully they'll have something more worthwhile than IBM, not that that is too tricky.
  • Reply 8 of 48
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by G_Warren

    But hopefully they'll have something more worthwhile than IBM, not that that is too tricky.



    AFAIC tell they have made the best choice by far. The Woodcrest processors are going to kick ass, and Kensington, (or whatever the 4 core version is called) Is going to dominate. AMD just fell way back again AFAIAC. And IBM... Pfft... What a joke. They blew it.
  • Reply 9 of 48
    g_warreng_warren Posts: 713member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by onlooker

    AFAIC tell they have made the best choice by far. The Woodcrest processors are going to kick ass, and Kensington, (or whatever the 4 core version is called) Is going to dominate. AMD just fell way back again AFAIAC. And IBM... Pfft... What a joke. They blew it.



    That seems to be the impression I'm getting from what I've read, but then I know bugger all about processors!
  • Reply 10 of 48
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    With so many Professional applications not having a Universal version yet, it's not really a surprise that Apple is still pushing the Power Mac G5 line as their top of the line computers.



    Let's face it, most business/educational customers don't wait for the 'next big thing' from Apple, they buy what is available now. If they need something to run Quark or Photoshop at the fastest speeds possible, they are going to buy a top of the line G5 since the Intel Macs won't even compete while running those apps under Rosetta.



    Don't forget that these Power Macs will be the *last* Macs to ever run Classic. People who rely on older, Classic apps that want to have a machine that will last for 4 or 5 more years have little choice other than the current top of the line G5. I remember when they stopped making the laptop I have now, the 1 GHz Titanium PowerBook G4. It's the fastest Mac laptop that can boot into Mac OS 9. There were quite a few people that were trying to buy those up as well, the last few holdouts that wanted little to do with Mac OS X.



    We also need to remember that the current Power Mac G5 line is only 6 months old. I personally believe that we will see the Power Macs transition from Power PC to Intel at WWDC in August but that's still 4 months away. If history holds true, we'll see major efforts by Apple to clear the channel of the current G5s sometime in late July.



    So don't expect any major price breaks on these machines, they really are the end of an era for Apple.
  • Reply 11 of 48
    Really seems like the end of an era now that Boot Camp was announced. The current G5 pro machines are as good as ever, but resell value just took a giant leap downward.



    New Intel pro Macs will be able to run Windows versions of pro apps immediately with no wait for native versions. And if the new "middle-priced" pro Intel Mac is faster than the current top of the line, why would anyone spend much for a used G5 Quad that doesn't give you the choice to run Windows or Mac OS?



    My Macs have always held their value well, but this really draws a visible line in the sand between current and new generation machines.
  • Reply 12 of 48
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    As I said above, if you *must* run Classic applications, the top of the line G5 is the best machine you'll ever get. That is enough for most people to seek it out in the future and keep the value up.
  • Reply 13 of 48
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    I don't know one person that still uses a classic app. Not in at least 2 years.
  • Reply 14 of 48
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    My Mom is an elementary school teacher and as scary as it is to most of us, many of the apps they use in her school are are Classic apps. They are mainly older educational titles that were never updated for Mac OS X. Some of them even require the computer to run in 16 colors, etc.



    Unfortunately, school systems that have held out on switching to Windows PCs are going to have a tough time when they aren't able to buy Macs that can run Classic.



    The school started out with Apple ][s, moved on to LC 520s and 575s, purchased quite a few of the Blue Power Mac G3 towers, a lab worth of 500 MHz G3 Indigo iMacs, another lab worth of eMacs, and most recently, a presentation cart of iBooks. When the school migrated from the Apple ][s to the Macs (which ran At Ease), the administration made a big deal about the fact that the software they had been using on the Apple ][s would not run on the new Macs. I believe the cost of buying new software was one of the reasons that they decided not to migrate from Macs to Windows PCs.



    Based on what they've purchased in the last few years, the eMac line is gone, the iMac line is already Intel based, and the iBook line will more than likely be Intel based by the time they get ready to put in for new computers this summer.



    Yes, it's not like this elementary school has any choice but to buy new software the next time they need to purchase computers and Apple has done what they can to make sure that developers could migrate their apps to the new Intel systems. There's little chance that a school system like this would try and buy expensive towers and monitors for their labs, this post was mainly to point out that Classic apps are still vital to some users. But there will be customers out there that rely on Classic apps that will want to hold onto them as long as possible and they are the ones that will have an interest in these top of the line Power Macs 6-12 months down the line.
  • Reply 15 of 48
    I wouldn't expect any deals on PowerMacs. The goal is to get people OFF PowerPC!



    In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to see the Intel replacements to come in a good deal cheaper.
  • Reply 16 of 48
    mr. dirkmr. dirk Posts: 187member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by IntlHarvester

    I wouldn't expect any deals on PowerMacs. The goal is to get people OFF PowerPC!



    In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to see the Intel replacements to come in a good deal cheaper.




    For the Intel-based PowerMac line, though? I expect the PowerMacs to have the serious heavy-lifting Woodcrest, or whatever Intel has in the pipeline that can be configured in a quad setup. As such, I would expect them to be pretty pricey--I mean, look at the current MBP line, which has seen a return to the $2499 15.4-inch notebook, whereas before that spot was held by the 17-inch notebook.



    That said, I could see there bein an opening for a mac-tower that's not as powerful as a PowerMac but more customizable than an iMac... And though I know such a mini-Tower is often pined-for on the rumor boards to no avail, I do think that given Apple's recent penchant for "giving the people what they want," that His Steveness may just give in, and offer another consumer option besides the AIO.
  • Reply 17 of 48
    baygbmbaygbm Posts: 147member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by NShirkey

    Really seems like the end of an era now that Boot Camp was announced. The current G5 pro machines are as good as ever, but resell value just took a giant leap downward.



    New Intel pro Macs will be able to run Windows versions of pro apps immediately with no wait for native versions. And if the new "middle-priced" pro Intel Mac is faster than the current top of the line, why would anyone spend much for a used G5 Quad that doesn't give you the choice to run Windows or Mac OS?



    My Macs have always held their value well, but this really draws a visible line in the sand between current and new generation machines.




    Ditto



    As I?ve written in other forums, with the introduction of Boot Camp the PowerMac G5 is now nearly worthless.



    The only reason to consider a G5 now is if you have some OS9 apps you don?t want to let go of. Otherwise just wait for the new Mactels and you?ll be getting a presumably MUCH faster machine and access to the future. The G5 by contrast is now dated technology.



    Sure, there ARE ignorant consumers out there, but those making buying decisions in schools and companies know that new and much better Macs are just around the corner and those machines will do things the G5 can only dream about. In other words, as of yesterday the G5 is no longer worth buying--certainly not at current prices.
  • Reply 18 of 48
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:

    As I?ve written in other forums, with the introduction of Boot Camp the PowerMac G5 is now nearly worthless



    This is absurd. Your premise centers around the idea that all PowerPC users want and need Windows support. This is simply not the case and there are now Powermac Intel replacements yet so you cannot get the expansion and power of the current PPC models yet.



    Let's not let something like Windows support on Macs cloud our sane judgement. There are plenty of reasons why PPC Macs are still valuable (superior FPU is one, legacy support is another).
  • Reply 19 of 48
    baygbmbaygbm Posts: 147member
    No. It rests on the premise that when people buy computers they generally want more (future functionality) not less (past functionality. Boot camp is the tip of an iceberg (albeit a big tip) that most computer buyers can easily get their minds around.



    If one has $2500 to spend on a computer today, the choice is clear. Wait.



    If you MUST have the computer now, chances are you already have access to a computer that you can use in the short term so again, you wait, and get much more for your money with the forthcoming Mactel mini towers.
  • Reply 20 of 48
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by baygbm

    No. It rests on the premise that when people buy computers they generally want more (future functionality) not less (past functionality. Boot camp is the tip of an iceberg (albeit a big tip) that most computer buyers can easily get their minds around.



    If one has $2500 to spend on a computer today, the choice is clear. Wait.



    If you MUST have the computer now, chances are you already have access to a computer that you can use in the short term so again, you wait, and get much more for your money with the forthcoming Mactel mini towers.




    Everyone's needs are different. There are users with g4 towers who run CS2. What should they do? Get a new mac tower and run cs2 in rosetta? Sure cs3 will be coming out next year but can pros, who do that for a living, go 6-12 months working in rosetta? A quad g5 is still their best bet. I agree that if you can wait to wait. When cs3 is UB then ppc macs will be obsolete.
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