New Intel AND PPC Powermacs.

[combatcolin]

Because of all the UB "fun" regarding Adobe and othes, who thinks Apple might release a new, and final, PPC Powermac alongside any Intel version.

Steve did say he had some "great" products still to come.

 

[Abulia]

Not going to happen. Intel is the future and Apple is striving to meet that future. Releasing a PPC SKU demonstrate's Apple's lack of faith in a) the Intel platform or b) their ability to transition by the timeline they set.

Again, not going to happen.

 

[combatcolin]

The Powermac is in a more unique situation that the other Macs wouldn't you agree?

I think that the needs of this small, but vocal and of course high spending sub group might push Apple into a solution to a problem that is going to take a year to fix.

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

I don't think they'll release a MacPro any time soon; they won't until Adobe switches over.

 

[Bubbasteve]

Yeah as much as many would like to see this happen, I highly doubt it would. Like the previous post said, Intel is the future for Apple Computers.

 

[miloblithe]

They might announce deals or shifts in the current lineup though, especially if we're talking about late fall for Intel ProMacs.

 

[Abulia]

The Powermac is in a more unique situation that the other Macs wouldn't you agree?

Nope. If anything, it can stand to be delayed longer and will probably be the last to be upgraded.

I think that the needs of this small, but vocal and of course high spending sub group might push Apple into a solution to a problem that is going to take a year to fix.

Ummm, no. That's not how big business works.

With the WWDC being pushed back another month, it's very probable (IMO) that the PM replacements will be announced then and ship 1-2 months later. That also coincides with Intel's timeline for their 64-bit chip as well.

 

[nutmac]

Steve did say he had some "great" products still to come.

Since then, Apple did release updated iMac G5 (iSight), PowerMac G5 (Dual Core), PowerBook G4 (higher resolution LCD), and xServe (bump).

 

[Jaffa Cake]

We might get a minor speedbump before the Intel version is released, but I doubt we'll see anything more than that.

After the Intel models are released, I wouldn't be surprised if the PowerPC Power Mac was available alongside the Intel models for a longer period than with the rest of Apple's lineup, albeit with the PowerPC version 'frozen' with no updates. The pro market is more likely to be twitchy at upgrading to Intel until they're 100% sure they're not going to have any problems with hardware or apps, so in my mind at least it makes good business sense for Apple to offer them a choice for a reasonable amount of time.

Just speculation on my part of course, but there you go.

 

[plinkoman]

anyone remember how when the G5 was released, they continued to sell a legacy os9 bootable G4 for quite some time?

that said, with the iMac and powerbook/macbook pro, they continued to sell ppc versions alongside untill stock ran out, and at the very least, i think apple will plan it that way for the powermac/mac pro. whether or not they keep making them and selling them while waiting for more apps to switch is the question.

also keep in mind that if they release/announce these in august like we all think they will, that will mean they have completed the transition over a year ahead of scheduele; they can't expect all developers to get done that quickly.

 

[asencif]

Although I would love to see it, I think there's less than a 30% chance of one last upgrade and if there is one then a minor speed bump would happen and very low key at that. I agree that Apple with continue to sell the PM G5 alongside the Intel one's probably going into early next year until every major pro apps is converted over. This is the only reason to give a little chance of one last small PM G5 bump.

 

[combatcolin]

Since then, Apple did release updated iMac G5 (iSight), PowerMac G5 (Dual Core), PowerBook G4 (higher resolution LCD), and xServe (bump).

Im almost certain Steve did say that Apple had some "Great" PPC harware still to come.

(And because of QT 7's wonderful basic lack of a save function im not going to wade through the keynote again.)

Anyway, from a personal point of view PPC has no intrest to me at all now, but have a funny feeling their might be one last roll of the Dice for the big silver cheese grater.

 

[Abulia]

Im almost certain Steve did say that Apple had some "Great" PPC harware still to come.

He didn't.

He said there were some great products still to come LAST year when the Intel announcement was first made. And there were some upgrades between then and the first Intel product.

Now that Intel products are out, you won't see any more new PPC products; remaining inventory will be sold until gone.

 

[turbopants]

I think the last PowerPC Macs have already been released. The Quad-Core G5's are still good enough for Apple to take their time this year, and release an Intel Mac Pro when ready.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

As with the move from the G4 -> G5, I suspect that the G5 PowerMac will remain on the books alongside a new Intel "PowerMac" for a couple months at least. Many people who invested a lot of money in a G5 for professional use won't be giving them up right away, and will require support and updates along with compatible hardware replacement options.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

G5 was one short lived cpu. All i can say is wow. Who would have thought 2.5 years ago that when Apple announced G5 that it would be history so fast? I mean they sold G4 for what a decade? For a processor that was so hyped up by Apple they left if pretty darn fast didnt they?

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Well, it didn't quite pan out the way Apple had hoped - if IBM had delivered a 3GHz dual-core chip in '04 things might be very different nowadays.

 

[portent]

I doubt there will be any new PowerPC Macs, but some of the existing Power Mac models will probably remain available even after the Intel equivalents are available. (Remember how the PCI-X Power Mac remained for a while along with the PCI Express models?)

Power Mac customers usually have a lot of software that is very expensive to replace all at once.

 

[Peace]

Im almost certain Steve did say that Apple had some "Great" PPC harware still to come.

(And because of QT 7's wonderful basic lack of a save function im not going to wade through the keynote again.)

Anyway, from a personal point of view PPC has no intrest to me at all now, but have a funny feeling their might be one last roll of the Dice for the big silver cheese grater.

The "save" function or lack of is set by Apple..QT has a built in save function.Some movies Apple hosts cant be saved because Apple doesn't want you to save it.Some can be saved.If Apple wants you to save it.

As for the next PowerMac..

It will be a Quad-Core 64-bit Intel CPU..

 

[miloblithe]

G5 was one short lived cpu. All i can say is wow. Who would have thought 2.5 years ago that when Apple announced G5 that it would be history so fast? I mean they sold G4 for what a decade? For a processor that was so hyped up by Apple they left if pretty darn fast didnt they?

The G4 has lasted since September 1999, so it will have a 7 year lifespan, which admittedly is longer than the G5, introduced June 2003. But that's 7 years to 3.5 years, not 10 to 2.5.

Edit: really what's amazing is how long they kept the G4.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

The G4 has lasted since September 1999, so it will have a 7 year lifespan, which admittedly is longer than the G5, introduced June 2003. But that's 7 years to 3.5 years, not 10 to 2.5.

Thanks for the clarification, i guess it just seemed like 10.
edit actually i did a look up at Powermac G5 it was intro in June 2003 so that means 2.5 years, not 3.5

 

[Abulia]

Clearly Apple would have liked the PPC to have lasted longer. For reasons that we're not privvy to, such as IBM's manufacturing processes, the inability to lower the wattage of the chips, the 3.0 GHz barrier, etc, Apple had to come up with "a new plan."

In a perfect world IBM would have delivered and Apple would have gotten their 5-7 years out of the PPC G5 line.

 

[matticus008]

Thanks for the clarification, i guess it just seemed like 10.
edit actually i did a look up at Powermac G5 it was intro in June 2003 so that means 2.5 years, not 3.5

Well not to nitpick or anything but that's actually more like 2.75 years .

 

[AlBDamned]

I don't think they'll release a MacPro any time soon; they won't until Adobe switches over.

Ok so how does that tally with Jobs saying everything will be intel by the end of the year and Adobe rumored to be saying they won't be releasing U.Binaries until early 2007?

Combat Colin> It's a good point. As others have said, maybe there'll be a speed bump, but the Quad core is probably the final major revision.

Also, Apple have shown they're not too worried about releasing a pro machine (the MacBook Pro) when the UBs for some major apps aren't out. By August (rumored Mac Pro release to coincide with with WWDC) all Apple's Pro Apps will be UB, and the new intel stuff should run PPC apps under Rosetta pretty damn fast if it came down to it.

 

[aquajet]

Edit: really what's amazing is how long they kept the G4.

Yep, and that's a shame. The G4 is ancient, and I'm amazed that it's still included in current hardware. The G4, IMO, was perhaps the worst thing to happen to Apple in the past few years because Apple was stuck with it far too long. I'm glad the transition to Intel is going along nicely ahead of schedule.

I don't think they'll release a MacPro any time soon; they won't until Adobe switches over.

That's highly unlikely. And Apple isn't going to continue to manufacture the Powermac G5 after the Mac Pro (or whatever its name will be) is released either. They'll likely continue to sell it while supplies last, like the iMac G5.