New Intel AND PPC Powermacs.

[AlBDamned]

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 can sort of see what you mean but I'm not sure I agree completely. The G4 served Apple pretty well. It was the G5's development, or lack thereof, that caused problems. Up until about August last year, machine's like the 1.67PB could still cut it where it mattered.

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.

And the 15" PB.

 

[Abulia]

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

They will. Adobe is small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.

Apple sold $6 billion in Mac hardware last year, a number certain to go up this year. Couple that with Steve Job's gauntlet of being transitioned by the end of this calendar year -- Adobe or not -- and you can see that Apple's priority (rightfully so) is on moving off the PPC as fast as possible. Their future -- and stock price -- depends on it.

 

[miloblithe]

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

Sorry, I was making a leap that I wasn't clarifying. I'm assuming the last G4s will be sold some time this summer and the G5 will still be sold through the end of the year. Both of my assumptions could well be wrong, of course, but that does seem to be the concensus guess.

 

[aquajet]

I can sort of see what you mean but I'm not sure I agree completely. The G4 served Apple pretty well. It was the G5's development, or lack thereof, that caused problems. Up until about August last year, machine's like the 1.67PB could still cut it where it mattered.

True, but I think the G3 served Apple much more successfully. The whole speed "correction" when the first PM G4s were introduced left me feeling a bit sour, along with the dreadfully slow development.

 

[jholzner]

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

Well, Steve said the transition will be complete by years end. I assume that means if Adobe is ready or not.

 

[AlBDamned]

True, but I think the G3 served Apple much more successfully. The whole speed "correction" when the first PM G4s were introduced left me feeling a bit sour, along with the dreadfully slow development.

I guess the theme here is just slow development with the PPCs Now that the speed of development is being driven by all the computer makers, not just Apple, those days are gone. What that means for Apple itself, we'll have to wait and see.

Also, the G3 brought with it the new era of Mac (beige G3 towers not included), so you're right, they did help a massive amount. I guess from this angle, the G4 is the weakest of the the G's, but I still wouldn't say it was a bad chip.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

I would say the G5 was the weakest, its advancement was nil, it had the shortest life , G4 was for the most part a G3.

 

[miloblithe]

I would say the G5 was the weakest, its advancement was nil, it had the shortest life , G4 was for the most part a G3.

Other than the initial thrill, I'd generally agree. The biggest problem though was the first year and the inability to get that thing into a laptop.

 

[AlBDamned]

Other than the initial thrill, I'd generally agree. The biggest problem though was the first year and the inability to get that thing into a laptop.

But then also you've got the iMac G5 and – although it's thunder was slightly muted by the whole intel switch – the Quad G5, which is the most brutal Mac ever made.

Both of those are great products.

 

[combatcolin]

Well things can only get better.

I wonder now if hte normal "9ish" months lifespan of any given Mac will now be lowering?

After all there must be 1,00,000 + companies that make or re sell WinTel PC's around the world, but only 1 that make Macs.

 

[johnnybluejeans]

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.

Or more importantly..

G4 -> G5 ~ 3 yrs
G5 -> Intel ~ 3 yrs

 

[electronbee]

Hey...

Why would Apple wait for Adobe to catch up? To code Photoshop,et all, for the latest intel duo OS on Mac?

 

[Platform]

I think that the great product to come was the iMac G5 with FrontRow and the Quad

 

[Maxwell Smart]

I'm looking forward to the net Intel machines, and I don't see apple releasing new PPC products any time soon.