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Why is the Powermac so expensive?

savar

savar

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 6, 2003
1,950
0
District of Columbia
It's been a while since I've looked at Mac prices...I notice that the entry-level G5 Powermac is $1999. But the iMac at $1699 seems to be similarly equipped (ignoring, for the moment, that the iMac is much newer and based on Intel). Why is the powermac so much more expensive? Dual ethernet, okay... the system bus looks faster on the G5. Obviously its larger, more packaging, more materials to build the aluminum case, etc. But doesn't it seem like the prices are out-of-whack? I mean you save $300 to get a similarly spec'ed iMac, and oh by the way you get a 20" LCD thrown in. what am I missing?

Assuming that the pricing is just because the lineup is in transition and powermacs are the last to go, then what features and price points do you envision? What is Apple going to do justify a PowerMac being $300 more than the iMac and not having a bundled LCD?

I'd really like a quad-core when it comes out, but if its at the same price point as the current G5 quad, I'm not sure 2x the price of the iMac for two more cores is worth it. What do you all think?
 
They have to try and recoup the cost of the R&D on the G5... it's a totally architecture than the MacTels and their (cheaper) parts.
Added to that, the G5s are expandable and "prosumer", the iMac is not expandable and "consumer".
 
yellow said:
They have to try and recoup the cost of the R&D on the G5... it's a totally architecture than the MacTels and their (cheaper) parts.
Added to that, the G5s are expandable and "prosumer", the iMac is not expandable and "consumer".
Click to expand...

That explained it pretty much. I wonder how much the "Intel Quads" will cost, if they will be the same price/higher price/lower price.
 
I expect them to be pricey, as all the "prosumer" Macs are and have always been... On a related note, I've put together a price list for my first PC. And I'm amazed at what (as a Mac lifer) I've been willing to pay for hardware on a Mac.
 
They used to have a low-end G5 model and they also for a while still offered the G4s. Unfortunately they canned these mid-level models in the last year. There probably wasn't enough demand for them. The pros want the most powerful models and usually have corporate money to buy them and consumers don't want to mess with a 2-1/2-foot high metal box. The people, like myself, who can't afford $3,000 for a computer, but want the ability to put more than one hard drive in along with a couple PCI cards, get left by the wayside.

I'm actually suprised that with the growing market for "prosumer" software (all these Express programs) that there isn't more of a market for prosumer computers. People who don't want the top of the line, but also don't want an all in one (or a laptop-in-a-box MacMini).

Of course there is the second hand market. There are some really good deals on the early run PMG5s floating around. I've seen them as low as $1100 for the 1.8 ghz model.
 
yellow said:
They have to try and recoup the cost of the R&D on the G5... it's a totally architecture than the MacTels and their (cheaper) parts.
Added to that, the G5s are expandable and "prosumer", the iMac is not expandable and "consumer".
Click to expand...
Mac mini - consumer
iMac - prosumer
PowerMac - professional
 
savar said:
I'd really like a quad-core when it comes out, but if its at the same price point as the current G5 quad, I'm not sure 2x the price of the iMac for two more cores is worth it. What do you all think?
Click to expand...

That depends on what youre doing. Heavy, heavy video editing and animation, yeah, its prolly worth it. Graphics with photoshop, illustrator, quark, prolly not as much. For most graphic designers a dual core 2.0ghz with 2-4gbs of ram and lots of hard drive spaces is prolly more than enough. On the other hand, if youre doing lots of professional final cut pro, logic express, etc work for a studio, youd prolly really be loving a quad with 4-8gbs of ram.
 
Im sorry but the G5s dont warrant the price. Im surprised they are still selling them but death is near for G5. Im looking forward to a all new design. If Apple releases a pc in the same old case ill be a little dissappointed.
 
G5 Price = suckers. Period. Buy at your own risk, then watch that aluminum beauty's price plummet in the coming months.

That's one hunk of junk metal.
 
djkny said:
G5 Price = suckers. Period. Buy at your own risk, then watch that aluminum beauty's price plummet in the coming months.

That's one hunk of junk metal.
Click to expand...


I think that the G5 Quad is a fast computer today, and tomorrow regardless of what comes out, it is still a very capable and fast computer. I don't think it's any more of a useless piece of junk than my MDD G4 1.25 is. It still does work.

I'd still say that it's faster than whatever crap dell is putting out this week for the same price. How much is a quad dell?
 
Upgradable graphics
PCI Express slots
Extra drive bays
Extra memory slots
Dual ethernet interfaces
ECC memory option
64-bit memory support

Not to mention, a dual-coore 2GHz G5 better performance on many Universal bennchmarks (1, 2) and virtually every non-universal benchmark.
 
iamhammill said:
To an Intel Duo. However, the Quad IMO warrants the price.
Click to expand...

What kind of Intel Duo though?

I just hate it when someone (not you specifially) says G5's R Krap with nothing to set a baseline...
 
Well, I don't see the iMacs being able to handle 16gb of ram...


As much bang for the buck as the iMac may be, the Powermac will always be better for the long term. It is all about upgrading. I am just waiting for an excuse to Upgrade my Dual 1.8 (rev A) from three years ago. They way I look at it is, the latest Generation of iMacs are pretty much on par with my G5. My G5 cost about $2,100 when I got it (edu discount, along with a promo), and the latest iMacs are about $1,600 (edu) So for the same amount of power, years in advance, I would say the cost was more than justified. I am also looking to keep this machine until about 2009/2010, based on how long I have used my past machines for.
 
jihad the movie said:
As much bang for the buck as the iMac may be, the Powermac will always be better for the long term. It is all about upgrading. I am just waiting for an excuse to Upgrade my Dual 1.8 (rev A) from three years ago. They way I look at it is, the latest Generation of iMacs are pretty much on par with my G5. My G5 cost about $2,100 when I got it (edu discount, along with a promo), and the latest iMacs are about $1,600 (edu) So for the same amount of power, years in advance, I would say the cost was more than justified. I am also looking to keep this machine until about 2009/2010, based on how long I have used my past machines for.
Click to expand...

Your G5 was a good deal...3 years ago. The fact that the same G5 still costs roughly the same thing is what I was posting about. Are people still buying G5s at this price.

Also, some people have cited expandability as a reason for the extra cost. Sure, that makes it more valuable to a buyer, but its not very expensive to build in an extra drive bay is it? I mean the big difference is that case is a lot bigger and they have to put an IDE cable with 3 connectors instead of 2, right...

Thanks for all the responses, though...it will be interesting to see what the price points get us by the end of the year.
 
I dont know about you guys, but I think the Aluminum case is enough of a reason for such a high price. That thing is built out of entirely aluminum it seems. If you ever tried to buy a case that is made out of pure aluminum, the dan thing is EXPENSIVE.
 
It is definitively not a good time to get a powermac... realy slow for the price and soon to be outdated. But mac is like that, you gotta buy when its new for a good value/price ratio.
 
Apple generally doesn't seem to like the idea of aggressive price slashing of models that are getting long in the tooth. I remember waiting for months when they ceased production of the iMac G4 (and posted a somewhat embarassing announcement on their store site about how they weren't able to sync the end of the iMac G4 and replace it with the next-gen model) for my very first Mac. Also witness the extremely long life of the last revision of the iBook before they were finally replaced by the MacBooks and the high price points of the PowerBooks (with their cheap G4 chips) before they were phased out.

I agree that for most people, a PowerMac is not a great purchase at this time. But with Adobe and Microsoft not looking to go universal for another 8-20 months, I wouldn't say it's a complete waste of money either.
 
There are several reasons and most of them have been mentioned in this thread. The big thing, is that since Apple doesn't have Intel towers ready so they have to keep selling the G5's. Believe it or not, people are still buying them because of software issues. A studio can grab a PPC 2.3 or Quad and have a decent system for the next couple of years. It's only a bad investment if you think of selling and some places don't do that. They run them until they are a waste of electricity, then they donate for tax write-off. I'm talking about studios that are heavily invested in software and probably wouldn't buy Intel (yet) even if the new desktops were to come out tomorrow. For some places, it's all about production...not surfing the web or reading email. What if you have $30,000+ in software running on 10 or more seats? Half of the main applications you use isn't out on UB yet. Then a big project comes through that you bid on 4 months ago and now you need 5 more work stations. Even if Intel desktops came out last week, which desktops are you going to buy? Yeah, the ones that will fit into your pipe-line without any fuss.

I also don't think Apple wants to drop the price on the G5's because they don't really want to sell them to the average user on the street. If they drop the price, then the people who need a new computer but are holding off for the new desktops, might just go ahead and get a deal on a cheap G5 now, and buy Intel later. So, they sell a computer for 20% less to a buyer who was going to buy an Intel machine this summer. If I could buy a brand-new G5 from Apple with a 20-30% discount, I'd do it and wait until 2007 for Intel.

In the meantime, the G5 models sit there and ages. Especially compared to the new benchmarks of Intel machines that are out. The mistake Apple made was not giving the G5 line one more refresh back in March or April. Now they are really looking pathetic because everyone knows what chips are coming out, and how the PPC is going to suck pretty soon. Buying at current prices is a complete luxury and a bad investment if you plan to sell it for something faster later.
 
Your G5 was a good deal...3 years ago. The fact that the same G5 still costs roughly the same thing is what I was posting about. Are people still buying G5s at this price.
Click to expand...

Compared to what? Seriously not to be a wanker, but what is better totady at that price point that makes the G5 a ripoff? I'm not saying there isn't something, but it seems you have made up you mind without even thinking about it...:rolleyes:
 
iamhammill said:
To an Intel Duo. However, the Quad IMO warrants the price.
Click to expand...
Perhaps but its a obsolete cpu that cant run windows or Vista or all those programs in the PC world. AMDFX60 or 62 for comparison smokes a dual 2.0 G5 in anything. Im sure there are pro's outthere holding onto ppc but for the masses( the Consumer) who would want a G5 based machine now? Its a has been, a failed experiment that didnt pan out.:eek:
 
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