[LightWaver-67]

Yeah... I know.

This 'type' of question gets asked all the time, and normally I am one of the first people to say "Just do it, already..."

But since the shoe is on the other foot, I can now sympathise with those who have come before me.

I have scoured the rumor site looking for info for any upcoming revisions to the PMG5 towers and I'm coming up short. I cannot seem to find any juicy rumors about speed bumps or case modifications. Why do I care...? I am in the market for a new machine.

I think I can hear all the collective *sighs* from all of you reading this.

I know none of you have a magic crystal ball, but my head is spinning on the debate between buying now, and waiting until after MWSF in January.

It appears to me that they are stalling-out on processor speed bumps and it is about a month-away until MWSF. I can't imagine that even if they DO announce a new higher-end model, that it's gonna be up to the 3Ghz mark yet.

BUT...

There is the ever prevailing response from people: "What are you, crazy...? Buying a new Mac just BEFORE a Macworld Expo...? You KNOW they always release something which will either: (a) allow you to get a BETTER machine or (b) reduce the price on the one you would have bought."

So, if any of you have any links to any rumor articles regarding any PMG5 releases, please feel free to post them for me. I'm itching to land a new G5, but don't wanna sit & wait another month, only to find nothing has changed and I could have been using a new G% for the past month.

Thanks...

...and to those to whom I've potentially given a glib response in the past regarding new hardware purchases close to any Macwolrd... my apologies, now that I see it from this side of the fence.

[reader50]

IBM certainly has more chips coming in the (secret) roadmap, but IBM and Apple have been better than usual at keeping info to a minimum. Nothing concrete has leaked in the rumor sites that I check.

The 970MP gets talked about, and is most likely a real product. Reason: with everyone having GHz problems, AMD has dual-core chips ready to ship within months. Intel has dual-cores in their roadmap, but their schedule still seems to be in flux. In other words, the competitors are definitely going to dual-cores, so IBM will be left behind if they don't have a part in development. IBM doesn't seem the type to be left behind, especially when they are pushing a Power-everywhere strategy.

The Power5 is a shipping dual-core product for servers and mainframes. A desktop variant (the 980?) would be an awesome chip. Haven't heard squat on it lately. Nor on the Xstation, a supposed (quad-core?) workstation that Apple has (possibly) toyed with.

So, not a real answer to your question. But your post was one of the best-written ones I've read in some time, and it demanded an answer. Congratulations.

Personally, I'm waiting for PCIe, a significant upgrade to the standard graphics cards, and a significant new CPU configuration. But I can afford to wait, I only "need" the new system for future games at this point. Oh, and bragging rights of course. Both of those can wait.

[LightWaver-67]

Thanks for the reply.

I "think" I'm leaning toward holding-off until there's SOME new release... be it MWSF'05 or something soon after. I figured it's been a while since the last speed-bump... there's BOUND to be some sort of new product coming soon, and I think I'd rather wait until it arrives and take advantage of timing.

I mean, I know (we ALL know) that there's ALWAYS something cool around the corner... I think I've just seen enough testimony over the years where people regretted not waiting that extra 2-weeks or month... but I'd RATHER make my purchase in conjunction with SOME sort of release so as to minimize (hopefully) my purchase becoming obsolete sooner than later.

Thanks again for your reply and for the kind words.

Peace.

[Leonard]

Originally posted by LightWaver-67:
There is the ever prevailing response from people: "What are you, crazy...? Buying a new Mac just BEFORE a Macworld Expo...? You KNOW they always release something which will either: (a) allow you to get a BETTER machine or (b) reduce the price on the one you would have bought."

In the past I would have said that. Today I wouldn't. Why? Apple didn't modify the PMG5 at last MWSF - we will never really know if there was a delay and what caused it. In fact it's been a few years since Apple announced a new PM at MWSF. The last few years the PM was announced in Feb.

The only machines that I see a good chance of getting updates at or around MWSF are the Xserve and the Powerbook.

But other than the few processor rumors that reader50 mentions, I haven't seen much either.

[LightWaver-67]

At the risk of turning my own request for input into useless rhetoric...

My big fear is that this will be "that time" that defies previous experience. Murphy's law. I hear exactly what you're saying. I am also realizing that no matter WHICH path you choose and which one some of you offer-up as a solution, I will most-likely sit here and poke-holes in your theory.

I know... I know... but at least I'm HONEST about it. Heheheh...

I guess when it's all said & done, there really is no reply that any of you can give me to put my mind at ease, unless you are Phil Shiller or Steve Jobs.

Having said that, thanks for your replies, and to others, no need replying. let the thread die, because I fear I will keep fueling both sides of the argument for no good reason.

Thanks.

[Superchicken]

I'd say right around Valentine's day we'll see new PMs. Hey did anyone ever notice that when abbreviating Power Mac, and then making it plural it becomes that nasty time of the month?

Anyway I'd say we'll hit 2.7Ghz by Febuary.

[djohnson]

200Mhz increase? Not likely. My guess is 3Ghz or higher. Sometimes no news is good news!

[ideasculptor]

I can GUARANTEE that apple will announce some new PM product that blows your socks off sometime in the next 2 months. How do I know this?

Cause I just ordered a new 2x2.5

--sam

[Cadaver]

Originally posted by ideasculptor:
I can GUARANTEE that apple will announce some new PM product that blows your socks off sometime in the next 2 months. How do I know this?

Cause I just ordered a new 2x2.5

--sam

There you go. Proof positive.

Its usually me that this happens to...

[Commodus]

My guess? February or March. Far, far too many people set themselves up for a disappointment and predict PowerMac launches in January that aren't feasible. The 970GX processor probably won't be ready to ship in mass quantities in January, and Apple hasn't made it a habit of announcing PowerMac launches at the expo for awhile (usually because they're speed bumps).

When Apple does launch new PowerMacs, they'll be at 3 GHz unless there's a very serious complication. It would be almost comical to come within 200 MHz of the mark and make people wait several more months to finally reach the goal.

[iDaver]

I think what Apple did at previous expos is irrelevant. Also, I think any suggestion that Apple would not release upgrades if they had 2.7Ghz chips, just because they want to wait for the magic 3.0 is silly. Upgrades will come when parts are available. I think it has nothing to do with expo schedules or round numbers.

Since the 2.5 Ghz chips are just finally shipping in quantity, I doubt we'll see a Power Mac speed bump until spring unless it's only for the lower end. I'm hoping some other kind of upgrades will be made in the meantime. More memory, bigger hard drives, better graphics, and price drops would all be nice to maintain interest until spring.

[Cadaver]

Originally posted by iDaver:
Upgrades will come when parts are available.

Upgrades come when its cost-effective for Apple to offer them at the same or lesser price and still make the same profit.

[LightWaver-67]

Why do I do this to myself... WHY?

Why must I read the dang rumor sites...? Now they are talking about 3Ghz by mid-year 2005 and 3.5Ghz not too far after.

Man... it's never easy trying to live on the cutting... or even BLEEDING edge of technology... but I just don't know what to do with myself now.



Even if I splurge on a dual 2.5Ghz... a machine that will be almost 30% faster will be around in less than a year. UGH! I hate knowing what's coming down the pike.

Sorry for the rant... we now return you to things that REALLY matter... LIFE!

[GoGoReggieXPowars]

Do you use the Mac for business? It's always best to sometime just after the start of the New Year to maximize your cost deductions.

[macaddict0001]

macworld or april is when it will likely be updated, gee macworlds gonna be ful this year, powerbook and emac for sure, probably exserve, possibly powermac.

[jamil5454]

If you think about it, it doesn't really matter as long as you buy something at the price point you need right now. I wouldn't wait more than a month to buy an affordable machine that fits my needs - no matter what's coming out next.

[LightWaver-67]

I am almost sold on that logic, with the exception that it's been a bit too-long since the last speed bump... I may just wait until whatever the next speed bump is and order THEN, that way, I'm on the leading knife-edge... I am afraid to order today or this weekend. I really need to see SOME sort of PowerMac release before purchasing... even if it is just that they made a minor case modification.



Thanks for tolerating my inability to make a decision.

[jcadam]

Originally posted by iDaver:
I think what Apple did at previous expos is irrelevant. Also, I think any suggestion that Apple would not release upgrades if they had 2.7Ghz chips, just because they want to wait for the magic 3.0 is silly. Upgrades will come when parts are available. I think it has nothing to do with expo schedules or round numbers.

Since the 2.5 Ghz chips are just finally shipping in quantity, I doubt we'll see a Power Mac speed bump until spring unless it's only for the lower end. I'm hoping some other kind of upgrades will be made in the meantime. More memory, bigger hard drives, better graphics, and price drops would all be nice to maintain interest until spring.

We are finally reaching the limits of what current semiconductor technology can provide in terms of raw clock speed. The days of massive MHz gains are gone. Even Intel realizes this (as the Pentium 4 is running out of steam). The current philosophy is to pack more features onto the CPU to increase performance, parallelism (multi-core, mutli-processor, etc.), and the move to 64 bit (processor can work on larger chunks of data at a time).

Having said that, simple speed bumps are not that interesting. What I would like to see in the next update (not that it matters to me, since i have just bought a G5):

1. PCI-Express: probably the most difficult to implement, since Apple will need to maintain legacy support by keeping some PCI/PCI-X slots, and the current 'expansion card' compartment in the G5 tower ain't that big.... (I would suggest two PCI 16x slots, to allow for the possibility of SLI, and two PCI/PCI-X slots).

2. DDR2 - Not a huge advance over current mainstream DDR memory technology, but the next evolutionary step and will help Apple to keep faster G5s fed.

3. More video card choices. Give us a decent midrange card!! (Radeon X600, GeForce 6600GT, etc.). And retire the freaking FX 5200 already.

Yea, but with those first two things the Powermac can continue to be cutting-edge.

[power142]

I agree with many in that I don't think there will be a speed bump before 2Q05, and then shipping ???, and this isn't because of what I have under my desk....

One thing to keep in mind is that even if Apple were to announce a 3.0DP at Macworld, it wouldn't be shipping before the end of March anyhow, and is the extra 20% (at best) really worth waiting the extra 3 months for? Personally, I'd be more inclined to save the money and get the 2.5DP once the 3.0DP is announced

[macaddict0001]

I actually think that the 5200 ultra is a great card for the powermac because a lot of people don't need a powerful card and you can always upgrade it if you want.