We all have taken note of the latest PM release, and personally I find the chip upgrade to be satisfactory despite not being as much as many people had hoped. I think we all should have seen the writing on the wall when IBM dropped the ball. But that just what happens in technology sometimes, and it cant be avoided. Im far more concerned with the Mac's entranced into the animation and VFX market. I have been a cartoonist and make up fx artist for a few years now and an actively studying animation and would like a G5 to be my next workstation purchase, because of the excellent choices in professional software and os level functionality combined with well-designed hardware for the price point they offer. HOWEVER, the GPUs offered in PMs are largely considered sub-par for CG because they cant push triangles fast enough for certain high-end modeling applications and particle systems and fluid dynamic systems. This is quite debatable of course, but there is the trend for 3D ISVs to depend on GPUs for these advanced features. Alot of the pseudo-technophile rabble are upset with the current graphic options available for Macs, without really having a need to be. But as a serious artist and prospective animator knowing that Apple is actively making a penetration into the CG universe, i cant help but think this is a big hole in their strategy, and i cant help thinking they have to be aware of it, since Mr. Jobs is also CEO of Pixar and deals with 3D ISVs regularly for that business. So... where is the necessary hardware. If Apple held the position that Mac versions of animation software should be more CPU dependent that GPU dependent, they have not publicly taken that position. The fact that Apple had made developments such as Xgrid and Xsan is interesting cause these technologies have applications in CG. So I think something else is up. WWDC is almost here, perhaps a technology announcement there, but that really isnt the proper forum for an announcement related to high-end graphics processing. I have heard rumors of a strong Apple presence at SIGGRAPH, which is also rapidly approaching and WOULD be the proper forum. Your take? Any inside info? Well least Alias has commited another one of their cool packages, Sketchbook Pro, to the Mac (that is also interesting since there are rumors of Apple working on a pressure sensitive monitor, similar to Wacom's Cintiq)
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