[awcopus]

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=114

If AppleInsider is right (BIG IF), then I think the best move to make is to buy the current 1.4 dual processor machine at a price-reduction the day after the announcement, and then upgrade eventually to a second or third generation 970 dual configuration. Just dreaming out loud here, but this seems to be the best way of leveraging the news.

As an FCP user, the dual config is definitely the way to go. This solution also nicely helps one avoid the possibility of Yikes-like first-gen new chip hardware.

Of course, if the new machines (if there are any) have dual processors.......well that would be very tempting even with the risks of first-gen hardware.

[DeathMan]

Personally, I wouldn't buy the 1.4 gigaherz power mac under any circumstance. (Unless the price reduction was down to like $500 or something like that)

Its dumb to wait for a Rev 2, just for the sake of waiting. Why not wait untill some units have been shipped and used quite a bit. A couple months should be fine if you really ask around and find out. Go check out the abused models at CompUSA, etc.

There is really nothing wrong with waiting for rev 2 if your paranoid or if you've been burnt before, but I'll reiterate that I'd stay clear of the newest rev of powermacs, and get a last gen 1.2 if you're jonesing for a new machine.

Just cope with what you have, until they can work out the bugs of the first gen of these new macs.

[awcopus]

My only point was that if the first-gen new machines are all single processor-based, then grabbing a discounted duallie and biding time for a dual-config version featuring the new mobo and processors might make sense, especially for video editors like me who really benefit from dual processor optimized apps like FCP3/4.

I agree it would be dumb to wait just for the sake of waiting. I'm talking about something more substantial--a dual vs. single processor PowerMac.

If I can pick up a 1.42 duallie for $2199 (a full $500 less than the current config), then I'm all over it.

[euphras]

From all that i´ve read so far, i would expect that even a single PPC 970 would blow the latest G4 dual out of the shoes......

[schalliol]

I would really like to see a novel scalable architecture. I realize no one does this in anything remotely like a personal computer, but Apple could pave the way.

Allow people to scale up their processors. This would be targeted in their server environment, but also in the more mainstream desktops. I SO wish I could just buy another 733 processor for this one. It would be a business decision also though. If I had a dual 733 I would be less likely to upgrade to a main new machine for a while longer....but they could make a lot on the upgrades.

[awcopus]

euphras....that would be....interesting.

Apple obviously has been touting MP as superior to single processors, and especially so vis-a-vis apps like FCP. Anyone following the comparisons to the latest PC chips knows that MP with optimized apps comes pretty close to single processors at more than twice the MHz on the PC side....so it's not far fetched that Apple would adopt a single processor architecture that swamps its previous generation's MP performance. Also, chip availability may simply drive Apple to abandon MP temporarily.

I feel like I've been waiting for a seriously revved PowerMac for a very long time, so I will be tempted to jump on board if the new single processor machines outperform Apple's 1.4 duallie. But if they don't, I will bust a move on a (hopefully, deeply) discounted 1.4 duallie and then bust another move once Apple gets back on the MP bus with its new chips and mobo.

[schalliol]

Just remembered, I would want to see possibly more than two processors as options. Scaling up to this is where it would be most valuable. If Apple could do it, the REALLY power hungry folks would know to go Mac, it wouldn't compare with PCs.

I know everyone says no, but we did have 4 processor Daystar Digital machines >a half decade ago.

[awcopus]

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1121743,00.asp

How exciting is THIS!?!?!?! My glands are tingling in anticipation.

I've been thinking, and it sure does feel like it would be idiotic to purchase the last 32-bit based Mac ever made, even if it is MP and all of the new machines are single-chippers. If Apple is tuning up its OS to run superfast with a 64-bit chip, how could I possibly rationalize such a move?

WWDC cannot come soon enough. I'm losing it.

[schalliol]

eWeek is usually pretty credible. If this happens, what do you want in a case?

I want 4 Apple Drive module bays and the same quad IDE controller that's in the Xserve.

[MindFad]

Originally posted by awcopus:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1121743,00.asp

How exciting is THIS!?!?!?! My glands are tingling in anticipation.

I've been thinking, and it sure does feel like it would be idiotic to purchase the last 32-bit based Mac ever made, even if it is MP and all of the new machines are single-chippers. If Apple is tuning up its OS to run superfast with a 64-bit chip, how could I possibly rationalize such a move?

WWDC cannot come soon enough. I'm losing it.

Sounds cool. Here, this is still on my clipboard, so why not use it again:



It's comedy gold; it just takes while to sink in.

[schalliol]

Uhhhhhhhh.....OOOOOOOkkkkkkkk

[MindFad]

Come on, it was funny. Pffft. So no one's going to discuss if it's fake or not?

[schalliol]

Yeah, you're right, it was funny. I was only joking.

[Getting back off topic here] What does that version do that Jag doesn't?

[:XI:]

Originally posted by schalliol:
Yeah, you're right, it was funny. I was only joking.

[Getting back off topic here] What does that version do that Jag doesn't?

This version runs on PPC970.

Sméagol, good name!

"Master* won't hurt us! He promissssssed!"

*Master being Steve (for the sake of the 'joke'.

Would this make the new Powermacs 'Precious'?

What's Gollum? Windows? Kernel Panic?

[schalliol]

Ok, perhaps that should be a different thread....back on track

[awcopus]

Love the Smeagol graphic.

More meandering.....

I'm wondering (prematurely, of course) how a dual 1.42 G4 compares to a single 1.8 970.

I've read that the 1.8 970 compares favorably (on paper) to a Pentium4 3+GHz chip. I've also read that my primary application, FCP, is MP optimized and renders about as quickly on a 1.42 duallie as other programs (like AE) render on a PC running a single 3 GHz chip.

So purely based on the above pieces of data, not taking into account other improvements in new Mac mobo's bus speed and I/O enhancements and faster RAM (as well as more of it), the 1.8 970 and 1.42 dual G4 machines match up closely, theoretically.

Ergo, taking into account the other hardware improvements and, moreover, the 10.3 optimizations....it does seem like the new high-end machine, if it proves to be a 970, will be significantly faster than the current high end 1.4 duallie.

Of course, it would lack MP advantages....and it will be more expensive, probably by more than $1000 (assuming that the 1.4 is knocked down in price to $2199 and the 1.8 high-end debuts at $3499). In such a scenario, one imagines that the duallie represents a significantly better price-to-performance move. Its extra RAM will be cheaper, as well.

With FCP4 only days away and twenty hours of raw video waiting to be logged and captured, I am SO ready for a new Mac. But which one? WHICH ONE?

[schalliol]

Why not a dual 970?

[awcopus]

I started this thread based on the news today that seemed to indicate that the first batch of 970-based Macs will use single-processors. If there's a dual 970 released, I'll be the first on my block to own it.

[schalliol]

I've gotcha now. Look at my post, they can start with singles, but a modular system would really help us leap ahead. It would be like adding a second V8 to your Audi S4

[awcopus]

If there's a dual 970 released in the initial batch, I will order it as soon as I can get it delivered overnight by a mail-order place (macmall, maczone, etc.).

If there's no dual 970, I'm leaning towards buying a current high-end duallie, but will probably convince myself not to simply because Apple is clearly gearing up their OS to support this new chip and I don't want to invest in a Mac that Apple is essentially no longer optimizing for.

PSYCHED! This has been Apple's year, and with the release of these new machines, they can begin to re-inspire the professionals they have for so long neglected.

[schalliol]

Keep this in mind. If Apple goes to a 64-bit main processor, eventually there will be no 32-bit processors. I'm not sure what that would exactly mean, but I would go with the next leap personally.

Take a look at the previous leaps in recent past:

PowerPC (man it would hurt to buy an 840av if you knew the 8100 was almost out (though the 840av was tough)
G3 - vs 604e it killed even, let alone 603 or 601
G4 - vs G3 it's still the way to go.

[Mac Zealot]

This time I'm almost tempted to drop my g4 on ebay.. if I do that and save a few bucks I could get the low end powermac g5 (which would definately be better then a dual 800 g4)

Hrmm :drool time:

[schalliol]

Always a tough call. If a quantum leap is about to come, now is the time.

Make sure you get paid before WWDC if you believe the new machines will be announced there. They might try to bail on you.

[proux]

If Apple cannot ship the dual 970 right after WWDC they should annonce them. Like the 17'' Powerbook they will get a lo of pre-orders and fill them as soon as they roll out machines. I don't see how they could stay quiet about duals, like posted above for high-end users there might not be any difference between the dual 1.42 G4 and the single 1.8 970.

Also they shouldn't sell single 1.8Ghz at more than $2,000. Else the customers will realize quickly they are getting ripped off.

[awcopus]

proux, I agree. If they intend to release a dual, they should announce it right away. A dual 970 makes all of my decision-making easy. I would simply get it, even if I had to wait another month or two. Hell, I've waited two years for this kind of Mac...

Take heart. For what it's worth, a friend of mine who works at the SOHO store told me under his breath not to worry about there being no dual option. There's no way Apple is building MP support into FCP4 and DVDSP2 only to release SP 970 machines upon that software's release, is the jist of his take.

The only issue is a practical one: constrained supplies of these chips, making availability of a dual 970 out of the gates a challenging (probably impossible) proposition.

I am so excited...and I just can't hide it. WILL JUNE 23rd NEVER COME?

[Simon]

Originally posted by awcopus:
I am so excited...and I just can't hide it.

Ahhhh, the Pointer Sisters, Oakland, the 80's... YES!

Brings up memories.

[awcopus]

I have alerted my video-editing friends who hybridized their Mac setups with PCs within the last year that they are on the verge of being tremendously disappointed in themselves. Honestly, when I think of what they spent on those rigs ($3000+), I just shake my head in disgust. Of course, they've "made their money back," but I wonder if any of them would say that the PC investment somehow empowered them to get jobs they wouldn't have otherwise? And now their bottomline costs have increased (to support two platforms), and they bitch and moan about Wintel issues I can't even pronounce, and it all makes me wonder if the faster render times were really worth it.

I don't think they made more money because of the faster machines.

Though they might argue they will save money in the long-run if they end up switching entirely to PCs, I know they are going to be drooling over the new Macs, which it is now harder for them to afford literally and intellectually. (That is, harder because they've spent money on PC rigs, hence less money for new stuff, AND, harder because their minds are now infected with "ideas" about how far their money can go on the Wintel side, which makes it hard to drop money on a PowerMac).

I call this "intellectual" consequence of buying a PC a combo of lowered expectations and a loss of taste. Its symptoms are summed up in sentences like, "Yeah, I know XP doesn't have the refined feel of OSX, but I don't care anymore. I got a free combo printer/scanner with my machine, and it's all about cheap speed to me now."

Cue roto-vomitting.

I've held out because I love my Mac. I love this platform. I lurv it! Am I a Mac snob? Is a person who prefers boobs in the face to having a watermellon shoved up his ass a boobs snob? Yeah, okay, I'm a Mac snob.

With FCP4, DVDSP, Panther, and these new Macs coming, I have reasons to be. All I can say to those video pros, friends or not, who switched away from the Mac during the last couple of difficult months (years, whatever) is....

...get your asses back on the Mac! WOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!!!!

And yes, on occasion it is appropriate to quote the Pointer Sisters. We are on the verge of just such an occasion.