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Dave N · Dec 13, 2004, 08:47 AM

macrumors.com has the following rumor posted about a possible G5 eMac to be released at MWSF :

An anonymous submission today points to some possible releases at MWSF in January:

New eMacs
1.6 Ghz G5 across the line -- 533 mhz bus like the iMac. ATI Radeon 9600 with 64 MB VRAM.

Combo $899
Superdrive $999

Crusoe · Dec 13, 2004, 10:01 AM

Would be a nice system if the rumor comes true. That vid chipset would make it a decent gaming system. Have the eMacs ever been faster overall then the iMacs? These would be.

discotronic · Dec 13, 2004, 12:08 PM

If it is a G5 the price shouldn't go up on the low end. That would be a mistake. My brother is in the market for an iMac after the first of the year. Hopefully this rumor is somewhat true so he could consider the eMac and possibly get more bang for his buck. A brand new G5 for under a $1000 would be great.

Commodus · Dec 13, 2004, 12:58 PM

Originally posted by Crusoe:
Would be a nice system if the rumor comes true. That vid chipset would make it a decent gaming system. Have the eMacs ever been faster overall then the iMacs? These would be.

The only real time eMacs have been faster was when the current eMacs were launched - they had double the L2 cache of the iMac G4s at the time.

As far as this rumour, I don't buy it - mainly because a Radeon 9600 would be faster than the FX 5200s in the iMacs. I'd expect the eMacs stay with the G4 until the iMac can be nudged ahead.

Dave N · Dec 13, 2004, 02:35 PM

As far as this rumour, I don't buy it - mainly because a Radeon 9600 would be faster than the FX 5200s in the iMacs. I'd expect the eMacs stay with the G4 until the iMac can be nudged ahead.

...especially since the rumor mill was stating just a couple of weeks ago that there weren't enough G5 chips being produced to meet production of a G5 eMac any time soon. Maybe this G5 eMac config will be released in the spring, after (like you said) the iMac gets a bump.

Ayers · Dec 13, 2004, 07:55 PM

Originally posted by Commodus:
The only real time eMacs have been faster was when the current eMacs were launched - they had double the L2 cache of the iMac G4s at the time.

As far as this rumour, I don't buy it - mainly because a Radeon 9600 would be faster than the FX 5200s in the iMacs. I'd expect the eMacs stay with the G4 until the iMac can be nudged ahead.

At the prices iMacs are sold, some in the community have wanted some better GPUs. Maybe there's a slim chance Apple will take the iMac G5s future a bit more seriously and respond accordingly, especially if it wants to keep the momentum. As for the eMac, it deserves the boost. That hunk of cheese of a computer had a hand in saving the desktop end of the business as the iMac G4 languished, and was almost always a respectable performer for what it was.

Grrr · Dec 14, 2004, 07:49 AM

Unlikely any time soon I'd have thought.. Mostly because:
1, macrumors.com is probably the rumor site there is. Just check their past history..
2, As others have said, the choice of GPU seems unlikely purely because the supposedly better specced G5 iMac would be upstaged.
3, There would be a riot from 'PowerBook' owners, as their pricey laptops are massively outperformed by a bottom of the range desktop bargain basement Mac.

Ayers · Dec 14, 2004, 09:01 AM

That's a good point, but that's already happening. The iBook G4 line is coming closer into PowerBook territory, although it isn't quite there yet in several areas. PowerBooks still have the advantage over their plastic siblings, but that margin has certainly shrunk.

For that matter, why should Apple continue to cripple its models when it's claiming so little of the market? If a G5 can go into an eMac before a PowerBook, like it did with the new iMac G5, then maybe Apple will bite the bullet. I don't know if they should sit on their hands with the transition to 64-bit in other model lines because the PowerBooks are so slim as to make it difficult.

Luca Rescigno · Dec 14, 2004, 09:14 AM

Assuming it's a Radeon 9600 instead of a Radeon 9600 Pro, it'll be pretty much equal to the iMac's GeForce FX5200 Ultra. The Ultra is a bit faster while the non-Pro 9600 is a bit slower, so they'll about average out. In any case, there won't be a huge difference anyway. I'm glad the eMac will finally lose the ridiculously low 32 MB of VRAM.

It sounds silly, though. Apple is doing the EXACT SAME THING they did last time, which resulted in the G4 iMac being a flop. Right now the G5 iMac enjoys major performance superiority to make it more desirable than the eMac, while the eMac is significantly cheaper. Now they might blur the line between them again, making their performance nearly equal and raising the price on the eMac.

Skip Breakfast · Dec 14, 2004, 04:34 PM

If eMac sales are down enough, Apple has no choice but to upgrade or discontinue. That's how I see it.

ApeInTheShell · Dec 18, 2004, 08:16 PM

I heard they cancelled a product that was actually very popular. ummm....i think it was called....the Macintosh TV..yeah yeah!

austeros · Dec 19, 2004, 10:41 AM

videocard upgrade has been done before on an imac - imac rev b

somehow i doubt they will do it though. either way, no computer should ship with less then 64 megs, definately no mac, otherwise one looses all the quartz extreme goodness

mitchell_pgh · Dec 19, 2004, 11:58 AM

The eMac and iMac should be on par with each other in the processor area, the main difference should be the monitor... and that's about it.

The ONLY reason the eMac should remain a G4 is if there is a major shortage of G5 processors (which we know WAS the case, but who knows now).

We will see shortly as the current eMac is overdue in the upgrade department.

mrgreen4242 · Dec 19, 2004, 12:23 PM

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
The eMac and iMac should be on par with each other in the processor area, the main difference should be the monitor... and that's about it.

The ONLY reason the eMac should remain a G4 is if there is a major shortage of G5 processors (which we know WAS the case, but who knows now).

We will see shortly as the current eMac is overdue in the upgrade department.

If memory serves, for the most part the iMac and eMac have been CLOSE in power, but the iMac has usually had at least the option for a faster CPU (as would be the case if the eMac got a 1.6ghz). The iMac also usually (not always tho) had a slightly better GPU. Other than that the differences were in the display and the form factor.

There have been exceptions to that, of course, but it seems to me that whenever the eMac was upgraded to be the same specs as the iMac, the iMac was upgraded with a month or two...

In this case, I would think it'd be likely that the eMac would get the same internal parts as the current iMac, and the iMac gets a bump later, but earlier that expected, to 1.8 and 2.0, with a slightly better GPU/VRAM. I think that Apple has designed the iMacs 'guts' as modular bits like they did so that they could be used from generation to generation AND accross product lines. If the eMac used the same parts, except the display, they could continue to use up all the main boards that have 1.6ghz CPUs and the 5200ultra GPUs even after the iMac moved on.