[voteforpedro68]

I was about to jump on the 1300 refurbished 1.8 ghz g5 they have at the apple store.... but I can't do it. I like the design of hte g4s better, but honestly, it's the graphics card that's holding me back here. I don't want to buy a new machine with an old outdated card.... do you think they're going to be bumped up a little soon?

I'm hoping... ugh...

[KSE7696]

I'm sure it may be a little longer before we see too much of an update to the G5 iMac. It hasn't really been out that long.

[Dale Sorel]

Originally posted by voteforpedro68:
When's the G5 imac getting an update?

Right after you buy one

[robco]

It will hit the six-month mark soon. nVidia has finally released an AGP version of the GeForce 6200, so perhaps Apple will adopt that as the new entry-level GPU. More VRAM would certainly be nice.

Hopefully there will be a nice speed bump in March or April.

[Commodus]

I'm hoping March or April as well. I'm also hoping that they can use PCI Express, for that matter. The less you have to worry about texture memory bandwidth, the more headroom you have for OS X Tiger.

[thesearcher]

Originally posted by robco:
...nVidia has finally released an AGP version of the GeForce 6200, so perhaps Apple will adopt that as the new entry-level GPU...

Preferably not the turbocache version.

[Hi I'm Ben]

I hate when people ask these questions then people try to answer them. Apple is insane. They do whatever they want whenever and they never tell anyone.

The updates will come out at a random inconvient time and no one will see it coming short of a week before.

[Mafia]

i wouldn't be suprised if we saw them at the same time as the pb updates since the powerbook is supposed to get a new gpu. which is the imacs biggest problem right now.

[Commodus]

Originally posted by Hi I'm Ben:
I hate when people ask these questions then people try to answer them. Apple is insane. They do whatever they want whenever and they never tell anyone.

The updates will come out at a random inconvient time and no one will see it coming short of a week before.

Actually, there's plenty of logic behind their releases - it's just a question of whether or not the public has access to every reason. There are a few things we know about Apple's release schedules:

1. there's usually a 6-month minimum interval between releases
2. PowerMacs always get the shiny new CPU/GPU toys before the rest of the line does
3. part costs usually have to be the same or less for the faster gear

So you should expect is to have an update no sooner than March, and not before the PowerMacs.

[robco]

Originally posted by thesearcher:
Preferably not the turbocache version.

The TurboCache version only works over PCI-Express, AGP doesn't have enough bandwidth. That, and I don't think Apple would go for it.

[meelk]

Apple never lets it be known ahead of time what they are going to do for the simple reason people might hold off and not buy whatever it is they are thinking about getting. Apple is not the kind of company that can let product sit on shelves and not sell. Look at the G4 imac situation, they purposely let those run out long before the G5's shipped.

[Commodus]

They actually botched the timing on the iMac transition; Apple announced a discontinuation of iMac G4 sales in July, and they didn't announce until the very end of August. I'm pretty sure that Apple hadn't intentionally cut off sales for two full months without the opportunity to order the replacement model!

Anyways, since this appears to be the current iMac G5 revision thread, I'd like to post the specs that I imagine we'll see in the first (if not the only) revision we'll see this year (differences highlighted in italics):

17-inch Combo
1.8 GHz G5
1 MB L2 cache
600 MHz bus
512 MB DDR400 RAM
128 MB GeForce 6200 video
120 GB SATA drive

17-inch Superdrive
2 GHz G5
1 MB L2 cache
667 MHz bus
512 MB DDR400 RAM
128 MB GeForce 6200 video
120 GB SATA hard drive

20-inch Superdrive
2 GHz G5
1 MB L2 cache
667 MHz bus
512 MB DDR400 RAM
128 MB GeForce 6200 video
250 GB SATA hard drive

Remember that this is the "year of HD" for Apple. While the Mac mini is excused from the heavier-duty tasks of the iLife suite (HD movie editing, large-scale GarageBand projects, etc.), the iMac G5 needs to be able to do well anything the iLife suite lets you do. That means having enough minimum RAM to avoid choking on HDV clips or multiple simultaneous GarageBand tracks, and enough storage to handle all the larger formats (including RAW-format photos).

[robco]

It would be nice too if Apple included mini-DVI out on the iMac G5, like the 12" PB, for outputting to HDTV.

[ncsurfer]

Do you think the iMac updates are close enough to wait if I was considering buying. I was going to wait until iLife 05 was included anyway.

[discotronic]

Originally posted by Commodus:
They actually botched the timing on the iMac transition; Apple announced a discontinuation of iMac G4 sales in July, and they didn't announce until the very end of August. I'm pretty sure that Apple hadn't intentionally cut off sales for two full months without the opportunity to order the replacement model!

Anyways, since this appears to be the current iMac G5 revision thread, I'd like to post the specs that I imagine we'll see in the first (if not the only) revision we'll see this year (differences highlighted in italics):

17-inch Combo
1.8 GHz G5
1 MB L2 cache
600 MHz bus
512 MB DDR400 RAM
128 MB GeForce 6200 video
120 GB SATA drive

17-inch Superdrive
2 GHz G5
1 MB L2 cache
667 MHz bus
512 MB DDR400 RAM
128 MB GeForce 6200 video
120 GB SATA hard drive

20-inch Superdrive
2 GHz G5
1 MB L2 cache
667 MHz bus
512 MB DDR400 RAM
128 MB GeForce 6200 video
250 GB SATA hard drive

Remember that this is the "year of HD" for Apple. While the Mac mini is excused from the heavier-duty tasks of the iLife suite (HD movie editing, large-scale GarageBand projects, etc.), the iMac G5 needs to be able to do well anything the iLife suite lets you do. That means having enough minimum RAM to avoid choking on HDV clips or multiple simultaneous GarageBand tracks, and enough storage to handle all the larger formats (including RAW-format photos).

I like your specs. I think Apple would be good to up the GPU and the RAM is a must at 512MB.

Hopefully they figure something out with the fan noise. I'm still pissed.

[PlacidTubs]

I am planning on getting one of these at the end of the summer. what will the chances of a revision before then be? what I'm most interested in is the RAM going up (to at least 512) and for them to sort out the fan noise issue many people are having with the machine. Is this a realistic thing to look forward to?

[anthonyvthc]

Originally posted by PlacidTubs:
I am planning on getting one of these at the end of the summer. what will the chances of a revision before then be? what I'm most interested in is the RAM going up (to at least 512) and for them to sort out the fan noise issue many people are having with the machine. Is this a realistic thing to look forward to?

I say it's highly likely there will be an update before summer. Not for nothing, but RAM isn't really a big deal. Shouldn't let 256 stop you from buying.

[PlacidTubs]

But if it is only 256, thats like adding another �100 to the price of the machine, and for a student who is practically cutting my own throat to even buy this thing, that is a lot of money. Still, better just wait and see.

It does seem ridiculous though that the iMac still only has 256, especially now the mac mini is out.

[sar]

Originally posted by discotronic:
I like your specs. I think Apple would be good to up the GPU and the RAM is a must at 512MB.

Hopefully they figure something out with the fan noise. I'm still pissed.

The iMac must get a boost in the GPU as was pointed out the design was already a few months behind schedule when it debuted at the end of August 2004. A 128MB GPU seems to be a must have as well as the extra RAM to 512 MB (standard RAM configuration on newer powerbooks).

I would also expect to see a $100 to $200 price drop on the entire iMac G5 lineup - the Macmini and newer powerbook pricing is pushing Apple to be provide a lower price computer. Also Apple mentioned that operating margins will be squeezed going forward.