[SEkker]

Every Mac mini that is sold is even better news for PB owners. Why?

Because that makes a large installed base of current PB-like hardware, in addition to those of us PB users.

Face it, the G5 IS a big new step in hardware for Apple. I have been very worried that Apple would try to force an upgrade to G5 hardware for Apple laptop users to take advantage of the next major OS after Tiger. And the concept that you needed a big, high speed hard drive to keep up was also a concern, especially considering how long it has taken for the manufacturers to deliver 7200 rpm 100 GB 2.5 in. drives.

But with this new expansion of (effectively) iBook G4-like machines, we're talking some good news about future compatibility with Apple's software plans.

I also thought it worth mentioning the speed comparisons between the G5 iMac and the mac mini (available at macintouch.com, for example). It is clear that a dual core G4 CPU would be a better next generation processor in a mac laptop than a G5 PB. Sometimes, making good on current technology is better than 'revolutionary' new architecture, at least for the forseeable future. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see a major speed jump in the next major PB upgrade by Apple. But there's also nothing wrong with just making something very good even a little bit better.

[RealMac]

Personally I don't feel like there was a whole lot of cause for concern. Apple on the whole has been great with supporting legacy hardware in its OS releases. The exception is when the hardware is just so old that it is technologically impossible or requires substantial amounts of effort to maintain backwards compatibility with it.

I do however wonder what the next big thing will be after Tiger. I mean unless they go into exploring alternative user interfaces, up the ante in the gaming arena or do something else to blow us away, things are going to get stale quickly...

[mintcake]

SEkker, I was thinking just the same thing this morning. I'm currently looking for a second machine and in fact, that thought was the clincher in persuading me to stay with my revB 12" pb as my main machine for the foreseeable future, rather than upgrade now to G5 desktop and relegate my PB to second place. Now I can get an iBook for my wife and justify a shiny new cinema display for use with my PB.

I'm thinking that with so much invested in relatively low-end G4 machines, Apple are not going to lock those users out of any major software upgrades for at least another year or two.

[Filburt]

Mac mini (the cheapest Mac on the planet) offering a good deal of performance of much more expensive PowerBook G4 is a good news for PowerBook G4? While I do realize that PowerBook being seriously underpowered is not necessarily Apple's falt (Freescale/IBM, give us a CPU comparable to Pentium-M already), let's face it... PowerBooks represent poor bang for the buck. Yes, they are beautiful. Yes, they are well equipped. Yes, they are fast enough for running non-pro applications. But $2500 PowerBooks performing comparably to $600 Mac mini is not a good news.

[TailsToo]

Originally posted by Filburt:


Mac mini (the cheapest Mac on the planet) offering a good deal of performance of much more expensive PowerBook G4 is a good news for PowerBook G4? While I do realize that PowerBook being seriously underpowered is not necessarily Apple's falt (Freescale/IBM, give us a CPU comparable to Pentium-M already), let's face it... PowerBooks represent poor bang for the buck. Yes, they are beautiful. Yes, they are well equipped. Yes, they are fast enough for running non-pro applications. But $2500 PowerBooks performing comparably to $600 Mac mini is not a good news.

Yep... sad but true - heck the fastest PowerBook you could buy a year ago is just about the same speed as the entry level piece now... and the new high end isn't all that much faster either. It's not Apple's fault, but now is the time for them to make other advances to make the units faster. Faster HDs and better graphics cards come to mind!

[SEkker]

I think Apple should be complemented for making the mac mini such quality bang for the buck. It is essentially a keyboardless, screenless iBook for $500.

When one can get an iBook for $700-$900, it is not surprising that Apple can make the Mini $500.

The powerbooks are looking looking long in the tooth because the new processors are a little old, granted. But to compare the mac mini to a $2000 powerbook is truly ignoring the value of the powerbook package.

My comment was similar to those that use OS X on a Pismo -- it is surprisingly fast on a 4-5 year old machine. It seems that we're going to be experiencing this same wonder of longevity on the 1GHz G4 PBs, which was not something I was expecting.

[T. Diddy]

who's to say apple won't make the G4 obsolete overnight? that is not improbable. they dumped the G3 and OS9 without looking back. there's already speculation on a G5 ibook and we don't know yet what will power the new eMacs, so having an all-G5 lineup could be apple's very near future. just something else for you to think about.

[strokemouth]

Originally posted by T. Diddy:
who's to say apple won't make the G4 obsolete overnight? that is not improbable. they dumped the G3 and OS9 without looking back. there's already speculation on a G5 ibook and we don't know yet what will power the new eMacs, so having an all-G5 lineup could be apple's very near future. just something else for you to think about.

True that you cannot buy a G3 anymore, but I think the point was that as far as OS support goes, the G4 will be supported for some time still. Tiger runs fine on G3's still, ya know?

[TailsToo]

Originally posted by strokemouth:
True that you cannot buy a G3 anymore, but I think the point was that as far as OS support goes, the G4 will be supported for some time still. Tiger runs fine on G3's still, ya know?

Right... it'll be years and years before there is no G4 Support... I could see all G5 current computers by mid-next year, however.