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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > Next Generation "Power Mac" Speculation

Next Generation "Power Mac" Speculation
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l008com
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Mar 31, 2006, 04:42 AM
 
What do you guys think is coming? Besides a probably name change that is...

I'm hoping that when the Intels come, we go back to a more G4 like form factor. I'm refering to the MDD not the Digital Audio. I want two 5.25" Bays, FOUR Hard Drive bays (all SATA means you can make one hell of a raid right out of the box). I'm sure quad processors are all but gaurnteed (weather its four singles, a dual duals or a single quad core, whichever). Dual may be an option, but it would be awesome if quad was the baseline and the high end had...... 8!!!!!
One way or another, I'm sure my next primary use Mac will probably have four processors :-) I'm hoping they can shrink them back down though, these G5s are just WAY too huge! My Dual 1.8 is hella fast but still... I could deal with the intel switch if they give me enough processors to make me forget which architecture they are
     
©öñFü$íóÑ
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Mar 31, 2006, 05:42 AM
 
i'd think the new "higher-end" (H.E.) Intel-Macs would probably be built with just that kind of expandability in mind anyway. I mean, that's what the old Power Macs were designed for (if you compared Power Macs to their Performa counterparts)... why not continue with the tried-and-true tradition?

If you ask me, if i know Apple the way i think i know Apple.... and seeing what they did for the iPod Hi-Fi.... they'd probably just do away with the standard ATX/mini tower design and come up with a completely new, proprietary design... potentially shocking..... Then again, i'm usually wrong.

Although, it would be nice to see a 4-cored or 6-cored Intel Proc. inside the new H.E. Intel-Macs, we'd probably end up seeing -TWO- Core-Duo's inside for the first wave of high-end intel macs.
     
l008com  (op)
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Mar 31, 2006, 06:00 AM
 
I'm always wrong with my apple predictions too... keep that in mind :-P
     
RevEvs
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Mar 31, 2006, 02:09 PM
 
I recon we will have Dual Dual-Cores. 2 HD bays. 1 Optical Drive. Nothing groundbreaking
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Todd Madson
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Mar 31, 2006, 06:04 PM
 
It will look so beautiful that gazing upon it you will cry.

When you turn it on, instead of the wash of sound you normally hear?

You'll hear the sampled voice of Steve Jobs (and not some namby pamby
44.1 16-bit recording either, a full 24-bit 192 khz sample of Steve saying
"Awaken, slave, do the bidding of your master.") and it will boot in 11
seconds.

All 255 processors will kick to life with the sound of four hundred tiny
nano-fans and the case will be the size of an old analog cassette yet
it can hold fourteen terabytes of storage.

It will actually PRODUCE more electricity than it consumes and it will
finish all jobs before you actually start them solving a lot of problems.

And then I woke up.
     
Catfish_Man
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Mar 31, 2006, 06:46 PM
 
Originally Posted by Todd Madson
<snipped>
I think Todd Madson just won the thread.
     
mduell
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Mar 31, 2006, 07:17 PM
 
I hope they switch to a new case: 4-6 PCIe slots (2 16x for SLI, 2-4 4x or 8x), 2 full size 5.25" bays, 4-6 HDD bays.
I think we'll see 1 CPU anti-socket (dual or quad core) and 4 RAM slots (up to 4GB/ea) in the first release. Maybe 2 CPUs and 8 RAM slots in a later revision a year or two down the road.
     
Catfish_Man
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Mar 31, 2006, 07:23 PM
 
Originally Posted by mduell
I hope they switch to a new case: 4-6 PCIe slots (2 16x for SLI, 2-4 4x or 8x), 2 full size 5.25" bays, 4-6 HDD bays.
I think we'll see 1 CPU anti-socket (dual or quad core) and 4 RAM slots (up to 4GB/ea) in the first release. Maybe 2 CPUs and 8 RAM slots in a later revision a year or two down the road.
I think you're being overly optimistic about Apple's case designs, and overly pessimistic about their motherboards. I expect dual socket, but less slots/bays.
     
F*ckDell
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Mar 31, 2006, 08:34 PM
 
There has to be room for more HDDs and at LEAST 2x5.25" bays. SLI would be really nice, but don't think its going to happen. I wanna see those 2 quad core processors in the new mactels... let me get a show of hands on how many people think that would kick some ass....!
     
2009059
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Mar 31, 2006, 08:45 PM
 
Quad SLI, Quad core processors, Quad hard drives...
     
F*ckDell
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Mar 31, 2006, 09:01 PM
 
When did Dell and Apple join? SLI would be nice... quad is pushing it!
     
mduell
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Mar 31, 2006, 10:38 PM
 
Originally Posted by Catfish_Man
I think you're being overly optimistic about Apple's case designs, and overly pessimistic about their motherboards. I expect dual socket, but less slots/bays.
The problem with 2 CPU anti-sockets is the clockrate hit you take with Intel's shared bus design; with 1 anti-socket you will be able to get 1.33Ghz FSB, but with two it drops to 1.0 or 0.8 Ghz (just like you can get 1066 now for single anti-sockets, but only 800 for dual anti-sockets).
     
Salty
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Apr 1, 2006, 01:13 AM
 
I don't know if we'll see Quad Power Macs right away. That said I am pretty sure that we'll see more room inside. I think it'd be great if you could make a 2 Terrabyte RAID 0 array within your PowerMac.
Really with these if Apple wants to charge as much as they do they're going to have to put in stuff that you don't see in typical PCs.
     
power142
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Apr 1, 2006, 02:11 PM
 
Yeah, I've seen nothing so far to indicate that multiple CPUs won't share the FSB. This is ugly. On the other hand, I've not been digging very deep and not seen anything counter.
     
Catfish_Man
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Apr 1, 2006, 11:10 PM
 
Originally Posted by power142
Yeah, I've seen nothing so far to indicate that multiple CPUs won't share the FSB. This is ugly. On the other hand, I've not been digging very deep and not seen anything counter.
Mer/Con/Wood will still use the shared bus, iirc. Less than ideal, I agree
     
chris v
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Apr 1, 2006, 11:44 PM
 
Originally Posted by Salty
I don't know if we'll see Quad Power Macs right away. That said I am pretty sure that we'll see more room inside. I think it'd be great if you could make a 2 Terrabyte RAID 0 array within your PowerMac.
Really with these if Apple wants to charge as much as they do they're going to have to put in stuff that you don't see in typical PCs.
I've been dreaming of a 1 terrabite RAID 0+1 for my tower, and right now, that'd mean having to rig it with external drives, which makes it way too pricey to be practical. 4 drive bays would be nice. You could have the speed of RAID 0 and still be backed up without having to buy enclosures, or string cables around.

When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him. -- Jonathan Swift.
     
awcopus
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Apr 1, 2006, 11:51 PM
 
It would be terrific if Apple approached the design of the new machines from a functional perspective. If Ives is told by Jobs, for example, to have as much fun as he would like designing the form of the new machines, but to prioritize

1> Expandability: Please, Apple, enable Pros to install 6 SATAII hard drives, up to 32GB of RAM, and 2 optical drives, 6 PCI-Express slots (enough with the anemic 3!).....where each of these has its own dedicated bus... I know that I would immediately fill all 6 hard drive slots and the extra optical bay. At least at the high-end, Apple should really produce an Ultimate workstation.

2> Silent Operation: Please, focus on making the machines run as quietly as possible. As a dual 2.5 owner, I have no problems with water cooling. Love how quiet my machine is, let's keep this trend going!

Beyond all of that, these machines should represent a combination of Apple, Intel, ATI, and nVidia engineering that results in performance unlike anything computer users on any platform have ever known.

P.S. HDMI output would be cool.
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Tenacious Dyl
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Apr 2, 2006, 12:24 AM
 
No firewire 800, probably just 2 firewire 400's, most likely an increase in USB 2.0 ports. Built in bluetooth 2, and 802.11 (probably b,g, and the newer 3rd one... (a or c?) ) At least 2 PCI-Express at 16x each. I seriously doubt the two 5.25 inch bays, the superdrive will stick, and be lonely. My guess is only two offerings, and the top or "third" will be more of an expensive BTO option than anything else. Look at the Powerbooks (3 options, arguably more actually...) and then the MacBook Pro's... I think they will make the choices simpler.

The case will push a smaller size. Look at recent Apple efforts, the Mini, the Nano, the lack of a 17" MacBook Pro, etc. To further the speculation, probably a more specific "wind tunnel" than the g5's, perhaps just the "bottom 1/3" of the case would have one, but all the hot parts in the case would be heat-piped to that channel. It would be sort of gimmicky, but it would draw attention, and undoutably work well. Might look like those subwoofers with the intake hole people have in their livingrooms...

It would be nice to see 3 or more hard-drive bays inside the case, but I doubt it. My guess is they will continue the restriction / size reduction, and leave the user with just 2. With drives up to 500 gbs, you can still have a terabyte inside the case. Most likely it will be SATA2 not SATA, and there will be other simple improvements in similar speeds, maybe faster speed ram as well. Of course there will be front row, and my guess is a better antenna for Wifi than that dumb "stick" that goes up the back of the newer G5's.

The PCI-express slots will either be more numerous, or better spread apart. *Too many* cards, mostly due to coolers, take up 2 slots. Almost anything worthy of slapping in a g5 says "installing this card will block the use of one of your pci slots... blah blah" It is too wasteful to continue. Either the slots will have a greater distance between them, or there will be much better cooled components, so a good video card doesn't rob you of 2 slots (out of 4!) and doesn't reduce your expandability by half.

On a side note... what we are really in for... is some crazy re-vamping of Mac servers. Lots of action there needs to happen...
yep.
     
Velocity211
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Apr 2, 2006, 01:25 AM
 
I just want the name "Power Mac" to stay, maybe the aluminum casing too.
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©öñFü$íóÑ
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Apr 2, 2006, 03:35 AM
 
maybe the new PowerMac replacements would be called I-Mac.... yes..... a capital "I" for "Intel"..... which could be literally read as "i-dash-mac"....(oh god, crazy idea... sucky name.... but meh... still better than a G1 PowerPC. )

While the "iMacs" would retain the lower-case "i" for their original meaning: "internet"....... MEH
     
Lateralus
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Apr 2, 2006, 03:57 AM
 
Originally Posted by ©öñFü$íóÑ
maybe the new PowerMac replacements would be called I-Mac.... yes..... a capital "I" for "Intel"..... which could be literally read as "i-dash-mac"....(oh god, crazy idea... sucky name.... but meh... still better than a G1 PowerPC. )

While the "iMacs" would retain the lower-case "i" for their original meaning: "internet"....... MEH
Huh?
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kick52
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Apr 2, 2006, 09:26 AM
 
i want the PowerMac name to stay too.

PowerMac is a great name because its original and it makes it sound powerful. if apple makes up any other silly names like "MacBook Pro" it makes people go WTF?
     
chris v
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Apr 2, 2006, 11:25 AM
 
Originally Posted by ©öñFü$íóÑ
maybe the new PowerMac replacements would be called I-Mac.... yes..... a capital "I" for "Intel"..... which could be literally read as "i-dash-mac"....(oh god, crazy idea... sucky name.... but meh... still better than a G1 PowerPC. )

While the "iMacs" would retain the lower-case "i" for their original meaning: "internet"....... MEH
Or maybe not.

When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him. -- Jonathan Swift.
     
F*ckDell
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Apr 2, 2006, 01:37 PM
 
HDMI out? That would be ****ing amazing!



my 2 cents...
     
mountainash
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Apr 2, 2006, 02:05 PM
 
Why do you need two 5.25" bays? I'm curious. More hard drive bays I can understand.
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F*ckDell
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Apr 2, 2006, 03:38 PM
 
You can have a DVD player... and a SuperDrive to copy DVDs...


and what about the new HD-DVD and Blu-Ray drives... wouldn't you want room for them in the upcoming months?
     
mduell
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Apr 2, 2006, 05:01 PM
 
Originally Posted by ShazamItsDavish2
Why do you need two 5.25" bays? I'm curious. More hard drive bays I can understand.
For copying disks, burning multiple copies of disks, and adding a high def optical drive in the future.
     
24klogos
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Apr 3, 2006, 12:26 AM
 
Originally Posted by ©öñFü$íóÑ
maybe the new PowerMac replacements would be called I-Mac.... yes..... a capital "I" for "Intel"..... which could be literally read as "i-dash-mac"....(oh god, crazy idea... sucky name.... but meh... still better than a G1 PowerPC. )

While the "iMacs" would retain the lower-case "i" for their original meaning: "internet"....... MEH
I think you're in the right track here, keep smoking your breakfast.
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rhashem
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Apr 3, 2006, 01:52 AM
 
Originally Posted by Velocity211
I just want the name "Power Mac" to stay, maybe the aluminum casing too.
Aluminum's been done to death on the PC side with the whole Lian Li thing. I'm actually hoping for something sexier, maybe carbon fiber Oh, and some acoustic dampening material would be nice. My Raptor HD resonated so badly with the PowerMac case that I ended up taking it out. The little hard-plastic tabs you stick into the screw holes on the HDD are a great idea, but hard-plastic to hard-plastic is a loud connection. They should be coated with silicone to dampen HDD vibrations. The fan layout could use some work too. 2 120mm fans in a pull configuration would be quieter and move more air than the current 2 80mm fans in push-pull. With the new Intel CPUs, the cooling doesn't need to be that fancy anyway.
     
bloodline
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Apr 3, 2006, 03:48 AM
 
Originally Posted by rhashem
Aluminum's been done to death on the PC side with the whole Lian Li thing. I'm actually hoping for something sexier, maybe carbon fiber Oh, and some acoustic dampening material would be nice.
What a horrible thought... Carbon fibre... Apple Pro = Aluminium
     
©öñFü$íóÑ
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Apr 3, 2006, 05:45 AM
 
Power Book -> Mac Book Pro
Power Macintosh -> Macintosh Pro

or... could it be that Apple may actually move on to a different 'apple'..... like maybe Granny Smith?


"In 1984 Apple will introduce Macintosh... and you'll see why 1984 won't be like "1984""

"In 2006 Apple will introduce Granny Smith..."
     
Seb G
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Apr 3, 2006, 07:04 AM
 
Originally Posted by ©öñFü$íóÑ
Power Book -> Mac Book Pro
Power Macintosh -> Macintosh Pro
Mac Pro. They gave up the "Macintosh" in favour of "Mac" some time ago.
     
mountainash
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Apr 3, 2006, 12:22 PM
 
Originally Posted by mduell
For copying disks, burning multiple copies of disks, and adding a high def optical drive in the future.
Burning multiple disks is something I didn't consider.... I still doubt the utility.
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anthology123
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Apr 3, 2006, 12:35 PM
 
Apple will not create a system that openly advocates disc to disc copying. Sure you can add an external FW DVD, but that's your choice, not Apple's.
     
Catfish_Man
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Apr 3, 2006, 02:31 PM
 
Originally Posted by anthology123
Apple will not create a system that openly advocates disc to disc copying. Sure you can add an external FW DVD, but that's your choice, not Apple's.
Apple has shipped multi-drive computers before (custom build option on the Mirrored Drive Door G4s, among others).
     
Commodus
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Apr 3, 2006, 04:26 PM
 
There are certain givens.

Conroe and Kentsfield: These are virtually guaranteed to be Apple's processors in the first Intel pro towers. Both are multi-core (Kentsfield is quad-core) and have SSE3 support. They're also very fast: right now, a 2.66 GHz Conroe blows away even an overclocked A64 X2 - and that's not the top-end Conroe chip! Kentsfield would be there primarily to provide an equivalent to the G5 Quad.

Smaller cooling system: Apple has heatsinks the size of Buicks primarily because the G5 runs very hot, especially in relation to its die size. Apple will still probably use a relatively large heatsink, but the much better power and heat qualities of Conroe/Kentsfield should shrink things down a bit. This could provide more room for drives and PCIe cards.

Now here's where it gets interesting. There are a number of options Apple has that are logical, but uncertain, options. It all depends on what they can and are willing to do.

New case: Everyone assumes Apple wants a redesign, and that's not out of the question. I'm sure Apple has received much feedback about the lack of space for extra drives or expansion cards. There are enthusiasts and pros who may actually need more than one optical drive so they can write to disc without having to copy the information to the hard drive first. There are also people who may want a third or fourth drive for backup or scratch space purposes. Apple will probably replace the Power Mac last or near-last, so this gives the company time to make a redesign that reflects people's needs.

Blu-Ray: The drives should be ready by the time Apple can announce Intel towers, and I'm sure Apple would like to be at the forefront of HD video editing by having systems that can put HD video on to discs. I don't think a BD-RW drive will be standard on anything but the quad-core system, but it could very well be an option for all models.

External SATA: This relates to Firewire 800. I know Apple has had trouble with early Intel Macs in getting FW800 to run properly on them. I'm sure Apple would like to sort it out, but if the company can't then it may turn to SATA as an option. For those who don't know, SATA can be hot-plugged; this means you can plug it in or take it out while the system is running. In that sense it becomes almost like a very fast (if short-range) Firewire, as even SATA150 reaches 1.2 Gbps versus the 800 Mbps of FW800.

Cost reductions: This is the big issue for me. One of the main problems with the PowerMac G5 has been that it was undoubtedly very fast, but that for some apps (especially games) it was more comparable to x86 computers that cost hundreds of dollars less. While Intel hardware has made the Mac mini more expensive, I think the PowerMac's replacement could actually cost less - $1499 if Apple doesn't mind a bit of price overlap, $1799 if it does. The quad-core system will still likely be absurdly expensive, but the people who buy quad-core systems right now know this and expect it.

That's all I can think of, but no matter what I think pros will be impressed as long as native versions of the Adobe CS apps arrive within a few months of the Intel towers. I also suspect that a lot of general Windows geeks will use an Intel Mac tower as an excuse to add or switch to a Mac. Many won't buy a Mac mini because of the graphics chip, and they usually won't buy the iMac because they can't replace the graphics or hard drive. But an Intel Mac tower with decent expansion and high-end graphics? Sold!
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rhashem
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Apr 3, 2006, 06:37 PM
 
Originally Posted by bloodline
What a horrible thought... Carbon fibre... Apple Pro = Aluminium
If Apple does use aluminum, I hope they cover the inside dampening material. I like the look of aluminum as much as the next guy, but it hads a horrible ringing overtone to any internal vibration.
     
mduell
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Apr 3, 2006, 09:12 PM
 
Originally Posted by Commodus
External SATA: This relates to Firewire 800. I know Apple has had trouble with early Intel Macs in getting FW800 to run properly on them. I'm sure Apple would like to sort it out, but if the company can't then it may turn to SATA as an option. For those who don't know, SATA can be hot-plugged; this means you can plug it in or take it out while the system is running. In that sense it becomes almost like a very fast (if short-range) Firewire, as even SATA150 reaches 1.2 Gbps versus the 800 Mbps of FW800.
I think Apple is more likely to use 3.0 Gbps (300MBps) eSATA, and possibly releasing a desktop (instead of rackmount) "mini" Xserve RAID with 4 drives multiplexed into one eSATA connector.
     
hmurchison2001
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Apr 3, 2006, 09:36 PM
 
Here's my vote


Mac Pro 2.13

Conroe 2.13Ghz (dual core 4MB cache)
250GB hard drive
ATI R600 (64 Shader)
eSATA, Dual GigE, 802.11 A/G/N

Mac Pro 2.4

Conroe 2.4Ghz (dual core 4MB cache)
500GB hard drive
ATI R600 (64 shader)
eSATA, Dual GigE, 802.11 A/G/N

Mac Pro Quad

Woodcrest 2.66Ghz (x2)
2x 500GB hard drive
ATI R600
eSATA, Dual GigE, 802.11 A/G/N

New casing. 3 drive bays (allows for RAID 5)
UDI ports for audio/video over one cable. FW400 no 800
OS X 10.5.2 Leopard

Available Cinema Display options.

20in 1920 x 1200
27in 1920 x 1200
30in 2560 x 1600
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mduell
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Apr 3, 2006, 10:52 PM
 
I think your clockrate guesses are too low; I expect 2.33-2.66 and 3.0-3.33 for the duals, and 2.66-3.0 for the quad. Also I think the quad will be a one-socket design using the Kentsfield or Clovertown chips.
As far as HDD, I'd expect 300GB in the duals and 500GB in the quad; prices won't drop enough to put a pair of 500s in.

As for the displays, I don't think we'll see any size or resolution changes. 23" may increase to 24", but at the same resolution.

Also, the name will stay PowerMac, just as the iMac name continued. The pro laptop was renamed to add 'Mac' to the name.

FB-DIMM is possible, but a long shot.
( Last edited by mduell; Apr 3, 2006 at 10:58 PM. )
     
hmurchison2001
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Apr 3, 2006, 11:04 PM
 
I thought about Kentsfield but Apple will likely deliver the lineup in calendar 2006 and Kentsfield is rumored to ship Q1 2007.

I did go conservative on the clockspeed for pricing reasons however Apple has show (MBP speed upgrade) that they will respond quickly to market pressures if needed.

The future of the Apple cinema display is a curious one. Apple could add the 27 in the mix with the

Samsung 27in with 1000:1 and 500 cdm^2

if the pricing was right. Say

20in = $599
23in = $999
27in = $1499
30in= 1999

my thinking is some people need the expanded desktop space but don't need the higher resolution of the 30in.

I agree on the drives. I'm just wishful thinking here.
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hmurchison2001
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Apr 3, 2006, 11:06 PM
 
FB-DIMM is possible, but a long shot
I think we'll see FB-DIMM in the Xserve Intel 1st generation. Too many plusses not to have it. Our Kingston rep says they'll be supporting it and I'm sure every other player will right from the start. We have lots of customers that want 4GB kits but hate the price premium.
http://hmurchison.blogspot.com/ highly opinionated ramblings free of charge :)
     
awcopus
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Apr 3, 2006, 11:20 PM
 
Apple should add eSATA as a standard external connection. This would immediately accelerate the expansion of affordable external SATA enclosure options. It would be a shrewd, forward-looking move.

I'd like my next Mac to be a second generation Intel tower with dual quad core chips. Wow that would just be so tremendously fantastic for video professionals encoding one project, editing another. I'm assuming that FCPStudio apps will be made "quad aware." </drool>
Liberty lover since birth. Mac devotee since 1986.
     
Commodus
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Apr 4, 2006, 11:49 AM
 
Originally Posted by awcopus
Apple should add eSATA as a standard external connection. This would immediately accelerate the expansion of affordable external SATA enclosure options. It would be a shrewd, forward-looking move.

I'd like my next Mac to be a second generation Intel tower with dual quad core chips. Wow that would just be so tremendously fantastic for video professionals encoding one project, editing another. I'm assuming that FCPStudio apps will be made "quad aware." </drool>
To a degree, they're already aware. Apple promotes the improvement in FCP rendering speed on the G5 Quad over dual-core models. I think the other apps get a boost too, but a lot of it is passive (i.e. it's faster simply because the two processors working on the app aren't tied up with background processes). This isn't G5-specific code; it's just the multithreading built into a given app that accelerates tasks.

But yes, having one or two eSATA ports on the back would be great for pros. Internal drives are still best in terms of cost and clutter (you don't need an enclosure taking up space on the outside), but external interfaces mean you can have many more drives if you need them.
24-inch iMac Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz
     
mduell
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Apr 4, 2006, 07:59 PM
 
Originally Posted by mduell
I think your clockrate guesses are too low; I expect 2.33-2.66 and 3.0-3.33 for the duals, and 2.66-3.0 for the quad.
Update to self: I think duals will launch at 2.67Ghz/4MB on the high end and 2.4Ghz/4MB or 2.13Ghz/2MB on the low end, creating a $200-300 gap between high and low (probably padded out to $400-500 with GPU, RAM, HDD). Quad probably at 2.4Ghz/4MB if it makes the initial launch, possibly 2.67Ghz/8MB if launched a few months later.

Edit to self: Or perhaps it will be like the PowerBooks, and the top dual will be 2.4 with a $300 upgrade option to 2.67 (puting $100 right into Apple's pocket).
( Last edited by mduell; Apr 4, 2006 at 08:07 PM. )
     
jamil5454
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Apr 5, 2006, 12:33 AM
 
Boy am I glad my Mac requirements don't demand anything more powerful than my current iBook
     
Ilgaz
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Apr 5, 2006, 06:26 PM
 
boot camp announced. That makes (at least me) to be sure where Apple is heading.

We are lucky if Leopard does not turn to be a "$140 utility" running on Vista.. OMG, that was too pessimist.

Whatever. I think Apple is happy to be just another Intel white box manufacturer. Or gray box,whatever
     
slugslugslug
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Apr 9, 2006, 09:42 AM
 
Ilgaz: that has nothing to do with anything.

Originally Posted by mduell
Also, the name will stay PowerMac, just as the iMac name continued. The pro laptop was renamed to add 'Mac' to the name.
Jobs not only said they wanted to add "Mac" to the laptop name, but also that they were kinda over "Power". Plus they trademarked "Mac Pro" recently. So a name change does seem pretty likely, though it's not a forgone conclusion. FWIW, I'd prefer it if they kept "Power Macintosh"", but "Mac Pro", to me, doesn't sound as ridiculous as "MacBookPro"

Originally Posted by anthology123
Apple will not create a system that openly advocates disc to disc copying. Sure you can add an external FW DVD, but that's your choice, not Apple's.
Right, because there are no possible legitimate reasons for copying optical discs.
     
Todd Madson
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Apr 10, 2006, 10:37 AM
 
Unless, of course, you use optical discs to back up your data, ergo, you may need
a backup.

I use recordable DVDs to back-up audio and video projects I work on.

CD-R discs are too small, a DVD can hold an entire session (or the vast majority of it)
without many issues.
     
slugslugslug
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Apr 10, 2006, 11:15 AM
 
ack. I can never do the sarcasm right on the internets. I thought for sure the rolling eyes gave it away.

Yes, I was in fact telling anthology123 that there may be people like you. People who deal with large amounts of data and sometimes back it up in a way that it's easier to make multiple copies of the backup by exporting once and then duping disks.

I'm sure Apple is aware that a big part of the market for high-end desktop Macs consists of people with large amounts of data that they sometimes want to back up onto media that anyone can read. Of course Apple is also aware that most of those people are going to buy whatever Apple gives them, since they're not about to switch to Windows.

At any rate, they clearly acknowledged the potential need for multiple 5.25" drives with the final round of PM G4s, so I believe it was constraints imposed by the cooling system that kept that feature out of the G5s. I don't know enough about the power consumption w/r/t G5-vs-whatever-Intel-chip-is-next to guess what they'll do with the next case, though.
     
 
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