[in the flesh?]

what do people in this forum think of the chances of an upgrade to the g4 line at the macworld expo on jan 9?

[reader50]

50-200MHz speed bump. We have been at 500MHz for FAR too long, and yields of faster G4's have been slowly going up. By January, Apple should have an adequate supply of faster chips.

Memory upgrades. Radeon will be standard in Better & Best configurations. The low end G4 will go MP.

The linup might look something like this:
400 MP 128MB US$1599 (Rage 128 Pro)
500 MP 256MB US$2499 (Radeon)
600 MP 512MB US$3499 (Radeon)

Possible transition to the UMA-2 chipset for the PowerMac. I would not be willing to bet on it though.

[Kbee]

I would say that the chances of a new G4 at Macworld SF are very very good. Apple is currently running a variety of promos on their current pro offerings. These end December 4th. As I'm sure you know, Apple is clearing excess inventory. Put two and two together, and you'll see that Apple is hoping to be out of PowerMac's and PowerBooks by January. This bodes well for new models being introduced. I would not be surpirsed if we see a refreshed iMac line as well. The cube may change, but the iBook will remain the same. Of course, we're all just speculating.

[This message has been edited by Kbee (edited 11-11-2000).]

I hope Apple does something with the Power Macs. I really dont care if it is a MHz bump, MHz shmegahertz. I just want faster system bus, memory, AGP 4x, fast SCSII or serial ATA, ... I cant think of any thing else

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I hope for some new industrial design for the PowerMac G4 sometime soon. Something a little bit bigger, with more room for drives & stuff would be nice. I'd also like to see some of the Cube accents find there way to the Pro line too - the buttonless button, and maybe a slot loading CD/DVD drive (this may not make sense for pro users, but I'd just prefer a better design than the current CD/DVD drive hinged door thing). A quieter machine (I'm not expecting a fanless professional machine) would be nice and Apple-like, and maybe a forward facing FireWire port

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Eliott Wolfe
Winnetka, Calif

[Richard Clark]

The G4's will be upgraded but the speed will not be anything to write home about.

The Cube will have a price drop.

A multi-button mouse will be released

iMacs will be assimilated into G4's with the new chip Motorola announced a couple months ago.

*Wishful thinking huh???*

[suhail]

The new G4s should have:
At LEAST 128MB RAM.
DVD ROM/RAM Slot-Loading.
Dual G4s 450-600.
FireWire II.
Radeon.
Better internal speaker.
Better looking.

iMacs should have:
DVD for all.
AT LEAST 128MB RAM.
Enhanced 5xColors.
Better looking designs.
Less confusing Configurations (Max.2).
All models should have FireWire and Airport.

PowerBooks should have:
AT LEAST 128MB RAM.
FireWire II.
3Lbs.

Something like that

http://forums.appleinsider.com/

I'm going to wildly speculate for a moment:

Powermac G4 line will be introduced that is based on UMA-2 MoBo with dual processors in all models, ranging from 500-600 MHz. New enclosure will be used that has an additional expansion bay for CDRW (which will be a BTO option). Minimum RAM will be 128 MB (since OS X needs at least 128 MB). Finally, a dual-processor powermac will sell for only 1599 (1699 w/Radeon!).

Cube line will be expanded to three models, all single processor, ranging from 500-600 MHz. The 550 and 600 MHz cubes will be priced like the current 450 and 500 MHz cubes, and the 500 MHz cube priced to go at around $1500. Minimum RAM will be 128 MB. A special edition Cube will be introduced that sports a kookey new color.

Powerbook will be upgraded to G4, with UMA-2 and 500-600 MHz. 15" LCD display.

iMac will be upgraded to G4, with a small speedbump. No 17" monitor, but Radeon and 32 MB vRAM will be included. New styling, new colors. Prices will continue to drop, and the DV SE will be priced to go at 1400. Importantly, an iMac with CDRW will be released, which ties in with the next point...

...iBurn will be released. This will be one of the two "iMovie-like" apps Jobs hinted at. This will enable professional mastering techniques to be applied at home, and it will eat Adaptec's Toast for lunch. Apple will get rave reviews and become respected for finally making a truely "burn-proof" CDRW/software combo. iBurn will quickly become the industry standard of its class. PC users will start turning to Apple in droves.


Now, let me disable the reality distortion field--here's what I really think will happen:

Powermac G4: 50-100 MHz speed bump, nothing else, no new mobo, no new case. Still the same confusing strategy of dual processor for two models, and single processor for one.

Cube: 50-100MHz speed bump, with an extra model. The new model will be a high-end model, and priced waaaaay up there, while the current offerings will remain priced as is (but the rebate will end.). Sales will continue to stagnate.

iMac: New colors, new commercials, same iMac.

Powerbook: Speed-bumped G3 to stay even with the powermac G4's speed. Nothing else new.

The two new iMovie-like apps. will be vaporware for a long time.

[Cipher13]

Apple will never release a multi button mouse. At least not until OSX...
They will not bring the iMac line down to two models.
They will not introduce a third Cube (if they know whats good for them).
G4 with Radeon standard?
I hope so.
iMacs will not get the Radeon.
Low speed bump.
Hopefully larger tower.
CD-RW will not be an option.
Apple will release a DVD authoring application.
I doubt FireWire two.
Now, Apple has always surprised. So whatever I said there? Take it the opposite way
EDIT: I notice no one has mentioned a new portable yet...

Cipher13

[This message has been edited by Cipher13 (edited 11-18-2000).]

[Richard Pinneau]

So the consensus seems to be: A boring January
?�?�

[Misha]

FireWire 2.0 isn't ready yet... in fact, depending on who you ask, it's not even close to being ready. Some are saying late Q1 2001, more are saying Q3 or later in 2001.

Not to mention that FireWire 2.0 features a different kind of port, which means Apple would need to bundle some sort of an adapter or wait until it becomes more widely adoptes (I suspect the latter).

Anyway, I see little point in FireWire 2.0, when most devices come now where near to takind advantage of FireWire 1.0. DV cameras push 100 Mb/sec, drives do about the same. Unless you have numerous such devices hooked up to both your FireWire ports, doubling the speed won't help you. Not to mention that doubling the speed wouldn't help your FireWire 1.0 devices, anyway.

Cipher - I also wonder about the third portable in the matrix...

I feel that Apple is on the verge of releasing a bunch of really great new products in 2001 - on both the software side (hurray!) and the hardware side. The thing that has been hurting Apple the most the past year had been product and development cycle times (beyond Motorola�s problems), and eventually that hard work will be rewarded with new products. Hopefully in the future Apple can get it's development time for software/hardware down to much shorter intervals - but for now I think we can look forward to some really great products released in pretty rapid succession in 2001.


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Eliott Wolfe
Winnetka, Calif

[The Dude]

Hi all! I think that in terms of Firewire updates, we might see Firewire2.0 but I happen to think that we will see another incarnation of FW1.0 or a really snazzy 2.0. When I say snazzy I mean wireless. That's right wireless Firewire. That's what I would bet on.

The only reason I say this is because I once saw a job that entailed working on wireless Firewire on Apple's employment site. You'd be surprised about what you can find there...

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"I drank what?"

-Socrates

[The Dude]

FIRST DOUBLE POST!!!!

YEE-HAWWWW!

(actually it was a fluke )

[This message has been edited by The Dude (edited 11-19-2000).]

[l008com]

So what would you call that? FirePort? FireAir? Fire____?

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L008 Com
Founding Member of the 'translucent' Party!
Vote for me in 2004!
"I didn't invent the internet, I made it better! And I don't even look like my dad!"

[Kbee]

In regards to the new portable, some may recall, that just before the iBook came out, Steve Jobs told shareholders at the annual meeting, that Apple was working on a consumer laptop (iBook), and an ultra light executive laptop. The Cube of laptops, in some ways I hope so, and in other ways I hope not. I think SF is going to be huge. Apple realizes they have their backs to the wall, so they are going to pull out all the stops, and try and come up big. Like original iMac big. My predictions:

PM G4, more RAM, 100-200MHZ speed bump on all models, base remains single processor.
iMac, No G4, Apple needs to differentiate between models. Much faster G3's in line with G4 speed bumps. CDRW finding it's way in there somehow. No 17" boo!
PowerBook, will definitely go G4. It's been a long time coming.
iBook, no change.
Cube no changes spec wise, wait until later 2001, but will drop in price.