[deaglecat]

fwiw, apple has been putting "refurb" g5 powermacs and minis on the UK refurb store for the past few weeks. ... could be an indicator of tuesday's newa... after all they don't want to hold too much old inventory when the switch comes!

[Lateralus]

They always have refurbs in the refurb store. What's your point...

[version]

Not sure if this is an indicator of anything, but I bought a few dual-core PMs from the UK store nearly 2 weeks ago. Thing is, they told me I'd have to wait 8 days for them to be built, and then shipped out. I got them within 3 days. Pretty cool. The other thing is that they all came in the original G5 boxes, not the brown ones that you normally get with refurbs. The machines themselves look like they were brand new, and perhaps were only opened up to check the packaging.

So, either these were open boxes (somebody bought them but returned them unused), or brand new stock, or simply they had a number of PMs that were refurbisjed already and ready to go.

Pretty chuffed, though.

[Eriamjh]

It's not an indicator of anytthing. There have been refurbed Dual 2.5 and 2.7 Gs in the US store for months. Quads showed up a few weeks back.

Stop seeing something when it is nothing.

[deaglecat]

Ah but the UK refurb store is different. They used to just open on a Weds and often sell out of the more desirable by the end of the day. But recently, they have been open every day for the past few weeks and the still haven't sold out.

I remember buying a 2nd Gen Ipod from this store just before the 3rd Gen came out. It was brand new.

I suspect that Apple use the refurb store to sell down stock as well as to clear out returns. Not long to wait now though !

[Lateralus]

Considering that the chips Apple wants to use in the Intel towers aren't coming out until the 4th quarter, yeah, there is plenty of time to wait.

[deaglecat]

if true, sad that the existing top of the range g5 lineup is getting so left behind....

[P]

In what way is it getting left behind? It's still the fastest, most expandable machines Apple sells.

[mduell]

New PowerMacs are not coming Tuesday. The right chips may hit in Q2 (Sossaman w/ 64-bit) or Q3 (Kentsfield may be early, since Clovertown is reportedly ahead of schedule), but may not be available until Q4; either way, nothing is ready in Q1.

[Todd Madson]

That's even later than I heard. At any rate, people are getting great deals on G5s
I've seen. 2.5s, 2.7s and even some DC machines. I still maintain that I want a
quad.

[Kdog01]

I personally can't wait much longer. I have really enjoyed my powerbook over the last year and a half since switching to apple, but I really want a powermac. A G5 would be nice, but being so close to new powermacs, I have to think they will come out by this summer.

[shawmanus]

Wont conroe be used in powermacs before kentsfield. Looking at intel roadmaps conroe will be first of NGMA to release early Q3. Powermac with Conroe XE should be interesting.

Originally Posted by mduell

New PowerMacs are not coming Tuesday. The right chips may hit in Q2 (Sossaman w/ 64-bit) or Q3 (Kentsfield may be early, since Clovertown is reportedly ahead of schedule), but may not be available until Q4; either way, nothing is ready in Q1.

[Steve's Sanity]

Remember, everyone was clamoring for an Intel mini, and look at the result. It will be a sad day indeed when the Intel infection spreads to the tower line. Oh, and they won't be called Power Macs anymore, which is good because they'll just be glorified Intel PC. With the PPC thrown away, there's no more "Power"; Apple can never again have any possible lead whatsoever on PCs.

[shawmanus]

Originally Posted by Steve's Sanity

Remember, everyone was clamoring for an Intel mini, and look at the result. It will be a sad day indeed when the Intel infection spreads to the tower line. Oh, and they won't be called Power Macs anymore, which is good because they'll just be glorified Intel PC. With the PPC thrown away, there's no more "Power"; Apple can never again have any possible lead whatsoever on PCs.

I dont think current pentium 4 chips would match power processors, but NGMA is whole new ballgame. I think they will match and exceed current Power processors. Apple went with Intel bcos of NGMA and not bcos of current offerings.

[Todd Madson]

They won't use Pentium IV chips - that is a dead end architecture.

They MUST have 64-bit and they MUST be equivalent or better than the
current systems to induce people to migrate.

And I certainly won't migrate until at least the third or fourth generation
anyway - my tower is still basically new.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by shawmanus

Wont conroe be used in powermacs before kentsfield. Looking at intel roadmaps conroe will be first of NGMA to release early Q3. Powermac with Conroe XE should be interesting.

Conroe is fine for the duals, but they need Kentsfield for a quad (since the SMP capable chips wont be out at launch).

[shawmanus]

Originally Posted by mduell

Conroe is fine for the duals, but they need Kentsfield for a quad (since the SMP capable chips wont be out at launch).

Ok Thanks. So 2 conroes will not help. How about woodcrest. Since that is for workstation/servers wont a motherboard support 2 procs.

Eitherway its unlikely we will see kentsfield this year. Cloverton might make it end of this year, but like presler last year we wont see volume shipment until Q1. Kentsfield will make it after that. So Q1 2007 looks like earliest launch date.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by shawmanus

Ok Thanks. So 2 conroes will not help. How about woodcrest. Since that is for workstation/servers wont a motherboard support 2 procs.

Eitherway its unlikely we will see kentsfield this year. Cloverton might make it end of this year, but like presler last year we wont see volume shipment until Q1. Kentsfield will make it after that. So Q1 2007 looks like earliest launch date.

Woodcrest would work for a quad. What makes you think Cloverton will beat Kentsfield out the door? Historically the non-SMP chips have been out first.

[shawmanus]

Originally Posted by mduell

Woodcrest would work for a quad. What makes you think Cloverton will beat Kentsfield out the door? Historically the non-SMP chips have been out first.

Intel needs Clovertown more than Kentsfield. So they will try to release Clovertown as soon as possible. But Conroe needs some time in the market before they release kentsfield.

Hey you could be right and kentsfield based systems will get released Q4. If it does I would love to pick one.

[WizOSX]

If there is an "omen" of a forthcoming PowerMac, it seems to me it is the coming 10.4.6. Since that seems to be coming in about 4-6 weeks, I would guess that we will see an Intel PM within 6 weeks. There doesn't seem to be any other compelling reason to get 10.4.6 out that fast otherwise.

[yaro]

Is there a hidden clue in 10.4.6 that herald the coming of the Towers?

[P]

Originally Posted by WizOSX

If there is an "omen" of a forthcoming PowerMac, it seems to me it is the coming 10.4.6. Since that seems to be coming in about 4-6 weeks, I would guess that we will see an Intel PM within 6 weeks. There doesn't seem to be any other compelling reason to get 10.4.6 out that fast otherwise.

Could be any reason at all, really. Maybe the target for 10.4.6 isn't that challenging and they figure that's the time they need? Maybe they have a bunch of optimizations for the Intel macs that they want to get out? Maybe it's support for the Apple Pro apps?

Why release an Intel PM now, when absolutely NO Pro apps have been ported and the intended CPU isn't out yet? Even if all the rumors are true, and Sossaman includes all the 64-bit opcodes and arrives with an FSB of 1.33 GHz (unlikely, at best), the best choice for any Pro user today is a Powermac G5. Only after Conroe is relased does the equation even begin to change.

[harrisjamieh]

What I want to know is why the codenames for all of Intels new procesors are so absurd! They all sound so 'nature-ish'

[rhashem]

Originally Posted by harrisjamieh

What I want to know is why the codenames for all of Intels new procesors are so absurd! They all sound so 'nature-ish'

All of Intel's processor codenames are geographical locations chosen by the team that designed the processor. Most of the "nature" sounding ones refer to places in the northwest United States, since the design team is in Portland, Oregon. Most of the "Bible" sounding ones (Yonah, Merom, Conroe), refer to places around Haifa, Israel, where the design team for those processors is based.

[WizOSX]

Originally posted by P
Could be any reason at all, really. Maybe the target for 10.4.6 isn't that challenging and they figure that's the time they need?

True. I guess I was just saying that the date for 10.4.6 is probably a better indicator than the stock of refurbs.

[Lateralus]

Originally Posted by rhashem

All of Intel's processor codenames are geographical locations chosen by the team that designed the processor. Most of the "nature" sounding ones refer to places in the northwest United States, since the design team is in Portland, Oregon. Most of the "Bible" sounding ones (Yonah, Merom, Conroe), refer to places around Haifa, Israel, where the design team for those processors is based.

Then I wonder why they're using 'Tulsa' as the codename for their next Xeon chip. AFAIK, Intel doesn't have a presence anywhere near here.

[rhashem]

Originally Posted by Lateralus

Then I wonder why they're using 'Tulsa' as the codename for their next Xeon chip. AFAIK, Intel doesn't have a presence anywhere near here.

There is an Intel design team in Austin, Texas, and there was a town in Texas in the '30s called Tulsa. Perhaps there is still some place there (not a city) that still bears the name.

[P]

Originally Posted by rhashem

All of Intel's processor codenames are geographical locations chosen by the team that designed the processor. Most of the "nature" sounding ones refer to places in the northwest United States, since the design team is in Portland, Oregon. Most of the "Bible" sounding ones (Yonah, Merom, Conroe), refer to places around Haifa, Israel, where the design team for those processors is based.

There is one team in India as well - some of the codenames are from around there - and one more in another part of the US that designs the Itanic CPUs. Some of the names are rather absurdly unspecific - remember Coppermine? - so I wonder if they don't just throw darts at a local map.

TAN: The initial names for all the Apple fonts with the first Mac were stops along a local train in Pennsylvania from where two of the developers used to live. It was later changed into major cities by Jobs, who liked to think big.

Windows versions are also named this way - Windows 95 was Chicago (prompting Apple to call System 7.5 Capone, from Chicago's greatest fear), and Windows XP was Whistler, from Whistler Mountain. The next version was supposed to be Blackcomb, but then they decided to do a half-way version and named it after a pub halfway between Whistler and Blackcomb - The Longhorn Pub.

[Eug Wanker]

WWDC is August, so I'm guessing September for Intel Tower Macs.

[P]

Would fit with them using Conroe in it. If they decide on using Woodcrest (the server version) instead, it might be a little later.