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Apple Previewing New Power Mac?
dunric writes "CNET.com reports that Apple Computer may be previewing a new Power Mac, complete with dual G5 processors and a more advanced memory configuration." The "previewing" isn't intentional, though -- the report is based on service and repair documents distributed last month and reported on AppleInsider.com. AppleInsider has taken down at least one image from their report, but have added an artist's rendering.
Honestly, the life of an Apple product is a lot longer than a typical windows PC. I still use my Powermac 9500 (running 10.3.4) but I have retired my 600Mhz Pentium III.
And how many people do you see driving old BMWs compared to Toyotas? Which looks better?
It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
I moderate therefore I rule!
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Apple hardware is supposed to be where form meets function, the state of the art in personal computers. At several times this has been true and these machines may very well represent that principle from a technical standpoint. Early and recently in Macintosh's lifetime it has been the pinnacle of home computing in many ways. Right now, whatever you think of their politics or their price tags, you have to appreciate their technology. And, at the same time, they havr tended to have some of the most functional and attractive cases in the personal computer market.
So, naturally the Macintosh today attracts both people who want a good-looking computer, and those who want a technogically superior (not in every way, obviously, but it has some serious advantages over "the competition". This hasn't really been true for Apple since the days of the Macintosh II family - when it was young, that is. Arguably they reached that point with the dual G4, and equally arguably with the existence of some of the nice shiny hammer-core processors available now they don't have it at this moment, either, but this is my personal perception :P
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
This is also why rumor sites tend to keep careful track of promotions and discounts from Apple, believing they are efforts to clear out inventories of older models in preparation for a new product launch.
You forget fans of automobiles, they obviously care how their products look!
In fact, it's rather difficult to find fans of anything that don't care how their products look - with x86 computers being the only odd exception. Fans of automobiles, home cinema, audio systems, motorcycles, biking, hiking, surfing, wine tasting etc. - they all care very much about the look. They wouldn't accept the ugliness of a plain, nondescript beige-box like your average PC (try selling such a nondescript surfing board or mountain bike!). Why x86 computer fans accepted it, it's actually a very interesting question.
It doesn't have fins, so it's not a heatsink. Apple's long-stated goal with the thermal design of the G5 was to compartmentalize heat sources; the extension of the box(which appears to be one piece of formed metal) seems purely to help compartmentalize the CPU area more. Wouldn't it be interesting if this was done because the heatsinks are taller? Taller but thinner heatsinks would let you put(ahem) more CPUs into that space. I honestly can't say I think they bumped processor speeds; wasn't IBM at a brick wall in that regard with the G5? Seems like we'd be more likely to see a quad box, although for 90% of even high end users, 4 processors wouldn't be terribly useful.
What is also interesting is that the motherboard has shrunk by a few inches, hence the longer connecting cable in one set of photos; it's a few inches back from the front of the case instead of nearly abutting it.
Please help metamoderate.
it does have fins. The current G5's are just like this. There is just a seperate cover for each.
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Here's a link that spares you the need to scoll past a bunch of ridiculous speculation:
t hreadid=42736#post627583
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?s=&
Also, in the process of looking at the source to figure out how to make the above URL, I found these comments in the HTML starting at line 45:
"DO NOT CHANGE THIS AGAIN
THERE NEEDS TO BE A WAY FOR MEMBERS TO RETURN TO THE CONTENT"
(some HTML code removed here)
"DO NOT EDIT ABOVE THIS LINE
GO FUCK YOURSELF - The Management"
Nice. It's always good to see design arguments that have escalated into profane insults embedded in one's publicly visible HTML source. The least they could do would be to use the scripting language's comment syntax so those little love notes wouldn't be visible to anybody looking at the source code...
A good example is the HP I have sitting next to my mac. When the mac is asleep, a small 1 inch circle of dim light slowly and pleasently pulsates. OTOH, the HP has a huge 3 or 4 inch square of bright blue light that blinks to indicate the machine is asleep. The mac pulsing can be ignored. The HP demands the attention of all in the room. Is this some inferiority complex on the part of HP. I mean it is like a child who screams just to get attention.
The pulsing is a good idea. Unfortunately, the designers at HP just haven't a clue of what the idea is.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black