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Apple's Dev. Tools Hint @ Dual-core G5 & Quad Mac
Eug writes "Apple just released a new version of its CHUD tools, which provides clues about dual-core G5s and quad core Macs (dual dual-core).
The clues include a reference to the 970MP, which is dual-core G5 with increased L2 cache. Also, there is now support for 4 CPUs, whereas previous versions of these Mac OS X tools only supported 2.
This likely means we'll see dual-core Macs by WWDC, and possibly quad Macs based off these dual-core chips by then too."
Its like IBM in the 60s (boy I feel o-l-d) and the seventies, when all of the trade rags were committing acts of stochastic tittilation trying to perceive the direction that an elephant was going in from a point of view slightly below and in front if its tail.
/null/zero bit-bucket.
Apple is a live player and everybody who can't DO like to play at pre-guessing on ones who can as to what they're actually going to DO.
If they're right, they can claim guru-hood and if they're wrong, they bury the evidence in the
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Main Apache Apple AskSlashdot 5 more Books BSD 1 more Developers 4 more Games 19 more Interviews IT 2 more Linux 1 more Politics Science 5 more YRO 2 more Help FAQ Bugs Stories Old Stories Old Polls Topics Hall of Fame Submit Story About Supporters Code Awards Services Broadband PriceGrabber Product Guide Special Offers Tech Jobs Why rumors? Why rumors? (Score:1) by BWJones (18351) on Friday March 11, @12:06PM (#11911436) (http://prometheus.me...b/pubx_pubx_bwj.html) So, while it is interesting to speculate on what Apple may be doing and where they may be going with various products, I have never really understood the rabid nature of the fan sites and rumor sites. What is the point with rumors? Can anybody explain that to me?
Well, for one, why do people like to reada about Linux? people want information on the stuff they're interested in and since Apple is pretty closed lip about such things the only news are rumors. Two, Apples updates happen fairly less frequent than general updates in the PC world. With things less fluid, it becomes advantageous to perhaps wait a few weeks or months before makign a large purchase, especially for a business if you might get 25% preformance boost for doing so. Since the upgrade cycle is longer on Macs typcially, that means more work out of those machines for a longer time. Paying attention to such release schedules can pay off even if you are planning to get current models. If you find out that a new release is coming out, that usually means the current one will be discounted. While it's possible to a refund if the change happens very near you purchase date, sometimes it's less hassle to simply wait.
I am convinced thay have missed the boat until now. They need to make a PC crusher at the top of their line, something that is so much faster than any PC for creative work that no one would dare say any PC is faster.
They got a lot of attention and doubting when they introed "The World's Fastest Personal Computer" when they came out with the G5. What they need to do is actually make that come true beyond anyone's doubt, and then keep up with it. To hell with what it costs - if they sold those IIfx's for 10K back in 1993 they can do the same thing today but even better for far less money.
This time, make that boast true, and shove it straight down the naysayers throats.
For one thing, some people are egotistical enough to want the latest and greatest thing. It may not be the smartest thing in the world, but it's very human. The longer you have the latest and greatest thing, the more ego satisfaction it brings you. So the optimal strategy is to buy the system when it first comes out and to hope that when you have the budget for it, something even greater will come out to replace it.
I have what was the lastest and greatest thing a year and a half ago: The PowerMac G5 2.0ghz dual processor system. It's been through a revision or two since then, but nothing earth-shattering.
You would be right about wanting to buy the system you need today, but if you already have a system that's working well, such as my 2.0ghz dual processor G5 I bought a year and a half ago, things are different. Do I want to get the 2.5ghz revision, or do I want to wait until it gets to 3.0ghz? This is particularly interesting since I do work that would enormously benefit from a quad-processor system.
So in this respect, rumors are valuable since they help us see ahead, even if through an Apple-created fog. Apple hates them because they want me to buy my 2.5ghz system today. At the same time, I had decided at the time the system was introduced that the small performance improvement probably wasn't worth it. So I'm stuck, but rumor sites give me something to look forward to.
Hope that helps.
D
CHUD tools are most useful for testing products, but they happen to have some utility for those of us who want to tweak our computers at home. The latest release indicates that the developers have modularized the product and made it more adaptable when chips change.
What's likely happened is that Apple will get hot under the collar about the way these tools can inadvertantly indicate possible future plans. They used to release WWDC sessions on Quicktime CD's for free (back in 98 or 99). They used to not make developers sign their life away in non-disclosure agreements. They used to allow more access to developer docs, tools, and seeds to the dedicated hobbyist. Now these are all restricted because of leaks that have come from eager fans searching resource forks, out of context remarks, and misunderstood uses as "evidence of Apple's future plans".
If no quad processors are actually in the production pipeline, this rumor will be forgotten. If there is something that has been revealed by the Chud tools, it's more likely that Chud tools will be even more restricted and difficult to get hold of. Slowing down development as developers fear for their jobs for accidentally including a reference to a product they may know nothing about (e.g. Asteroid, a cpu number, a code name, etc.)
It's not like these strings tell you any useful information. Since Apple has a lengthy design, testing and production pipeline all it really says is we might have some new tech in a couple of years if it seems like a good marketing move. There's no pricing, case design, release dates, or anything marketing related in these leaks. In fact, since Apple is strongly dependent on a suprising and innovative marketing aura these leaks and speculations probably worsen that marketability.
One other example: the rumors sites have seen some "evidence" in seed releases that Apple will be making a push to release OS X on x86 chips. That may be the case, but more than likely they're confusing efforts to make a Window's user's transition to a Mac easier as "evidence" that Apple is moving to x86. All that happens is that OS X users will be disappointed that future releases don't run on the x86 line as their speculative "evidence" promised.
Get over the obsession with the rumors; you're only setting youreself up for disappointment.
Even though Apple Computer's stock is pretty high in regards to the P/E ratio (ever since the iPod got the investors' interest), I still think it might be a good buy for the future.
I agree. You won't make any money off of dividends, but my own belief (and Wall Street's consensus, for what that is worth) is that AAPL is a good buy. I'm hoping that when Apple holds their next earnings call that we will find out that the Mac mini has sold absolute gangbusters, and that it will allow the market's focus upon the success of the iPod to be somewhat psychologically replaced by the success of the mini.
Unfortunately, I didn't get in on either stock on the ground floor, and even though they went up pretty high now I think they both might still be great buys for the future.
Apple, yes. Google, not so sure. Apple is consistently coming out with products that make money, and their recent stock split have brought their stock back to more reasonable levels. Google is still trading at around $180/share, and that to my mind is far too high a price to pay given their current revenues. They're profitable, I just don't know about $180/share profitable.
Difficult to see, the future is. *shrug* For whatever reason my inner Warren Buffet says "buy AAPL, wait on GOOG".
You have to do a click-through NDA just to get the -current- version ( 4.0.1 ) of the CHUD tools, I don't want to think about where this guy got his clearly pre-release copy of CHUD 4.1.0.
Are there sites that show off pre-release Microsoft software covered by NDAs? Where can you get the unannounced plans for Intel's next big thing? Why is it that people don't expect Apple to sue their pants off when they report this stuff ??
Don't get me wrong, I'm big on freedom of speech, press, and just about anything else, but... if it was my company whose not-publicly-announced-plans were being outed all over the internet, I'd be pissed, and probably suing, if just to find the source of the leak and fire someone.
Clearly, Apple's not going to make too big a deal out of this, since it's info in an app that anyone can download ( after creating a free account and clicking past an NDA ) , but still... I certainly wouldn't put this kind of stuff up on *my* website without a sure way to keep the lawyers at bay. On the other hand, since the noted version isn't actually available _yet_, they might sue... maybe it wasn't going to go out until after Apple announced quad-processor plans. Given Apple's recent lawsuits ( and court victories ) in this area, I'd think people would be a *little* more careful what they blog, but I guess not. Eug looks pretty annon, I don't know what you have to do to get an EverythingApple blog going, maybe he feels that Apple just can't get to him. For his sake, I hope he's right.
In any event, it'll be interesting to see how long AnythingApple can keep this page up, and I am definitely keeping my eye out for a new CHUD update...
quad G5s?? Damn, I almost forgot to drool about that !! 64-bit number-crunching goodness!!
Why do bored housewives care about what was on Paris Hilton's handheld ? Why is Michael Jackson's trial big news ? Who are Brad and Jen and why do so many people care?? How many people read US Weekly?!?
God help us, I don't know why, but reading tech rumor sites is the geek equivalent, what's so hard to understand? It beats doing actual work... I don't care what happens to hollywood celebs, and politics is just painful to watch, so reading up on my favorite tech is great entertainment. Probably a lot of the folks reading these sites are checking CNet and /. and google news as well. I know I am.
But by any standard, Apple is one of the more interesting tech companies out there, definitely one of the more unique ones, so it really shouldn't be hard for you to see why it's so popular as a rumor subject. Almost nobody is really checking rumor sites to make purchasing decisions. It's just our form of US Weekly.
is not it time for the Slashdot Apple desktop icon to be updated to reflect the current desktop line? i.e. G5.
Is that really the thing /. needs to work on the most?? I'm sure there are more important features of the site that could use some attention... but most important of all, what should the icon be? A G5 PowerMac? A Mac mini? A G5 iMac? An Xserve? I guess it should be a G5 PowerMac, but a Mac mini or G5 iMac might be the more common machine...
This is not a rumor about another dual-core chip. There is no mention of a chip at all. Apple uses IBM chips,and, as you mention, "IBM has been doing it for a while."
This is about Apple's diagnostic and performance tools supporting more than 2 CPU cores. The implication is, whatever prototypes Apple's working on needs these tools *right now.*
Further, Apple is not much of a server vendor. XServe is great, sure, but it's not how Apple makes its money. You can bet that, if Apple's going 4-way, it's going to have 4-way desktops or workstations.
Windows XP, on the other hand, does not yet support more than two logical CPUs. So any dual-core chip used on an XP box would be by itself...a two-way box. 4-way or larger Windows boxes would have to run Server 2003. Windows Server is not usually blessed for use on personal machines. (Though plenty of people do it.)
So what's the point? The point is, four cores on your desk, not in your closet.