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New Mac System Specs

xyankee writes " Think Secret appears to be dishing more of the dirt that Apple loves to hate so much, this time dropping details on updated Power Mac G5, iMac G5, and eMac systems soon to be released. Looks like speed bumps all around: Power Macs get to 2.7GHz, iMacs to 2GHz, and eMacs to 1.42GHz. Video cards and SuperDrives are also upgraded."

14 of 650 comments (clear)

  1. Slow learners? by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 5, Interesting


    If my memory serves, a judge passed a ruling on this a little while ago. Shouldn't they be at least slowing down a bit while this is resolved? And if not, why didn't someone give some sort of cease-and desist order?

    (Disclaimer: IANAL, and watching them on TV gives me a headache.)

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  2. No word yet... by daveschroeder · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...on whether these use the already-known-to-exist IBM PowerPC 970MP, a dual core version of the G5. This could mean that we'd have >2.5GHz dual-dual core Power Mac systems.

    Further, an update to Apple's CHUD tools (subsequently pulled) had clear references to quad processor capability, as well as references to the 970MP, and the single core 970GX.

    What could essentially be called "quad G5" systems (including Xserves) are just a matter of time. And with dual >1GHz frontside busses and PC3200 DDR RAM (8GB max in Power Mac, 16GB max (also ECC) in Xserve), these machines are nothing to sneeze at.

    What will be interesting to see is when the Power Macs will have PCI-X and Blu-Ray. From the most current round of rumors, it looks like that's still another upgrade away...

    1. Re:No word yet... by zhiwenchong · · Score: 5, Funny

      Boy this reminds me of DOS days:

      XMS - eXtended Memory Specification
      EMS - Expanded Memory Specification - uses page frames

      Confused the heck out of most non-techies....

      And then we had:
      USB 2.0 Full-speed (12 Mbps)
      USB 2.0 Hi-speed (480 Mbps)

      And:

      Victorinox - Original Swiss Army Knife
      Wenger - Genuine Swiss Army Knife

    2. Re:No word yet... by doggkruse · · Score: 5, Informative

      Tiger is supposed to include this feature:

      Fine Grain Locking (SMP scalability)
      Enjoy improved performance and scalability.

      see http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/unix/

  3. They've ditched the plumbing/new iMac video by thatguywhoiam · · Score: 5, Insightful
    ... on the old dual 2.5 G5. Thats a good thing I think. As impressive as the system was, there's something (irrational) in my mind that just gets nervous about things like that. I'm worried that the... juice... will leak out onto the mobo.

    Nice to see the iMac getting a more decent video card. (Yes, I know it probably 'sux0rs for gam3z' but honestly, a mediocre gaming card these days will slay practically any other reasonable computing task. It makes me laugh when you see the gamers dis something like, say, a nVidia 5200. That card sucks rocks! but it will also do realtime previews in Motion on uncompressed DV. That used to take some heavy hardware. Just sayin'.)

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  4. Midplane by akira69 · · Score: 5, Informative

    So, do you think they fixed the midplane capacitor issue? I've had to replace one already, and the replacement didn't work... I'm still trying to get my 20" iMac working again. Any insight on this? I really hope they redesigned the board!

  5. No Mac mini upgrade? by OlivierB · · Score: 5, Funny

    Looks like all the systems are beefing up the Video Cards to support the latest and the best from Tiger (i.e. at least 64Mb and programmable GPU required to support core image).

    As much as I like my Mac mini, I am torn apart wishing they would either#:
    a) upgrade their video cars to something like an ATI 9600 with 64 Mb of Ram
    b) don't change anything so I won't feel the *URGE* to upgrade to a Higher Spec Mac Mini.

    ARgg, Apple has embraced drug dealer like methods; I am now hooked and I won't be able to quench my thirst until something else hits my desk!

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    Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity
  6. document tracing technologies by Fox_1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Two eMac models, code-named Q86J
    I remember reading about different techniques to track leaks of top secret documents from the CIA, one method was to use synonyms of different words in each copy of the document and see if the leaks used the same synonyms in their materials. While I doubt the code-name is an example of this, I wonder in Apple's quest to track it's leaks what kind of internal tracking/security features it's using for documents about new products.

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    The rock, the vulture, and the chain
    1. Re:document tracing technologies by jcuffe · · Score: 5, Informative

      The canary trap IIRC. Tom Clancy made a big deal about that with his main character throughout most of his novels. Apparently the way it works was to make many different copies of the documents, using a program to vary the punctuation and word choice. It's a remarkably elegant solution, and if Apple isn't doing this now, I don't know what the hell their problem is.

  7. Re:But what about the PowerBooks!? by argent · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Because a G5 powerbook is "the mother of all thermal challenges" (direct quote from Apple).

    You don't want a G5 powerbook. You want a dual-G4 powerbook. the new Freescale dual-G4 chip breaks the G4 166 MHz system bus bottleneck, *and* gives you dual-core as well. It would breeze past any underclocked G5 Apple could fit in a laptop the size of a Powerbook.

  8. Re:Still waiting... by MarcQuadra · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No it wouldn't. There's little to no benefits from 64-bit computing on a portable. The G5 was built for machines that can draw a fair amount of wattage. A G5 PowerBook would be hotter, larger, and more power hungry than a machine based on Freescale's 8641 series, a branch off the G4 family.

    The only limiting factor of the G4 today is the memory bus, which Freescale has to keep compatible with the ancient 60x bus because of their other clients (like Cisco). The 8641 is a G4 with a totally rebuilt memory controller onboard and RapidIO, an alternative to HyperTransport.

    You'd be happier with an 8641-based PowerBook than a 970-based PowerBook. Trust me.

    I do think Apple will _call_ the 8641-based laptops 'G5's though, they'll say it has to do with the 'generation of the technology, not a specific type of CPU'.

    --
    "Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
  9. This is good by darien · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's got to be good for Apple's marketing that their MHz ratings are properly competing with modern PCs nowadays. The whole "MHz myth" argument always sounded a bit weak, even though I knew intellectually that it was a fair point.

  10. Re:Buy a powermac now, upgrade in 2 weeks? by bombadillo · · Score: 5, Funny

    "And the project is due in a week and a half.

    What to do, what to do.... Argh...


    For starters you could quit pratting around reading \. and start the project.

  11. Re:Smaller portable needs. by Digital+Pizza · · Score: 5, Funny
    I spend so much time using my 12 inch in bed, often holding it up above my head.

    Braggart.

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