970MP - Still Coming?

[law guy]

Im totaly in your shues.
Im waiting, i guess till september if i need, but im getting a dual 2.3Ghz. Im just hopeing for a price cut.

Right now i have a 1Ghz iBook, do you think there will be an Extreem performance boost, or just an increase in performance?

I think there's a BIG performance difference just between my Dual 1.42 G4 PM and my 1.5 GHz PB. The dual processors make a HUGE difference in some applications. Given the big performance gains of dual processing between my dual G4 and my single PB G4, I can only imagine that a dual on something more than a 167 MHz FSB with faster RAM better graphics cards, etc. would make a astounding difference.

 

[Mord]

i searched the main page and yesterday two results came up, anyway my thinking is that the search covers documents which have an extra internal developer bit which we are not allowed to see but it comes up on the search.

 

[ZLurker]

i searched the main page and yesterday two results came up, anyway my thinking is that the search covers documents which have an extra internal developer bit which we are not allowed to see but it comes up on the search.

I bet we will se them in a high end machine this summer(wwdc)/fall(paris).

 

[Frobozz]

I think that you can feel secure about you investment lasting till 2010. I'm currently using a Power Mac G4 that I purchased September 1st 2000. No hardware problems at all. Apple means quality.

I have to agree. My DP 1 GHz Quicksilver is still very relevant. It's very usable. A graphics card update gave me all the life I needed to get through 4 years. And, unless I want to play the latest games on my Mac, OS X and all my other tasks should be fine.

The only question will be if I end up doing a lot of 3D again. Then you can never have enough horsepower.

I think I'll be getting a new PowerMac sometime this fall or spring of next year, and retire my DP 1 GHz as a web/media server.

 

[myapplseedshurt]

BINGO! I'll write up his script:
....
....

... kiddies at home watching the live stream pee their pants and run circles around the coffee table)"

I do that now, and I DON'T need a WWDC announcement to do it!!!

 

[DavidCar]

Didn't Steve say today that there were still new PowerPC systems in the pipeline? So the question of this thread remains, is the 970MP still coming?

 

[scu]

Didn't Steve say today that there were still new PowerPC systems in the pipeline? So the question of this thread remains, is the 970MP still coming?

I really think so. This move to Intel is long term in nature. In the short term IBM will continue to deliver new PowerPC chips. According to the WSJ the first macs with Intel will be the Mac Mini. This would mean at least 18 months of no PowerMacs with Intel chips. IBM will have more upgrades until then

I have never been more excited to be a Mac Fanatic. Now I am hoping but doubt it ; Those 970MP will be less expensive since most will wait for the faster Intel chips of 2007. Most Mac Addicts will hang on to the PowerPC as long as possible and will most likely keep demand high enough to maintain high prices on those new Machines

 

[DakotaGuy]

I really think so. This move to Intel is long term in nature. In the short term IBM will continue to deliver new PowerPC chips. According to the WSJ the first macs with Intel will be the Mac Mini. This would mean at least 18 months of no PowerMacs with Intel chips. IBM will have more upgrades until then

I have never been more excited to be a Mac Fanatic. Now I am hoping but doubt it ; Those 970MP will be less expensive since most will wait for the faster Intel chips of 2007. Most Mac Addicts will hang on to the PowerPC as long as possible and will most likely keep demand high enough to maintain high prices on those new Machines

They probably will come if Apple lets them. I don't think they will however. What if these things turn out to be real beasts that kill Intel products? Sure would not want to dump something that is faster for something that is slower.

 

[Multimedia]

Dual Core PowerBook G4 this year?

I really think so. This move to Intel is long term in nature. In the short term IBM will continue to deliver new PowerPC chips. According to the WSJ the first macs with Intel will be the Mac Mini. This would mean at least 18 months of no PowerMacs with Intel chips. IBM will have more upgrades until then

I have never been more excited to be a Mac Fanatic. Now I am hoping but doubt it ; Those 970MP will be less expensive since most will wait for the faster Intel chips of 2007. Most Mac Addicts will hang on to the PowerPC as long as possible and will most likely keep demand high enough to maintain high prices on those new Machines

It;s gonna be hard for me to rationalize an escalation beyond the NEW dual 2.5 I scored Saturday at Fry's for $1999. Such a deal. It makes my old dual 2 seem very slow by comparison. I think a dual core G4 PowerBook has got to be the near term PowerBook solution. Anyone know how far off mass production of those chips are?

 

[heisetax]

Only minor upgrades to come!

I think there's a BIG performance difference just between my Dual 1.42 G4 PM and my 1.5 GHz PB. The dual processors make a HUGE difference in some applications. Given the big performance gains of dual processing between my dual G4 and my single PB G4, I can only imagine that a dual on something more than a 167 MHz FSB with faster RAM better graphics cards, etc. would make a astounding difference.

I would think that Apple wouldn't invest in a new motherboard for the G5. That would mean just modest speed upgrades, i.e. more of the same. What incentive does Apple have to do anything new, then axe it in less than a year. So to me that would mean no pc/express for video or other use. No 970mp or any new processor.

Mac sales will probably be limited to the die-hard Mac user. That would mean that optional purchasers & switchers would drop out of sight until a new platform is shown to work. But as others have mentioned prices will still remain high. With low sales Steve will say, look, I was correct in dropping the inferior PPC & going with the more powerful Intel processors. How many out there remember when MHz did not matter & the PPC was better than even 50-100% faster Pentiums. Which time were we lied to, or was it both? Steve is a salesman, so I never have believed a word of what he had to say. But I have used Macs for 21 years now & will into the future. At least until my current hardware & software will work. That should be at least 5 years & maybe as long as 10. With what I have spent in the past, that should really mean a better easier life.

Good-bye Steve,

Bill the TaxMan

 

[Flynnstone]

The PowerPC is a better processor.
The problem/solution is that Intel has a better roadmap than IBM or Freescale.
It seems that Freescale is happy to work more in the embedded area. IBM seems to want to work in the game console area. So what is Apple to do? Well .. INtel is happy to work in the desktop area.

 

[aussie_geek]

The PowerPC is a better processor.
The problem/solution is that Intel has a better roadmap than IBM or Freescale.
It seems that Freescale is happy to work more in the embedded area. IBM seems to want to work in the game console area. So what is Apple to do? Well .. INtel is happy to work in the desktop area.

I agree. IBM is interested in CELL's and Playstation 3 - they would be stupid not to be considering the sheer volume of CPU's required for PS3's. Literally millions of them will be made.....

I am sure we would all like a CELL processor in our Mac's but I think that will happen in a few years from now. Cell is a vector based chip if I am not mistaken - not really compatible for personal computing at this time.

Has Intel got a CELL project in works at the moment?


aussie_geek

 

[DeepIn2U]

The PowerPC is a better processor.
The problem/solution is that Intel has a better roadmap than IBM or Freescale.
It seems that Freescale is happy to work more in the embedded area. IBM seems to want to work in the game console area. So what is Apple to do? Well .. INtel is happy to work in the desktop area.

I agree whole heartedly with your 1st statement.

Intel's roadmap is better than IBM or Freescale? For what cpu? x86 with Windows compatibility thats what. Where is their mention of Apple cpu development?? I see none on their site. We probably wont see anything if that until June or July next year.

 

[Mord]

Mac sales will probably be limited to the die-hard Mac user. That would mean that optional purchasers & switchers would drop out of sight until a new platform is shown to work. But as others have mentioned prices will still remain high.

quite the opposite, apples loyal user base will be alienated, few actual users or "switchers" know about whats involved with the switch to x86 or even care, apple is not going out of there way to tell anyone and they wont, it's just us who sit for an hour whenever a keynote is on or actually reads the apple hot news feed. it's not as bad as people may think, 10.5 will support the powerpc and probably 10.6 just like OS 7&8 did with the 68k, and universal binaries will carry on untill at least 2012 as developers care about user base not market share. and not for a while will there be more intel mac users than ppc mac users.

 

[Mr Maui]

"3 GHz in a Year" !!!

"Complete transition by the end of 2007" !!!!

2.5 years is a long time and a LOT can happen.

Get your "eggs" ready people!!

 

[rt_brained]

...few actual users or "switchers" know about whats involved with the switch to x86 or even care...

They may not care, but you can bet that once the move to Intel takes place, the biggest PR hurdle Apple is going to have get past with potential switchers is the Rosetta emulation stop gap. The assertion that, "Macs are slower than PCs because Mac software can't run natively on Intel chips" will likely perpetuate LONG after the software becomes native.

Remember the MHz myth? Do you know how many of the "Mac Curious" STILL address the MHz differences between Macs and PCs?

Do you know how many of these folks are SURPRISED to learn that software titles like "MS Office Suite" and "Quickbooks Pro" are available for the Mac platform?

Potential "switchers" may not know or care about the switch to x86, but they ARE affected by negative rumors about Apple that are spread by their PC brethren.

In the long run, the move to Intel may prove a positive move for Apple, but most of us would have rather seen PC makers (Dell, Toshiba, Gateway, et. al.) with egg on their face, forced to give up Intel hardware for IBM or Motorola.

 

[DavidCar]

After reading Hannibal's article on Ars Technica, my guess is that the 970MP is still coming.

http://arstechnica.com/columns/mac/mac-20050608.ars

Why? Because in six months it should finally be available, and it will be better than what Intel will have to offer at that point. That is why the switch to Intel will begin with low end models. In another year after that there will be an Intel chip better than the 970MP, at which point the PowerMacs will make the switch.

The point about the expense of designing another PPC PowerMac motherboard seems reasonable, but my guess is it has already been designed, possibly including PCIe. We've heard reports about the 970MP for about a year, starting with a description on ThinkSecret, as I recall, and reports that they've had samples for testing since January. So I expect the design is ready to go.

 

[Dr.Gargoyle]

quite the opposite, apples loyal user base will be alienated, few actual users or "switchers" know about whats involved with the switch to x86 or even care, apple is not going out of there way to tell anyone and they wont, it's just us who sit for an hour whenever a keynote is on or actually reads the apple hot news feed. it's not as bad as people may think, 10.5 will support the powerpc and probably 10.6 just like OS 7&8 did with the 68k, and universal binaries will carry on untill at least 2012 as developers care about user base not market share. and not for a while will there be more intel mac users than ppc mac users.

Don't you think that the rumor will spread out rather fast to the normal consumer? Imagine the sales persons at Best Buy... I doubt they will hold back.
My guess is that even the Apple loyalists will hesitate to cough up with $3k for the top of the line PM... Still I might be wrong. It would certainly not be the first time.

 

[Flynnstone]

The PowerPC & Apple may not end. I see the transition period as a shot at IBM to piss or get off the pot. If IBM or Freescale for that matter comes out with a super duper PowerPC 999xxx that is better than Intel's offerings, Apple is in a position to use it. (Microsoft can't). Apple is well positioned.
Microsoft is x86, OS X is simply not that limited.
So don't think Steve let down the MacHeads, he actually built a very sturdy foundation.

 

[Tech^salvager]

The PowerPC & Apple may not end. I see the transition period as a shot at IBM to piss or get off the pot. If IBM or Freescale for that matter comes out with a super duper PowerPC 999xxx that is better than Intel's offerings, Apple is in a position to use it. (Microsoft can't). Apple is well positioned.
Microsoft is x86, OS X is simply not that limited.
So don't think Steve let down the MacHeads, he actually built a very sturdy foundation.

Well MS isn't in a postition to use it, but what do you mean they can't? Last I checked neither is the NT kernel that limited

 

[iMeowbot]

Well MS isn't in a postition to use it, but what do you mean they can't? Last I checked neither is the NT kernel that limited

Yep. There is (or was until January) XP on Itanic, and there used to be versions of NT for PowerPC, Alpha and MIPS.

There are viable emulation possibilities for all those x86 binaries, not only Transitive's stuff but HP's old FX!32 technology too.

 

[Tech^salvager]

Yep. There is (or was until January) XP on Itanic, and there used to be versions of NT for PowerPC, Alpha and MIPS.

There are viable emulation possibilities for all those x86 binaries, not only Transitive's stuff but HP's old FX!32 technology too.

MS is gonna contuine support of ia64(itanium). FX!32 really came from DEC but since HP bought them yeah I guess you can say that.

 

[iMeowbot]

MS is gonna contuine support of ia64(itanium).

They scaled it down to server stuff. XP on Itanic is dead.

FX!32 really came from DEC

Nah, DEC was already dead by then, that was Digital.

but since HP bought them

Or rather, Palmer murdered it.

 

[wdlove]

The PowerPC & Apple may not end. I see the transition period as a shot at IBM to piss or get off the pot. If IBM or Freescale for that matter comes out with a super duper PowerPC 999xxx that is better than Intel's offerings, Apple is in a position to use it. (Microsoft can't). Apple is well positioned.
Microsoft is x86, OS X is simply not that limited.
So don't think Steve let down the MacHeads, he actually built a very sturdy foundation.

Your statement would lead one to believe that IBM has a window of opportunity to produce what Steve has planned. Could that mean that PPC and Intel could be used simultaneously according to function?

 

[Truffy]

most of us would have rather seen PC makers (Dell, Toshiba, Gateway, et. al.) with egg on their face, forced to give up Intel hardware for IBM or Motorola.

Like that was ever gonna happen


And "most of us"? Where'd that come from?