Return of the PowerMac Cube?

[MacRumors]

In July 2000, Apple introduced the PowerMac G4 Cube amidst rumors and speculation on the new radical new form factor.

Due to poor sales, Apple discontinued the G4 Cube only one year later, though even today it remains a popular item on the used market. Uncharacteristically, Apple's press release announcing the Cube's demise noted that "there is a small chance [Apple] will reintroduce an upgraded model of the unique computer in the future, but that there are no plans to do so at this time."

A new unconfirmed report sent to MacRumors claims that the Cube form factor may make a return, though no other details are presently available. At least one uncertain rumor from May also claimed the return of the Cube... in the form of a limited edition model celebrating the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Macintosh which was introduced in 1984. Readers may remember that Apple's previously released 20th Anniversary Macintosh was released in 1997 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Apple, itself.

 

[Shrike_Priest]

Sweet. a G5 cube would be awesome, and would stand a much better chance in the market then the G4 Cube did.

If all your choices are either G4s or very expensive G5 Powermac, the G5 Cube could sit happily in the middle as an option for those who want a cheap powerhouse.

 

[adamcoop]

Whoa! I'd be wetting my pants now... If I had any on.

Sorry.

 

[you]

Originally posted by adamcoop
Whoa! I'd be wetting my pants now... If I had any on.

Sorry.

Does that mean you peed you naked body?

anyways the return of the cube would be sweet. stick a 1.6-1.8 g5 in there. I would buy that in 2sec

 

[Superdrive]

I smell a new consumer mac!!!!

G5 Pleeeeeeeease, and I will buy!

 

[mysticdp]

VERY cool.

However, keep in mind that the Cube ran fanless. Which of course meant that cooling for the processor had to be taken care of some other way. With a G5 under the hood, _at present_ the only way to keep these puppies cool is to provide a lot of fans (and BIG heatsinks (sp?))

The options then appear to be:
a) Release before PowerBook G5 by somehow managing to keep the G5s cool in a tight enclosure.
b) Release with PowerBook G5 (mid next year?) when we are using smaller G5 processors and cooling has been worked out.
c) Use G4 processors (highly doubtful - this would have been like using G3 processors in the original Cube)

I would say option b) is most likely, and therefore, we will not see these until we see PBG5s, and not for the 20th anniversary of the Macintosh. That is of course assuming the Cube is on the return.

Proove me wrong Apple.

 

[mac15]

haha bring on the iMac 3.0 no wait cube

 

[you]

they could increase the dimensions a bit to help with heat? Do you guys think that they would do anything to make it more expandable, would it be able to have more that 4 gigs of ram?

 

[joshbuddy]

Water cooled?

Though a fan cooled g5 cube would more than likely be very difficult, water cooling in a desktop style system could be a possiblity...

i think the idea of a g5 watercooled cube would be very appealing..

but isn't this basically what was in the last ars.mac? apple should build a shuttle mac, and frankly, if they ever did make a shuttle mac, i can think about 20 bazillion people who would buy one ... but i can still wish

*j*

 

[CoreForce]

Re: Water cooled?

Originally posted by joshbuddy

i think the idea of a g5 watercooled cube would be very appealing..

yeah, you've got much more options in cooling for a powerline-charged computer than you have for a battery-charged one. Also, weight does not play that big role in the game...

 

[Eric_Z]

I so hope that this is true, even thought "the return of the cube" rumors pop up regulary from time to time.

My hopes is that such a macine would use single G5s one PCI-Express graphics slot and "one" combined PCIX/PCI-Express "slot". The Power mac would use G5s at the same clockrate but duals and uppgrade from AGP and (3)PCIX to PCI-Express and (4-5)PCIX/PCI-Express "slots".

The question is if Apple should decide to bring back the cube, should they should keep the G4 Power Mac, but dump the price by 100 - 200 $ across the line? And is it really necessary to keep it fanless, even for the high end CPUs?

 

[Analog Kid]

Re: Water cooled?

Originally posted by joshbuddy
i think the idea of a g5 watercooled cube would be very appealing..
*j*

With fish!

Warm water tropical fish, mind you...

 

[aasmund]

My guess if they relaunched it, would bethe following specifications:

1.25 ghz G4
120 GB Ata100
512 mb ram
combo dvd/cd-r slot in
g-force mx 440
airport extreme ooptional
bluetooth built in
sound card with optical out
tv-out

price: $499.

this would sell very well I believe, and would not take away customers from other products.

 

[manitoubalck]

Yeah; why not? Bring back the cube, suped up and ready to pop the toast.

I think even I may be tempted to buy one.

 

[s10]

Well, well...the new iMacs are coming next year...Cube + iMac + G5 =??

 

[dobbin]

I'm not sure exactly when the 20th anniversary is, but I would think that sometime in 2004 would be a very good time to bring back the cube. Like me, lots of original cube owners are probably now thinking that their machines are getting a bit old and slow and would be ready to buy a new one. But they don't want to replace a beauty like the cube with a whacking great G5 tower or a poncy little iMac!

I'll have one if its under £1000 (UK pounds)

 

[azdude]

So... January 24th it is

 

[stockscalper]

Why don't Jobs just change the name of the company to NeXT?

 

[Xerocs]

I WANT ONE!

I would buy one

with these specs:

2ghz g5
sATA hd ~120gb
ATI 9800 pro
one PCI slot
alu case
Audio Out/In,
DVD±RW (slotin)
up to 4gb RAM
2x512MB dual channel
for only 1,5k€

perfect game station...

any1 knows something about MAX PAYNE 2 and Battlefiled 1942 macintosh port?

 

[ogminlo]

Gentelmen, you can rebuild it...

If you can't wait to see if they really do the Cube again, you can always max your current cube out with upgrades. It's not cheap, but neither is a new one. I'm thinking a 1.4 GHz G4 with 1.5 GB of RAM, a Radeon 9000 Pro, and a slick new aluminum enclosure...

Maybe the D-Link Bluetooth stub (you'd never see it under there) with the wireless keys and mouse, and a bigger ATA drive inside...

Maybe a slot SuperDrive from a powerbook too...

Now I want one!

 

[Hawthorne]

A reborn Cube would be perfect

For most business applications. Face it, the vast majority of Windows boxes out there are in cubicles, with corporate drones parked in front of them. They don't need the speed and cost of a PowerMac, and the all-in-one iMac restricts them to upgrading everything, even if they just want a different monitor.

A Cube would allow them some flexibility in upgrades at a cost that could be reasonable. Combine that with reduced worry of viruses and reduced IT costs of a Mac, and Apple's market share could be poised to take off.

 

[jayscheuerle]

Originally posted by aasmund
My guess if they relaunched it, would bethe following specifications:

1.25 ghz G4
120 GB Ata100
512 mb ram
combo dvd/cd-r slot in
g-force mx 440
airport extreme ooptional
bluetooth built in
sound card with optical out
tv-out

price: $499.

this would sell very well I believe, and would not take away customers from other products.

That's exactly the type of cube that would sell. A high-end G5 cube would fail again and again and again...

Just take the display off the iMac and call it the Hemisphere.

$499 would be awesome, but I'd order one tomorrow at $599...

 

[jamesatzones]

I'm all for the Cube coming back. Apple needs a low priced system, basically an iMac without the display. That is one of the biggest things clients request for...

BRING ON THE CUBE!!!

 

[jamesatzones]

What about two versions, high end and low end... Small form factor...

 

[dho]

I love my cube

I dont see a new one selling well though.

with low profit margins and apples shift to more laptops it doesnt seem like the time to be adding annother desktop.

who knows