Return of the PowerMac Cube?

[yamabushi]

Why not have both a supercheap "eMac in a cube" and a midrange G5 cube? Use an acryllic case for the G4 and an aluminum case for the G5. This way both would come in on the bottom end for pricing in their respective class (consumer/pro).

The orignal cube was probably just ahead of its time. I do remember some heat complaints, though. Both new cubes should have improved cooling systems.

 

[sedarby]

Re: Re: Permanent Cube must be cheaper

Originally posted by jayscheuerle
Why in the world would it be more than an eMac?

Apple needs a $600 minimalist machine. It could even be an iBook without the keyboard or screen. Heck, keep the keyboard & there's your whole computer!

When are people going to understand that APPLE DOES NOT DO CHEAP!!! Never have, never will. If you want an Apple you pay. Simple as that.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

why would apple make a super cheap anything? have they ever before? if i was apple i would come up with a fixed lcd emac & continue the G4, the imac on the otherhand has to be redone or they have to sell a headless version next to it. Apple rarely does what we expect,remember the Emac? caught everyone offguard. Steve did mention another life maybe for his cube so we will just have to wait but remember last year they did nothing for the holidays, i think this year Apple is going to be everywhere,pepsi,mcdonalds, new G5s for the consumer,itunes etc.I think this coming year will be very special.

 

[plinkoman]

why do people keep talking about a cheap headless low end mac??

this thing is going to be a special 20th aniversery thing, it's going to be expensive, and its going to have some balls.

 

[yamabushi]

Apple on a budget

AppleIIe.

 

[gwuMACaddict]

Originally posted by plinkoman
why do people keep talking about a cheap headless low end mac??

this thing is going to be a special 20th aniversery thing, it's going to be expensive, and its going to have some balls.

couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[gwuMACaddict]

Re: Apple on a budget

Originally posted by yamabushi
AppleIIe.

whoaaaaa! hold up there buddy. i take offense to this. i LOVE my apple IIe. anyone remember the kinsyn software for linkages? genius. sheer genius.

had to get that out...

 

[coolsoldier]

I see a problem with the claim that apple is just a high end company and shouldn't introduce a low-end machine. Apple is not just a computer company like dell or gateway. They have control of and responsibility for promoting an entire platform, and, like it or not, the entry level is where you find new users.

Apple needs at least one product to fill the low-end slot if they want to gain acceptance for the mac platform. period.

 

[SeaFox]

Originally posted by plinkoman
why do people keep talking about a cheap headless low end mac??

Because it's what they need. And we have fond memories of our Performa 475's.

This thing is going to be a special 20th aniversery thing, it's going to be expensive, and its going to have some balls.

Expensive? Yeah.
Balls???
You mean like the actual Twentieth Anniversary Mac had when it was released? "Average" performing 250Mhz 603ev at a time the 9600 was pushing 350 with a 604 and the G3 was only a few months away?

 

[manitoubalck]

Originally posted by SeaFox
Because it's what they need. And we have fond memories of our Performa 475's.

I believe that it was an LC 475, I still have mine sitting in the shead out back, with great games like boulder dash and Prince of Persia in B&W.

 

[SeaFox]

Originally posted by manitoubalck
I believe that it was an LC 475, I still have mine sitting in the shead out back, with great games like boulder dash and Prince of Persia in B&W.

Yeah, if you're in education. There were a slew of those Pizza Box Macs. I still want to get ahold of a Quadra 605 and make it into a broadband surfboard.

Getting back on topic:

Ah! The decisions! I was all decided my next Mac would be a laptop (a 12" Powerbook to be exact), except I was annoyed at the lack of a level 3 cache on the model then (before the last update).

Then the G5 comes out and I'm thinking well, maybe I should hold off on the laptop and get a G5. Better performance for the money.

Then the revised Powerbooks come out, and now I'm wanting the 12"er again.

But now, there're CUBE rumors poping up. With a G5 so better than an iMac (and I don't get stuck with that stupid non-upgradable LCD), but not as expensive as a G5 tower (and not so freak'n huge).

 

[okatu]

Re: Water cooled?

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

There allready is a Dual 1000MHz watercooled G4 Cube build by meself Goto PowerCube ... ENJOY

 

[CmdrLaForge]

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.

I agree absolutly. For that price the cube would be really a seller. And it should be possible. Maybe not that drive and RAM but something near. I definitly would get one for that price. And I think it would be much better having a such a cube than a high priced G5.

Cheers

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

anyone who thinks apple will release a brandnew machine with old g4 technology has either smoked to much or not enough, apple has invested millions in the g5 and for people to think newer machines using moto's old g4 are coming and are going to be dirt cheap are wrong, in fact it is more like apple to introduce a new cube and then have it cost as much as a powermac or more! Thats the apple we have seen through the years so if you are looking for a cheap mac i would forget this rumor and go look at the Emac.

 

[Shifty]

I rather have those slim mac boxes, I think thery were the Performas or LCs, I'm not sure.

They would make a great Scaled Down PowerMac.

 

[jayscheuerle]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
why would apple make a super cheap anything? have they ever before? if i was apple i would come up with a fixed lcd emac & continue the G4, the imac on the otherhand has to be redone or they have to sell a headless version next to it. Apple rarely does what we expect,remember the Emac? caught everyone offguard. Steve did mention another life maybe for his cube so we will just have to wait but remember last year they did nothing for the holidays, i think this year Apple is going to be everywhere,pepsi,mcdonalds, new G5s for the consumer,itunes etc.I think this coming year will be very special.

Nobody said cheap. They said inexpensive. It's the only hole in Apple's product line. The eMac needs to stay inexpensive and durable for the abuse that the education market gives to these machines. The eMac was not unexpected, it was a necessity caused by the uproar in the education sector when the iMac was replaced by a relatively flimsy work of art. The new iMac is Steve's cube. That's where all the technology went. A high-end CubeII will not happen because outside of a few rabid fans, they wouldn't sell at all. Apple has said there is plenty of life in the G4 and it will be running the low-end machines for years to come.

Repeat: A high-end cube has failed before and has no place in Apple's future regardless of how much you smoke!

The G5 has heat problems. It will not fit in a cube. It will not fit in a laptop. Not this year. Probably not the first half of next year. 9 fans take up space.

You people who actually believe a high end cube has a snowballs chance in hell of happening have either a short memory span or poor business sense. Even the stubborn heads of Apple couldn't take the mockery of releasing an overpriced art-box again. An inexpensive, but well-designed headless is Apple's only chance at increasing market share. Period.

 

[Mord]

may i add that if apple introduced a 1.4 ghz g5 cube it would produce less heat than a 1.4ghz powerlogix g4 cube upgade that is comercialy avail able the g5 produces less heat per mhz so a bit of tinkering and a fanless g5 cube could be achieved.

cube 450 (soon to be dual 1gig wartercooled) gfcrce2 32mb (soon a radon 9000) 704 mb ram 100 gig Hd 7200 rpm 15" studio display

 

[Mord]

the xbox 2 will run a g5 and if it is the same size as the old one the g5 will be able to fit in a cube
xbox is 6,000 cubic centimeters

cube is 5,800 cubic centimeters

 

[aasmund]

Originally posted by illumin8
Are you high? $499 for all of that? You're talking about a computer that's as powerful as the iMac 17" for less than 1/3rd the cost. Of course it would eat sales. It would eat sales of the eMac also. For the specs you just mentioned in a cube form factor Apple would sell it for at least $1499.

ok. Let's look at it.

HD drive, cost < $100
Ram, cost < $100
CPU, cost < $100
Motherboard, gf440, bt, cost< $100
Case, cost < $100
optical drive ~ $100

Sum +/- $500

Should be possible I believe. and that's not taking advantage of economies of scale.

 

[plinkoman]

Originally posted by jayscheuerle
The G5 has heat problems. It will not fit in a cube. It will not fit in a laptop. Not this year. Probably not the first half of next year. 9 fans take up space.

i grow tired of having to say this every 5 minutes, those 9 fans are distributed between 4 different cooling zones, there are only 2 of them per cpu, 1 on each side, and they move a little slower, so the heatsink needed to be larger. thats all, it doesn't mean that the G5 is hot as hell which everyone seems to be preaching with no proof, its just designed to be quiet.

and yes, this is going to be a high end cube, even though the last one failed, look at the rumor again, its not for a whole new machine, its just for a 20th anniversary special edition mac.

 

[okatu]

Originally posted by Hector
cube 450 (soon to be dual 1gig wartercooled)...

Really? Curious how u wanna do it...I just can say it's much fun Let me know if u need one of my CNC copper plates for the watercooling devices...

 

[Shifty]

Well, since the PowerMac G4s are still on sale, untill they run out, any return of the Cube may just be a PowerMac G4 in a Cube. Not even a G5 processor.

CPU: 1.33GHz G4 Processor
Price: $1099

At least what I think anyway.

 

[dongmin]

big gamble

the problem with introducing a budget cube is that it'll eat into the sales of the eMacs and iMacs. Say you take the $799 eMac (1.0 ghz G4), lop off the CRT, and sell for $599. Who's gonna buy the eMac, then? No one, b/c you can add a cheap 3rd-party 17" monitor for $50, or use the one you already have. So Apple is out $200 per computer. Same if you take the $1799 iMac (1.25 ghz G4) and charge $1299--Apple loses $500. The only case where Apple wins is if people add an Apple display.

Of course you can argue that Apple will sell so many more of these cheaper boxes that it'll offset the lower margins. But that's a major risk for Apple. Investors don't respond well when Apple's margins fall. I suspect that the all-in-one design has more to do with profit margins than with simplicity (really, how hard is it to connect one cable?).

 

[aasmund]

Re: big gamble

Originally posted by dongmin
Of course you can argue that Apple will sell so many more of these cheaper boxes that it'll offset the lower margins. But that's a major risk for Apple. Investors don't respond well when Apple's margins fall. I suspect that the all-in-one design has more to do with profit margins than with simplicity (really, how hard is it to connect one cable?).

This is off course, all true. However you fail to remember a couple of things: Apple run their own OS. Only apple computers can only run Mac OS (commercial OS' that is), and mac os only runs on apple computers. Apple is dependant on a significant market share in order to maintain 3rd party vendor support and drive sales of value adding product's such as software and accessories (screens, ipods etc.). Currently apple has nothing in the cost efficient headless market. This is a huge part of the market. in the consumer sector it's around 50-60% of pc market. This is a market that apple cannot afford to stay out of. iMac and Emac are not products in these segments. if apple wants to gain market share it simply has to release a product in this segment.

 

[AnotherMortal]

Re: Re: Water cooled?

Originally posted by okatu
There allready is a Dual 1000MHz watercooled G4 Cube build by meself Goto PowerCube ... ENJOY

And a beautifully designed watercooled cube it is. I am *terribly* envious!

Originally posted by plinkoman

i grow tired of having to say this every 5 minutes, those 9 fans are distributed between 4 different cooling zones, there are only 2 of them per cpu, 1 on each side, and they move a little slower, so the heatsink needed to be larger. thats all, it doesn't mean that the G5 is hot as hell which everyone seems to be preaching with no proof, its just designed to be quiet.

Originally posted by Hector
may i add that if apple introduced a 1.4 ghz g5 cube it would produce less heat than a 1.4ghz powerlogix g4 cube upgade that is comercialy avail able the g5 produces less heat per mhz so a bit of tinkering and a fanless g5 cube could be achieved.

Thank you both for pointing this out. The G5 as has been discussed in many threads before is a PowerPC970 processor from IBM. These "heat" issues are non-existent. If anyone disagrees, please reread these articles at Ars-Technica:

Inside the PowerPC 970
http://arstechnica.com/cpu/02q2/ppc970/ppc970-1.html

Of particular note is this quote from the author:

Author: Jon "Hannibal" Stokes of Ars-Technica

As you can see from the table, the 970 at 1.8 GHz is much closer to the G4e than to the P4 2.8 GHz in terms of power dissipation. This means that Apple will be able to use this chip in the kinds of innovative enclosure designs that make their hardware continually appealing, regardless of how it performs. Furthermore, a 1U, 970-based version of the XServe is not out of the question. And if you consider the fact that the 970's power consumption at 1.2GHz is a mere 19W, it's almost certain that we'll see a future notebook from Apple based on the new chip.

If you aren't brain-fried after reading part I, take a look at part II which delves deeper into the FPU, BPU, FSB info and such.

Inside the PowerPC 970 Part II
http://arstechnica.com/cpu/03q1/ppc970/ppc970-0.html