Posted on 06/23/2003 1:09:08 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
update SAN FRANCISCO--Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs rolled out on Monday a new crop of Power Macs he says can outperform any Windows-based PC on the market. Speaking at the company's annual developer conference here, Jobs announced that the Power Macs will be built around IBM's new PowerPC 970 chip and come in three flavors--a 1.6GHz model, a 1.8GHz model and a 2GHz model. The machines, available in August, are priced at $1,699, $2,399 and $2,999. Dubbed the G5, the new chip is the successor to the G4 that's now used in the Power Mac lineup. On top of new chip, the PowerMacs boast other architectural changes, including the addition of a 1GHz front-side bus along with USB 2.0 ports and serial ATA drives.
All of which adds up to create "the world's fastest personal computer," Jobs said. Jobs showed both benchmarks and Photoshop tests showing the new dual 2GHz PowerMac outperforming a dual 3GHz Xeon machine. The specifications of the new machines matched specifications that were accidentally posted last Thursday to Apple's online store. "I am here today to tell you it (the posting) was a mistake and it's true," Jobs told a crowd of more than 3,000 developers gathered at the Moscone West convention center. The entry-level model comes with a 1.6GHz processor, 256MB of memory, an 80GB hard drive and an Nvidia GeForce FX5200 graphics card and will sell for $1,999. The midrange system sells for $2,399 and comes with a 1.8GHz G5 processor, 512MB of memory, a 160GB hard drive and the GeForce FX5200 graphics card. The high-end model sells for $2,999 and has two 2GHz G5 chips, 512MB of memory, a 160GB hard drive and an ATI Radeon 9600 graphics card. All three machines sport a new aluminum case and come with a SuperDrive that can read and burn both DVDs and CDs. The machines all run processors designed and built by IBM as well as an Apple-designed controller chip that uses HyperTransport to route data throughout the various components on the motherboard. Jobs said the systems will quickly get even faster. "Within 12 months we will be at 3GHz," Jobs said. "Believe me this architecture has legs." Peter Glaskowsky, editor in chief of Microprocessor Report, said that Apple's benchmarks appear to put it ahead of PC manufacturers for now. "By August, there won't be anything on PC platforms that will be faster," Glaskowsky said, adding that he was particularly impressed with Apple's benchmarks for floating point performance, which measures how quickly a computer can calculate numbers with decimals. PC makers, however, will be revving their models soon. AMD will release Athlon64, a version of its Opteron chip for desktops, in August. Hewlett-Packard has already said it will use the chip. Intel, meanwhile, will release Prescott, an enhanced version of the Pentium 4 with new instructions for multimedia processing, sometime in the first half. Typically, Intel rolls out major revamps in October or November. Benchmark comparisons can be tricky, and competitors will no doubt be combing through the details. The Dell Computer system Jobs discussed in his speech contained a 533MHz bus. Intel started shipping 800MHz bus chipsets a few months ago. The new Apple desktops will also be capable of running 32-bit software, the kind found on desktops today, and 64-bit software, used by high-end workstations. 64-bit software can take advantage of more memory, which improves performance, but developers have to recompile their OSes and applications for that to happen. Adobe said it would recompile its software to take advantage of the capability and release products with this feature around the same time the new Macs emerge. It is unclear when Apple will perform a similar task. To cool all the new hardware, the new Apple machines have nine fans, but Jobs said because they are individually controlled and placed right where they are needed, the machines make only half as much noise as the Power Mac G4 systems they replace. As promised, Jobs also showed off Panther, the next version of the Mac OS X operating system, which he said will go on sale by the end of the year for $129. Jobs said the new operating system boasts more than 100 new features including an improved finder and a new way of managing multiple open windows. One of the more significant features Jobs previewed was a new version of iChat that allows for audio and video conferencing. The software, which will also run on Jaguar, uses any FireWire camera for sending video and any USB microphone for sending audio to another similarly equipped Mac. The software is being made available today in beta, or test, mode. Apple will bundle it with Panther and sell it to Jaguar users who don't want to upgrade to the new OS. Apple is also selling a $149 video camera, dubbed iSight. The developer conference, always a popular event in the Mac universe, has taken on added importance this year with July's Macworld Expo being replaced with a scaled-back event with no Steve Jobs keynote. Jobs also announced that version 1.0 of Apple's Safari browser will be available later today as a free download. Apple is also making available a development kit that will let programmers add Safari functions to their programs. And Jobs said that more than 5 million songs have been purchased from the iTunes Music Store in its first eight weeks of operation. Also, later today, Apple expects to ship its 1 millionth iPod.
Well, at least he won't have to pay for his own prescriptions.
In the interest of full disclosure: I have been burnt on the wheel of Apple more times than I care to mention again. I've gone through a 12 step program and am now a happy W2K user/admin.
They sure can be tricky. Nothing like rigging a benchmark in your favor.
Like when Mac users claim that their machines are faster than PCs, but neglect to mention that the MACs are running with virtual ram turned off while Windows always runs with virtual ram turned on. Let's turn the MAC's virtual ram on, then compare numbers.
You have, of course, nailed the primary reason for buying any computer -- will it run the software I need to run? I suspect, however, that market share will ultimately move video and audio editing to the cheapest platform. What college kids are using are pirated copies of Premiere.
Well for starters...it's a much easier system to master. Witness that Windows 98 is actually Mac 84. Mac was doing it easier and better...first. The PC crowd blatantly copied the features for that very good reason. I'm writing this on an iMac. I'm doing so because most teachers (like me) were raised on Macs...they serve the purposes of education extremely well. Most of the folks I know who specialize in graphic web design all agree that Macs are superior in this area. Mac OS X crashes far less than other operating systems. BEST OF ALL there are extremely FEW computer virus' that affect the mac! If a PC virus hits me...no damage, no effect, except that I can pass it on unknowingly...although my virus protection usually wipes it out anyway.
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