“Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday announced three new dual-processor Power Mac G5 configurations, with the fastest model topping out at 2.5GHz. The new high-end systems miss the 3GHz mark that Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the company would achieve at last year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, but Tom Boger, Apple’s Director of Power Mac Product Marketing said it came down to a technology challenge that was bigger than they expected. Boger also said today that users shouldn’t expect to see a PowerBook G5 before the end of the year because of the challenges of putting the G5 in a small enclosure,” Jim Dalrymple and Peter Cohen report for MacCentral.
“Anyone that has seen the heatsink from a Power Mac G5 knows that it would not fit in a portable computer. This is the challenge that faces Apple as it tries to move its pro product line to the new fast processor technology,” Dalrymple and Cohen report. “‘I think it’s important to realize that the technical challenges are not trivial putting that G5 in a PowerBook or anything else and not to expect a G5 anytime soon in a PowerBook — certainly not before the end of the year,’ said Boger.
“Apple CEO Steve Jobs, at last year’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference, …excited the crowd when he said that Apple would release a 3GHz model within a year — with two weeks to go before that deadline, Boger said Apple will not meet the 3GHz promise,” Dalrymple and Cohen report. “‘It’s actually quite simple,’ said Boger. ‘When we made that prediction, we just didn’t realize the challenges moving to 90 nanometer would present. It turned out to be a much bigger challenge than anyone expected. All-in-all, no we are not getting to 3GHz anytime soon, but what we are announcing today is a very significant upgrade in performance and it’s something that our customers will be very happy with.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Get ’em while they’re hot, folks. You won’t be knocked off the top of the performance heap for awhile, so now’s the time to buy if you’ve been waiting and hoping. Today’s PowerBook G4 and Power Mac G5 (July for top-of-the-line model) are going to be Apple’s flagship portable and desktop Macs for awhile, so now’s the time to buy.
I was mad as hell yesterday morning regarding the “new” PowerMacs. Not at the speed but at the lack of updates to the systems. Now its a day later and I’m realizing that the PowerMacs are probably at least 6 months behind schedule. This speed bump is what was supposed to happen at the beginning of the year.
It looks like the 970FX is not the answer. I’m betting that the 980 processor will be the better chip in the long run. And who knows? Maybe Apple will call it the G6.
So I’m not waiting anymore. I’m ordering my dual 2.0 G5 tonight. I am still a little miffed about the standard video card though. I guess Apple has a lot of the fx5200’s lying around and they need to get rid of them. I’m upgrading to the 9600XT.
Its good to see Apple has put in the same ram (yes I know half as many slots) in the cheap Dual 1.8 unlike the old single 1.6 which had only 333mhz against the 400mhz DDR.
I don’t care about the PCI slots, have never used them anyway on any of my old PowerMacs.
High end mac product announcements are done for the year.
wwdc is for the new imac, emac, monitor and preview of tiger.
new ipod will be announced for the back to school bit…
what comes after 3Ghz? 3.5Ghz?
rumor has it I am waiting for that one.
I read 10-12 GHz for the next gen IBM (G6?) Chips…
That should be enough to power a rudimentary android sex slave…
http://www.scifi.com/tripping/characters/six/
2.5GHz is 90 nm, 2.0 is presumably not.
Ain’t buyin’ nuthin’ until they get a new display design out. Shame on Apple for “teaching” us about coordinated product design starting with bondi blue and translucent plastics then sticking us for months with a mixed-model between the current plastic cinema display cases and the aluminum G5 design. I’ve been sitting on a $5k budget for almost a year waiting for this to get resolved. At least I get a little interest on the money. Apple’s getting nothing.
I’m buying next week and won’t buy again until the G8.