“Apple Computer has returned its eMac G4 line of computers to production, despite indications earlier this Fall that the company was clearing inventory in favor of manufacturing new models. Sources close to the computer maker told AppleInsider this month that Apple had anticipated releasing a major revision to the education-centric all-in-one desktop before the end of the year. The new eMac was to include a G5 processor and a significant internal component reorganization,” Kasper Jade reports for AppleInsider.
“Instead of making its debut in the latter half of 2004, the eMac G5 was reportedly placed on hold, while eMac G4 production was restarted in order to keep up with demand. At the root of the problem appears to be IBM’s PowerPC 970 G5 processor. Reminiscent of the recent iMac G5 fiasco, yet not nearly as dramatic, sources claim a less than ample supply of G5 processors is to blame for the minor delay. And while the new eMac was to rely on the slowest available G5 processors, currently a 1.6GHz variant, inventory of these chips are being used to reduce demand for Apple’s new low-end iMac G5,” Jade reports.
Full article here.
Gobble, Gobble….. Brawkkkkk!
Where are you die hards, this is important news, I need your insightful opinions……
The question is – will the new eMacs be redesigned around an LCD display as opposed to todays CRT model??
no, the emac will be crts…
keep the cost down.
landlord.. the survey says.. hell no! they’re cheap because of the CRT..
and come on.. G5?! not unless they can somehow magically offer a better price..
G5’s in bottom of the line consumer eMac’s wile top of the line professional PowerBooks still have G4’s?!?!?!
Am I the only one who sees the problem in that?
The new FreeScale PPC Chip is pin-for-pin the same as the current G4 and is a much faster chip. The 90nm conversion has ate IBM’s lunch and FreeScale has these 90nm chip ready to go. My bet is that come MWSF they will be powering the NextGen PowerBooks and iBooks.
We still need CRT’s in the print industry. LCD’s are still virtually useless for colour accuracy. Example – draw a 100% cyan box in InDesign or Illustrator and then tilt your LCD display. The diffference in the cyan is still massive.
We still have an eMac in work, just to check the PDF’s before they’re printed.
Not only is the eMac an excellent enry level Apple computer. it is very child-proof, the screen is bright and the quality is good enough. G5 is no must for this level.
The reason for this is that G5 iMacs are flying off the shelves. G5 production is fine and sticking them in the iMac rather than eMac is sensible. Save the cheaper Emac for later when either G5 production ramps up even more, or demand for iMacs slows….
Just watch the cpu sale numbers this quarter…that will tell all.
DaddySteve – I’m sure you’re not the only onw who sees this as a problem, but if the G5s won’t thermally squeeze into a laptop case, then why artificially cripple the eMac ?
One is a desktop and one is a laptop. That’s why it’s not a problem. You can also get a much bigger and faster hard drive in an eMac. I don’t see anybody arguing against having hard drives bigger than 80GB in an eMac because that’s more than you can get in a powerbook.
The only problem is that it may hold back sales of laptops to people who are willing to wait for a G5. but those people don’t need a laptop right now, or they’d buy a G4 now.
blame ibm
no chips
The eMac has to be crt, but how about a widescreen crt to give it a cooler look?
I would settle for a dual core G4 Powerbook. That might end up being faster in some things than a single G5 anyway. My only regret would be that a dualie G4 would not take advantage of software that comes out designed to take advantage of the 64 bit chip technology.
P.S. What is the magic word for?
am I the only one who notices the $100 discount today at the apple store for the iMac G5’s?
only 1199 for the entry model.
Multiprocessors across the range would solve this chip supply problem. Yes I know 2 x 400MHz does not equal 800 MHz, just as a single cylinder 1 litre internal combustion engine is more efficient than a four cylinder, but it is more reliable and it does cost much less.
How many single cylinder internal combustion engines are there these days. Sure plenty in single purpose machines like lawnmowers and chainsaws (digital cameras, MP3 players) but multifunction (more powerful) devices like trucks. cars and SUVs have multicylinder engines.
The new FreeScale PPC Chip is pin-for-pin the same as the current G4 and is a much faster chip. The 90nm conversion has ate IBM’s lunch and FreeScale has these 90nm chip ready to go. My bet is that come MWSF they will be powering the NextGen PowerBooks and iBooks.
But the disappointment is the front side bus speed. It’s what is killing G4 too as the FSB is the bottleneck in G4’s performance. It does not matter if you have very fast CPU but can’t get data in and out fast enough to keep up.
Hardly Surprising.
CRT WIDESCREEEN!
Fabulous IDEA!
I think a widescreen CRT is a great idea. I like the new iMac but I actually think the eMac looks cooler in some ways – and it’s reminds me a lot more of the original iMac which I always thought was a really nice design. The eMac has a look of its own but it also reminds me a little of the Snow CRT-based iMac.
I was about to buy an eMac (my first Mac – I’ve been researching for a while and I’ve decided it’s time to switch, so that’s one person who has seen the light and is entering Mac World!) any time now, but I’m wondering if it would be best to hold off now. If nothing else maybe I could pick up a G4 eMac a little cheaper if it’s replaced? What do people here think?
No reply?!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”downer” style=”border:0;” />