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[number386]

http://www.apple.com/powermac/

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...ogZwrco6BSnOB/0.0.13.1.0.6.23.1.0.1.0.0.0.1.0

The new models include dual G5 proccesors running at 2.0 Ghz, 2.3 Ghz, and 2.7 ghz.

Features dual layer 16x DVD-+RW

Video card has been upgraded to standard radeon 9600 128 MB, and on the 2.7 ghz model a radeon 9650 256 MB.

Hard drive upgraded to 160GB - 250GB standard.

All new powermac's ship with tiger.

It's a weak overall improvment, the rumored dual core G5 were a no show, and the 3 ghz G5 is long overdue.

 

[Mrjellybeanct]

The displays also dropped a bit in price.

 

[number386]

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...U5qnE2a0A0inV/0.0.13.1.0.6.23.1.6.1.3.0.0.1.0

Thanks for the heads up.

The 20" dropped to $799, previously at $999

The 23" dropped to $1499 previously at $1799

The 30" dropped to $2999 previously at $3299

 

[Cerebral Palsy]

Do the updates have the dual core 970MP cpus?

Edit: Guess not. I'll be waiting to upgrade I guess

 

[jadehorizon1]

What happened to the imac, emac and mini updates?

 

[pxleyes]

I'm glad they made the upgrades. The drop in price was a nice touch too on the Dual 2Ghz.

I dont expect another majoer update for some time now, so "get um while their hot."

 

[Pedigree Chum]

I'm still waiting for either new iBook's/Powerbooks or price-drops on existing ones. Any chance of that happening in the next few months?

 

[Macam]

I'll try to cherish these last few months with my PC.

 

[tigerfan12345]

I wish apple could include a more decent videocard. At least a X7/800 series, or Nvidia 66/800 series. I know most people dont play games on macs, but it'd be nice to play WoW or something on a mac. That 9600 is sticking out like a sore thumb.

 

[Mario_Hugo]

I can't believe I'm at a point where I'm frustrated by the size of a 20 inch cinema monitor...

 

[pxleyes]

On a Mac, a 9600 will play WoW at full settings and a decent resolution. It really isn't that bad.

 

[AB 101]

I am a Mac fan but I got to say the PM updates pretty much suck ass.

When in the hell are the dual cores coming from IBM.

Damn, Apple really gets hamstrung by there CPU suppliers.

Guess IBM is to far stretched with making chips for MS, Sony, and Nintendo.


That said, my 18 month old 2 GHZ dualie still looks damn good.

 

[number386]

I'll try to answer everyones question in this one post.

The dual core G5 was a no show, also the new G5 2.7 ghz like it's predessesor the G5 2.5 Ghz is still liquid cooled meaning apple is still having issues with overheating on the G5. Factoring in this the dual core G5 processor probably has issues as well regarding overheating which doesn't bode well.

The imac's, emac's, and ibook are long overdue for a revision, and all should see revisions soon. Nothing mind blowing just a nice little speed boost, rumor is they all are getting better video cards with possibly more vram.

The new powerbooks were revised january 31, I dont see anything happening for several months.

Also for Powermac's the video cards are upgradeable. Apple has BTO options to include the geforce 6800 for the powermac. WOW is not a graphically intensive game, a Radeon 9600 should work great on it.

 

[hobart]

Here's a great site to give you an idea on when to expect updates to our favorite products:

Macrumors.com Buyer's Guide

Make sure to check this bad boy out before you buy a Mac because they DO update under your nose (as you just witnessed). Don't take the site as LAW... but it gives you an idea.

And, FYI, I can play WoW on my 1GHz 12" PB just fine... I get SOME slowdown... but for the most part (when I was playing it) I played just fine.

Players laughed at me when I told them I was playing on a laptop... but they were also shocked. You can guess why

 

[pxleyes]

So is now the time to buy?? I need a G5 for graphic design in the fall.

 

[number386]

So is now the time to buy?? I need a G5 for graphic design in the fall.

Tough call. The next Power Mac revision may or may not include the dual core G5 which will be noticably faster than the current G5. Either way I doubt Apple will revise the Power Mac until next year. Since you need it in the fall might as well buy it, graphic design is not the most processor intensive field have you thought about getting a iMac instead? The new revisions should be out soon and the high end iMac should be bumped up and have a G5 running at 2.0Ghz.

 

[pxleyes]

Tough call. The next Power Mac revision may or may not include the dual core G5 which will be noticably faster than the current G5. Either way I doubt Apple will revise the Power Mac until next year. Since you need it in the fall might as well buy it, graphic design is not the most processor intensive field have you thought about getting a iMac instead? The new revisions should be out soon and the high end iMac should be bumped up and have a G5 running at 2.0Ghz.

I will be using the G5 for the following programs, including:

Photoshop
Illustrator
Quark XPress
Dreamweaver
Maya
Cinema 4D
Final Cut
Premiere
After Effects

So an iMac wont cut it by my count.

 

[McFly]

RAM amount, the gfx card and a good screen is much more important than a faster CPU. I personaly use a dual 1.8GHz G5 with 4GB RAM and three screens for my work, but of course less is already enough for most things (I need that much RAM for HD video production).

Fredi

 

[tigerfan12345]

yeh, i actually had to play Wow on my 667 powerbook for a couple weeks while my PC's vid card was being RMA'd. It's playable, and im sure its way better on a 9600, but It's just dissapointing to see a radeon 9600 as standard on a powermac, their flagship desktop.

Mario Hugo, I know its blasphemy, but if you are thinking the 20" cinema is too small, try checking out the 24" dell 2405fpw. You can usually get it for around 900 with some coupons off of ebay, but the amount of input and specs are really nice. 3 year warantee to boot, and you can return it if you have ANY backlight issues or ANY amount of dead pixels including just 1. Thats what I'm working on these days, and can say I love it so far. Now if only i didnt have to use it with a PC(which i love for gaming), and could use it with Tiger and a Powermac with something better than a 9600 ati.

 

[shantyman]

yeh, i actually had to play Wow on my 667 powerbook for a couple weeks while my PC's vid card was being RMA'd. It's playable, and im sure its way better on a 9600, but It's just dissapointing to see a radeon 9600 as standard on a powermac, their flagship desktop.

Mario Hugo, I know its blasphemy, but if you are thinking the 20" cinema is too small, try checking out the 24" dell 2405fpw. You can usually get it for around 900 with some coupons off of ebay, but the amount of input and specs are really nice. 3 year warantee to boot, and you can return it if you have ANY backlight issues or ANY amount of dead pixels including just 1. Thats what I'm working on these days, and can say I love it so far. Now if only i didnt have to use it with a PC(which i love for gaming), and could use it with Tiger and a Powermac with something better than a 9600 ati.

That monitor looks hot, but WTF is it not 16x9?

 

[number386]

I will be using the G5 for the following programs, including:

Photoshop
Illustrator
Quark XPress
Dreamweaver
Maya
Cinema 4D
Final Cut
Premiere
After Effects

So an iMac wont cut it by my count.

I thought you were going to use it for graphic design progams like photoshop,illistrator, and Quark Xpress. Video editing, and 3D modeling/animation are in a totally different ballpark. Definelty go with the Power Mac. Apple currently has a refurbished dual G5 2.5 Ghz PowerMac available for $2299 at the Apple store if your interested.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...ENb/0.0.13.1.0.6.63.0.0.0.0.0.0.3.1.1.0?84,77


BTW: I was at an apple store and did the cinebench rendering test on a dual G5 2.5 Ghz Powermac awhile ago. The MP test render came back at 45 seconds, which is very fast.

RAM amount, the gfx card and a good screen is much more important than a faster CPU. I personaly use a dual 1.8GHz G5 with 4GB RAM and three screens for my work, but of course less is already enough for most things (I need that much RAM for HD video production).

Fredi

To be fair a Dual G5 1.8 is still a powerhouse. Finding a right balance of Ram, CPU, gfx card is important your computer is only as fast as your slowest component.

 

[pxleyes]

I thought you were going to use it for graphic design progams like photoshop/illistrator, video editing, and 3D modeling/animation are in a totally different ballpark. Go with the Power Mac. Apple currently has a refurbished dual G5 2.5 Ghz PowerMac available for $2299 at the Apple store if your interested.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...ENb/0.0.13.1.0.6.63.0.0.0.0.0.0.3.1.1.0?84,77


BTW: I was at an apple store and did the cinebench rendering test on a dual G5 2.5 Ghz Powermac awhile ago. The MP test render came back at 45 seconds, which is very fast.

Well I am a double major in Graphic Design and Digital Arts and Science. Since I am going to be investing in a Mac, I figured I would kill two birds with one stone and get a Mac that would cover all my needs.

Sorry I didn't mention it before, but GD is the major that caused me to think about a Mac.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

Thanks for all the help people. I think I'll just wait it out on the 12' iBook's. Still not all that sure whether to get that or a similarily priced eMachines, with better specs (though it's a Centron processor, or a AMD equivalent). Not going to play games on the thing so that's not a big deal...

BTW, can someone tell me what's the battery life and weight of the 12' iBooks? Those are the two most important features to me, most comparably prices laptops are 6+lbs and last 2-3h on a charge...which is mehtacular.

 

[SteveMeister]

These are nice machines, no doubt, but if Apple wants to sell them they REALLY need to drop the price by $500 across the board.

 

[pxleyes]

$2,299.00 for academic pricing on the 2.3 Dual G5. I like that price range.

I think something between 2000-3000 is what I am shooting for making this summer in jobs and scholarships for this mac. It is do-able.

 

[SuperPac]

thinksecret.com still says that new iMacs should happen this week. And I sure as hell hope so... I've got my money ready for when a new iMac drops. I hear Apple Stores who're havin' that Tiger launch event will have a 10% off sale too... so hopefully they announce by then, so I can save a little $$$.

 

[fausty]

Thanks for all the help people. I think I'll just wait it out on the 12' iBook's. Still not all that sure whether to get that or a similarily priced eMachines, with better specs (though it's a Centron processor, or a AMD equivalent). Not going to play games on the thing so that's not a big deal...

BTW, can someone tell me what's the battery life and weight of the 12' iBooks? Those are the two most important features to me, most comparably prices laptops are 6+lbs and last 2-3h on a charge...which is mehtacular.

The 12 inchers are 4.9 pounds and last about 4-5 hours if you're doing "standard" stuff (ie, word processing, web, etc) and less when you get into the power hungry programs (photoshop and the like) - also, if you're using wireless, it sucks some juice. 3+ hours was the norm for mine. Overall the battery life and speed and weight are great - easily outclassing other laptops, especially considering the price - just don't use it for a game machine. Also, very important if you do get one, buy more ram, the 256 it comes with is just sad.

 

[SuperPac]

There was also a rumor recently that Apple's gonna boost the amt. of RAM included to 512 across the board. Would make sense, since I dunno that Tiger will run all that great on just 256.

 

[shantyman]

pxleyes, I recommend checking out this page. New (not refurbished), previous generation Powermacs have lower prices.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

Apple really needs to hurry up and upgrade or drop the price of the iBook. HURRY!

 

[SuperPac]

iBook's due for an update, but if it's not announced when the iMac/eMac updates come, you may have to wait awhile.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

iBook's due for an update, but if it's not announced when the iMac/eMac updates come, you may have to wait awhile.

Damnit, I hoping there's an update before Sept. that's when I need it by at the latest.

 

[Agent Dormer]

Here's a great site to give you an idea on when to expect updates to our favorite products:

Macrumors.com Buyer's Guide

Make sure to check this bad boy out before you buy a Mac because they DO update under your nose (as you just witnessed). Don't take the site as LAW... but it gives you an idea.

And, FYI, I can play WoW on my 1GHz 12" PB just fine... I get SOME slowdown... but for the most part (when I was playing it) I played just fine.

Players laughed at me when I told them I was playing on a laptop... but they were also shocked. You can guess why

Hello fellow Mac Powerbook WoW player! (12'' 786Mhz. XD )

 

[SuperPac]

Damnit, I hoping there's an update before Sept. that's when I need it by at the latest.

Oh I'm sure there'll be one by then. It's past the average update time already according to the Mac Rumors Buyer's Guide page. If it doesn't happen with the iMacs and eMacs, maybe it'll be a go sometime later this month or closer to WWDC in June.

 

[Pedigree Chum]

There was also a rumor recently that Apple's gonna boost the amt. of RAM included to 512 across the board. Would make sense, since I dunno that Tiger will run all that great on just 256.

I pray that the iBooks all get upgraded to 512. That way all I'd have to pay extra for is $100 for a 60G HDD and I'm all set.