What frequency for PowerMac releases?

[fryke]

This is a little bit of a rant, really, but I've been thinking about it lately. Remember the time when the Motorola 500 MHz G4 processor was the top processor at Apple for over a year? It was a terrible time for us Mac-zealots. We started to really, really, really hate Motorola. Even now, when Motorola steadily delivers new and better G4 chips (the 745x and 744x have nicely scaled in the past), there are a lot of posts that clearly prefer IBM to Motorola. And I can understand this, as I'm part of this thinking myself, most of the time. IBM scaled the G3 while Motorola stuck with the G4 at the time.

Now, Apple went with IBM and delivered the G5. Remember WWDC 2003 in June: We were all fascinated and we all thought: THIS is the way out. NOW we're there, finally. The G5 was vapour-ware for the better part of 3 years, now it's the new best thing.

It's been almost nine months now since Apple announced the 2 GHz G5 dual machine. Granted, they have delivered it later, but from the announcement, nine months have passed. The price has not been lowered. We're living in a strange country here, this Apple country.

As I've said, this is a rant... But wouldn't you like Apple to release faster machines every 2-3 months?

[uoba]

Fryke, you've missed out 4 months! Which I would prefer. 3 times a year. Even if it is moderate but steady increases. It shows a clear sign of progression, rather than the no-man's-land we are currently in. I find the Powerbook situation more embarrassing than the G5 one (embarrassing may be too strong, but as you've pointed out, what's the difference between the current situation and the old one).

[soulseek]

i personally would like if all companies updated every 9-12 months
i dont really like it when there a frequent updates: first u might buy a computer. and after a week or month a new one comes out at the same price with better features !!! and thats annoying
second. i think the less frequent the updates, the smaller the temptation of updating a computer

[fryke]

Yes, but does Apple _really_ want 'less temptation to upgrade'? ;-) I _don't_ think so, really.

[Ripcord]

Granted, it's been a relatively slow 9 months for the competition in the desktop space, but Apple is certainly losing/lost what performance edge they had when the G5 first came out. Intel's done very very little on the desktop (released an uber-expensive desktop Xeon and released a 3.4ghz processor), AMD's been doing a lot with the AMD64, though.

And since the prices haven't dropped one iota, it's becoming less and less an attractive option for anyone except those considering nothing but a new Mac.

In the mobile space, things are even more frustrating - we essentially haven't seen a REAL speed increase for even longer, and the mobile x86 platform has zoomed by. As much as it pains me to say, my corporate-issued 1.4ghz Pentium M ZOOMS past the fastest Powerbook out there, and 1.7ghz systems are available (I've come to appreciate the Pentium M (not the Pentium 4 M, that's a much slower/worse technology) as a very solid processor).

A mobile G5 might resolve the issue, but from most of the predictions I've read, the next Powerbook rev will be a slightly faster G4 - so we have to wait another 6 months or so for a bump to G5? It will be worse than the desktop situation last summer.

[soulseek]

upgrading and new customers is a different thing
both are important, but right now apple also needs new customers

[Ripcord]

Yes, I think a 2% market share is unsustainable. Apple REALLY needs to be focusing on new customers.

[Cat]

I'd like more transparency from Apple, what they are working on, when they will release it, what exactly will be the specs, etc. With this information I think the waiting period will be more bearable, as you know what and when. As always Apple could surprise us, but I hardly think that those who need a G5 class workstation are in it for the surprise. People right now are putting off their acquisitions, waiting for the predicted 3GHz. Everyone thought Apple would release a 2.5 intermediate upgrade by now. Keeping everything under wraps harms them more that it does them good. At least for the standard Power-line they could be more informative. In that case cycles of 6 months, as they have been on average, would be fine. Just give us a timetable!