Mac mini the first to go Intel?

georgelien said:
As Decado's hyperlink reminds us, AOpen already produced a mini PC with similar form factor as the Mac mini at this year's Computex. I checked it out while I was there, and thought--"Damn, this is a Mac mini with Intel processor and chipset inside."
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Unless Apple is giving up the hardware business (not going to happen) this Mini look-a-like means absolutely nothing.

Apple has always designed their own systems... no matter what processor they used. Why would they stop doing this now?

More importantly, if they settle for making standard PCs, then Mac OS X is going to be easily hacked to run on non-Apple hardware.

Apple is designing their own logicboards just like they have done with 68k and PowerPC systems in the past. Moving to Intel processors isn't going to change that... it is actually going to reinforce Apple's practice of it.

People should take note that the developer kit systems were put together by the operating system team without the hardware division knowing anything about the Intel stuff. Apple is not only designing completely new systems, they are going to need the time to port Mac OS X to that new hardware (and get third party hardware developers up to speed). And the single most important part of any system is the logicboard (it is how all the other parts connect together to make a computer), and that is what is currently under development at Apple.

:rolleyes:

Of course, if ignoring the realities of hardware design is the only way to maintain the fantasy that Apple is going to release Intel hardware next week for the next year, then do what you must.
 
RacerX said:
Unless Apple is giving up the hardware business (not going to happen) this Mini look-a-like means absolutely nothing.

Apple has always designed their own systems... no matter what processor they used. Why would they stop doing this now?

More importantly, if they settle for making standard PCs, then Mac OS X is going to be easily hacked to run on non-Apple hardware.

Apple is designing their own logicboards just like they have done with 68k and PowerPC systems in the past. Moving to Intel processors isn't going to change that... it is actually going to reinforce Apple's practice of it.

People should take note that the developer kit systems were put together by the operating system team without the hardware division knowing anything about the Intel stuff. Apple is not only designing completely new systems, they are going to need the time to port Mac OS X to that new hardware (and get third party hardware developers up to speed). And the single most important part of any system is the logicboard (it is how all the other parts connect together to make a computer), and that is what is currently under development at Apple.

:rolleyes:

Of course, if ignoring the realities of hardware design is the only way to maintain the fantasy that Apple is going to release Intel hardware next week for the next year, then do what you must.
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Thanks for the information, RacerX. I guess I just have a lot of wishful thinking in my head.

That's all.

You guys are probably right--expecting Apple to introduce Intel-based processors next week are just long shot.

Still, they will all be changed sooner or later, right?

I'm just hoping it's sooner rather than later.
 
the eMac does have a purpose - it's the cheapest way to get a decent mac in one box. especially for education it's brilliant. it's all in one design is the ace card it holds over the mini. the mini, for all it's 'sexy' curves, looks ugly with all the non standard peripherals coming ut the back of it, and is impractical for the classroom in this way, with meddling kids. the eMac is much more elegant. i do agree however, with the CRT issue. i say an LCD emac. if the iMac is the ultimate LCD consumer machine (G5, 20" high-res LCD decent graphics etc) then the emac should be the cheapest possible way for apple to do an all in one LCD. 17" LCDs are less than £170 now, and 15" are even less than £100, but i don't see them going backwards in screen size. the need to comapct it as much as the iMac is unnessessary, although with a cooler chip, it could be done anyway.

I say:

iBook/PowerBook (these are the oldest of the product lines, and definately look like they are showing their age compared with the rest of the lines)

Mac Mini/eMac

iMac

PowerMac
 
PowerMac will be the first to change, as it is the flag ship model. But only if there is a 64-bit Intel otherwise it will be the PowerBook. Jobs will unveil either or in June 2006.

We have all been complaining about the Apple mobile line, but with new PPC processors being twice as energy efficient as current ones it will probably be possible to get them in a laptop (as discussed here before). So....

December 2005 - PowerBook - New low power PPC (if available then??)

June 2006 - PowerMac - Intel

August 2006 - iBook & PowerBook - Low power PPC introduction in iBook (and spec boosts for the PowerBook)

December 2006 - PowerBook - Intel (and spec boost on PowerPC)

June 2007 - iBook and iMac - Intel

December 2008 - Servers - Intel

(I have left out the MacMini and the eMac but I guess they would mirror the iBook, on a delayed schedule?)

The above relies on the new PowerPC cheap to extend the life time of the mobile rang. If IBM can't get them out for December 2006 the plan will be a little different.

Ialso agree that the eMac is great for schools!
 
I was chatting to the guys and girls at my local apple centre who suggested we will see a g5 mac before the intel switch. That would change the dynamics of the argument alot (re: need for faster laptops etc etc).

They also suggested that apple is saying they will announce intel line around june 2006 but we wont see machines on sale until closer to december. I dont think any of us will be sporting a new intel mac until late q4 2006 or more likely 2007.

I would suggest that the flagship machines will move across pritty quick. However it would not be at all hard for apple to move the ibook, emac and mac mini over as they are not work horses. Just simple machines...

I think they will work on something special for the new powermac and powerbook. For all we know it will use a new intel cpu that we have yet to hear about. The mac mini's, ibooks and emacs could use normal p4 cpus.
 
Carlo said:
I was chatting to the guys and girls at my local apple centre who suggested we will see a g5 mac before the intel switch. That would change the dynamics of the argument alot (re: need for faster laptops etc etc).

They also suggested that apple is saying they will announce intel line around june 2006 but we wont see machines on sale until closer to december. I dont think any of us will be sporting a new intel mac until late q4 2006 or more likely 2007.

I would suggest that the flagship machines will move across pritty quick. However it would not be at all hard for apple to move the ibook, emac and mac mini over as they are not work horses. Just simple machines...

I think they will work on something special for the new powermac and powerbook. For all we know it will use a new intel cpu that we have yet to hear about. The mac mini's, ibooks and emacs could use normal p4 cpus.
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While the latest iBook G4s might be good enough for the recent back-to-school sale, Apple can expect a relatively weak sales for this Thanksgiving and Christmas unless new PowerBooks could be introduced with much powerful processors and graphic cards.

I don't believe that Apple is "behind" with its hardware development. I belive we will see new Intel-based Mac(s) at next year's MacWorld Expo San Francisco. And the Mac minis will be the first to be updated since the new Mac minis were only upgraded, not updated, this time around.
 
Carlo said:
I was chatting to the guys and girls at my local apple centre who suggested we will see a g5 mac before the intel switch.
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We already have two G5 Macs. iMac and PowerMac... am I not understanding correctly?
 
fryke said:
He meant a portable, I'm guessing from his text.
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A G5 laptop, really? I guess DigiTime is right then, huh?

Personally, I doubt we will see a portable G5.

But if there were a G5 laptop, it most likely would be a PowerBook, no iBook G5 perviously reported by DigiTimes.
 
georgelien said:
A G5 laptop, really? I guess DigiTime is right then, huh?

Personally, I doubt we will see a portable G5.

But if there were a G5 laptop, it most likely would be a PowerBook, no iBook G5 perviously reported by DigiTimes.
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Remeber that 2.5 Ghz Dual-Core G5 chip announced by IBM a few weeks ago??? That processor might see the PB G5 or a "low-end" Powermac
 
fryke said:
He meant a portable, I'm guessing from his text.
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Sorry yes thats exactly what I was refering to.. A portable g5 powermac. I would not be surprised if this happens at all either. No doubt apple engineers have been working on a g5 powered laptop for a while. Now that IBM has a low"er" powered chip I dont see it as being too hard for apple to implement.

I have no doubt that we will see products introduced at Mac World SF.

I suppose another thing is to look at what products are "easy" to manufacture.

Macmini & emac would not be too hard. They would not have to be massive power houses.

PowerMac replacements would have to be well engineered but they are not reinventing the wheel here.

The laptops would be their "trickier" product. But apple have always done well in this area.

so my suggestion is
1. Mac Mini / emac
2. PowerMac
3. Laptops....

but.. until they are released its all up in the air. How many times has apple done the opposite of what we all thought.

I was surprised how much my local apple centre (which is not affiliated with apple, australia has no itunes music store nor offical apple centres) has been told about the switch. They appear to have been getting updates since the switch was announced.

so I suppose keep your ears to the ground (or channel partners) and see what happens.
 
fryke said:
That's from June. what do you mean by "friend"?
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That's from June?

Ooops, you're right.

Sorry about, it was late in Taiwan when I posted it.

I consider anyone providing important information a "friend" in the Mac news world.
 
But i thought the Yonah, Woodcrest and Merom chips weren't ready till mid next year.

Keep in mind what Jobs said at the keynote, or what he didn't say : "Pentium" not once other than his demo machine did he mention it. Even with the news of the switch coming sooner that expected i still might get my girlfirend a Mini to replace her adware & spyware infected pc for christmas
 
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