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Apple offers single-processor 1.8GHz Power Mac G5

updated 08:45 am EDT, Tue October 19, 2004

New 1.8GHz Power Mac G5

Apple today also added a 1.8GHz single processor Power Mac G5 desktop priced at $1,499 to its 64-bit Power Mac G5 line. Complementing the existing lineup of dual-2.5GHz, dual-2.0GHz and dual-1.8GHz Power Mac G5 models, the new single-processor 1.8GHz Power Mac G5 provides an expandable tower configuration at an affordable price. It ships with a NVIDIA GeForceFX 5200 Ultra graphics card with 64MB of RAM. Other features include 600MHz front-side bus, 80GB drive, AGP 5x Pro graphics slot, 3 PCI slots (64-bit, 33MHz), an 8x SuperDrive, and 256MB of RAM. The new configuration is available immediately in a single standard configuration at the and other authorized resellers.

by MacNN Staff

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MacnTX
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Joined: Apr 2004

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10/19, 08:52am | report spam | close Reply |
EDU Discount

The best part is that if you configure one with a Combo drive, it's only $1,259 with the Education discount. So here's the lower cost and expandable G5 box that should satisfy those that don't have $2,000 to drop on one.

trevc
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Joined: Mar 2000

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10/19, 09:34am | report spam | close Reply |
I'm still gonna complain

It's a step in the right direction, but looks like they paired back the FSB, not as powerful graphics, etc., etc.

It's still not the headless iMac. Simply still the wrong price-point. Take the monitor out of the new iMac (How do you do that?? Kinda like a 1u server on it's side?) and make the grahics card upgradeable and that's ALL you'd have to do to sell a 'TON' of macintoshes) to raise the 3-5% marketshare. I don't have any dillusions that mac is ever going to have a 50% marketshare, but 10% would do 'wonders'.

cyngus
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Joined: Apr 1999

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10/19, 09:40am | report spam | close Reply |
Of course you are

Because you seem to misunderstand Apple and Apple's strategy. They are not ever going to try to compete solely on price, Apple and Jobs have said time and again that their goal is to make the world's best computers, not the cheapest. As far as graphics, it has the same card as all the other G5's, don't like it? Upgrade it.

Reading between the lines the introduction of a new G5 model to me says that G5 chip availability problems are clearing up significantly.

trevc
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Joined: Mar 2000

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10/19, 09:52am | report spam | close Reply |
re: Of course you are.

But if they create a headless iMac without a monitor, it's the same quality machine. They could even make the graphics card not upgradeable but when Quartz Extreme and the whole OS experience is becoming more dependent on a powerful graphics card, the thought that people want more powerful graphics for gaming is not really true.

Mac users like me want more visibility of the mac to promote creation of software, creation of books at Chapters/Amazon, etc. to quench the thirst so to speak. Creating a cheaper, more affordable 'consumer' machine I would think would help the marketshare.

Apple doesn't always know what 'consumers' want. I mean, couldn't they put a Headphone and USB port on the 'SIDE' of the new iMac ... everyone I talk to does NOT like that fact.

tuscmat
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Joined: Mar 2004

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10/19, 10:44am | report spam | close Reply |
Re:re: Of course you are.

The price will never be low enough to suit the market you're dicussing. Scully tried this and people moaned that they weren't state of the art machines. The only possible compromise I could think of would be to grant a clone license to 1 vendor only and let them handle ALL the support and other issues associated with it. Of course, we all know where that suggestion is headed.

testudo
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Joined: Aug 2001

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10/19, 11:11am | report spam | close Reply |
Price and all

The best part is that if you configure one with a Combo drive, it's only $1,259 with the Education discount.

Great, if you qualify for an education discount...

It's a step in the right direction, but looks like they paired back the FSB, not as powerful graphics, etc., etc...It's still not the headless iMac. Take the monitor out of the new iMac (How do you do that?? Kinda like a 1u server on it's side?) and make the grahics card upgradeable

Ummm, its got the same graphics card as the dual 1.8 (as someone else said). More notably, its the exact SAME specs that the iMac has. Same video. Same memory. Etc, etc, etc. You complain its not the headless iMac, and, yet, it is. Maybe you should read up before posting, it makes you look like a ranter and nothing else.

Apple doesn't always know what 'consumers' want. I mean, couldn't they put a Headphone and USB port on the 'SIDE' of the new iMac ... everyone I talk to does NOT like that fact.

Wow, you actually start quizzing everyone you know on where Apple puts ports? Second, just because you (and 'everyone' you know - wow, your grandmother has an opinion on this, I'm amazed) think something should work a certain way doesn't mean that it should be that way. To me, this is how the OS 9 finder became the mish-mash of options and bloatware that it became, because they kept throwing everything in that someone thought was a good idea.

But more to your point, I think you've misstated it. I DO think Apple knows what 'consumers' want. The problem is that Apple doesn't seem to care what its consumers want. People complained for years and years before Apple finally relented and put some ports on the front of its towers. But then they hid them on the previous iMac and the new one (they both are/were on the back). They prefer style over substance (why they make a big-assed tower that has only one drive bay, and support for only two internal hard drives, and prefer high-margin systems vs. low-margin commodities. Apple will never go in and battle Dell for the sub-500 space. It just won't happen. Of course, I'd just be happy if they could battle them in the sub-1000 stand-alone market; and, no, an eMac doesn't cut it, I said stand-alone).

(BTW, to specify 'consumers' implies that pros get what they want, which is blatantly untrue. Pro users have just 3 PCI slots (assuming the video card doesn't take up one of them for their fans), limited internal expansion, easy repairability/upgradeablity, etc).

hayesk
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Joined: Sep 1999

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10/19, 11:24am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: Price and all

"I DO think Apple knows what 'consumers' want. The problem is that Apple doesn't seem to care what its consumers want. People complained for years and years before Apple finally relented and put some ports on the front of its towers. But then they hid them on the previous iMac and the new one (they both are/were on the back)"

The problem is they were inaccessible in the back of the tower. In the back of the display on the iMac, they are still easily accessible.

Sondjata
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Joined: Oct 2000

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10/19, 11:26am | report spam | close Reply |
the point on the iMac G5

I think that was a good idea that does not undermmine Apple's identity or profit margin. Remove the screen from the current iMac. Upgradeable graphics is not important nor possible with the internals of the current iMac. Just make a "glowing" apple on it so we know it's on and sell that with a little stand and let people purchase any monitor they want to use with it. I usually dismiss the "headless iMac" rants but this time it's got wings.

cmoney
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Sep 2000

0

10/19, 11:34am | report spam | close Reply |
headless imac

why would i wanna buy a system with essentially the same limitations as the imac (minus the attached monitor)? when the price of the cube was dropped, it did not dramatically increase sales. and it had an upgradeable video card!

no pc person wants a headless imac, they want a cheap upgradeable system. i think this is a step in the right direction.

Jonathan-Tanya
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Joined: Oct 2004

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10/19, 12:16pm | report spam | close Reply |
headless imac

Well, I think this is a headless imac...its the same spec's as the 1.8ghz imac and at the same price.

Instead of a 17" flat panel monitor, you get a tower case with PCI bus, and upgradeable video card.

I think apple would do well to also release a 1.6ghz tower at $1299.

As for me, I can hardly wait...I haven't owned a mac since B&W G3...now, having finally recovered a bit from divorce (the absurd/destructive/medieval divorce laws that we have in the U.S.)...at long last, I have a Power Mac G5 1.6 on the way.

I decided to just go with a used system, and that helped bring it to the price point I wanted.

testudo
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Joined: Aug 2001

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10/19, 12:27pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: headless imac

when the price of the cube was dropped, it did not dramatically increase sales. and it had an upgradeable video card!

Well, dropping the price of a computer deemed to be $500 overpriced by $300 (thus making it only $200 overpriced) isn't going to spur 100,000 in sales. It was still overpriced. Plus, once people look disparaging at a product, its hard to get them to like it again, I don't care how much better its become, or how much cheaper, you still have that "well, but". For example, I stopped buying Symantec software when they started (a) dropping development of like half the stuff they kept buying, and (b) their stuff kept breaking with every OS release. How can you trust software like that?

eldarkus
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Joined: Feb 2004

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10/19, 02:48pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: Price and all

"Ummm, its got the same graphics card as the dual 1.8 (as someone else said). More notably, its the exact SAME specs that the iMac has. Same video. Same memory. Etc, etc, etc. You complain its not the headless iMac, and, yet, it is. Maybe you should read up before posting, it makes you look like a ranter and nothing else."

Well, considering the iMac is at $1299 WITH a monitor, and the Powermac G5 is $1499 WITHOUT a monitor, i'd say the new Low end G5 is NOT a headless iMac. So if you say it IS a headless iMac, I have to ask.. how stupid are you?? If it was a headless iMac, then it would be the price of an iMac MINUS the cost of the LCD. Are you honestly that stupid? Use your head before you post!

I would buy the new iMac in a heartbeat if I could swap out the graphics card. I have the original 15" FP iMac at home and it's now worthless to run games on. Not one of the new games will run on this machine well, if they run at all. I learned my lesson on my last iMac purchase.. never buy a machine you cant upgrade!

My old G4 350Mhz Sawtooth tower on the other hand.. now has a 1.25Ghz processor and a Radeon 9000. a great gaming machine that blows away my FP iMac!

A headless iMac with upgradable graphics would be a welcome change!!

trevc
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Joined: Mar 2000

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10/19, 03:43pm | report spam | close Reply |
'similar' price

And in Canada, the price for the 1.8 iMac is $1999 and the new 1.8 desktop is $2099.

I guess us Canadians deserve to have an extra $100 taken from us, especially with the dollar the way it is! (sarcasm).

Person Man
Professional Poster

Joined: Jun 2001

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10/19, 04:12pm | report spam | close Reply |
Actually...

"Well, considering the iMac is at $1299 WITH a monitor, and the Powermac G5 is $1499 WITHOUT a monitor, i'd say the new Low end G5 is NOT a headless iMac. So if you say it IS a headless iMac, I have to ask.. how stupid are you?? If it was a headless iMac, then it would be the price of an iMac MINUS the cost of the LCD. Are you honestly that stupid? Use your head before you post!"

Actually, you're not comparing the same machines. The low end iMac (for $1299) has a 1.6 (SIX) GHz chip. The next level iMac has a 1.8 (EIGHT) GHz chip and costs $1499.

Let's compare those two machines:

1.8 GHz iMac:
17 inch widescreen LCD
1.8 GHz G5
512K L2 cache
600 MHz frontside bus
256 MB DDR400 SDRAM
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (non upgradeable)
64 MB DDR video memory
80 GB Serial ATA Hard Drive
Slot-load SuperDrive
Relatively non expandable
$1499.00

1.8 GHz single processor Power Mac G5:
1.8 GHz G5
512K L2 cache
600 MHz frontside bus
256 MB DDR400 SDRAM
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (upgradeable)
64 MB DDR video memory
80 GB Serial ATA Hard Drive
8x SuperDrive (full size, not slot load)
3 PCI slots
$1499

For the SAME price, you get the SAME speed processor and SAME basic specs. Instead of an LCD screen you get a full tower, 3 PCI slots, a FULL SIZE superdrive (much faster than a slot load), and and upgradeable graphics card.

When you compare the right machines (you can't compare the 1.6 GHz iMac to the 1.8 GHz Power Mac), you actually get a pretty decent deal. What's more: the ATI Radeon 9600 XT with 128 MB DDR memory is only $50 more.

Sounds reasonable to me...

technohedz
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Joined: Jul 2000

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10/19, 04:27pm | report spam | close Reply |
expansion

I think this is a good 'first' step with some pro's and cons:

Pros:
1) Memory Expansion is not 'as' limitted as the iMac G5 (notice it only addresses 4GB v the iMac 2GB)
2) Hard drive storage goes up to 500GB (Newer, cheaper, faster, and quieter drives arrive daily and this upgrade will no doubt be popular with the quantity of digital content people can now store)
3) Upgradeable Graphics card(s) will become seriously important when core image arrives (notice the new ibook upgrade)
4) non-bto BT module makes channel availability higher, but will probably prevent wake from sleep detection.
5) fw 800 and port mania.

Cons:
1) Price point is too high for pro-sumers. The argument that it is essentially a headless iMac with the same specs, but without the monitor is quite valid, although 17"lcd's can be found for about $250.00 US new if you keep looking.
2) Footprint is too large for new users, and the appeal of more deskspace with a free flatscreen will influence CRT equipped users towards the iMac.
3) BT internal still BTO
4) If the cheapest product has built in AX then all new models should.

All in all i can see this machine appealing to flat panel tower owners and those with lots of legacy equipment.

cyberman
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Joined: Mar 1999

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10/19, 04:36pm | report spam | close Reply |
now if only...

Now if only I could get a 128mb 9800 pro....

testudo
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10/19, 06:05pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: price and all

Well, considering the iMac is at $1299 WITH a monitor, and the Powermac G5 is $1499 WITHOUT a monitor, i'd say the new Low end G5 is NOT a headless iMac. So if you say it IS a headless iMac, I have to ask.. how stupid are you?? If it was a headless iMac, then it would be the price of an iMac MINUS the cost of the LCD. Are you honestly that stupid? Use your head before you post!

Well, since you have trouble with comprehension, I'll try to explain my post. First off, its VERY IMPORTANT that you understand I was responding to a post that said this:
It's a step in the right direction, but looks like they paired back the FSB, not as powerful graphics, etc., etc...It's still not the headless iMac. Take the monitor out of the new iMac (How do you do that?? Kinda like a 1u server on it's side?) and make the grahics card upgradeable

Now, reading that post, you'll see at one moment the person is complaining about how it lacks decent GPU, FSB, etc. Yet, in the next sentence, he goes on saying he wants an iMac with the cover off, which, I pointed out, has the EXACT same specs for what he was whining about (actually, they're slightly better, with the PCI slots). Now, my point was that he should not have been arguing specs or looking for the guts of an iMac with replaceable graphics, but rather more forcing the form factor and lower cost (which he didn't). My headless iMac comment was meant to imply it had all the specs he wanted. (BTW, there's no saying a headless iMac has to be cheaper then this here tower, that's only your opinion that it should be).

I would buy the new iMac in a heartbeat if I could swap out the graphics card. I have the original 15" FP iMac at home and it's now worthless to run games on. Not one of the new games will run on this machine well, if they run at all. I learned my lesson on my last iMac purchase.. never buy a machine you cant upgrade!

Except even if you could upgrade the video card, you're stuck with your screen. Which is why many people don't want an iMac/eMac. if the screen goes in two years, your SOL. Or you want use a 23" cinema. Sorry. So, really, why you'd buy the iMac if you could switch the card is beyond me.

todddixon
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10/19, 09:35pm | report spam | close Reply |
Headless Mac

If, and almost certainly, when Apple release a headless mac (always sounds gory to me) they will do it a la iMac G5 and a la iPod. It will be a rectangular slim white box with a subtle Apple logo on it. It will contain a mid range video card, non-upgradeable, integrated in to the motherboard. It will have bluteooth and 802.11 around the 108Mbps range possibly higher. It will only have one additional memory slot with 512Mb or 1Gb presoldered already. It will plug in to an LCD or TV but will not offer interaction with TV shows/cable etc. - it will simply share the device as an output (although it may offer overlay capabilities so your soaps rus in the background whilst you check your stocks. It will have a HD and support standard OS X although apple will integrate itunes iphoto ieverything in to a smart looking front end if you choose. Think appliance. You will have a few of these through the house and they can optionally hang digitally off your Apple Home Server (a paired down OS X server). If you want you can buy the hard drive-less version and netboot completely off the server. As long as there is local 'grunt' to drive video then other bandwidth limitations are less of an issue. Initially there will be an ethernet port but it will disappear when wireless bandwidth increases without the cancer rate going up.

Deep Breath here...

It will have other i/o of course with f/w, USB etc for your ipods, cameras, pda's. This device will be at home on the wall in the kitchen, in your TV cabinet or wherever. h**** bells, they have an iPod in a BMW - why not the cMac in the boot? (cMac can be cheap Mac or car Mac!). Drive in to your garage and your Mac synchronizes with your home server... 'Welcome home master!'

Now that I am ranting, I will stop. Any other contributions to my design?

eldarkus
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Joined: Feb 2004

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10/20, 09:38am | report spam | close Reply |
re: Price and all

"Well, since you have trouble with comprehension, I'll try to explain my post. First off, its VERY IMPORTANT that you understand I was responding to a post that said this:
It's a step in the right direction, but looks like they paired back the FSB, not as powerful graphics, etc., etc...It's still not the headless iMac. Take the monitor out of the new iMac (How do you do that?? Kinda like a 1u server on it's side?) and make the grahics card upgradeable"

Well, I kind of see where you were going with that, but you didnt make that clear in your post. The fact that you had to explain it in detail shows that! You were being very vague about it.

"(BTW, there's no saying a headless iMac has to be cheaper then this here tower, that's only your opinion that it should be)."

I'm curious how that's my opinion? If you can make a machine with an LCD for $1299, logic denotes that you could make the same machine without the LCD for less. How you can come to any other conclusion is beyond me. Logic also denotes that if you add RAM or a better video card to your mac, it will be more expensive, so removing said parts would make it less expensive. Logic 101. Class just ended!

"Except even if you could upgrade the video card, you're stuck with your screen. Which is why many people don't want an iMac/eMac. if the screen goes in two years, your SOL. Or you want use a 23" cinema. Sorry. So, really, why you'd buy the iMac if you could switch the card is beyond me."

Whats the difference betwen the LCD of an iMac dying and a 23" display dying? Either way, i'm out a monitor. And if the screen does die, how am I SOL? Once the LCD dies, are you saying I can no longer use the video out to another monitor? Come on... my iBook monitor has issues (cuts out over 90 degrees), so I just plug it in to another monitor. Where's the loss?

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Apple offers single-processor 1.8GHz Power Mac G5

updated 08:45 am EDT, Tue October 19, 2004

New 1.8GHz Power Mac G5

EDU Discount

I'm still gonna complain

Of course you are

re: Of course you are.

Re:re: Of course you are.

Price and all

Re: Price and all

the point on the iMac G5

headless imac

headless imac

Re: headless imac

re: Price and all

'similar' price

Actually...

expansion

now if only...

Re: price and all

Headless Mac

re: Price and all

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Apple offers single-processor 1.8GHz Power Mac G5

updated 08:45 am EDT, Tue October 19, 2004

New 1.8GHz Power Mac G5

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EDU Discount

I'm still gonna complain

Of course you are

re: Of course you are.

Re:re: Of course you are.

Price and all

Re: Price and all

the point on the iMac G5

headless imac

headless imac

Re: headless imac

re: Price and all

'similar' price

Actually...

expansion

now if only...

Re: price and all

Headless Mac

re: Price and all

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