On Thursday, February 10, 2005, at 05:26 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Ok, this question came to my mind when the Mac Mini came out. The question is, how come they didn't make the Mac mini with a G5 proccesor? Ok, I know is more expensive... but why?
Partly because of the same reason there's no G5 Powerbook yet; the G5 generates way too much heat to package that small. This is not a trivial problem. Google for an interior view of the G5 tower. The seven fans, massive heat heat sink and liquid cooling system isn't there to make it *look* cool...
Also, Apple did learn the "Cube Lesson": All your systems must have a clear niche in your product line. A G5 Mini would end up as expensive as a iMac with less capability and a much larger form factor. The Mini has a very clear niche, and is selling like hotcakes. I'll wager they've already sold (or close to sold) as many minis as they ever did the Cube.
The reason I ask is because I remember how criticized the PPC was when it came out. I remember reading in a Magazine (perhaps MacUser) that a 60Mhz PPC would sometimes run significantly slower than a 40Mhz 68040, EVEN for native PPC applications.
That's because the idiot at the magazine wasn't considering the whole picture: at the time the PPC came out, even if the application was native, the OS wasn't, and THAT'S what was holding back the PPC chip.
At the introduction of the PPC it was sort of like the computer was running VPC *all the time*. The Mac OS wasn't really PPC native until OS 8 (at which point it was like 90% native, and all of the important stuff was native), at which point the PPC design showed it's clear superiority over the 68040.
I understand that the G processors have something in common. However, does a 400 G3 processor performs and runs at the same speed than a 400 G4? Why did Apple give up the G3 proccessor sonner than its taking them to dump the G4?
On some operations the G4 and the G3 are roughly equivalent cycle for cycle. Anything taking advantage of the altivec processor though lets the G4 scream ahead. But like the original PPC, the applications AND OS had to be re-written to take advantage of it. A LOT of the improvement of the G4 line of PowerMacs over the G3 line came because the G4 could be cranked up to higher clock speeds and the motherboard design kept up. The difference between a PC66 system and a PC133 system is pretty staggering.
The G5 is an *entirely* different beast.
-- "Wherever you go, there you are." - B. Banzai, Ph.D. Bruce Johnson
-- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and...
Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! |
Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html>
G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/>
iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com
