Verbalism Personified

What Revision B G5?

Posted Fri 18 June 2004
Revised Sat 19 June 2004

Now that you've seen the new speed bumped G5s and scrutinized it's specifications, some of you may be wondering if these are the Revision B models you've been waiting for.

Well, they are not.

The 1.8 and 2Ghz models are carry-overs from the Revision A line. In a stroke, Apple eliminated the hobbled 1.6Ghz and upped the performance ante with price cuts.

Initially there was some speculation as to whether these new machines would sport the IBM PPC970FX chips. In spite of that rumor being officially confirmed by Apple, the scandelously slow firewire transfer speeds still isn't addressed - this is one instance where a lowly powerbook continues to outpace the G5 in this regard. Also the 2.5Ghz model is still a Revision A model with a sophisticated cooling system shoehorned into it.

Starting at $3,888 for the Dual 1.8Ghz, there has never been a better time to buy a G5. Especially with just an extra $80, you can replace the pookie nVidia GF5200 Ultra with a respectiable ATI Radeon 9600 graphics card. And to top that off with a 8x Superdrive, this represents good value and a serious look for anyone wanting a new machine or a processor upgrade card for legacy Macs.

I do not agree that Steve Jobs should stop making predictions altogether, especially after IBM dropped the ball on their 3Ghz yields. However the development and manufacturing of semiconductors is a precise and somewhat unpredictable undertaking. No one in their right mind should hold him or IBM to that. But if predictions were balanced between reasonable speculation and what is practically feasible, that would keep Apple an interesting player to watch without it eventually being dismissed it as a joke.

With that said, where are the quad G5s?

posted by Teutoburg @ 1:20 PM