Mac now or Mac future?

eskatonia · Post by **eskatonia** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 2:39 pm

the MacBook pro's will almost certainly get a price drop and a slight refresh (faster cpu and gpu) in June at the WWDC...

can you wait that long for a new computer?

I'm waiting til Final Cut Studio is native (and I can read the reviews of it) to take the plunge personally.

polyslax · Post by **polyslax** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 3:18 pm

mikemc wrote:They come out with a piece of hardware and an OS to 'match it' at the same time. This makes me nervous.

What makes you nervous is actually a source of comfort to most Mac users... the integration of hardware and software. Not sure I get your point, even through some major changes software compatibility has been quite good.

mikemc wrote:They are so freaking expensive for what you get. For Live, they are demonstrably slower than PCs costing significantly less.

Well, depends what you buy on the Win side of the equation. We've seen some recent posts comparing a quality Winbox to a Mac where the prices are very comparable. You'll always be able to buy an el cheapo Winbox, but, ummm, sometimes you get what you pay for. As for speed, sure the G4 was far outpaced by Win machines, but surely you've heard about the new processors? And the G5s, especially the 2x and 4x models, perform quite well compared to Win boxes. Another point that has been raised repeatedly in these threads is that raw power doesn't always equal the most creative, productive experience... witness the large number of G4 equipped Macs that were, are and will be making music.

mikemc wrote:Peripherals are apparently difficult to find, and premium priced.

Like what? In the past this may have been true, but Apple went with industry standards years ago that have all but nullified that problem, at least in my experience.

mikemc wrote:You are 'black boxed' out of so much of the configuration.

Again, I think this may be a reference to the past, i.e. pre-OSX. Can you say "Terminal"? You can go as deep as you want, if you want. Traditionally, of course, the tinkerers bought Win, but as I say, OSX and its Unix core changed this landscape dramatically.

mikemc · Post by **mikemc** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 7:31 pm

polyslax wrote:
mikemc wrote:They come out with a piece of hardware and an OS to 'match it' at the same time. This makes me nervous.
What makes you nervous is actually a source of comfort to most Mac users... the integration of hardware and software. Not sure I get your point, even through some major changes software compatibility has been quite good.

OK-- these are all good answers by me, btw-- the thing that makes me nervous about that is possibly being required to upgrade a large majority of your apps when you upgrade your system, because the OS has changed. It's a little psychological, also I guess: matching OS to each release of hardware has a 'mainframe-esque' aspect to it.

polyslax wrote:
mikemc wrote:They are so freaking expensive for what you get. For Live, they are demonstrably slower than PCs costing significantly less.
Well, depends what you buy on the Win side of the equation. We've seen some recent posts comparing a quality Winbox to a Mac where the prices are very comparable. You'll always be able to buy an el cheapo Winbox, but, ummm, sometimes you get what you pay for. As for speed, sure the G4 was far outpaced by Win machines, but surely you've heard about the new processors? And the G5s, especially the 2x and 4x models, perform quite well compared to Win boxes. Another point that has been raised repeatedly in these threads is that raw power doesn't always equal the most creative, productive experience... witness the large number of G4 equipped Macs that were, are and will be making music.

AH, so: the "real" appeal is an ergonomic/overall ease of use appeal.

I think the length of your answer indicates that price remains the sore point

but sure, the whole idea behind the new machines is to provide the power price matchup on par with competitive hardware.

Also, I believe you when you say the peripheral and configurability concerns are outdated, these come from dim recollection.

At some future point, then, maybe Apple's OS is able to run on any Intel or AMD machine (or if at least the distinctions are minimized) and if they provide the OS for free/cheap, then the Mac contingent isn't so "oddball" after all

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 7:37 pm

To me, laptops are always going to be a compromise over the raw power of a desktop machine. I'm looking forward to what Apple throws into the G5 desktop replacements.

Any crystal-ball gazers out there?

glu · Post by **glu** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 8:45 pm

the new mac mini looks sweet! its like an affordable mac laptop without the liability of having the screen and keyboard attached. I wonder how the duo core will run once live 6 is out, it may be a good alternative for $1000. Hell you could get two of them and network VSTs + live for the price of a macbook.

Digi V · Post by **Digi V** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:26 pm

hambone1 wrote:To me, laptops are always going to be a compromise over the raw power of a desktop machine. I'm looking forward to what Apple throws into the G5 desktop replacements.

Any crystal-ball gazers out there?

obviously whatever Intel hass up their roadmap.

conroe i think is the codename.