Apple eMac G5 on hold, G4 back in production
Apple Computer has returned its eMac G4 line of computers to production, despite indications earlier this Fall that the company was clearing inventory in favor of manufacturing new models.
Instead of making its debut in the latter half of 2004, the eMac G5 was reportedly placed on hold, while eMac G4 production was restarted in order to keep up with demand. At the root of the problem appears to be IBM's PowerPC 970 G5 processor.
Reminiscent of the recent iMac G5 fiasco, yet not nearly as dramatic, sources claim a less than ample supply of G5 processors is to blame for the minor delay. And while the new eMac was to rely on the slowest available G5 processors, currently a 1.6GHz variant, inventory of these chips are being used to reduce demand for Apple's new low-end iMac G5.
This is not the first time a lack of faster PowerPC processors has reportedly slowed the evolution of Apple's eMac. In the Fall of 2003, the dearth of PowerPC G4 processors in excess of 1GHz resulted in October price cuts for the eMac line, rather than faster models.
Last month, sources noted inventory dumps and a decline in orders for eMacs at Apple's manufacturing facility, indicating that new models could be around the corner. According to sources, Apple now plans to introduce an eMac revision in early 2005. Additional details will be published when they become available.
76 Comments
well I feel better for letting my sister buy a new emac just last week! I wonder what "early 2005" means though? my brother wants one as well - is it worth holding off until what... february??
if i was apple right now id be kicking some serious ibm butt - just think of where apple would be right now if they could get their ideas into production and out the door without all these delays!
so is the new emac revision to be a g5 but in mid 2005, or a cheaper/beefed up g4 in jan/feb/march 2005?? its not (like all rumours) very clear...
I think one of the major problems would be the strong sales of the base model in the G5 iMac range. While I would have expected the mid range model to have been a hot seller with the 1.8 and SuperDrive it appears that a G5 iMac for under $1,200 (educational price) is kicking out the door faster than anticipated. Actually, if you don't need to burn DVDs the 1.6 is very attractive, especially when it gives you more money to max out memory from 3d party vendors.
Another factor is that IBM might be getting better yields in the faster chips, reducing the available supply of the 1.6's.
Let Apple see how things are when the dust settles - they might end up putting in a kick @ss chip from Freescale in for 6 months.
There was a time when IBM was our savior from the evils of Motarola. I guess the white knoght's armor is a bit tarnished about now. ow long until we here some good news, like processor yield was better than expected. It's good Apple only has atiny market share. Could you imagine the problems if they had 5% market share?
I don't get the idea of an eMac G5.
Apple's actually going to design a new motherboard and case, and order low end CRTs and keep a different processor in production for a machine they make so little profit on?
Wouldn't it be simpler to debut an iMac with a 15" LCD and put a pane of glass over the LCD to protect it from school kids?
The G5 starts to look more and more like the G4. It is a good thing that the Intel AMDs does not scale up as fast as they did 1999-2000