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Apple Archive

Bring Back the Desktop Mac

- 2000.10.24

The desktop form factor was one of the most popular types of cases for the Macintosh, starting with the Macintosh II in 1987. Why has Apple abandoned it?

Apple chose the tower for its G3 Yosemite and G4 Power Macintosh computers because of expandability. A tower is more expandable, true, but it does not save any space. Having a computer with a monitor on top of it saves more space than a monitor with a tower next to it. Yes, you can put a tower on the floor - and then you can knock it over or kick it by accident.

A desktop case also has the advantage of raising the monitor up to eye level. There are two Apple desktop cases that I really like. These are the Centris 610 case, for it's compact size and nice looks, and the Power Macintosh 7200 series case, for it's easy accessibility and space inside.

If the two could be combined somehow, a 610-style case could be made with the space of a 7200 series case inside. This would have two 3.5" bays on each side! That means that you desktop case could have up to 3 hard drives or two hard drives and a ZIP drive. This "new desktop" would come with a 450 or 500 MHz PowerPC 750CX (G3e) processor, 8 RAM slots (standard with 128 MB, expandable to 512 MB), a 7 GB hard drive, and a slot loading CD-ROM drive. The video card would be built in, 8 MB VRAM standard, expandable to 16. The machine would come with an add-on adapter that gives you two PCI slots, but it would be unable to hold 12" cards. The picture shows something like what I am talking about. I have coloured it blue because I am a bit partial to the colour used on the "Yosemite" G3s, but Apple would probably offer this machine in several colours.

You might be thinking, "Who would want a machine with such little VRAM and such a slow processor?" The answer is all of the home businesses, the students, the teachers, and the families that don't need a high-end machine and don't want the "built in" features of the iMac. How much is this going to cost? If an iMac costs $799 for the bottom line model, the G3 desktop, with a faster processor and more expandability should cost no more than $800 without a monitor (starting price). With a monitor? How about offering a bundle with a 17" monitor starting at $1199? The cost is more than the iMac DV, but much less than any of the G4 systems. I am convinced this machine would sell. This machine would save a lot of people from having to spend much more and buy G4s just because they want a 17" monitor.

I have also noticed that Apple is giving out a $300 rebate if you buy an Apple monitor with your G4 Cube purchase. My advice? Wait until Apple releases something more like what I mentioned above. There is no way Apple can compete with the Wintel world if they don't have a competitively priced, low-end Power Mac.

Recent Apple Archive articles

iPods, notebooks, and other modern electronics more readily replaced than repaired, 12.07. Whether it's an intermittent failure or a broken display cable, more often than not it's cheaper to replace a broken electronics device than repair it.
Options for replacing your older iPod, 11.19. Whether you've run out of space on your old iPod or want features it doesn't have, here are your options in new and used iPods.
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Leopard different, a bit buggy, but worth the upgrade, 11.02. Leopard on a Power Mac G4 and a MacBook Pro: It runs well on both computers, but each has some odd bugs, and some of the changes are a step backwards.
More in the Apple Archive index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Mac IIfx, Mar. 1990 - This 'wicked fast' 40 MHz Mac trumped the 33 MHz DOS world.
Group of the Day: StarMax List is for anyone using Motorola StarMax Mac clones.
March 19 in LEM history: 90: Mac IIfx - 99: Fool me twice? - 01: Add FireWire, USB to older Macs - Time to replace your iMac? - 02: The Mac Challenge - Installing Linux on a low-end Mac - 03: Value of the Lombard PowerBook - Your portable should have WiFi - PowerBook 1400 upgrades - 04: The video iPod - 07: Troubleshooting an iMac - 08: Intel Mac mini value
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