Mac Scope

Waiting for a Real Speed Bump

Stephen Van Esch - 2003.02.05

New iMacs and eMacs were released yesterday and were greeted with less than effusive praise. "Yawn," seemed to be the general response, even from the usually zealous Mac press. The real excitement seemed to center around the price drops and improved options instead of the iMac speed bump.

Sure, the 25% speed bump is welcome, and the price drop is a nice thing for buyers, but the whole hardware scene seems to be getting Mac users down. Well, maybe not getting them down, but at least casting a cloud over things. The attitude now is "what have you done for me lately?"

Speed bumps used to be greeted with some sense of excitement. No longer. It appears that speed bumps (and additional processors) aren't indication of real progress. Once upon a time, a speed bump meant things were getting better and better. Now, it seems, a speed bump means that Apple is just covering its behind as Intel's chips keep getting faster.

Anyone remember when the first dual processor machines were introduced? The general reaction seemed to be that Apple was leaning on dual processors to make up for the lack of speed, instead of a party atmosphere.

The longer this drags out, the worst things will get for Apple. If Apple announced a brand new chip that ran at 1.8 GHz tomorrow, what would the reaction be? Yawn again, most likely. 2 GHz? You might get a bit of a reaction. 2.5? Now you're talking!

The point is that Apple will need a substantial increase in processor power to shake things up. While users may have once been satisfied with a 100 MHz jump every once in a while, Apple has fallen so far behind that only a substantial increase in power will make us sit up and take notice.

Many people have speculated that customers are holding off on upgrading their machines until they see a significant speed increase. How much of a speed increase will be required before people start putting down their hard earned money? I'm certain that a 200 MHz increase won't do it. 500? That might be worth it.

The next generation Apple chip (whether from Motorola, IBM, AMD, or Intel) had better blow the doors off the current crop. Otherwise, most people will likely just keep plugging away with their old Macs. It's not really that much slower, now is it?

Just about the only upside is that Apple may benefit if it delivers the goods. There's likely quite a bit of pent up demand for faster machines right now, and Apple can probably expect a serious run on its next generation chip.

Stephen Van Esch is the founder and president of the E-learning Foundry, an online training resource for Mac users. Steve loves the Mac and is doubly bilingual, since he's also fluent in Windows and French.

Recently on Mac Scope

Connecting with the broader Macintosh community, 2007.04.06. "But beyond the very minor celebrity status that came with being published on Low End Mac, it gave me a real opportunity to participate in the Mac community."
Hardware failure, that rare Mac headache, 2004.07.09. Macs are usually pretty reliable, but a hardware failure after just two-and-a-half years is still disappointing.
Still waiting for iTunes Music Store Canada, sort of, 2004.06.23. While the pay-per-tune model makes sense, Apple's post-purchase copy management flies in the face of Canadian copyright law.
More in the Mac Scope index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Mac IIfx, introduced 1990.03.19. This 'wicked fast' 40 MHz Mac trumped the 33 MHz DOS world.
February 13 in LEM history: 01: Layoffs may hurt Mac market - 02: Unix for the Mac - Rage against the Macintosh - 03: Options to move data from PCs to Macs - 04: Low cost RAM for older 'Books - 06: Apple, IBM, and Intel - 07: Picking the right cheap computer, new or used - 08: I needed to find an older Mac
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2012 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Custom Search

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler 11 is now in the Mac App Store!! -- Special Introductory Price of $59.95!! -- To Buy From The Mac App Store Click Here Now!! Or buy direct from Strider Software.

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker and Mac Casino applications in minutes.

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The Apple Store
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
GainSaver
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay