| Even before most of us have become comfortable with all the changes delivered by Apple with the release of OSX 10.3 (Panther), a Tiger is on the prowl, and is set to be unleashed for a sneak peek June 28th.
Apple has selected the WorldWide Developers Conference in San Francisco as the venue for unveiling its latest major OSX upgrade, saying it will be announced at a Steve Jobs keynote address which will preview the new features in the release.
So far, Apple has been coy about what those new features will be, however there are some assumptions which can be made. First, it’s likely this version of the OS will be optimized for 64 bit processors, meaning it will take better advantage of the processor at the heart of the new G5 computers. This is in keeping with Apple’s strategy of moving people to the new processor and its new capabilities.
Second, the new version is likely to have features which will not work on older Macs, even those which are capable of running OSX. “For Apple to take advantage of it’s new processors,” said one insider. “It must start pushing forward the ‘low end’ of computers which can handle the OS.” At this point, however, there’s no word what the new ‘entry level’ machine will be for Tiger.
Current thinking is that Tiger will be available sometime before the end of 2004, and if Apple continues past practices for the annual OS updates, users will be asked to pony up $129 to see the benefits of the update. The annual version updates, as well as the annual version pricetags, have annoyed some users who feel they must upgrade to stay ahead of the curve. Users who started with OSX, and who have not purchased a new computer, could have spent $375 for annual updates before the release of Tiger. However, they may not be asked to reach into their wallets so often in the future.
During a keynote speech at the Software & Information Industry Association’s Enterprise Software Summit in San Francisco, Apple’s Chief Technology Officer, Avie Tevanian, said Apple may slow down its OS updates after the Tiger release. Tevanian admitted that the current annual release rate is not sustainable, but said the company would continue releasing updates at a “really fast” pace.
Industry observers say the annual updates have been needed to address numerous weaknesses in OSX since its initial release, and each update has been generally well received by users, in every area but cost. However, analysts now consider OSX’s current version a solid and mature product, meaning Apple may be able to concentrate on fewer updates which offer larger boosts in performance and capabilities.
Beyond software, Apple is due for updates in its G5 line. Last year, the G5 was introduced at the WWDC, but Apple has given no hint that new G5’s are in the cards at this year’s keynote. However, there are compelling reasons to believe Apple will update the computers.
First, Apple has adopted a new version of the G5 processor for use in the Xserve G5 which offers more power with less heat. This allowed its use in the thin Xserve, but if incorporated in the desktop version, would allow more powerful models which need less cooling. As current G5 owners know, cooling is a major function of the internal design of the computers. Less heat would mean allowing more of the interior can be used by things like hard disks, or a possible second media drive.
It would also mean more powerful G5’s. Last June, Steve Jobs promised to deliver a 3 gHz G5 by the end of 2004. A June introduction of a revamped G5 would allow a mid year speed bump on the way to that goal.
Apple could announce this at the WWDC or at the Digital Video Expo, but the WWDC is considered to be the better venue. It is virtually certain that Apple will not choose the July Macworld Expo for any announcements; currently, Apple has no plans to attend the Boston show.
While desktop machines may be announced, and there may be some other surprises, it’s not expected we will see a G5 laptop until much later in the near future, or possibly early 2005. Apple is still having issues getting the new, cooler-running G5 chips in quantity, and it’s believed Apple wants to deal even further with the heat problem before trying to use these chips in a laptop.
May 2004
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