On Jan. 5, 1999 at Macworld Expo in San Francisco, Apple "iCEO" Steve Jobs talked the talk, but there were some things he didn't say that should, we think, be noted.
Jobs showed off the new G3 Power Macintosh desktop models, previously code-named "Yosemite." However, he incorrectly stated that the new models feature G3 processors from Motorola and Intel (he meant to say "Motorola and IBM," we believe). And then there's the issue of speed. Although Jobs characterized the new blue-and-white models as faster, it should be noted that the entry-level model's 512K Level 2 backside cache actually makes a 300 MHz blue-and-white G3 slower than the previous 300 MHz G3 model, which sported a 1MB cache. Additionally, the new models, as Ric Lewis noted recently on Macintouch, lack several key features of older Macs:
No serial ports -> can't connect midi interfaces
No standard scsi -> can't connect samplers [or CD-R]
No standard floppy -> can't install copy-protected software
As well, despite Apple's claim that it now wants to support industry standards, the company managed to slip in a number of proprietary connectors in the new Macs: the video slot and modem slot of the new blue and white G3s are non-standard. Indeed, you'd better hope that you like the system's Rage 128 card (which was, in our tests, not the fastest chip on the market, by the way), as the oddball 66 MHz video slot won't accommodate other standard PCI or AGP cards.
Another proprietary port on the new models Jobs didn't mention, is at least familiar to Mac owners: the new desktops include the Apple Desktop Bus port found on current models, which should help solve some of the problems iMac users have found running certain dongle-protected programs. Standard Apple mice and keyboards, of course, can also be connected via ADB.
Jobs referred to "magic circuitry" inside the new 21" Apple Studio Display that continually compensated for changes in the display, keeping colours constantly calibrated. However, he didn't mention that, despite the (also unannounced) fact that the new displays use a PC-standard 15-pin VGA connector, the "magic circuitry" doesn't work when the monitor is connected to a PC -- it requires a Mac.
Jobs stunned the crowd when he brought out a rack of 49 iMacs and displayed different digital videos running -- seemingly flawlessly -- on all of them at the same time, with the video served from what we're sure more than a few members in the audience expected to be one of the announced "surprises": a streaming version of QuickTime. Although QuickTime 4 is widely expected to include this feature, first alluded to at the 1998 Macworld keynote, it is, at this time, still officially unannounced.
Mac OS X Server was announced, but what of OS 9? Apple has been surprisingly quiet on this topic, refusing even to speculate on whether that is what the OS code-named Sonata will be called.
And then, there is the future (?) of QuickDraw3D. Jobs' announcement of Apple's licensing of OpenGL from SGI is good news, but the company has not provided any details on the future of QD3D will be. Our feature on QuickTime 3 and OpenGL provides additional details.
Of course, the big omission from the picture presented by Jobs was any news on the much-rumored P1 portable from Apple, expected to be called the WebMate when it appears. In fact, one of the slides Jobs showed listed the unannounced consumer portable as part of Apple's product roadmap for '99, but he didn't say a word about it. Sources now expect it to be unveiled, possibly along with QuickTme 4, at the next Macworld in Japan.
And as for the new coloured iMacs that Apple announced -- Apple confirms that these "Revision C" iMacs do not have the Mezzanine slot or infrared port found on earlier iMacs.
Apple's Tech Info Library has additional details on the specifications of the products announced Jan. 5, 1999.
The TIL articles reveal a number of other notable caveats:
Speech recognition and isochronous USB transfers, for example, are not supported "blue and white" Power Mac G3s. Further, the optional US$49 SCSI card from Apple won't allow booting from external devices.
Despite these concerns, we are excited by Apple's new product lineup and renewed vigor. We'll continue to watch the company closely in the months ahead.
For Further Reading:
MacFixIt: A report on compatibility issues with Apple's Power Mac G3s (Blue and White).
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