June 6, 2008

Reminder: PowerPC Macs Don't Suck

Every once in a while, I hear a jab about the alleged mediocrity of PowerPC Macs, usually about how they're unsuitable for today's needs. Performance-wise, folks claim, they're just plain slow; why buy a $600-700 PowerBook when you can get a $1100 MacBook that offers "twice the speed"? Or better yet, who invests in a PowerPC Mac when Apple may drop support for them in the next release of OS X?

But I think PowerPC is long from dead; last March, after my iBook's motherboard gave out, I bought a 15" PowerBook G4 with 2GB of memory on eBay, a purchase that ran me $825. And quite simply, I love it; I don't think I could have bought a better machine for that money. And though the last models rolled off the line nearly two years ago, there are a few reasons the whole line is appealing to users:

  1. The last shipping models are extremely fast. The Power Mac G5 Quad, discontinued in August of 2006, is not only a relatively-young model, but a really speedy one at that. Those computers can fulfill all the processing needs from computationally-intensive applications like Final Cut Studio, Cinema4D or Pro Tools, because the people who bought them expected them to work for a long time-- certainly more than two years. The same holds true for the folks who bought iMacs or PowerBooks.
  2. The expansion you'll find is still pretty swell. Apple's desire to make their PowerPC-Intel transition transparent largely extended to the Mac's I/O; for example, the only things my PowerBook lacks from the MacBook Pro are the ExpressCard slot and 4GB memory limit, but even the standard MacBooks don't provide as much I/O as the PowerBooks. Desktop-wise, consider the iMac: until the aluminum model came out last September, the white G5 and Intel iMacs were almost completely identical on these marks.
  3. Capable PowerPC Macs are inexpensive. Four years ago, the particular PowerBook I own would have cost me $2,500; that is not the price for a low-end machine. In fact, I dare to say the PowerBook would be a better value than, say, a $1100 MacBook, because the better I/O options offset the slight loss in speed-- and remains $300 cheaper. The success of used computers is built on the appeal of having four years ago's best machine today.

These reasons don't just apply to people buying old Macs on eBay: PowerPC is important to Apple, too. Selling software (OS X included) that will run on older machines is a great source for upgrade revenue-- and traditionally, Mac users have high upgrade rates. It's even feasible to make it run well; contrary to what some may think, I actually find the PowerBook to be quite satisfactory, especially after the 2GB memory upgrade. And those G5 Quads I mentioned early are not slow machines2.

So... yeah. The other side of the argument is that as long as PowerPC is supported for upgrades, optimizing software for it will hinder progress moving forward. This is valid, and I think Apple will start considering the axe when nothing other than high-end G5s will run OS X. Regardless, I'm certain technical support will be offered long after that; PowerPC may be gone from the shelves, but that doesn't mean supporting it isn't on Apple's priorities.

Plus, I'd really like to see "Snow Leopard" or whatever it's called for PowerPC, please.

1. Tidbit: While visiting my Apple Store's Genius Bar, I mentioned my PowerBook purchase off-hand to the genius and was told that Apple "will support it for at least five more years". In all fairness, I actually have no evidence to back that up, nor do I know if that also includes system upgrades, but it'll be interesting to revisit this in five years and see what actually happens.

2. Someone is going to read this in 2014 and laugh at my declaration that G5 Quads "are not slow machines". It's true that the Mac Pro is significantly faster than the Power Mac G5 Quad, but the latter still would have delivered pretty darn well in 2008.