Power Mac G4 Cube

Road Apples are Apple's more compromised hardware designs. For the most part, they're not really bad - simply designs unable to work as well as they should have.

We try to avoid calling any Mac a "road apple" while it's still in production, but now that the Cube has been "put on ice," we can conduct a post mortem.

Like several other road apples, the Power Mac G4 Cube was not a terrible design. In fact, it was an impressive piece of hardware in many ways. Still, Apple discontinued the Cube due to lackluster sales less than a year after releasing it.

What went wrong?

From Apple's perspective, the Cube offered all the power most users would ever need in a stunningly attractive and very different package. From the standpoint of visual design and computing power, the Cube had all the marks of a winner.

But it died.

The Cube's run of bad luck began with the $1,799 price. Every Mac site in the world quickly pointed out that the least expensive Cube, attractive as it was, cost $300 more than the far more expandable Power Mac G4/400. Was it worth the extra money for at most 12% more speed and less expansion options? We didn't think so. We asked Apple to consider a less expensive Cube with a slower processor to provide a better value.

Of course, Apple wanted us to compare the 450 MHz Cube with the G4/450, which sold for $700 more. It was a comparison we rarely made, since we didn't really see the Cube competing on the basis of performance. Worse yet, benchmarks consistently shows the Cube had about the same power as the less costly, more expandable G4/400.

Still, the Cube was brilliantly conceived. Most Mac users don't need expansion slots when so many features are standard. With FireWire and USB, it's easy to add external peripherals. And the whole powerhouse computer was packed in a remarkably small, quiet (no fan!), stunningly attractive case.

Ah yes, the "cracked" case. Most of the perceived cracks were mold lines, but some were real (my Cube had a real crack). They didn't affect performance, but in a computer designed as a visual statement, they were a serious flaw.

Poor value. Mold lines. Two strikes.

Apple eventually dropped the price of the basic G4 Cube to US$1,299 and introduced a more expensive model with CD-RW, but the perception of poor value was ingrained. Several of us on the Mac Web saw the value, promoted the Cube at the new price, and some of us even put our money where our mouth was. Those who owned Cubes were not disappointed with their performance.

But the design was flawed.

Perhaps the most annoying flaw was the power switch on the top of the Cube. Touch it by accident and watch the Cube shut down. That was annoying every time it happened - and even once was too often.

To keep the Cube small and allow for air cooling, the power supply was a fairly large external unit. That wasn't a flaw in itself, but it meant one more piece of hardware to clutter up the office. The external speakers were yet another way the compact Cube cluttered up the user's desk.

The Cube's greatest design flaw came from design brilliance. To make the whole machine fit inside the clear enclosure and to facilitate removing the hardware without requiring the user to disconnect every cable, all the wires plugged into the bottom of the Cube. All the wires: power, video, two USB ports (one for the speakers), two FireWire ports, the modem, and ethernet. It created a real rat's nest of wires - and made it almost impossible to really plug-n-play USB and FireWire components, since those ports were inaccessible unless you turned the Cube on its side.

Poor perceived value. Mold lines. Design flaws. Three strikes and the Cube was finally out.

I won't mourn the Cube. It was a clever design and a gorgeous piece of hardware. It should have done better, and Apple left the door open to future Cubes.

Apple solved the value and mold line problems; I hope future designs inspired by the Cube solve the design flaws. Although Apple's designers would probably disagree with me on this, I believe the flaws came about in an attempt to make function follow form. To retain a pristine enclosure with as few openings as possible, all the ports had to be inaccessibly placed at the bottom and maybe the power switch had to be on the top.

Next time, I hope Apple will be a bit more sensible and design a compact machine with a more protected power switch and more readily accessed ports. (Why not place one USB and one FireWire port on or near the front? It would certainly make plug-n-play easier.)