LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.
OWC: Top Quality Memory for Faster Mac Performance 1GB/2GB/4GB Kits from
$23.99/$47.99/$94.99 Expert Support, Free Installation Videos & Guides,
Lifetime Advance Replacement Warranty - www.MacSales.com
Apple has a long tradition of not quite getting a product right
the first time around, but nailing it on the second or third
version. For instance, the first
Mac simply had too little memory, the 512K had just
enough but excruciatingly slow hard drive storage. Enter the
Mac Plus: 1 MB (expandable to 4)
and SCSI for up to seven fast (for 1986) hard drives.
Again, the LC and LC II were a bit too crippled (see
Road Apples), but the LC III hit a home run.
Then there was the behemoth 16 pound Mac not-so-Portable - supplanted by the small,
light, innovativePowerBook 100. A
lot of Mac users wish Apple offered a PowerBook that small and
light today.
The Mac with the greatest cult
following is the Color
Classic and it's rare sibling, the Colour Classic II. Everyone agrees the Color Classic was way cool despite
some serious limitations (again, see Road Apples), but the CC II fixed 'em
very nicely.
Steve Jobs knows a fanatic audience when he sees it. If
people are already finding ways to put G3s into a Color Classic
case (and I've heard of at least one person trying to fit an iMac's
guts into one), there's a definite market for a new Color
Classic.
Our sources are divided on the name: Color Classic III or Color
Classic G3. Since Apple has a penchant for Roman numbers
(Mac II, LC III, OS X), we're leaning toward III.
Whatever.
The new Color Classic will have a G3 processor and a
slot-loading CD-ROM drive. (Putting CD-ROM drives in Color
Classics is another challenge for owners, but several have done so
with the old case - see here and
here.) It
will also have a subwoofer projecting sound downward and narrow
ribbon speakers beside the 10" viewable display.
The CC III will be about 2" wider than the older Color
Classics to make room for the slightly larger screen and ribbon
speakers. Height should be about the same, as should depth,
resulting in a box under 15" tall, about 12" wide, and 12-13" deep.
Styling will be a bit less boxy, but not nearly as
curvaceous as the iMac.
In fact, our sources are unanimous in telling us the CC III will
not come in translucent colors, so it won't look
anything like Jeff Foster's image on the right, but it looks nice,
so we decided to use it again. Instead,
the CC III will be available in the same silvery gray as
the Cube - and at least two other
colors.
We expect the third Color Classic will have transparent feet,
giving it the levitating appearance of the Cube. And, like current
iMacs and the Cube, the CC III will have no fan.
Technical details include a 100 MHz system bus, a 400 MHz
750Cx (G3e) processor, and a multisync monitor
supporting the traditional Color Classic 512 x 384, the traditional
Mac 640 x 480, and the iMac's 800 x 600. Video is also ported out the
back of the computer with a regular VGA connector that supports
resolutions to 1280 x 1024. (At higher resolutions, the internal
screen blanks out.)
For convenience, there will be two USB ports near the
front of the right side and two more on the back. There will also
be a FireWire port next to each pair of USB ports, making it
very easy to add peripherals.
We expect the CC III to ship with 64 MB of memory, a smallish
(6-10 GB) hard drive, and a 24x CD-ROM in a base configuration
selling for under US$1,000. The Special Edition will include 128
MB, a 20 GB drive, and DVD. We anticipate it will sell for
about US$1,250. Both will also be available on a build-to-order
basis.
Although Apple is expected to unveil the Color Classic III at
Macworld Expo in January, the release date has been pushed back to
April 1, 2001 so Apple can reduce their inventory of iMacs, which
are expected to see a 20-30% drop in sales once the CC III
becomes available.
As always, Apple will not comment on rumors, so you'll just have
to take our word on this. Would The Rumor
Mill mislead you?
- Anne Onymus
Recent Rumor Mills
New Apple drive supports Blu-ray and HD DVD, 09.11.
Tired of being second-guessed and sometimes outmaneuvered by Microsoft, Apple has embraced both next gen DVD formats with its new SuperDrive Extreme.
California: Beyond 'no light bulbs for you', 02.01.
A Calfiornia assemblyman wants to make incandescent light bulbs illegal - but that's just the beginning. His next target: CRT monitors and TVs.
Sudden impact: Apple's great Asteroid hoax, 06.09.
Truth of the matter is, the Asteroid Project didn't exist to produce a viable product, but as a way to shut down rumor sites.
Mac of the Day: Mac LC III, Feb. 1993 - The first LC without compromise: 25 MHz 68030 CPU, 32-bit memory, up to 36 MB of RAM.
List of the Day: G4 'Books an email list for G4 iBooks and PowerBooks.
September 8 in LEM history: 99: Big sound from the little iMac - Ethernet alternative to USB drives - 00: Building a back-to-school bundle - 03: 17" 1.25 GHz iMac G4 - My Mac Plus revisited - 06: Inside your notebook's battery - Andy Hertzfeld, software wizard - OS X is a pleasure to use - MacBook random shutdown - Core2 7% faster
Listen to Just the Music with the V-Moda Vibe Earbuds, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 09.05.
Well built, the noise canceling earbuds will let you hear all the nuances of your music without letting through background noise.
Best iPod touch Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.05.
Refurb 8 GB, $199; new, $284; refurb 16 GB, $299; new, $370; refurb 32 GB, $399; new, $453.
Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.05.
Used 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $999; 2.16, $1,125; new, 2.2, $1,450 after rebate; refurb 2.4, $1,699; 2.5, $1,999; 2.6 Santa Rosa, $1,849; rebates on new.
Best iMac G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.05.
Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $279; 800 Combo, $300; 1 GHz $390; 17" 800 MHz SD, $439; 1.25 GHz, $449; 20", $569.
Best Mac mini Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.04.
Used 1.25 GHz G4 SD, $549; 1.42 Combo, $409; new 1.83 Core2 Combo, $569 after rebate; 2.0 SD, $769 after rebate.
Tomorrow's Solid State Drives and Notebooks, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 09.04.
Flash drives are great but have some shortcomings. Some thoughts on building better SSDs and notebooks to use them.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.04.
Used 867 MHz Combo, no APX, $490; 1 GHz, $550; SuperDrive, $625; 1.5 GHz w/o APX, $660; w/APX, $675.
Best 17" PowerBook G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.04.
Used 1 GHz, $779; 1.33 GHz, $799; 1.5 GHz, $859; 1.67 GHz, $910.
11 Mac Browsers Compared, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 09.03.
The latest versions of Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, Shiira, iCab, Radon, Firefox, Netscape Navigator, SeaMonkey, Flock, and Camino tested in Leopard.
Best eMac Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.03.
Used 700 MHz Combo, $120; 1.25 GHz SuperDrive, $150; 1.42 GHz, $349.
Best Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard' Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.03.
Mac OS X 10.5, single user, $99; 5 users, $140; 10.5 Server, 10 users, $395; unlimited, $850.
Best MacBook Air Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.03.
Refurb 1.6 HD, $1,499; new, $1,690 after rebate; refurb 1.8, $1,699; new, $1,919 a/r; refurb 1.6 SSD, $2,099; new, $2,294 a/r; refurb 1.8, $2,299; new, $2,400 a/r.
Psystar Strikes Back, Countersues Apple, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 09.03.
Psystar is trying to paint Apple as a monopoly and force it to license the Mac OS.
Our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For detailed
price quotes and advertising information, please
contactat BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number
is for advertising only.
LINK POLICY: This site allows and
encourages links to any public page, so long as the linked page
does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking the linked
page.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has
not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple
Computer, Inc. Apple and the Apple Logo are trademarks of Apple
Computer, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective holders. If you still think this is serious business,
read About The Rumor Mill.