Leopard to exclude 800MHz systems
Apple will cull their hardware line a bit further with the release of Leopard in October. According to AppleInsider, the latest developer build describes the system requirements as "...an Intel processor or a PowerPC G4 (867 MHz or faster) or G5 processor." My own 1.25GHz iMac barely makes the cut, which means it will run Leopard slowly, even packed with RAM. Other machines, like the 800MHz PowerBook G4, Quicksilver PowerMac, iMac and iBook, aren't so lucky.And with that, many of us suddenly have "vintage" machines. I remember finally replacing my 333MHz iBook when it refused an install of iMovie, due to screen resolution requirements. Perhaps this experience will finally get the old iMac off my desk.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
shawn said 3:18PM on 9-24-2007
I've run it on my 1.25mhz Powerbook and it runs fine. It actually seems a bit quicker than 10.4.
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Big John said 3:25PM on 9-24-2007
April 2002 for the "Ivory" revision of the PowerBook... honestly, five years is plenty to expect out of a computer. I really hope this thread doesn't turn into a giant bitchfest!
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wilcott said 3:22PM on 9-24-2007
NOO! My Cube won't get to play with the newest kitten!
This seems stupid, Tiger runs spectacularly well on it. OS X always seemed to get snappier with each release, so why would they do this?
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Tyler G said 3:24PM on 9-24-2007
maybe im just a freak, but i use a 1 ghz 17" imac as my main machine, even though i have a 1.83 ghz core duo intel imac. i only use the intel imac for video projects and intense photo editing. it worries me that leopard might use more processor just idling, because i sure isnt hard to max the 1 ghz processor in this g4 imac.
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SHAZAM! said 3:25PM on 9-24-2007
How long ago was the last 800mhz Mac made? I am just wondering. I have a dual 1.25ghz g4 that is 5 years old, and have had very little issue with it. I would guess it was at least 6 years ago? Or was there some low end stuff @ 800?
Just trying to gauge this against Windows Vista & the hardware upgrades/requirements that came along with it.
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Aron Trimble said 3:28PM on 9-24-2007
Can I get a refund?
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Aron Trimble said 3:29PM on 9-24-2007
Can I get a refund?
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Victor Agreda Jr said 3:40PM on 9-24-2007
Probably Apple hoping to prep users for the best possible experience (and uh, make a little cash). But I heard from a friend that Leopard runs nicely on an 800 Mhz iBook. Then again, that was a couple of months ago-- plenty of time to add that patented OS Cruft that's all the rage these days.
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MrBlank said 3:37PM on 9-24-2007
How about a $100 credit at the Apple store? ;-)
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Mark said 7:31PM on 9-24-2007
I work in schools and there are MANY 800Mhz (and slower) machines still out there. I personally love the dome cpu design. The 'screen on a swivel stick' was great for folks with vision issues. I'll just have to keep them running Tiger. Too bad.
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Jake Geiser said 3:42PM on 9-24-2007
Uugh, in the same boat as wilcott, my sexy cube will be replaced :'(
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Jake Geiser said 3:42PM on 9-24-2007
Uugh, in the same boat as wilcott, my sexy cube will be replaced :'(
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Jimmy said 3:43PM on 9-24-2007
I ran into that issue this weekend except I didn't meet the 1GB RAM requirement. I ended up installing the latest Leopard server seed using my PowerBook and then cloning it to my server...not fun...I guess I just have to buy some more RAM. The latest Leopard client seed works great on my 1.5GHz, 1.25GB RAM PowerBook G4. Safari is a bit slow, but it does work quite nicely.
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dan said 6:02PM on 9-24-2007
sigh... I was worried for a second, but thankfully the specs of my 12" PB (867MHZ) just makes the cut. I won't be replacing this until there is a new 12" available. Cmon apple fill the void: give us the 12" MBP!
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Greg G said 4:03PM on 9-24-2007
I'm running 10.2 on a 450mhz g4. I was planning on upgrading the processor to 1.2 ghz, and getting 10.5 on it, but what's the point? At this rate, 10.5 might be the last OS it can run. Of course, we'll be able to reduce some settings, turn transparency off, etc, which will make it run better, I just hope Apple makes it easy to do.
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CajunLuke said 3:48PM on 9-24-2007
To 5:
I got a Rev A 800MHz G4 iMac about 5 years ago (November '02) - this was the high-end model (the low-end was 700MHz). MacTracker says that the latest 800MHz G4 model was the eMac, and that that model was discontinued in October 2003.
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Chris said 4:12PM on 9-24-2007
Guys, seriously, how is 1.25 GHz 'barely' making the 867MHz cut? That doesn't even make sense. Let's be happy they're still officially supporting the G4. BTW, I have an early build of Leopard running on a 400MHz Powerbook...it runs fine.
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Martin Pilkington said 4:09PM on 9-24-2007
Thing is, this only affects two groups of people. Those who bought a high end machine 5-6 years ago or those who bought a low end machine 3-4 years ago (the last 800MHz G4 was the iBook G4 discontinued in April 04). Now we had a huge performance jump with the switch to Intel. I mean, who honestly believed after the Intel switch that Apple would support the slower PPC macs for that long?
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thethirdmoose said 4:06PM on 9-24-2007
Eh... i have a 1 ghz ibook that i use, and a 867 mhz powerbook that i don't. I'll put 10.5 on the ibook, mostly for program compatibility, but probably not for the powerbook.
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h8rain said 4:11PM on 9-24-2007
Wonder how many 4 year PCs can run Vista?
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