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Power Mac G4 Cube

A Power Mac G4 Cube
Developer	Apple Computer, Inc.
Product family	Power Mac
Type	Desktop computer
Release date	July 19, 2000 (2000-07-19)
Introductory price	US$1,799
Discontinued	July 3, 2001 (2001-07-03)
Dimensions	Height: 9.8 inches (25 cm) Width: 7.7 inches (20 cm) Depth: 7.7 inches (20 cm)
Mass	14 lb (6.4 kg)
Related	Power Mac G4

The Power Mac G4 Cube is a small form factor Macintosh personal computer from Apple Computer, Inc., sold between 2000 and 2001. Designed by Jonathan Ive, its cube shape is reminiscent of the NeXTcube from NeXT, acquired by Apple in 1996. The New York Museum of Modern Art holds a G4 Cube, along with its distinctive Harman Kardon transparent speakers, as part of its collection.

Overview

The G4 Cube is a small 8×8×8 in (20×20×20 cm) computer, suspended in a 7.65×7.65×10 in (19.4×19.4×25.4 cm) acrylic glass enclosure. The enclosure housed the computer's vital functions, including a low-profile, slot-loading optical disc drive. A separate monitor, with either an ADC or a VGA connection, was required for the Cube, in contrast to the all-in-one iMac series. Also unlike the iMacs, it had a video card in a standard AGP slot. However, there was not enough space for full-length cards. The Cube also featured two FireWire 400 ports and two USB 1.1 ports for connecting peripherals. The Cube is exceptional as the only Macintosh without a built-in speaker (as of 2016). Sound was provided by an external USB amplifier and a pair of Harman Kardon speakers. Although the USB amplifier had a standard mini-plug headphone output, it lacked any audio input. The Cube also used a silent, fanless, convection-based cooling system like the iMacs of the time.

As the G4 Cube has no fan, the design started with the heat sink.

Release and reception

The G4 Cube was announced at Macworld Expo on July 19, 2000. The design was a point of praise, as well as jokes—the computer was compared to a Borg cube, toasters, or a box of Kleenex.

Sales

The introduction of the Cube did not fit with Jobs' four-quadrant product matrix he had introduced since his return to Apple, leaving it without a clear niche in Apple's lineup. It was as expensive as a similarly-equipped Power Mac, but did not feature extra room for more storage or PCI slots. It was likewise much more expensive than a specced-up consumer iMac. Jobs said that he believed that creative professionals and designers would want one, and that the product was so great that it would inform buying patterns.

Sales for the G4 Cube were much lower than expected. Apple had eleven profitable quarters before the Cube's announcement after being on the brink of bankruptcy, but Apple's end-of-year financials for 2000 missed predicted revenues by $180 million.. Part of the drop in profit was attributed to the Cube, which sold only a third as many units as Apple had expected, creating a $90 million shortfall in their revenue targets. The Cube counted for just 29,000 of the Macs Apple shipped in the quarter, compared to 308,000 iMacs. Retailers were awash in excess product, leaving Apple with a large amount of unsold inventory heading into 2001 they expected to last until March. The computer appealed to high-end customers who wanted a small and sleek design, but Jobs admitted that audience was smaller than expected.

In addition to the product's high price, the G4 Cube suffered from other issues. Early buyers noticed cracks caused by the injection-molded plastic, and the idea of a design-focused product having aesthetic flaws turning into negative public relations story for Apple. The Cube's radical departure from a conventional personal computer alienated potential buyers, and exacerbated Apple's struggles in the market competing with the performance of Windows PCs. Macworld wrote that consumers treated the Cube as "an underpowered, over-expensive toy or—in contrast with the anthropomorphized everyman's iMac—an emotionally inaccessible, ultra-geometric gray box suspended in an untouchable glass prison." The lack of internal expansion and reliance on less-common USB and FireWire upgrades also hurt the computer's chances of success.

In February 2001, Apple lowered the price on the 500MHz model and added new memory, hard drive, and graphics options. These updates made little difference, and sales continued to decline. The G4 Cube sold just 12,000 units in the first quarter of 2001, representing just 1.6% of the company's total computer sales.

Despite Jobs' clear love of the computer, he was quick to axe the underperforming product. On July 3, 2001, an Apple press release made the unusual statement that the computer – rather than being canceled or discontinued – was having its production "suspended indefinitely" due to low demand. Apple did not rule out an upgraded Cube model in the future, but considered it unlikely.

In 2003, the G4 Cube received a brief return to the spotlight after a series of articles in Wired charted its cult popularity. The articles, focusing on upgrades installed by individual users and retailers such as Kemplar, led to a sharp rise in the Cube's resale value. Nevertheless, with the release of the relatively inexpensive Mac Mini (seen by some as a replacement), coupled with Apple's switch to G5 processors and eventually Intel Core-based processors, the Cube again faded into the background.

Legacy

Apple CEO Tim Cook called the G4 Cube "a spectacular failure". Since the Cube's demise, a number of Cube enthusiasts have made modifications to their machines. Some of the more popular upgrades are high-performance video cards (duct tape may be used to allow the GPU fan to work correctly in the small Cube case) and third-party CPU upgrade cards (up to 1.8 GHz); a few people have even modified their Cubes to take a dual-processor upgrade. A popular upgrade is the GeForce2 MX, which exists in a version specially created for the Cube. Case modifications, such as lighting and extra cooling, are also popular. The Cube uses the same type of memory and hard drive as many other desktop computers, thus making upgrades for the said components popular. Although the Cube uses a fanless, convection-based cooling system, the mounting holes make it possible to install a standard desktop cooling fan.

The G4 Cube and its peripherals were showcased at The Museum of Modern Art, and at the Digital Design Museum (a division of Design Museum). G4 Cubes are also a popular candidate for "Macquariums"—fish tanks made from the chassis of Apple computers.

While the G4 Cube failed commercially, it influenced future Apple products. Jason Snell wrote that the Mac mini was the "rightful heir" of the Cube; it fit an entire computer in a shell one-fifth the size of the Cube and retained some of the G4 Cube's design philosophies. The main difference between the products was price, costing just $499 when it was released, and the Mac mini became a success that remains part of Apple's lineup today. Macworld's Benj Edwards wrote that the G4 Cube was simply ahead of its time, with its appeal to a dedicated group of fans years after it was discontinued a testament to its visionary design.

In 2013, Apple announced a redesigned version of the Mac Pro with dimensions similar to that of the G4 Cube. The new Mac Pro is a cylinder 9.9 inches (25 cm) high and 6.6 inches (17 cm) in diameter.

In popular culture

The Cube can be found in many publications related to design and some technology museums. In addition, the computer has been featured in other forms of media. The G4 Cube was used as a prop on shows such as Absolutely Fabulous, The Drew Carey Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dark Angel , Gilmore Girls and 24. The computer was parodied in The Simpsons episode "Mypods and Boomsticks." The Cube is also seen in films such as Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, 40 Days and 40 Nights, About a Boy, August and The Royal Tenenbaums. In William Gibson's 2003 novel Pattern Recognition, the character Cayce uses her film producer friend's Cube while staying in his London flat. In the movie Big Fat Liar, a G4 Cube and a Studio Display can be seen in the background of Wolf's kitchen.

Sixteen Cubes were used to power the displays of the computer consoles in Star Trek: Enterprise.

Specifications

References

1. MoMA: The Collection: Jonathan Ive
2. ^ Staff (October 2001). "Resistance is Futile". MacAddict. No. 50. Future US. p. 30–31. ISSN 1088-548X.
3. ^ Levy, Steven (July 24, 2020). "20 Years Ago, Steve Jobs Built the 'Coolest Computer Ever.' It Bombed". Wired. Condé Nast Publications. Retrieved October 7, 2020. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
4. Siracusa, John (July 28, 2000). "MacWorld Expo NY 2000". Ars Technica. Condé Nast Publications. pp. 1–8. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
5. Levy, Steven (July 30, 2000). "Thinking Inside The Box". Newsweek. The Washington Post Company. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
6. ^ Sammis, Ian (January 2001). "Get Info; Too Many Cubes". MacAddict. No. 53. Future US. p. 14. ISSN 1088-548X.
7. https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-we-expected-to-sell-3-times-more-cubes/
8. https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-we-expected-to-sell-3-times-more-cubes/
9. https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/photos_of_the_cracks_in_the_cube
10. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2000/10/g4-cube/
11. ^ https://www.macworld.com/article/1153341/cube-10thanniversary.html
12. ^ https://www.macworld.com/article/1153342/g4cube_macmini.html
13. https://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/ptech/02/07/cube.price.cut.idg/index.html
14. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/04/business/apple-will-halt-production-of-its-cube-shaped-computer.html
15. Toporek, Chuck. Mac mini: Steve Jobs gets his Cube Back, O'Reilly Mac Dev Center, January 2005.
16. Kahney, Leander (July 28, 2003). "APPLE CUBE: ALIVE AND SELLING". Wired Magazine.
17. http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A7237&page_number=1&template_id=6&sort_order=1
18. Sayej, Nadja (June 20, 2016). "Where Do Old iMacs Go Anyway? Right, They're Upgraded Into Aquariums". Motherboard. Retrieved November 8, 2017.
19. Snell, Jason (September 20, 2020). "20 Macs for 2020: #14 – Mac mini". Six Colors. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
20. http://www.trektoday.com/articles/enterprise_set_visit.shtml
21. https://support.apple.com/kb/SP116?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

External links

• Apple – Power Mac G4 Cube at the Wayback Machine (archived December 16, 2000)
• Video of Jobs launching G4 Cube at Macworld 2000
• Power Color Classic G4 upgrade at The Mac 512
• Power Mac G4 Cube at apple-history.com

• Gallery of customised G4 Cubes
• The television ad for the Cube (QuickTime format)
• Upgrades and Technical Specs for G4 Cube – http://www.g4cube.com renamed
• Experimenting with high-intensity LEDs to illuminate a G4 Cube on YouTube

• PowerPC Macintosh computers
• Macintosh desktops
• Power Macintosh
• Macintosh case designs
• Computer-related introductions in 2000