Just a Thought - Mac Upgrades For Fun And Profit

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I was chatting with John G., a friend of mine in Louisiana, and he posed a question to me that got me thinking; he said, "Vern, now that we have Intel based Macs where does that leave the CPU upgrade market? Are upgrade makers out in the cold? Will mortgages be missed as the market for PowerPC upgrades shrinks? Will their kids go hungry because Macs now have Intel inside?"

Though John tends to lean towards melodramatics (the academic types always do), he has a good question: What do CPU upgrade makers do when Apple switches horses in the middle of a gallop?

I suspected that the folks who make upgrades are a savvy and resourceful lot, and that they'd figure out a way to stay afloat.

"There has not been an immediate change in the processor upgrade market," Robert Farnsworth, CEO of Sonnet Technologies told me when I posed the question to him. "Users start buying upgrades when their machines can be doubled in speed, which usually occurs about two years after purchase. The upgrade market for that machine continues for several years thereafter."

I'm sure that will help my pal, John, sleep better at night. Sonnet, the largest and arguably the most successful maker of CPU upgrades for Macs has been in business for 20 years; that means they were around during the other major processor change, when Apple moved from the Motorola 6800 series processors to the Power PC. And, just as Mr. Farnsworth has said, Sonnet still makes and sells upgrades for what might be considered ancient Macs, like the Performa Series and the 6100, 7100, and 8100 series which were the 'transition' PowerPC Macs much in the same way the current  Mactels are today.

That Sonnet and other Mac upgrade makers are producing upgrades for Macs that have been around for more that 5 years is a testament to the longevity and design of Apple hardware, though it is has not been easy for upgrade makers; Apple's unique hardware design, especially since the introduction of the iMac, has presented some special challenges to upgrade makers.

The unique designs often leave little room for any but the most basic upgrades (memory and possibly hard drives). Take the latest iMacs; the all-in-one design is great for the consumer who wants no part of futzing around with the cabling normally associated with computers with separate monitors, and the styling is undeniably cool. What you give up, however, is an easy upgrade path; Sonnet Technologies does not make upgrades for most "consumer" Macs. "Buyers of iMacs are not inclined to open their Mac for any reason," Mr. Farnsworth observed, and I'm inclined to agree with him; iMac buyers are likely less into brawn and more into brains and beauty; though a little pumping up never hurts.

While it's always a kick to unpack a new Mac (I love the smell of a freshly unpacked Mac, it smells like...more market share), there is something to be said for breathing new life into an old and faithful friend with a good processor upgrade. Older Macs continue to fetch a good price if you decide to sell it, especially if the processor can be upgraded; something to consider when buying a new Mac, or upgrading an existing one. "Being able to upgrade a machine later increases its value to the end user," Mr. Farnsworth noted. "Apple should consider that they could price a processor-upgradeable Power Mac 7500 $1000 more in the market than they could for an otherwise equivalent, but non-upgradeable Power Mac 7200. The price delta may not be as great today, but it still exists because of the added value."

"We should all be more conscious of the environmental impacts of electronics obsolescence," Mr. Farnsworth added. "One way to address this is to give machines a longer useful life by making them more modular and hence more upgradeable."

That's a shameless plug for Sonnet products if ever there was one, but the man does have a point: A concern that we all, including the guys and gals at 1 Infinite Loop, should share is for our environment. Not to say that Jobs and crew have ignored the ecological impact that rampant consumerism has on our world; Apple has a computer recycling program in which you can turn in your old machines to be dealt with using environmentally friendly means.

Still, a bit of recycling of your own never hurt, and might save more than green space, it might save you some pocket-green as well.

So, what do CPU upgrade makers do when the good ship "Apple" changes course? They just ride the waves.

As for my friend John G., well, he's moved on to wondering how the IT landscape will look in 5 years. "Will Oses running on Macs merge, becoming a run-anything-anywhere hybrid beast (MicrAppLux?)," he ponders aloud, eyebrows furrowed in deep thought.

Another good question, John. A really good question.