July 3, 2001: Apple suspends manufacturing of its Energy Mac G4 Dice, one of the crucial notable busts in Apple historical past — and the primary main flop following Steve Jobs’ wonderful return to the corporate in 1997.
Though Apple leaves the door open to probably reintroducing the remarkably clear G4 Dice at a later date, this by no means occurs. The trendy laptop is outmoded by Apple’s improve to G5 processors after which to Intel Core-based Macs.
Energy Mac G4 Dice: Nice laptop, however a bust
The Energy Mac G4 Dice represented a change in route for Apple. Beforehand, computer systems just like the ultra-colorful authentic iMac and iBook grabbed a great deal of consideration upon Steve Jobs‘ return to Cupertino. They immediately completed their mission of differentiating Apple’s {hardware} from the beige containers that different private laptop corporations constructed at the moment.
However chief designer Jony Ive and others have been eager to go in a brand new route with Apple design. Their new imaginative and prescient birthed the modern, austere, quasi-industrial aesthetic that Apple continues to discover to at the present time (though the colourful M1 iMacs launched in 2021 appear to be one thing of a throwback to the corporate’s extra playful designs).
A pc formed like a dice appeared to carry a bizarre fascination for Jobs, though he by no means discovered nice business success with this kind of design. The Energy Mac G4 Dice harked again to the NeXTcube, a pc Jobs created throughout his wilderness years exterior Apple. That machine additionally achieved solely restricted success.
Photograph: Wikipedia CC
A transparent dice constructed for pace
No person denied that the Energy Mac G4 Dice appeared hanging. Moderately than a typical tower, it took the type of a 7-inch-by-7-inch dice of clear plastic that appeared prefer it was floating in midair, as a consequence of its clear base. It additionally operated in near-total silence as a result of it was cooled by air convection as an alternative of a fan. And it featured a touch-sensitive energy button, an early instance of the tech Apple would later use for the iPhone.
One thing that I very a lot preferred about it was that it continued Apple’s mid-Nineteen Nineties pattern towards expandability. Homeowners might entry the Energy Mac G4 Dice’s inside parts simply by means of the underside of the machine. It even sported a pop-up deal with to assist with this. (By comparability, Apple’s subsequent Macs proved an excessive problem to open up, not to mention broaden.)
When it comes to each specs and worth, the Energy Mac G4 Dice packed fairly a punch. It began at $1,799 for a fundamental mannequin with a 450-MHz G4 chip, 64MB of reminiscence and 20GB of storage. A dearer Apple on-line unique — retailing at $2,299 — boasted a extra highly effective processor and additional storage and reminiscence. You had to purchase your individual monitor, too!
‘Merely the best laptop ever’ fails to catch on with customers
Photograph: Apple
Regardless of all this, nonetheless, the G4 Dice by no means appealed to quite a lot of hardcore Apple followers. Certain, they may need beloved it, however the wildly fashionable laptop merely didn’t ring a bell with on a regular basis clients.
Though Jobs known as it “merely the best laptop ever” in a press launch, Apple solely bought round 150,000 models complete. That was only a third of what the corporate had forecast earlier than the Energy Mac G4 Dice’s launch in 2000. The pc’s iconic look ensured that it popped up in just a few 2000-era Hollywood motion pictures, although.
Manufacturing suspended: Apple places the Energy Mac G4 ‘on ice’
Breathtaking because it was, the Energy Mac G4’s design suffered from a number of faults. Apple sustained a dangerous PR blow when some clients reported tiny cracks showing within the G4 Dice’s clear plastic casing. (If you wish to purchase a second-hand Energy Mac G4 Dice right this moment, you may wish to examine for this.)
In Apple’s press launch on July 3, 2001, it wrote that the G4 Dice was being put “on ice.”
“Dice house owners love their Cubes, however most clients determined to purchase our highly effective Energy Mac G4 minitowers as an alternative,” mentioned Apple advertising chief Phil Schiller in a press release. Apple acknowledged that there was a “small probability” an upgraded mannequin would arrive sooner or later, however admitted, “there are not any plans to take action presently.”
Apple didn’t want to attend too lengthy for its subsequent large hit, nonetheless. A few months after placing the Energy Mac G4 Dice on ice, Apple launched a little product known as the iPod. We expect you understand the remaining!
Do you bear in mind the Energy Mac G4 Dice? Depart your feedback and recollections beneath.
