Editing Power Macintosh (section)

=== Industrial design and the Megahertz Myth (1999–2002) ===
[[File:PowerMac Cube.jpg|thumb|A complete Power Mac G4 Cube system, including a 17" [[Apple Studio Display (1998–2004)|Apple Studio Display]], [[Harman Kardon]] speakers, keyboard, and mouse]]
Shortly after [[Steve Jobs]]' return to Apple in 1997, [[Jonathan Ive|Jony Ive]] was appointed senior vice president of industrial design. Building on the critical and commercial success of the [[iMac]], Ive and his team created an entirely new case design for the Power Macintosh G3, combining many of the aesthetic principles of the iMac (curves, translucent plastics, use of color) with the ease-of-access characteristics of the company's popular "[[Outrigger Macintosh|Outrigger]]" Macintosh models from previous years. The result was the [[Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White)]], a machine that received considerable plaudits from reviewers, including ''[[PC Magazine]]'''s Technical Excellence Award for 1999.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M7xcio3J5KkC&pg=PA109|title=PC Magazine|date=1999-12-14|publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc.|pages=109|language=en|access-date=December 19, 2020|archive-date=April 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411160522/https://books.google.com/books?id=M7xcio3J5KkC&pg=PA109|url-status=live}}</ref> "The Power Mac provides the fastest access to the insides of a computer we've ever seen," they wrote. "Just lift a handle and a hinged door reveals everything inside."  This case design, code-named "El Capitan",<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.storiesofapple.net/the-power-macintosh-g3-blue-white.html|title=Stories of Apple – Ten years ago: the Power Macintosh G3 Blue & White|website=www.storiesofapple.net|access-date=2018-01-14|archive-date=January 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121072343/http://www.storiesofapple.net/the-power-macintosh-g3-blue-white.html|url-status=live}}</ref> was retained through the entire lifetime of the Power Mac G4.  The introduction of the Blue and White G3 mini-tower also marked the end of the desktop and all-in-one Power Macintosh case designs, the latter being replaced by the [[iMac]].

A second model called the [[Power Mac G4 Cube]] was introduced in 2000, which fitted the specifications of a mid-range Power Mac G4 into a cube less than 9" in each axis. This model was on sale for about a year before being discontinued, and was not considered a sales success (150,000 units were sold, about one-third of Apple's projections),<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cultofmac.com/490470/today-in-apple-history-end-of-the-line-for-power-mac-g4-cube/|title=Today in Apple history: End of the line for Power Mac G4 Cube {{!}} Cult of Mac|date=2017-07-03|work=Cult of Mac|access-date=2018-01-17|language=en-US|archive-date=January 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121072125/https://www.cultofmac.com/490470/today-in-apple-history-end-of-the-line-for-power-mac-g4-cube/|url-status=live}}</ref> but the distinctive design of both the computer and its accompanying [[Harman Kardon]] speakers prompted the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in [[New York City]] to retain them in their collection.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works?locale=en&utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=jonathan+ive&classifications=any&date_begin=Pre-1850&date_end=2018&with_images=1&page=1&direction=|title=The Collection {{!}} MoMA|website=The Museum of Modern Art|language=en|access-date=2018-01-14|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806093300/https://www.moma.org/collection/works?locale=en&utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=jonathan+ive&classifications=any&date_begin=Pre-1850&date_end=2018&with_images=1&page=1&direction=|url-status=live}}</ref>

The PowerPC chips in the G3 and G4 became a central part of Apple's branding and marketing for the Power Macintosh. For example, the Blue and White G3 features the letters "G3" on the side that are fully one-third the height of the entire case, a significant departure from the small labels typically used on prior Macintosh computers. And when the Power Mac G4 was introduced, print ads included pictures of the G4 chip and mentioned its [[AltiVec]] instruction set by its own marketing name, "Velocity Engine".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/gallery8.html|title=The Mothership Apple Advertising and Brochure Gallery 8|website=www.macmothership.com|access-date=2018-01-17|archive-date=November 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124103539/http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/gallery8.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A related element of Apple's marketing strategy, especially after mid-2001, was to highlight what they described as the "[[Megahertz myth]]", challenging the belief that a processor's clock speed is directly correlated with performance. This had become important with the introduction of Intel's [[Pentium 4]], which featured significantly higher [[Clock rate|clock speeds]] than competing chips from Sun, IBM, and [[Advanced Micro Devices|AMD]], but without a corresponding performance benefit.

The company's public presentations – [[Stevenotes]] in particular – often featured lengthy segments pitting a high-powered [[Compaq]] or [[Dell]] computer against the Power Macintosh in a series of benchmarks and scripted tasks, usually in [[Adobe Photoshop]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lowendmac.com/2006/twice-as-fast-did-apple-lie-or-just-carefully-select-its-truths/|title='Twice as Fast': Did Apple Lie or Just Carefully Select Its Truths?|last=Zisman|first=Alan|date=August 21, 2006|website=lowendmac.com|access-date=January 20, 2018|archive-date=January 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121071548/http://lowendmac.com/2006/twice-as-fast-did-apple-lie-or-just-carefully-select-its-truths/|url-status=live}}</ref> These presentations often showed the Power Macintosh besting Intel's Pentium chips by margins significantly exceeding 50%, but independent benchmarks did not bear this out. InfoWorld reviewer Jennifer Plonka reported that the 400&nbsp;MHz G3 was 11% slower than a comparably-specced Pentium II-450 in an Office applications suite test, while Photoshop 5.0 was faster by 26%.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Plonka|first=Jennifer|date=March 15, 1999|title=Apple's G3 increases corporate appeal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GVAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA50-IA1|magazine=InfoWorld|pages=37, 40|access-date=December 19, 2020|archive-date=May 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509145646/https://books.google.com/books?id=GVAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA50-IA1|url-status=live}}</ref> And in 2003, [[Maximum PC]] ran a variety of gaming, Photoshop and [[LightWave 3D]] benchmarks, and reported that the Dual 1.25&nbsp;GHz G4 system was about half the speed of a dual-processor Intel [[Xeon#Prestonia|Xeon Prestonia]] 2.8&nbsp;GHz system.<ref>{{cite magazine
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KwIAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24
| title = Speed Trials
| pages = 22–28
| magazine = [[Maximum PC]]
| date = March 2003
| access-date = December 19, 2020
| archive-date = May 9, 2021
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210509145644/https://books.google.com/books?id=KwIAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24
| url-status = live
}}</ref> A related criticism leveled at Power Mac systems from this time, particularly the G4 Mirrored Drive Doors, was the increased fan noise level compared to older systems.<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://www.macworld.com/article/1019332/powermac.html
| title = Hands on with the Power Mac G4/867
| date = September 25, 2001
| website = Macworld
| language = en
| access-date = 2018-01-17
| archive-date = September 11, 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170911024740/https://www.macworld.com/article/1019332/powermac.html
| url-status = live
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url = http://apple-history.com/g4_mirror
| title = Power Macintosh G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors)
| last = Sanford
| first = Glen D
| website = apple-history.com
| access-date = 2018-01-17
| archive-date = January 26, 2018
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180126013200/http://www.apple-history.com/g4_mirror
| url-status = live
}}</ref>