Apple’s Steve Jobs recently announced that Apple would be phasing out several hazardous chemicals from their products and manufacturing centers. This change was the result of significant pressure brought to bear by Greenpeace, and it is a commendable change for Apple. However, this change means nothing to someone who wants to make a change to improve the environment today.
Fortunately for you, if you are such a person, a PowerPC-based Mac may be just what is needed. It may be true that Apple’s switch to Intel processors affords the Mac user more processing power per Watt of electricity, but it is also true that the new Intel Macs suck down electricity like water over the Niagara Falls. Consider the specifications for the newest Mac Pro. These systems have a power supply which can provide a maximum current of 12A. At 120V, that 12A max current equates to a whopping 1440 Watts!
Granted, the typical user probably won’t be operating a Mac Pro at anywhere near it’s power supply’s maximum capacity. Still, the Xeon processor is rated at 65W (typical) to 80W (max), and the super high-end quad core Xeon may need 120W. Even the Core 2 Duo has a pretty high power dissipation and is rated not to exceed 35W.
Contrast that against the latest generation of G4 upgrades. The fastest G4 upgrades these days use the Motorola PowerPC 7447A or 7448. The 7447A dissipates a maximum cool 30W at 1.42 GHz. The 7448 dissipates an even cooler 10W at 1.4 GHz. Of course, these are all spec numbers for the CPU alone, and they aren’t a solid measurement of how much current you can expect to use with any given computer. And although the power supply specifications aren’t a perfectly reliable number, either, you can be assured you won’t exceed the maximum power rating on your Mac’s power supply…
A quick browse of the Apple specifications shows the following (in no particular order):
- Mac Pro maximum wattage: 1440 W (1200 W according to AMUG)
- iMac Core 2 Duo (”Late 2006″) max wattage: 180 W for 17″ and 20″ models, 220 W for 24″ model
- MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo (”Late 2006″) max wattage: 85 W
- MacBook (”Mid 2007″) max wattage: 60 W
- PowerBook G4 1.67 GHz 17″: 65 W
- iBook G4: 65 W
- Mac mini Core Duo (”Late 2006″): 110 W
- Mac mini 1.42 GHz G4: 85 W
- Power Mac G5 max wattage: 1250 W for the last G5 with dual core CPUs, up to 600 W for earlier models
- iMac G5 max wattage: 180 W for all models
- Power Mac G4 “MDD” max wattage: up to 812 W by my reading of AppleSpec
- Power Mac G4 “QuickSilver” max wattage: 360 W
- iMac G4 max wattage: 190 W on the 20″ model
- eMac (USB 2.0, 1.25 GHz G4): 230 W
- Power Mac G4 Cube max wattage: 205 W
- Power Mac G4 “Sawtooth” max wattage: 200 W
- PowerBook G3 (all PowerBooks, in fact, from the 5300 to the “Pismo”) max wattage: 45W
- Power Mac G3 B&W max wattage: 200 W (extrapolated from Power Mac G4 “Yikes!” with PCI graphics)
- Power Mac G3 All-In-One max wattage: 300 W
- Power Mac G3 minitower max wattage: 240 W
- Power Mac G3 desktop max wattage: 230 W
- Power Mac 9600 max wattage: 560 W
- Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh: 140 W
- Apple Studio Display 21 (21″ CRT): 180 W
- Apple Cinema Display ADC (22″ LCD): 77 W (provided by host computer’s PSU)
So what is the point of all this? Apple is doing a great job cutting down on the toxic and hazardous materials used in Macs and during their construction. However, the most intractable environmental problem facing us today is not one of toxic cleanup that can be fixed by just spending a few extra dollars. Rather, there is a growing calamity threatening the whole world in the form of global climate change exacerbated by the excess production of greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a principle byproduct of power generation. Thus, by producing Macs which require higher amounts of electricity, Apple is in effect driving increasing levels of carbon dioxide emissions.
One might argue that Apple’s contribution is a drop in the bucket when considering the worldwide production of greenhouse gasses. This may be true. But when the company proudly proclaims itself to be a greener company, the notion rings false in light of the increased power consumption of their products.
Many people are still unconvinced that global climate change is a problem. Many people probably don’t care. So for those of you for whom ecological ethics are not a concern, let your wallet be your guide.
As AMUG has been pointing out in their reviews lately, energy costs are becoming a significant portion of the expenses involved when operating a computer, and thus should factor in heavily in placing large orders for power-hungry computers. This fact probably hasn’t dawned on many home users as yet. But as time goes on, computers require more power, and the household energy bill starts to escalate, not only will the purchase cost of the computer be important, so too will be the cost of running the computer.
In this age of high-speed 24×7 internet connections, there is a tendency to leave the home computer on all the time. In my house, I pay about $0.04 per kWh. I own a 9600 (560 W) and a G4 “QuickSilver” (360 W) that I leave powered on all the time. Using the absolute worst case (and, I admit, completely unreasonable) power consumption numbers from the information above, I could pay up to $322 per year for those two computers alone.
Other than some Halo and Quake 3 from time to time, I don’t really have a need for all the computing muscle provided by the Digital Audio. Most of what I do (browse the web, write some email, even administer this website) can be done reasonable competently on a 500 MHz PowerBook G3 “Pismo”. If I consolidated my computers into a G3 laptop (45 W) and, say, a G4 cube with an ADC display (205 W), I could save up $235 to per year!
If you have a PowerPC Macintosh already, and your uses for your computer are web browsing, writing, watching movies, and some occaisional gaming, you can save considerable money by not upgrading to an Intel-based Mac. If you are environmentally or even fiscally conscious, avoiding the higher energy consumption Macs from Apple (of which the Mac Pro and MacBook Pro are probably the worst) is probably a wise thing to do. Instead, carefully consider your needs and the newest G4 upgrades. These new G4s require less power than the Intel chips, and they may just fit the bill for you.