According to the talk, the timeframe on the entire project was relatively short, with initial plans starting in March 2003. Initial negotiations were begun with Dell, IBM and AMD, but costs remained too high. In fact, the first Virginia Tech heard of the new PowerMac G5s was on their announcement day at WWDC (June 23rd).
Varadarajan met with Apple within the week and the deal was made. (Of interest, the purchase was actually made through the Apple Store.) Initial machines came with the stock Mac OS X 10.2.7, with plans to upgrade to Panther shortly.
Final plans for the cluster will be made freely available, and requests have already been coming in. Varadarjan says, "Expect to see a lot more G5 clusters."
Thursday August 13, 2026 4:20 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple will introduce at least five new devices at its iPhone-centric event next month, and it's also possible we'll get devices waiting on Siri AI like the Apple TV.
iPhone 18 Pro
The iPhone 18 Pro is going to look like the iPhone 17 Pro, but with a smaller Dynamic Island. It's getting some internal updates, including a new Wide camera with a variable aperture for more control over lighting ...
Friday August 14, 2026 6:24 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple will release iOS 27 in September, and despite the company's focus this year on refining its flagship operating system and nixing bugs, there are still many additional features on the way, not least of which is Apple's new context-aware Siri, re-tooled for the generative AI era.
This year's major iPhone software update isn't all about AI, though, as the following feature list...
Friday August 14, 2026 12:15 pm PDT by Juli Clover
For the first time since Apple started selling standard and "Pro" iPhones, we're not going to get an entry-level iPhone model this fall. Apple doesn't plan to release an iPhone 18 in September, and will only launch the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and foldable iPhone Ultra. The lower-cost iPhone 18 won't come out until spring 2027.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a ~5.5-inch outer display and a ~7.8-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
