Well, Apple came out with a lukewarm update to their PowerMacs today, and a kick-butt update to their Cinema Displays. They introduced a new 20″ monitor and cut the price of their 17’s from $999 to $699, but the best part came in the form of a price cut for their top-of-the-line 23″ HD Cinema Display – formerly $3499, it’s now $1999. Sure, two grand is a lot to spend on a monitor, but dang – a $1500 price cut sure makes them a lot more attractive. As for the machines… They got a tiny speed bump, Firewire-800, Bluetooth wireless networking and Airport Extreme cards, and a small price reduction. Nice, but still awfully enh. It’s crystal-clear what Apple’s doing: they’re trying to make their machines as attractive as possible while the company is still bent over the barrel by Motorola’s dawdling on the G5 chips. Meanwhile, hipster geeks across the country are looking at this update and saying, “You’ve got to be kidding. No, thanks, I’ll wait for the G5.” This can’t be good for Apple’s bottom line.

C’mon, Steve, either bitch-slap Motorola into getting with the program or ditch them for IBM or – gasp! – Intel. Oh, and while you’re at it, ditch that ugly-ass case. I recognize the value of the handles and the drop-down sides for easy access maintenance, but the front of that thing is hideous. It looks like a frickin’ cyclops skull, for crying out loud. I know the good Mr. Ive could provide us with another piece of industrial art. A slightly sleeker G5, please, thankyouverymuch. And make it snappy.