Power Mac G4 Cube

The Power Mac G4 Cube with power supply and peripherals announced in tandem with the computer.[1]

The G4 Cube is a small cubic computer, suspended in a 7.7×7.7×9.8 in (20×20×25 cm) acrylic glass enclosure. The transparent plastic gives the impression the computer is floating.[2] The enclosure houses the computer's vital functions, including a slot-loading optical disc drive. The Cube requires a separate monitor with either an ADC or a VGA connection.[3] The machine has no fan to move air, and thus heat, through the case. Instead, it is passively cooled, with heat dissipated via a grille at the top of the case.[4] The base model shipped with a 450 MHz G4 processor, 64MB of RAM, 20GB hard drive, and an ATI Rage 128 Pro video card.[3] A higher-end model was available only through Apple's online store.[5]

To fit the components of a personal computer in the size of the case, the Cube does not feature expansion slots. The Cube does have a video card in a standard AGP slot, but could not fit a full-length card.[1] The power supply was located externally to save space, and the Cube features no input or outputs for audio on the machine itself. Instead, the Cube shipped with round Harman Kardon speakers and digital amplifier, attached to the computer via Universal Serial Bus (USB).[4] Despite its size, the Cube still fits three RAM slots, two FireWire 400 ports and two USB 1.1 ports for connecting peripherals in its frame. The computer's I/O and power cable are located on the underside of the machine. Access to the machine's innards is accomplished by inverting the unit and using a pop-out handle to slide the internals out of the shell.[5]

Access to the computer's innards comes via a latch to pull the computer out of the plastic shell.

The Cube was an important product to Apple,[6] and especially to Jobs, who said the idea for the product came from his own desires as a computer user. "I wanted the [flat-panel] Cinema display but I don't need the features of the PowerMac," he told Newsweek. Jobs minimalist aesthetic influenced the core components of the design, from the lack of a mechanical power button, to the trayless optical drive and quiet fanless operation.[7] The design team at Apple, lead by Jonathan Ive, attempted to fit the power of a desktop in a much smaller form factor; Ive saw traditional desktop tower computers as lazy, designed around what was easiest for engineers.[2] The Cube represented a shift in Apple, as the designers held increasing sway over product design.[2] The New York Times called the Cube "pure [...] industrial design" harkening to Bauhaus concepts.[8]

The Cube represented an effort to simplify the computer to its barest essentials, while leaving the interior easy to access.[2] As the G4 Cube has no fan, the design started with the heat sink.[1] The "magic" power button that turned on with a wave or touch was accomplished via the use of capacitive sensing.[2] The effort spent developing the Cube would pioneer new uses and processes for materials at Apple that would benefit later products.[2] Due to the technology included in the G4 Cube, Apple's engineers had a tough time keeping the total cost low. Advertising director Ken Segall recalled that Jobs learned of the product's price shortly before an ad agency meeting, and was left "visibly shaken" by the news, realizing that the high price might spell the product's failure.[9]

The G4 Cube was announced at Macworld Expo on July 19, 2000, as an end-of-show "one more thing". Jobs touted it as combining the power of the Power Mac G4 with a sleek design and miniaturization Apple learned from producing the iMac. Alongside the G4 Cube, Apple introduced a new mouse, keyboard, and displays to complement the machine.[10]

Rumors of a cube-shaped Apple computer had leaked out weeks in advance, and some sites had posted purported pictures. The machine's size and looks were immediately divisive, which Macworld editor Andrew Gore took as an indication that Apple had succeeded in a cutting-edge product.[4] The design was a point of praise, as well as jokes—the computer was compared to a Borg cube, toasters, or a box of Kleenex.[1] Others compared it to the NeXT Cube.[11] Ive and the design team were so amused by the comparison to a tissue box that they used spare Cube shells for that purpose in their studio.[2]

Reviews were generally positive. Peter H. Lewis, writing for The New York Times, called the computer the most attractive on the market, and that combined with Apple's displays and peripherals "[they] create a stunning array of desk sculpture."[12] PC Magazine Australia said that after changing the look of computers with the iMac, the G4 Cube had raised the bar for competitors even further.[13] Gore called the Cube a work of art that felt more like sculpture than a piece of technology, but noted that one had to live with compromises made in the service of art.[14]

Critics noted that in order to get easy access to plug and unplug peripherals via the I/O ports, users would have to tip the entire machine—risking accidental sleep activation or dropping the slippery plastic computer entirely.[5][15] Macworld found the touch-sensitive power button too sensitive and that they accidentally activated sleep mode regularly, and reported that the stock 5400-rpm hard drive and 64MB of RAM on the base model slowed the system considerably.[16][14]

The Cube won several international design awards on release,[17] as well as PC Magazine's best desktop computer for its Technical Innovation Awards.[18] The G4 Cube and its peripherals were acquired and showcased by the The Museum of Modern Art alongside other Apple products.[19]

Though Apple CEO Tim Cook called the G4 Cube "a spectacular failure"[6] and the product sold only 150,000 units before being discontinued, the Cube became highly popular with a small but enthusiastic group of fans.[27] Macworld's Benj Edwards wrote that the G4 Cube was simply ahead of its time, with its appeal to a dedicated group of fans years after it was discontinued a testament to its visionary design.[26] After its discontinuation the product fetched high prices from resellers, and a cottage industry developed selling upgrades and modifications to make the machine run faster or cooler.[27] John Gruber wrote 20 years after its introduction that the Cube was a "worthy failure [...] Powerful computers needed to get smaller, quieter, and more attractive. The Cube pushed the state of the art forward."[28]

While the G4 Cube failed commercially, it influenced future Apple products. The efforts at miniaturizing computer components would pay off in future computers like the flatscreen iMac G4.[2][29] The Mac mini fit an entire computer in a shell one-fifth the size of the Cube and retained some of the G4 Cube's design philosophies. In comparison to the high price of the Cube, the Mini retailed for $499 and became a successful product that remains part of Apple's lineup.[26][30] The translucent cube shape would return with the design for Apple's flagship Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City.[31] Capacitive touch would reappear in the iPod and iPhone lines,[2] while the Cube's vertical thermal design and lattice grille pattern were echoed by the 2013 and 2019 versions of the Mac Pro.[32][33]

CNET called the machine "an iconic example of millennium-era design".[34] Its unconventional and futuristic appearance earned it a spot as a prop in several films and television shows, including Absolutely Fabulous, The Drew Carey Show, and 24.[17] Sixteen Cubes were also used to power the displays of the computer consoles in Star Trek: Enterprise.[35]

• Apple – Power Mac G4 Cube at the Wayback Machine (archived December 16, 2000)
• Video of Jobs launching G4 Cube at Macworld 2000