Rick Merritt, for EE Times (10/09/02, reports, “IBM Corp. may give a peek into Apple Computer Inc.’s 64-bit future when it details a new version of its Power4 microprocessor next week. Aimed for use in desktops and low-end servers, the 64-bit Power4 could be IBM’s first PowerPC-compatible chip to support the Altivec multimedia instruction extensions defined by Apple and Motorola Inc. “Because it supports a full 32-bit environment, this chip should be able to boot the Mac OS just fine,” said Peter Glaskowsky, editor-in-chief of The Microprocessor Report.
“Apple would have to be crazy not to use this part,” said Glaskowsky. “Its performance will be in the upper reaches of any CPU. I can’t comment on its speeds, but they are good numbers. Apple would be able to produce for the first time machines that not only have great performance but support full 64-bit addressing.”
An IBM spokesman would not say if Apple plans to use the chip to move its desktops to a full 64-bit operating system. read it all here.
