“Rumors are starting to build that Apple Computer is closer than previously thought to releasing a computer with a new chip produced by IBM… The chip in question is the IBM Power PC 970, and while IBM wouldn’t come right out and say so, it has been clear for some time that the chip is being aimed squarely at making Apple a big customer of IBM chips. Among other things, the chips support an instruction set, for handling graphics, known as Altivec, but which Apple prefers to call the Velocity Engine. It’s also a 64-bit chip, meaning it can work with vastly larger amounts of memory, speeding up its ability to cut through huge volumes of data in a shorter time. When IBM first presented information on the chip at an engineering conference in October, it suggested the chip would be ready for volume production by mid-2003. Meanwhile, Apple announced May 8 that Jobs will give a big keynote speech at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on June 23. Naturally, expectations are focused on the potential that new Apple machines could figure prominently in his remarks. To date, Apple has said nothing about using the chip in future systems, but it would be crazy not to consider it,” reports Forbes.com here.
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My next computer is going to be a 970-series PPC and I’ll need it this fall. My bet is show it in late June, ship it in late July. How’s that for just-in-time delivery.
just bought a 20″ cinema and while doing so asked the apple reseler about powermacs…he said that their stock was very low and something was up, but he knew nothing about the 970
Waiting for both 17 powerbook and new desktop using 970 processor. Will buy both:)
My guess re the earliest possible schedule: ship in July, without 64-bit support, but still a great new system–and 64-bit will be added with Panther.
Latest possiibe: one more G4 tower revision, then ship the G5/970 in September with Panther.
I agree with speculation that Apple plans to show 970 prototypes–not just Panther–at WWDC.
will shipp in July I hear powemac g4 pproduction has stopped.
If you follow Apple introductions, what is more likely is Announce in late June, promise to ship late July. They will ship one in July, a Handful in August, and due to high demand you’ll be luck to see yours by Xmas.
and wait til xmas I will. gladly.
Don’t forget that Intel’s Pentium 4 is now “advertised” to run @ 3 Ghz. The pressure to bring a higher clock speed to the PowerMac has been intense for quite a while. I’m guessing they will put out the 970 ASAP. I’m not arguing clock speed vs real speed. In reality, most people don’t know a lot about computers and will just assume the higher freq is faster. Having lower freqs is undoubtably having a negative effect on the switch campaign. If the 970 is shown 6/23, it will capitlaize on the momentum of iTunes, the Big Book, and all the Windows woes that are very real at the grass roots level. Steve For President.
Such articles, that are themselves based on poorly understood mac news and rumors, shouldn’t be reported back in mac news without a grain of salt, as it causes loops. Here’s the comment I sent Forbes:
There are technical errors or misconceptions in the may 12-16 2003 piece about Apple:
>the chips support an instruction set, for handling graphics, known as Altivec
It has nothing to do with graphics, although graphics can use it too. The term “vector” in “vector processing” refers to the ability to simultaneously handle multiple parallel threads of data, not to “vector graphics”.
>known as Altivec, but which Apple prefers to call the Velocity Engine
AltiVec is a feature and a part of Motorola chips, Velocity Engine is a feature of Apple consumer products not necessarily based on Moto chips (IBM seems to refer to an “AltiVec(TM) compatible vector processing unit”). It’s a good thing that product names don’t stick to those of their technical parts: “Velocity Engine” could have told you it’s not a matter of graphics, as “FireWire” does a better job at telling it’s a wire than “IEE 1394”.
>It’s also a 64-bit chip, meaning it can work with vastly larger amounts of
>memory, speeding up its ability to cut through huge volumes of data in a
>shorter time.
These are 2 distinct things: wider addresses (in software) can handle more memory, AND wider data paths (in hardware) move it faster. It’s not having more memory that makes it faster. It took Apple 3 years to actually take full advantage of the original mac’s 32 bit hardware (and 10 years for Microsoft to do the same on PC). Maybe you meant that more physical RAM may reduce disk access, which is not yet an essential feature of 64 bit chips for desktop computers as few users reach the current 2GB limit.
>Apple announced May 8 that Jobs will give a big keynote speech
>at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on June 23.
Nothing in the press release presents the keynote as “big” (they did in the past, and it showed).