Apple exec: G5 PBs ain't coming soon

[Randman]

Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of hardware product marketing, told the BBC today that a PowerBook using the PowerPC G5 processor is still a long way off. "The G5 is part of our long-term processor roadmap, but it will be some time before that processor will be in a notebook," he said. As previously reported, Apple engineers are working on reducing the heat generated by the chip before it can be incorporated into the laptops. Joswiak pointed out that it had taken at least two years for the G4 chip to make it from the Power Mac to PowerBook.

Full story here.

[diablojota]

Well, 2 possibilities:
1) They can't take the heat
2) They are just trying to cover it up so they can surprise us later this year.

My hope is choice 2, but I think it will be choice 1.

[Randman]

It is good spin, considering most people seem to say the new PB revisions are nice, but they're holding off for the G5s. I still think we'll see one more G4 revision before the new G5s are introduced, with all-new form factor.

[soulseek]

i all ready posted this in another thread about the g5,
try keeping them together if its a similar thing...

[diablojota]

Well, if they are able to up the clock speed at all, we'll see a revision. However, it appears increasingly difficult for the G4 to be bumped. This is why IBM liked the G3 and want to add Altivec to it since it is easier to scale.

[RacerX]

Well, if they are able to up the clock speed at all, we'll see a revision. However, it appears increasingly difficult for the G4 to be bumped. This is why IBM liked the G3 and want to add Altivec to it since it is easier to scale.

Well, the G3 is about 10-15% slower for any given clock speed than the G4 for integer and (non-Altivec) floating point calculations. If IBM was to add Altivec to the G3 series, the only other major difference would be that the G4 was design for multiple processor systems (the G3 wasn't).

Given that, I (personally) would have no problem with Apple re-branding an Altivec G3 as a "G4" if it would keep the line increasing in performance at a better rate. Apple won't be using the G4 (or Altivec G3) in high end systems again, so the lack of multiprocessor support won't seem to be a problem. A PowerBook running a Altivec G3 at 1.8 or 2.0 GHz would be a nice system.

More important, it would let Apple distance itself from Motorola. IBM uses their chips in their own systems so there is a clear future going with them, Motorola seems ambiguous at best about their future in the processor business.

[mi5moav]

Very interesting soulseek, you are probably right. If the topic has been brought up in prior conversation(can't just be a quick blurb) are you the rightful owner of the "point" ? Should, the topic be merged or does this only count if the first post in the thread contains your point. Secondly, I would also agree if more than 10% of prior posts after your blurb mention/reference your blurb. There would be even more weight if you title your blurb within another read to reference your statements. However, points shall be deducted if you start a thread and your reference title is way off...ie, C. Fiorina and jobs dated for 3 months prior to jobs marriage, was your title and then you go on to discuss the possibility of Apple embedding cellular sim chips within a powerbook for a true mobile product... we couldn't give you points for that.