As you can see from the table, the 970 at 1.8 GHz is much closer to the G4e than to the P4 2.8 GHz in terms of power dissipation. This means that Apple will be able to use this chip in the kinds of innovative enclosure designs that make their hardware continually appealing, regardless of how it performs. Furthermore, a 1U, 970-based version of the XServe is not out of the question. And if you consider the fact that the 970's power consumption at 1.2GHz is a mere 19W, it's almost certain that we'll see a future notebook from Apple based on the new chip.
If and when Apple chooses to implement it on the PowerMac, they will be able to claim the crown of having the first 64-bit desktop, which would be excellent publicity if nothing else.
Ever heard of Compaq/True64 , Sun/Solaris , and Sgi/Irix?
Originally posted by Da_iMac_Daddy
Aren't those all workstations? like for offices? what I think he meant was that this would be the first 64bit desktop that everyone could use.
Originally posted by Rhino_G3
That's correct. These are all labeled workstations, not desktops.
Besides... Motorola beat all these guys to the punch as well. There were previous 64 bit motorola chips used in a few desktops (albeit a small number)
Originally posted by Rhino_G3
Yes, you're right on that. I was speaking about the 620. If I'm not mistaken the 620 was used in a few desktop boxes.
Maybe these were more workstation class as well.
OK, what's the difference, exactly? Performance? Maybe like...Originally posted by Rhino_G3
These are all labeled workstations, not desktops.
Originally posted by MDLarson
OK, what's the difference, exactly? Performance? Maybe like...
Servers (most powerful)
Workstations
Desktops
Laptops
Originally posted by Koelling
heck, most of windows isn't fully 32bit yet. PCs are so mired in backwards compatibility that it's surprising there's any speed left for the programs that need to run.
Originally posted by binaryDigit
I don't think any machines ever shipped with the 620. If they did, they most likely would have been AIX based (i.e. not "desktop" or pc (generic)).
If 10.3 is 64bit, then the Mac would be the first pc to be fully 64bit (OS and cpu) geared towards the mass market (and certainly the consumer market).
Originally posted by fryke
I don't know of any machine ever using the PPC 620. The plan was to have X86 compatibility. Full compatibility. However, I think, the chip was too big, too hot and too slow (in X86) at the time. Apple chose to use a PCI card with an X86 compatible chip for their 'PC Compatible' Macs at the time (PowerMacintosh 6100 DOS for example).