The question is not if 970, it is when?

[MacManiac1224]

The question is not if 970, it is when? The IBM 970. This motherboard thing could be really good confirmation on the 970 coming out soon. Apple might even release it before July. I just saw that article at insanely great mac:
http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1838

it basically said that since the motherboards will be going into production in late April, or early May, how many have to be in production until it comes out? That is really the question. If they are doing this now, then it is very possible they will release it in late May or June, or possibly July before MWNY, since there is no keynote. Anyway, I think this is very possible. Apple will most likely want to relase it in adequate quanities before the school season, which is very big for them.

I don't understand this consumer, pro motherboard thing, maybe it is simaler to what they have now, 133mhz bus for the low end, and 167mhz bus for the high end.

I just hope that they do a good job on those motherboards, so the bus speeds will be over 500mhz, or even 900mhz for the 1.8Ghz, if it is released.

What do you guys think?

[yzedf]

I don't understand this consumer, pro motherboard thing, maybe it is simaler to what they have now, 133mhz bus for the low end, and 167mhz bus for the high end.

The point of the 970 is advanced hardware. 133MHz and 167MHz bus speeds are rediculously slow. 333MHz and 400MHz would be a nice start. We shall see.

This is of course, an assumption; based on Apple getting access to the 970. Just because it is PPC does not mean IBM will sell Apple the rights to use the 970.

This is why Apple should port OS X to run on Intel. They could still do the same thing, offering 1 or 2 different hardware configurations, and minimal support for anything else. We know that this probably won't happen, as it would make Apple no different from anyone else (Dell/Gateway/HP-Compaq/IBM etc).

[MacsRgr8]

Originally posted by yzedf

This is of course, an assumption; based on Apple getting access to the 970. Just because it is PPC does not mean IBM will sell Apple the rights to use the 970.

This is why Apple should port OS X to run on Intel. They could still do the same thing, offering 1 or 2 different hardware configurations, and minimal support for anything else. We know that this probably won't happen, as it would make Apple no different from anyone else (Dell/Gateway/HP-Compaq/IBM etc).

The 970 is not "just" a PPC, it's a PPC with a SIMD (Altivec, if you like) unit, making it the PERFECT replacement for the G4, which also has this unit. Porting OS X to x86 (Marklar) has already been done (well, Darwin has), but I'm not sure if Aqua will be ported. Can you assume Adobe making Photoshop 8 for: a) x86 Windows, and b) x86 OS X, and c) PPC OS X? Not me. I'd love to see Apple using all the options of fast hardware available, but I do think that they have to commit themselves to one platform (PPC vs. x86). And as so many "pro" apps are available for PPC, and make use of the Alivec, and are SMP.... I can't see Apple commit to x86. They'll have to be backwards compatible aswell! And this 970 seems to be backwards compatible with the "old" 32-bits apps for the G3/4.
So, yes... it's "WHEN?????"

[Dont Hurt Me]

Hate to say this but there is a article at macdailey news where the author says intel is coming to the mac within 18 months. Dont worry though this guy doesnt know his a_ _ from a whole in the ground. I have seen his stuff before and he is a Peecee weenie. But it is entertaining to see how he came to his conclusions. Ireally think we will have a new powermac with a 970 in it this september on the shelves .Here is a link to the article www.macdaileynews.com Have fun reading it but remember you may get more facts by gazing into a bowel of alphabets!