PPC 970 in July?

[MacRumors]

MacBidouille also posts two updates with rumors of the upcoming PPC 970.

According to the rumor posts, they claim that the 970 should be available as soon as July, and expect advances to a 0.09 micron process by Spring of 2004. Meanwhile, the Power5 derivative chip should come in between 2.8-4.5 GHz.

They also report that Apple is testing prototype PowerPC970 motherboards with DDR 400, USB 2.0 and AGP 8x.

[zer0army]

here we go with more USB 2 talk

[Hemingray]

GDR? I'm not familiar with that... something-data-rate? Giga? Beats me...

[EDIT: Oookay, gotcha. Thought I was missing out on some new technology or something!]

[djkut]

A 970 kick-off at MWNY would be incredible...even if the chips did take as long as the 17" powerbook.

Anyways, I long for the 970's release, hopefully accompanied by a new case design (not a big fan of the MDD).

Why is this a Page 2 rumor? Is Mac Bidoulle a page 2 source?

[t^3]

GDR is a typo. The linked page says DDR.

[macphoria]

There's been news about G4 updates from Motorola, meaning it is more likely to see at least one more G4 related update on Macs than IBM 970 showing up in Apple products this Summer.

[Victoriatus]

Originally posted by t^3
GDR is a typo. The linked page says DDR.

Just a failed automatic translation. DDR is Deutche Democratiche Republik -- German Democratic Republic in English, therefore DDR is translated as GDR.

[reedm007]

Ha! You're right! That's hilarious!

[MrMacMan]

Me being a skeptic I don't see 970 released this summer.
Unless, then the shipping date is like 2-3 months.

Well yeah.

[Niknar]

One word "Cool!"

So new 970's in the PowerMacs and new G4s in the iMac/eMac.

Very cool

[Dont Hurt Me]

Originally posted by Macrumors
MacBidouille also posts two updates with rumors of the upcoming PPC 970.

According to the rumor posts, they claim that the 970 should be available as soon as July, and expect advances to a 0.09 micron process by Spring of 2004. Meanwhile, the Power5 derivative chip should come in between 2.8-4.5 GHz.

They also report that Apple is testing prototype PowerPC970 motherboards with DDR 400, USB 2.0 and AGP 8x.

wish i knew french so i could read the report,and how the heck does this frenchie know whats going on in california all the time before we do?Is there a secret apple lab in France? I guess they have a good source.

[MacCoaster]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
wish i knew french so i could read the report,and how the heck does this frenchie know whats going on in california all the time before we do?Is there a secret apple lab in France? I guess they have a good source.

Alright, the original text [le texte original]:

Merci à anonyme pour l'info

IBM a eu d'agréables surprises lors de la première mise ne production du PPC 970. Le taux de processeurs valides et tournant 2 Ghz ou plus, a dépassé toutes leurs espérances. La puce devrait être disponible en juillet !!

Sinon pour l'avenir des puces IBM:
Au printemps 2004, elle sera déclinée en une version 970CX gravée en 0,09 Microns et réservée aux portables.
A la même période, le Power 5 tournant entre 1,5 et 2,5 Ghz sortira.
Plus loin encore, le PPC 980 sera un Power 5 light+ Altivec prévu pour fonctionner entre 2,8 et 4,5 Ghz.
Il y aura aussi super version qui sera un Power 5 non castré avec Altivec. Il s'appellera le PPC 9800.
En 2006 on en sera au PPC 990....

Your translation, a rough one [la traduction]:

Thanks to "anonymous" for the information.

IBM has some nice surprises. At the time of the first (probably samples) production of the PowerPC 970. The valid rate of the processors are turning to 2 GHz and above, exceeding all their expectations. The chip is forecasted to be available in July!

If not for the future of IBM chips: in spring 2004, PowerPC 970CX will feature the 0.09 microns and it will be reserved for the laptops. At the same period, POWER5 is turning out at between 1.5 and 2.5 GHz will come out. Further, the PowerPC 980 will be the POWER5-lite (i.e. PowerPC 970 is POWER4-lite), with Altivec. It is designed to function between 2.8 and 4.5 GHz (the PowerPC 980).

There will also be a super version which will be the POWER5, not featuring Altivec. It will be called the PowerPC 9800. In 2006, we will be getting the PowerPC 990.

No, I'm not French, but I'm learning French.

[Mr. Anderson]

Now that's a road map I like - seeing regular updates. Very cool, can't wait to see it.

D

[howard]

it would be neat to have the existing usb devices be able to handle usb 2. its not like it'll take up an extra plug or anything. i know its not as good as firewire but why not have both!

[skunk]

Originally posted by MacCoaster

No, I'm not French, but I'm learning French.

Not bad Now all you have to do is get your English sorted out!

[NSObject]

Well, wouldn't it be nice to have these CPU's in our Macs, everyone wants faster Macs, am I right?
I believe that's the only gap to the PC-Users.
Or do we really want to wait for new Motorola CPU's, they are so far behind Intel, aren't they? I don't want to see these slow CPU's in new Macs, we need faster Chips, defenitly.

greets

[pyrotoaster]

Originally posted by djkut
...A 970 kick-off at MWNY would be incredible...

If Apple decides to participate in the summer expo.

MWNY will take place with or without a Jobsian presence, but Apple is still on the fence about whether or not it will come.
Maybe this is a sign to IBM, "if you build it, they will come... to MWNY."

Actually, what I find really interesting is that in two days we see two major stories about the 970. Imagine a Dual 2.5 GHz Powermac in July...

[Kethoticus]

Actually, what I find really interesting is that in two days we see two major stories about the 970. Imagine a Dual 2.5 GHz Powermac in July...

Imagining is about all we can do right now. I've learned from past experience that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

I'm more willing to bet that IF these chips ever make it into Macs, we won't see them any sooner than MWSF2004, and even then they might top out at only 1.8GHz.

I have nothing to substantiate my opinions here. Just tired of all the hype and unrealized hopes rumors tend to provide. I certainly would love to be wrong.

[nuckinfutz]

I'm more willing to bet that IF these chips ever make it into Macs, we won't see them any sooner than MWSF2004, and even then they might top out at only 1.8GHz.

Have a little Faith Brother.

Look at some of the clues.

1. IBM opens new Fishkill Foundry 2.5Billion smackers
2. IBM plans to support Linux on PPC
3. IBM announces processor with a SIMD unit(970)
3. PPC 970 is a PowerPC. Already mostly binary compat w/apple
4. Rumors galore...TGB, Omigroups Chief etc
5. Rumors about Motorola cancelling G5 aimed at Desktop
6. IBM press release mentioning Alitvec by Trademark.
8. Apple CFO announces that Apple expects to hit 8 Billion in Revenue and increase Marketshare to 5%. A %66 increase.
9. Steve Jobs is quoted as saying "I like options"

I mean it doesn't take Blues Clues to realize that this is probably going to happen. Apple has nowhere else to go. Certainly not x86. I believe Apple and IBM have been working on this for at least a year...probably more.

[djkut]

Originally posted by pyrotoaster
.
Maybe this is a sign to IBM, "if you build it, they will come... to MWNY."

LOL!

That was hillarious...were you going for the field of dreams line? Anyways, great sig for yourself.

[Nuc]

I have to say that I have been disappointed with the way Apple is usually always behind the market in computer chips. I have a 500 MHz G3 PB that I bought two years ago, and it has saved my tush so many times that I can't count!
i.e.
schoolwork + no crashes = more time to play!

But I am waiting for the beast that devours the PC world.

I would like to see Apple put a chip in that completely blows away the competition, and continues to do so for many years to come. I don't believe that the PPC 970 is the solution (but I guess they have to go with what they got). I don't know how these chips compare to others but in my department we run Fortran programs that do reactor physics, which involves math which I don't want to go into. However the calculations take a week to complete with a quad processor (these are faster than Pentium 4). I would like to see this cut in half by a Apple computer. But what do I know, we could all be wrong as to what Apple decides to do next, but it better be fast!

[Maz]

I follow Macbidouille quite closely - they seem to have some good information (although as it has been pointed out, it helps if you speak French )

I'm not a fan of automatic translations, so for clarification, "Le taux de processeurs valides et tournant 2 Ghz ou plus, a dépassé toutes leurs espérances." means "The yield of fully functioning processors which clock at 2Ghz or more exceeded all their expectations."

Seems like they may have their production quality going nicely from the start!

[MacCoaster]

Originally posted by skunk
Not bad Now all you have to do is get your English sorted out!

Blah, I'm from the US. I do well in US English, just don't do well in thinking about better translations from French to English as they have different orders and usages of the articles, etc. Blah!

At least mine is a lot better than the automatic translation. Plus, I know my English is many times better than some ahem southern hicks around where I live.

Originally posted by Maz
"The yield of fully functioning processors which clock at 2Ghz or more exceeded all their expectations."

A ha, "taux" can also be meant for "yield rate." I didn't know that. I was taught that it was primarily as "rate."

Thanks for the clarification! I'm not fluent in French ["du tout" ], yet... but I love to learn French. It's a great language, especially for a fifth language.

[skunk]

Originally posted by MacCoaster
At least mine is a lot better than the automatic translation.

I didn't mean to be mean You're a million times better than babelfish!

[laukev7]

Il y aura aussi super version qui sera un Power 5 non castré avec Altivec. Il s'appellera le PPC 9800.

There will also be a super version which will be the POWER5, not featuring Altivec.

Actually, the phrase should have been "Power 5 avec altivec non castré" and means that the chip will not be crippled, and will feature Altivec. The word "castré" means "crippled", not "feature".

Interesting how a translation of a badly constructed sentence can make such a difference...