PowerBook To Get Dual-Core G4?

[MacRumors]

The Register posted a story today that outlines a previously rumored new G4 chip from Freescale, a wholly-owned division of Motorola. Alongside AMD, both processor companies are expected to debut their new dual-core chips at the Microprocessor Forum this October in San Jose, California. From The Register:

Freescale's dual-core PowerPC is expected to sport an on-board memory controller, this one capable of supporting DDR 2 SDRAM, along with a Gigabit Ethernet controller. It is also expected to use the Rapid IO bus, according to past Motorola pronouncements, though MPX bus support is also anticipated to maintain backward compatibility.

The dual-core PowerPC may also mark the next major leap in Mac notebook G4 processors before Apple gets G5 chips from IBM that are capable of integration into a top-spec portable computer.

According to the MPF schedule, Freescale's dual-core chip will scale beyond 2GHz. The chipmaker's roadmap indicates that the part will be a member of the e600 series. It is also working on a G5-style e700 processor that combines 32-bit and 64-bit operation.

Freescale also has a faster successor to its top-end G4, the MPC 7447A - used in Apple's PowerBook G4 notebooks - in the works.

IBM's dual-core 'Antares' CPU, possibly set to ship as the PowerPC 970MP, will be available around the same time, as will Intel's Smithfield dual-core Pentium 4, it is believed. Neither IBM nor Intel are set to discuss their dual-core plans at MPF, but Intel is likely to reveal more at Intel Developer Forum in early September.

[jhu]

don't hold your breath

[g3ski]

Originally Posted by jhu

don't hold your breath

That says it all.

I am guessing they have more PR people working on Freescale than engineers. tehe.

[narco]

Prepare yourselves for the no powerbook G5 whine-fest in 3, 2, 1...

.narco

[toughboy]

Originally Posted by narco

Prepare yourselves for the no powerbook G5 whine-fest in 3, 2, 1...

.narco

Let me be the first...


I WANT MY POWERBOOK G5!!!!

[stoid]

Originally Posted by toughboy

Let me be the first...


I WANT MY POWERBOOK G5!!!!

Here's the only Powerbook G5 you are going to find for awhile.



http://forums.macrumors.com/image.ph...ine=1078679227

[Xerocs]

there will be dualcore-dualboards manufactured by gigadesign and others for the mdd/quicksilver too? (2x 2core 1,6ghz g4s?)

[Mord]

Originally Posted by Xerocs

there will be dualcore-dualboards manufactured by gigadesign and others for the mdd/quicksilver too? (2x 2core 1,6ghz g4s?)

i'd like one of those in my cube muhahahaha (i'd bet money that if it is possible powerlogix would do it first but half of them wont work right.

[dizastor]

Originally Posted by stoid

Here's the only Powerbook G5 you are going to find for awhile.
http://forums.macrumors.com/image.ph...ine=1078679227

I'd rather buy a G3 iBook off of eBay.

[gallagb]

i have no prbm w/ apple taking their sweet time releasing a G5PB- knowing that the first Rev will have prbms...so long as the physical design goes along well w/ that new display i've got...

a dual G4 would be cool- it'd be something unique-
u know- they could be developing this tech for the ibook- and gonna pop a G5 in the PB anyhow round the same time? just a thought.

either way- they aren't gonna release anything along these lines in the next week so let's get over it-

[stingerman]

This dual G4 has an onboard memory controller, so the FSB issue goes away. Super low-latency full speed memory access. The processor to processor bus would be 1:1 full speed, leaving the FSB for the other busses in the system, like PCI-E, USB2 etc. I understand that even the Ethernet controller is in the die. So Apple would not only be able to have very fast dual core Powerbooks, but also reduce power consumption and make them even thinner and lighter.

[VicMacs]

Originally Posted by stoid

Here's the only Powerbook G5 you are going to find for awhile.



http://forums.macrumors.com/image.ph...ine=1078679227

Originally Posted by greenmonsterman

I'd rather buy a G3 iBook off of eBay.

here here!! I'll drink to that!

[jamesfowler2k]

that would be wicked

[toughboy]

lets see the specs and the benchmarks

[Mudbug]

Originally Posted by toughboy

lets see the specs and the benchmarks

let's see the chip first...

[toughboy]

Originally Posted by Mudbug

let's see the chip first...

yeah sure... but there should be a beta tester somewhere out there who tested the chip and could tell us the difference..

[Wash!!]

Whaaaaaa!! where is my Powerbook G5!!!! (stumps feet, and roll on the floor)....

Sorry guys I had to do it...

[chuckzee]

It's the G4.5!

[Laslo Panaflex]

1. When will they be released?
2. How much will they cost?
3. Will it have the new Radeon 9800 with 256vram?
4. Will it be liquid cooled?
5. Will it be fuel cell powered?
6. How much can I get for my old toilet seat tangerine?

Etc, etc, etc . . .

I guarantee there will be a thread on this soon, too soon.

[edesignuk]

If they can't fit a G5 in there, then this sounds ok, 64bit is next to useless at the moment anyway

[maddav]

So it's dual core G4 Powerbook next Tuesday, and the G5 Powerbook Tuesday after

Seriously though, i wonder how a dual core G4 (it rhymes) would compare to a single processor G5.

[keysersoze]

Originally Posted by jamesfowler2k

that would be wicked

64-bit? What's Motorola's deal? Is Apple sticking with them for laptop solutions?

[stoid]

Apple works with Motorola, and IBM starts doing neat stuff whilst Motorola spins in the toilet. Apple jumps ship. IBM goes into a tailspin. Motorola starts doing neat stuff. Murphy's law. You switch lanes in traffic, the faster lane you switched to will grind to a halt and the lane you just got out of starts moving.

[jhu]

Originally Posted by stoid

Apple works with Motorola, and IBM starts doing neat stuff whilst Motorola spins in the toilet. Apple jumps ship. IBM goes into a tailspin. Motorola starts doing neat stuff. Murphy's law. You switch lanes in traffic, the faster lane you switched to will grind to a halt and the lane you just got out of starts moving.

except that the really interesting stuff is coming from ibm. too bad they don't use ibm's 750 chip anymore.

[Abercrombieboy]

Originally Posted by jhu

too bad they don't use ibm's 750 chip anymore.

Why? The 7447A is a MUCH better processor. I have had G3 based machines and they were fine, but in NO WAY do they compare to the newest G4's. Everyone complains about the 167Mhz FSB speed...um the 750 ran at 100Mhz. It did not have Alti-Vec which makes a huge difference especially on the newest applications and OS from Apple. Last, it never came close to clocking as high as the G4 has gone, 1.5Ghz. Look at benchmarks anywhere (ie. iBook G3 vs. iBook G4) and you will see the current G4's kill the old IBM G3's. The G3 was a good processor, but WAS is the key word.