Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

970 Ahead of Schedule?

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
66,355
35,427
MacWhispers claims that the 970 is ahead of schedule:

Many small pieces of data have recently brought us to the conclusion that the IBM PPC 970 deployment in Apple's computer products not only is underway, but is very much ahead of the generally expected timetable.
Click to expand...

Last we have heard, MacRumors sources gave conflicting reports on the timetable of Apple's implementation of the 970 - ranging from June 2003 to early 2004.
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2003/04/04/970-ahead-of-schedule/
970's early release

I have read a lot of things that point toward Apple being closer than expected to a completed 970 product, but I haven't read anything saying that IBM was ready to supply the 970 in large quantities. Maybe I just missed it, but if IBM isn't ready to produce large quantitties of the chip I wouldn't get my hopes up for a product until later this year or early next year.
 
Woohoo!!

The sooner the better. I am sick and tired of listening to the x86 Taliban on how much better their stupid Pentium 4 and Centrino crap are! Kick ass Apple and IBM if it is true.

On another note. The Composer in Mozilla is awesome however butt ugly since it is not GUI adaptive. Does anyone know of a HTML Composer that is as simple but conforms more with OSX?
Cheers,

Ahmed

what the hell did this have to do with anything?! :confused:
 
i have a good feeling about this. ibm is a huge company capable of producing. and the fact that they now have apple as a long term (please dont even start) customer, im sure their sensitive to apples current position with their lack luster desktops. i cant wait. this processor sounds sooo nice.
 
Music Industry - lagging behind

still waitting for audio units plug ins ---

syill have to run os9

ps
emagic also needs to upgrade wave burner for osx too!

-michael
 
Well, I REALLY hope so...

I'm going to wait and see. I've felt I've been disappointed way to many times with the speculation of faster chips and the amount of time we've been waiting for the new chips to come out.

But I REALY, REALLY, hope it's true.

By the way, what goes into making a chip which would take it so long? I really don't want specifics, I just have this conspiracy theory that little green elves are responsible for developing all the computer chips in the world, and that they have been sitting on their thumbs about Apple's plight... But I could be wrong... :D
 
well...credibility?

One thing I learned in the rumors game is that rumor sites with positive news get much more traffic. If MacWhispers is run by that guy from MacTable, it wouldn't be too sleazy to simply make up optimistic rumors. Let's face it, we all want the 970 to be introduced tomorrow across the whole line, preferably in dual form. Rumors of an LC wouldn't be too unpopular, either :)

Just a little cold water. I could indeed be wrong. But others have extrapolated production times from Apple's RFPs and such which suggest that though an announcement for a top-end machine may come sooner, the actual machines will be around August at best.

I'm rooting for an entry-level 970 ASAP of course. I need a new machine, but am not willing to be outdated so quickly. I keep computers for 6-7 years...so six months or so to get into a next-generation pays off.
 
IMHO.... Apple needs to have the new Shiznit shipping by the back to school market. Period. That is it. How many new college students will be getting computers as graduation presents? They should be making them availible to order by june shipping by august (finally one situation were semester schools are good for something, long live the quarter system).

This also coincides with educational purchasing. I know the UC System Departments spend every last dime of their budgets on the last day of their financial year, old computers line the halls here at Davis. (good place to get a monitor or old system for FREE)

Even though I am probably wrong, it just makes sense to me.
 
Yeah MacWhispers has really been beating the 970 drum recently. I don't think they have much of a track record (other than the fact that the site is run by the MacTables guy); I can't recall them being particular right or wrong on anything yet.

Basically, if I believe their rumors, I'm expecting new 970 PowerMacs AND new 970 PowerBooks at the June WWDC at the latest. They're now saying that the actual production of 970 PowerBooks are being ramped up. If these babies don't make it to market within 3 months, I'm calling MacWhispers a big fat liar. And for PowerMacs, I'll accept nothing less than a dual 1.8 ghz 970 machine within a couple months of the WWDC.

Personally, I think it's all speculation on their part. I can't believe that a brand spanking new rumor site has these unbelievable sources in all parts of the industry telling them all these juicy, detailed insider info. It's all a bit too much. As someone else mentioned, this guy probably going off on all these rumors to increase traffic to his site and make a quick buck.
 
how cool is it to hear, even if its speculation, that something related to mac processors are AHEAD of schedule. With IBM's state fo the art facilities and their planning for the future as they will be using the chip themselves, I think things could get a lot better really quick. Hopefully nothing unexpected turns up that will hold the chip back a bit in future incarnations, as happened with the G4 early on. It doesn't even have to be true that its ahead of schedule, but the fact that its even a possibility is exciting and a nice change.
 
It does seem possible that the change of the WWDC to June and cancelling a visit to MWNY points to something. The preview of "Panther" is already a given. To release the PPC 970 also would be a real coup. It would be good timing for the upcoming Christmas & school season. Alas only Steve knows for sure!
 
Re: 970's early release

Originally posted by AllenPSU
I have read a lot of things that point toward Apple being closer than expected to a completed 970 product, but I haven't read anything saying that IBM was ready to supply the 970 in large quantities. Maybe I just missed it, but if IBM isn't ready to produce large quantitties of the chip I wouldn't get my hopes up for a product until later this year or early next year.
Click to expand...

There was as a rumor/news piece about a month ago that stated that the production of the new 970 was going surprisingly well, that yields of higher speed chips were much higher than expected. I'll look for a link...

Originally posted by GeneR
By the way, what goes into making a chip which would take it so long? I really don't want specifics, I just have this conspiracy theory that little green elves are responsible for developing all the computer chips in the world, and that they have been sitting on their thumbs about Apple's plight... But I could be wrong...
Click to expand...

Simply put, it is a manufacturing process that goes on at the microscopic level. As with any manufacturing process, there are bugs that need to get worked out. However, being at such a small scale, the process is also vulnerable to a whole new level of 'bug' having to do with quantum interference, from the very odd behavior of matter once you start dealing with individual atoms. Physics still doesn't have a complete model of how things behave at these levels, so there is a lot of trial and error. However, it would seem that IBM isn't having as much error in their efforts...
 
Guys, im new here, hut is it even possible that this 970 processor wont even be used at all?, isnt the fact the apple is going to use an IBM processor a rumer?
~blue
 
Originally posted by blueflame
Guys, im new here, hut is it even possible that this 970 processor wont even be used at all?, isnt the fact the apple is going to use an IBM processor a rumer?
~blue
Click to expand...

yes, thats possible, nothing is confirmed yet. But all indications are that apple is going to use this chip: its specs are right, its lineage (powerPC) is right, its even got altivec (supposedly at the behest of apple). its setup for the future with is Multiprocessor capabilities and 64 bit status, not to mention the up to 900 mhz front side bus. There is no other chip that we know of that seems to fit so well with apple.
 
If Apple holds true to its history, 970 machines will be announced this month and shipping will begin in September.

This makes all of the rumors correct so it makes perfect sense.
 
Re: Re: 970's early release

Originally posted by Snowy_River

Simply put, it is a manufacturing process that goes on at the microscopic level. As with any manufacturing process, there are bugs that need to get worked out. However, being at such a small scale, the process is also vulnerable to a whole new level of 'bug' having to do with quantum interference, from the very odd behavior of matter once you start dealing with individual atoms. Physics still doesn't have a complete model of how things behave at these levels, so there is a lot of trial and error. However, it would seem that IBM isn't having as much error in their efforts...
Click to expand...

Ah, so there really ARE green elves...! ;) :D

Thanks Snowy!
 
Originally posted by blueflame
Guys, im new here, hut is it even possible that this 970 processor wont even be used at all?, isnt the fact the apple is going to use an IBM processor a rumer?
~blue
Click to expand...

An excellent question! Apple NEVER comfirms hardware prior to a release. That's Apple. This rumor is collaborated by so many independant sources that it is without a doubt the most certain "rumor" of recent memory. Apple will have 970 based macs by no later than Sept... and I think it's much more likely to be in June/July timeframe.

To put it frankly, they can't afford to wait.
 
I'm more convinced about 970 after reading motorola already made G5 that doesn't even have Altivec support.
 
Originally posted by blueflame
Guys, im new here, hut is it even possible that this 970 processor wont even be used at all?, isnt the fact the apple is going to use an IBM processor a rumer?
~blue
Click to expand...

Any IBM processor? Not a rumor. The iBook uses IBM PPC 750FX chips. Heck, my PowerMac 7100/66 used an IBM PPC 601 chip (all the 601s were from IBM). The open question here is whether Apple will use this particular chip from IBM.

If Apple doesn't, there is going to be a lot of shock amongst Mac users. Motorola has more or less abandoned the high end desktop/low end server market with their chips. IBM is specifically targetting this chip for that market.
 
Originally posted by greenstork
If Apple holds true to its history, 970 machines will be announced this month and shipping will begin in September.

This makes all of the rumors correct so it makes perfect sense.
Click to expand...


That's one of the funiest thing I've read in a long time. :)

Don't get me wrong. I like Apple and have always bought their computers, BUT they are bad with timing. Maybe there's a conspiracy between Motorola and all of Apple's suppliers to keep things running slow.

Ok, I'm done.
 
Originally posted by mahakali
I'm more convinced about 970 after reading motorola already made G5 that doesn't even have Altivec support.
Click to expand...

Motorola's "G5" has nothing to do with Apple's "G5". Moto's G5 is, in fact, an embedded applications chip, not overall adaptable to a general purpose personal computer at all. Moto has, in fact, said that they are no longer going to put as many resources into PC CPU development, and are concentrating on embedded markets now.

That having been said, the "Mac G5" from Motorola (dubbed G5 by rumor-heads, not Moto) has not been released, although rumors abound as to both why and if it ever will be. There are also rumors of PC-aimed "G6" and "G7" designs coming in the next few years, but given Moto's track record and professionality thus far, I'm not exactly holding my breath there either.
 
so... what will the PPC 970 be called? Will it just be referred to as the PPC 970? Or will it be the G5? Or the G6 (with the G5 never having made it in to actual computers)?
 
Originally posted by QCassidy352
so... what will the PPC 970 be called? Will it just be referred to as the PPC 970? Or will it be the G5? Or the G6 (with the G5 never having made it in to actual computers)?
Click to expand...

Only time (or a good source within Apple) will tell :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back