I don't know if this is trustworthy but I find it interesting nevertheless.
Hi, obviously I'm new here, and without a track record my info may seem tenuous to some. I can divulge neither whence nor when this info originated without putting trusted friends in danger. I'm showing the info I'm comfortable putting up now, but it's essentially the "tip of the iceberg" of what I do know, in a way. This is why I'm so confident of it.
No new (970) Powermacs at WWDC. I don't know where all these other rumors come from, but 970 Powermacs are NOT currently in production, or at least, they are only gearing up the lines. Maybe the rumors meant PPC 970 production, which is in full swing. But obviously there's a significant lag between the time when a CPU rolls out of the Fishkill plant's driveway, and when a 970 Powermac rolls into an Apple warehouse.
The Powermacs will be shipping by September--I don't know when they will be announced. Probably in August. I don't know the name, maybe G5, but my source(s) were skeptical of the G5 rumor. The specs are the interesting part, because Apple will fragment the "pro" line in an effort to respond to the demands for a consumer tower.
There will be 2 cases and 2 different mobos.
Smaller case "222": Single PPC 970 CPUs, 4 DDR RAM slots, AGP 8X, 2 PCI slots (yes, same PCI as now). 2 optical drive bays. Serial ATA with room for 2 HDs.
Larger case "666": Dual PPC 970 CPUs, one bank of RAM for each CPU with 6 RAM slots each, AGP 8X, 6 PCI slots. 2 optical drive bays. Two Serial ATA channels with room for 6 HDs. This mobo has a few other perks compared to the 222, and they will be a nice surprise in their own right.
Both boards are based on Hyper Transport, which is used "liberally".
Apparently the 222 will be aimed a bit below the current Powermacs, while the 666 is intended for a market above the current Powermacs. Apple's feedback among Powermac users can be divided into 2 groups: one for which the current towers are too restricting, and one for which the current towers are overkill, and very little middle ground. So Apple is going to try and fulfill everyone's expectations.
These Powermacs will show up at WWDC, but only behind closed-door NDA sessions. Much like the G4 Macs, Apple is giving developers a preview so they can prepare for their introduction later on. Mass seeding (project "Appleseeder" will begin at WWDC, first with top-tier developers, then down the line.
I know nothing about the PPC 970-based Powerbooks, except that they will appear after the 970 Powermacs. Personally I think this means MWSF 04, but maybe later, we'll see. 970 iMacs? To be rolled into the next generation iMac, I'm told, but as for when that is, who knows?
Dapper Dan out.
