Speculation: Mac on IBM's Power4?

[chicagdan]

IBM's non-Intel servers and mainframes run on the RISC Power4 chip, which use 1 GHz+ dual-processors. Just because IBM doesn't want to produce the G4 doesn't mean they don't want to find desktop/workstation use for the billions of dollars they threw into Power4 processor research ... could it be that there really is no G5 (Motorola says G5 is just for autos) and IBM is actually the sole source of the next gen PPC processors?

It would make some sense ... IBM never gets in the G4 game and produces G3s only until the next generation PPC is ready to roll (perhaps 2H 02.) Motorola continues to produce G4s, but they make the transition from high-end to consumer models. This would support recent Motorola claims that there's a lot of life left in the G4.
I'm a former IBM employee, but claim no insider knowledge of this, it's just speculation.

 

[Bartman]

Originally posted by chicagdan
IBM's non-Intel servers and mainframes run on the RISC Power4 chip, which use 1 GHz+ dual-processors.

Well, it makes more sense than 2Ghz G5s...

...and it supports the claim made elsewhere about dual processor iMacs.

... and the Power4 has not been used in a consumer computer before (servers and mainframes are not generally considered Personal Computers), so the "where no PC has gone" fits.

You may not be right, but at least it is in the more believable range of speculations.

 

[trinitishwar]

"This is big." Big Blue?

 

[ob]

PC = Power Chip??

Hmmm....

 

[chicagdan]

If my wild guess is right, it would mean that the next generation of Power Macs would be built on a 64-bit bus ... THAT has never happened in a consumer-level desktop PC before, and it would certainly turn the whole clockspeed debate upside down. Maybe that's the secret of OS-X, it's really a 64 bit OS in disguise.

 

[MacAztec]

64 bit

The 64 bit chip will be in for a while. I mean, it has LOTS of potential. Think of a G4 upgraded to 1.5 GHz with a 350 MHz System bus. That would rip on any computer ever made.

 

[rice_web]

Here's my guess

To improve the relationship with Motorola, Apple will plop the 32-bit Apollo G4 into a brand of CRT iMacs running sub $1000. Then, Apple will have 64-bit computing in a home/home office iMac (LCD) and PowerMac. The LCD iMac would feature the Power4 from IBM, and the PowerMacs would feature the G5. Maybe this summer....

 

[dantec]

Let's...

Pray... for 1ghz G4 iMacs, and G5 Powermacs... Will the G5 produce as much heat as current G4's or will it be better in that respects..?

 

[Catfish_Man]

Power4 in the iMac

Ummmmm.... the Power4 is MUCH better than the G5 is going to be. It's a dual core chip, so it's essentially a multiprocessor system without the slowdown of the two chips communnicating. The G5 (according to rumor) is a single core, 64bit chip, so it would be faster than half of a Power4, but not the whole thing

 

[Durandal7]

OK heres my crazy guess about the Apple teasers:
"This is Big" means that this is a big product release
"To boldly go" means that an Apple web guy is a trekker
I really don't think the web department was told all of the MWSF details and then told to think up clever and subtle hints for the main site. Back to the topic, this plan would make sense for Apple.