Latest from MacUser on chips...

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Just because I'm posting this doesn't mean I believe it... more from the MacUser rumour mill:



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[summarised]



IBM set to announce 2GHz processor to replace the G4



IBM is set ot release new chip that *may* push performance beyond 2GHz. The as yet unnamed chip to debut at Microprocessor Forum in October that means it's two years from production, right!?). Will be the first 64-bit PPC for the desktop. Will include a "system" compatible with AltiVec.



Big cheese from IBM will give frist technical decscription of chip (that means it's five years away, right!?). IBM sources *claim* to be aiming for 2GHz.



Chip has "160 register" vector processing unit.



Because of the vector unit it must be for Apple - QED.



If, maybe, perhaps, pad, whatever, fudge... then smooth transition from Motorola AltiVec.



64-bit = heaven.



Based on Power4.



Despite this announcement we are stupid to print this article as if you are going to be able to buy this next week - there are huge gaps between such announcements and the introduction of real products.



(that last para graph is pretty much what the last paragraph of the article says).





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-- Clive
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 42
    jbljbl Posts: 555member
    Care to post a link?



    Doesn't sound like there is much new
  • Reply 2 of 42
    I just searched the site: <a href="http://www.macuser.co.uk/"; target="_blank">http://www.macuser.co.uk/</a>;

    Can't find any info in the forums or the news. Maybe it's a subscription-only article.



    Alex.
  • Reply 3 of 42
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    IBM is not Motorola. While this chip may not ship within a year I wouldn't go overboard on the pessimism.
  • Reply 4 of 42
    The MPF in October is usually a place where companies talk about what is coming down the road within the next few years, but that isn't always the case. I give you the IBM chip that is used in the GameCube as proof that *sometimes* companies show off chips that are near full production.



    IBM announced the chip that was going to run inside the GameCube last October. Less than 3 months later, they started shipping the chips in quantity to Nintendo.



    That being said, I *do* think we'll see these chips around this time next year in our Powermacs, but not before then. Think next September.



    Will they be 2+ GHz... no idea. My humble opinion being no. I do expect them to be close 1.7 or so. Again, MHz/GHz doesn't matter. What does matter is how fast the chip is [pipeline, cache, superscalability, etc.]. This will be a good thing for all parties involved.



    Stay Tuned!



    The Visigothe
  • Reply 5 of 42
    It was known that IBM would produce the Gekko since I believe August 25th of 2 years ago. When it was officially announced. It was known quite a bit even before then they would provide it still.. Maybe *officially* announced, yes, but I knew about the Gekko well over 2 years ago. I can even look it up on IGN and Nintendo power etc that it was announced before then.
  • Reply 6 of 42
    No link, no article that I can find at macuser.co.uk, and there's already a robust thread on this topic. Way to go Clive!



    Lock please.
  • Reply 7 of 42
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    [quote]"it's" ? contraction of "it is"

    "its" ? possessive form of the pronoun "it".



    It's shameful how grammar on the internet is losing its accuracy.<hr></blockquote>



    Who gives a crap?



    -onlooker (you can quote me on that)





    I thought that Gamepuke chip was rumored here at AI long before they called it Gekko, and was codename dolphin, or something.



    If there is a 2GHz powerMac it better be here much sooner than 2-3 years away. Like closer to Jan in SF.



    I'm tired of Apples processor (moto's fault I know) updates. I have an 867/SP PowerMac, and I'm ready to upgrade now, and it's still pretty new really, but I'm not going to buy one those things they came out with last week. I like the design and all, but, it's the multitude of other things wrong with this picture of an upgrade that I wont pay for.



    Do I need to list everything. I don't think so. Everybody loves the OS, but the damn computer is a lagging relic in a week.



    nuff said



    Sorry I strayed off topic. -o
  • Reply 8 of 42
    cliveclive Posts: 720member
    [quote]Originally posted by Ensign Pulver:

    <strong>No link, no article that I can find at macuser.co.uk, and there's already a robust thread on this topic. Way to go Clive!



    Lock please.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Oh, a "junior" giving out the orders!?



    The article isn't online, it's only in the printed magazine right now. They seem to have a weird policy about publishing to both. Either way it's in the 23 August issue.



    Your "robust thread" just chatters on after the first page, this is comparitively "new" information, from a different source. Which may or may not add to the veracity of other sources/threads.



    Although it could be that the MacUser writers just summarised from what they read here. :-)



    If MacUser post this online it's likely to go up tomorrow or early next week. There's effectively no "facts" in it that I haven't summarised.
  • Reply 9 of 42
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    These tales of IBM making a chip for Apple makes me happy, what does not is how long we will have to wait. Assuming IBM is apple's next chip maker, the absolute fastest we'll have a new PM is in like 4-6month, and even that would be unprecidented! Except for computers that fail, I've never heard of a comuter being dramatically changed after



    1)new case design

    2)greatly changed design no the inside



    to have people buy one computer just introduced and sell another that is better, isn't that just bad marketing?
  • Reply 10 of 42
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    I'm actually pretty optimistic about this actually. And this is old news (by a week or two) as well. I'll just say I'm getting pretty excited about the second half of 2003.
  • Reply 11 of 42
    xypexype Posts: 672member
    [quote]Originally posted by Eugene:

    <strong>I'll just say I'm getting pretty excited about the second half of 2003.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    That's a long time off, is it.
  • Reply 12 of 42
    iq78iq78 Posts: 256member
    Hey, I've gotten word that I it would be better for me, if I could wait to buy a desktop for 4-6 months because new systems being introduced with a new G5 processor from IBM.



    Source was a IBM proceossor designer that I've done some research with. She's never told me anything secret before, so I don't know the realibility, except that she was fairly matter-of-fact about it, and didn't seem like she was hyping something.
  • Reply 13 of 42
    this ship is possibly the power4: has at minimum 2 cores and a 64 vector processing unit compatible to the ebook (embedded contrakt between ibm and mot). one can add special 3rd party modules on the die to perform special tasks - ibm does the rest of producing it. but whats most interesting is the ability to add as many cores to the chip as you like. so a so called g5 system could include one processor with 6 cores - what would go in parallel with a mp-system with 6 cpus

    the only bad thing about is altivec, which is even at mot, not believed to be continued in that form. future mot and ibm chips will for some reasons not com up with a 128bit altivec. test have shown that a 64bit vector unit is easyer to program and in most cases performs compareable. the situations where a 128bit unit performs better are the realy high edge of whats intellectually possible for a programmer (optimisations etc.).

    the new ebook standard seems to be the bluebook for all new coming ibm and mot chips. this standard will be at the most tasks compatible to each other.
  • Reply 14 of 42
    cliveclive Posts: 720member
    Just to be clear, since I posted this in the first place - this sounds like a *lot* of conjecture, and I wouldn't be placing any bets on it.



    As for multiple cores, yes, that's been part of the PPC/Mac roadmap for a long time (if you hunt around on <a href="http://www.mackido.com"; target="_blank">www.mackido.com</a> you'll find references), perhaps we'll get there at last.
  • Reply 15 of 42
    I don't know why you guys are being so pessimistic about the rollout date. Motorola showed off the G4 at the 1998 MPF and it was shipping in new Macs less than a year later. And this is crappy old Motorola, and the G4, which involved creating the new AltiVec ISA.



    This time we're talking about IBM, which is (as far as I can tell) basing this processor on existing ISAs. I'd say that Apple could have this in new Macs in well under a year.



    I don't think a MWSF intro is at all out of the question.



    In fact, with the architecture of the new towers, I think it'd be pretty easy to do drop the new chip in place of the G4s (making the thing a real DDR machine, finally), and get rid of the old El Capitan look with a newer metal case (which we've seen the start of already).



    I'm guessing the new G4 with speedholes is Yikes! all over again - just a stepping stone to the real product.
  • Reply 16 of 42
    o and ao and a Posts: 579member
    The article is only in the magazine and it only speculates just like everyone here has and frankly people here have done a far better job.



    [ 08-22-2002: Message edited by: O and A ]</p>
  • Reply 17 of 42
    [quote]Originally posted by Clive:

    <strong>



    Oh, a "junior" giving out the orders!?



    The article isn't online, it's only in the printed magazine right now. They seem to have a weird policy about publishing to both. Either way it's in the 23 August issue.



    Your "robust thread" just chatters on after the first page, this is comparitively "new" information, from a different source. Which may or may not add to the veracity of other sources/threads.



    Although it could be that the MacUser writers just summarised from what they read here. :-)



    If MacUser post this online it's likely to go up tomorrow or early next week. There's effectively no "facts" in it that I haven't summarised.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    My apologies, Clive. Your first post made no mention of this article being print only, so I jumped to conclusions.
  • Reply 18 of 42
    cliveclive Posts: 720member
    [quote]Originally posted by Ensign Pulver:

    <strong>



    My apologies, Clive. Your first post made no mention of this article being print only, so I jumped to conclusions.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    No worries.



    -- Clive
  • Reply 19 of 42
    for the record, yes, the Power4 will be the next gen. for the powermac. this has been the plan for over a year now, actually almost 2 years. Friend at IBM in Austin is the source on that one.
  • Reply 20 of 42
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    This is not conjecture. This chip was talked about by IBM a week or two ago, though no clockspeed was mentioned. What was mentioned was a 160 function SIMD unit. Surprise, AltiVec has 160 functions (according to most.)
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