PowerMacs updated in late January

I've been checking out Ingram Micro inventory and while they were mostly at nil for PowerMac inventory last week, they quickly restocked and are in the low hundreds on each of the models. I have heard rumors that Apple may have 970 chips in their hands by March even if a limited amount. We also are to expect the 7457 from Motorola very soon. We can all agree that PowerMacs need an update and late this month or early next is when we should expect them. I predict a staggered announcement like when the DA PowerMacs were first released: 2 models based on the G4 (7457) shipping immediately and two models based on the 970 shipping in a month for the lower speed and maybe 6 weeks for the higher end. If the 970 is not to be in the cards for this quarter then a full lineup of 7457s should hold us over with 200MHz buses, but I really hope for 970 announcements. It would convince some of my higher ups to wait on the purchase of some new Macs we need to make in the spring. My predicted specs are as follows:

All G4 line up:

1GHz SP, 1.25GHz SP, 1.3GHz DP, 1.5GHz DP
2MB L3 cache across the board
167MHz bus for the SP machines
200MHz bus for the DP machines
DDR RAM; 256MB, 512MB, 512MB, 1GB respectively
ATA133; 60GB; 80GB; 120GB, 160GB respectively
Firewire 400 & 800
USB 1.1
AGP 8X, PCI-X (!)
Bluetooth and the new Airport slots

Staggered G4/970 line up:

1.2GHz SP G4, 1.4GHz SP G4; 2MB L3 cache; 200MHz bus
1.6GHz DP 970, 1.8GHz DP 970; 800MHz and 900MHz bus
DDR RAM; 256MB, 512MB, 512MB, 1GB respectively
ATA133; 60GB; 80GB; 120GB, 160GB respectively
Firewire 400 & 800
USB 1.1
AGP 8X, PCI-X (!)
Bluetooth and the new Airport slots

[quote]Originally posted by Powerdoc:
<strong>I doubt that we will see a 200 mhz front bus, PC 3200 memory are not officially supported in the PC world due to their lack of stability. Otherwise the difference of performance is not huge comparing to PC 2700 memory, especially if you take law latency PC 2700 (CL2 one).</strong><hr></blockquote>

Unless Apple uses an asynchronous bus. 200Mhz bus with 333MHz DDR RAM. It's unknown if the present chipset supports that feature.

[quote]Originally posted by Bacon:
<strong>A few things:

I see the 970 being introduced at 1.2 Ghz - not 1.6. First off... yields will be better...Even there it would mop the floor with the current offerings...Hell, perhaps even a 1 Ghz 970 might be the ticket for getting to market quickly.

I also question whether the powermacs will mix the 7457 and the 970. Wouldn't this entail considerable expense maintaining?

We can be pretty certain from the official and semi-official announcements that the 970 will start production in 6 months. But what about the 7457? Motorola hasn't said crap. If they surprise us by turn out a 1.6 plus ghz part in the next 2 months it might change really change Apple's time table. I'm not saying that Apple won't quickly adopt the 970... I'm saying that what Motorola actually produces might change HOW quickly and in what manner Apple moves to the 970. For example, if the 7457 can hold down the fort on the low end, then Apple might wait an extra couple of months for yields of faster 970s to come up. On the other hand, the 7457 might be a boondoggle, and we could see the 970 introduced as quickly as possible. In that case, Apple might get more mileage out of low yields by moving, for one generation, back to single processors.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Really? I would imagine a 16 stage pipeline 130nm processor like the 970 would at least start at 1.6GHz and if it can't reach 1.8 on it's first run, then well lets just say I don't think IBM's fabs are that pathetic. 1.2GHz was quoted only to show the low power version, its ability to be used in a portable.

[quote]Originally posted by rickag:
<strong>

I thought that depending on the operation the number of stages in the 970 could vary from 9 to 20 stages??</strong><hr></blockquote>

Well depends on the unit and how complex the intruction is. I think 16 stages is the maximum steps in the integer pipeline. It may take as little as 9 or max out at 16 depending on the instruction.

[quote]Originally posted by KidRed:
<strong>The outrageous predictions are starting already.

Don't expect more then a new G4 at 1.25ghz, 1.3ghz, 1.4ghz probably all duals. FSB may be higher and we may get true DDR now. The case won't change too much because the vents on the MDD were meant for the new G4 mobo because it runs rather hot.</strong><hr></blockquote>

So now we are getting 'real' DDR ? How with the 7457 g4? Motorola has implied NO DDR BUS FOR G4 UNTIL 2004 AT THE EARLIEST! If then even! According to the PDF that the leaked on their site. Don't fool yourselves into think it 'might' happen. 970 is our only way out of the bus bottleneck we face.

<a href="http://www.macrumors.com" target="_blank">www.macrumors.com</a> has a story on upcoming PowerMacs that will have up to 1.43GHz G4. I can't for the life of me figure out what the bus speed would be.

[quote]Originally posted by Programmer:
<strong>

The last (and only) statement from Motorola about the MPX bus was that it would never go DDR, and probably wouldn't exceed 167 MHz. I could see Apple pushing the envelop to 200 MHz, but they couldn't add DDR unless Motorola did it... and adding DDR basically makes it a new bus, breaking compatibility with their other customers who have MPX compatible devices in the embedded market. When & if Motorola brings the memory controller into the G4 itself, then we will see DDR memory support.

</strong><hr></blockquote>
I was referring to the leaked PDF on Motorolas site that they eventually took down. it made reference to a 7457-RM that utilized a DDR bus. I don't know the nature of the bus (MPX or something new) but it was a tentative schedule. And it was slated for 2004, that's why I said IF even then. Personally i don't think we'll EVER see the 7457-RM, especially if Apple goes all 970 on the PowerMac.