Rumor: Revamped PowerPC 970 in Volume January '04 at 2.8GHz?


IBM will be shifting production of the PowerPC 970, aka G5, to a 90nm process by November, which enable the chip to reach 2.8GHz, possibly by Q1 of 2004, hardware site MacBidouille reports.

This will be the final iteration of the 970's development cycle before it is replaced by the PowerPC 980.

At the G5 launch at the WWDC recently, Apple CEO Steve Jobs promised that Apple would have systems running at 3GHz "within 12 months"

MacBidouille says that the dates linked with the known PowerPC road map still suggest a February-March release for a G5 PowerBook.

Analysis: Read Steve's lips: note he didn't say "970s will be running at 3GHz". He just said "We will be running at 3GHz." (technically, that could mean running Darwin @ 3GHz on x86, but we very much doubt he meant that).

The PowerBook issue is less certain. Marketing the PB as a G5 is possibly more important than a G5 PB itself - not that that's in the least insignificant. Opinion is divided over whether we need one; some users argue that a fast G4 is plenty, and less heat and better battery life are the priorities, rather than raw power and a desktop replacement. Maybe. But given that notebooks have now overtaken desktops in PC market sales, Apple have to compete with the ever-faster Intel mobile chips. A glance at Apple's balance sheet for the last quarter - note the portable sales - will tell you why.