970 for PM, but what of other systems?

[will]

Most people seem to agree we'll see 970 based PowerMac systems eventually, but what about the rest of the Apple range? Can the 970 be used in laptops? The Powerbook is a great laptop, but I'd hate to think it would be stuck with the G4 for much longer.

Apple could continue with the G4 for a while longer in the iMac, but what about the iBook? If Apple move to 970 for PM it seems unlikely they'd move iBook to G4. Perhaps http://www.thinksecret.com/news/g3gobi.html offers a clue?

Anyone got any more insight/information?

 

[bluecell]

I'm sure if Apple does decide to use the PPC 970 it will go into all of the high end Macs, PowerBooks included. It doesn't consume that much power in comparison to Pentium chips, so it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[will]

Are there any power consumption figures available for the 970? Do you know how it compares with a 1Ghz G4 as used in today's PowerBooks?

 

[kenkooler]

3.06 Ghz P4 - 81W
1.8 Ghz 970 - 42W
1.4 Ghz 970 - 25W
No idea about the G4, the Motorola site is having trouble right now

 

[RBMaraman]

I expect the 970 to be put in the PowerMac and the XServe first, then intergrated into the PowerBook a few months after those machines start shipping. Then, the 970 will be implemented into the iMac and possibly the eMac, but I'm not sure what will happen with the iBook. Do you think it'll just get the G4, while the rest of the machines use the 970? Maybe a low end 970 will be used for the iBook, and more powerful ones will be placed in the other machines.

 

[FattyMembrane]

if ibm added altivec support to the gobi, it could replace the current g3 in the ibook and provide an extended lifespan. apparently they were able to licence altivec for the 970, so i'm assuming that the same could be done for gobi.

the only problem with this is that apple would have 32 and 64 bit machines to support. of course they would offer support for legacy 32 bit machines, but supporting simultaneously produced 32 and 64 bit machines would be a hassle. perhaps apple will just bite the bulllet and release dual 970 powermacs, single 970 emacs/imacs, and significantly staggered 970 ibooks/powerbooks.

 

[bluecell]

Originally posted by FattyMembrane
if ibm added altivec support to the gobi, it could replace the current g3 in the ibook and provide an extended lifespan. apparently they were able to licence altivec for the 970, so i'm assuming that the same could be done for gobi.

the only problem with this is that apple would have 32 and 64 bit machines to support. of course they would offer support for legacy 32 bit machines, but supporting simultaneously produced 32 and 64 bit machines would be a hassle. perhaps apple will just bite the bulllet and release dual 970 powermacs, single 970 emacs/imacs, and significantly staggered 970 ibooks/powerbooks.

IBM says that the 970 is the first in a new family of PowerPC processors. Hopefully, that is case and we'll see a well-maintained PPC line that gives Apple and their customers some options. But, I do agree with you on the support of 32- and 64-bit machines.