Macworld Announcements Revealed

Power Mac G4

New Power Mac G4 systems will debut in identical plastics as current systems. Unclear at this point is whether UMA-2, Apple's next-generation motherboard, will make its debut at Macworld, although recent evidence appears that it will not. Among UMA-2's features is a 133 MHz system bus that uses faster, PC133 RAM.

Apple's Power Mac G4 tree will continue to follow the product lineup's current setup. On the low end will be a single processor 450 MHz model, with dual processors being found in middle- and high-end configurations at 500 and 600 MHz, respectively. Contrary to other published reports, Apple will not be abandoning its multi-processor strategy.

Supplies of 600 MHz processors, however, will be extremely tight initially, as Motorla continues to experience problems producing reliable yields of the chips. As indicated in AppleInsider last week, the high ratio of failed and unreliable chips at this speed is forcing the company to hand-test each chip, severely impacting its ability to produce large quantities.

Configurations for the new Power Mac G4 systems are shaping up as follows:

• Power Mac G4 450 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 30 GB, DVD, 56K

Pricing information for these systems is not yet known, but is expected to be in line with Apple's previous pricing scheme of $1599, $2399, and $3499, which would allow the systems to be sold alongside Apple's current, price-reduced units without cannibalizing sales of either systems.

Similarly, Apple will boost the speeds of its G4 Servers, with the low-end model featuring a 500 MHz G4 and middle- and high-end models using 600 MHz chips. All Server configurations will remain single-processor, as Mac OS X Server remains unable to function on dual-processor system.

PowerBooks

With nearly a year since the release of the FireWire PowerBooks, Apple will finally deliver what mobile Mac users have been craving since 1999: a G4 PowerBook.

PowerBook G4 configurations will be very similar to that of current FireWire PowerBooks. The entry level model will feature a 400 MHz G4 with 64 MB of RAM and a 10 GB HD, while the higher-end model will feature a 500 MHz G4 with 128 MB RAM and a 20 GB HD.

Still unclear are both which graphics processor and display the new PowerBook G4 plastics will wrap. ATI's Mobility M4, the successor to its Rage Mobility 128, seems like the logical choice, but the 4x AGP chip would be unable to perform at its peak inside of the PowerBook G4's 2x AGP slot. Unless, of course, UMA-2 does indeed debut, which features support for 4x AGP.

There has also been much talk of Apple using nVIDIA's chips in its mobile computers, and while nVIDIA is expected to announce its Mac plans at Macworld, there has been little evidence up to this point that Apple will include nVIDIA chips in this crop of new models.

Rumors of a display with a 16x9 perspective also seem largely unfounded, as using such a ratio on a 14" or 15" display— as the PowerBook G4 will feature— would make the entire unit uncomfortably wide.

Cube

It's unclear at this point what, if any changes, Apple will make to its G4 Cube, a product that has effectively been in limbo since its disappointing debut in July. While Jobs has promised cheaper Cubes, and in fact made good on that promise with the recent $300 price cut to the low-end model, even lower-priced Cubes are shaping up to be only a distant possibility at this point.

New evidence suggests, however, that Apple's subnotebook may be introduced at Macworld. Dubbed as the CubeBook by some Apple employees, the sub-notebook's small size will mandate it to utilize a G3 processor due to cooling issues, and is described as being "significantly smaller" than Apple's current PowerBooks. Should it in fact appear, the CubeBook would fill a void in Apple's product line left by the discontinuation of the Duo series and, in turn, the PowerBook 2300 and 2400 several years ago.

Studio Display

Though inconsistent at best, other sources hint that Macworld will bring with it the return of Apple's 21" CRT Studio Display, along with a new 17" flat panel Studio Display. Apple has long been rumored to be working on a middle-of-the-road flat panel Studio Display, and with prices falling drastically in recent months; it may finally deem the market ripe for such a product.

Macworld Expo San Francisco is shaping up to be perhaps the most significant in two years, and should pave the way for an equally important, if not more so Macworld Expo in New York this summer.