Since we first broke the story in December of last year, AppleInsider has kept an open ear to rumors that detailed Apple's plans to unleash a new set of Multiprocessor Power Mac G4s, sometime this year.
Late last year, it was said that Apple's Desktop Computing division had plans to release a dual processor Power Mac G4 with standard on board Gigabit Ethernet by early 2000. Plans for the new units, which go by the code-name "Mystic" or "Ruby" (nicknamed after Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, and project lead, Jon Rubinstein), apparently fell short of expectations and the project fell back into another revision, sources say.
According to new information recently received from Silicon Valley insiders, Apple's plans for their Multiprocessor Power Mac G4 systems have changed considerably. Apparently, Apple will not offer just "Power Mac Dual G4s" but also "Power Mac Quad G4s."
These new sets of machines will boast multiprocessor G4 boards from Motorola. The Power Mac Dual G4s will contain two 500MHz G4 processors, while the Power Mac Quad G4 will contain four 500MHz G4 processors.
However, sources close to Apple are reporting that the Gigabit Ethernet, previously scheduled to ship on the machines as standard, may have been scrapped. In the event that rumors are proven true, consumers should still be allowed to add the feature at an additional cost.
A number of industry contacts have been told by Apple representatives to expect the new units to be made readily available beginning on May 15th. Additional details on these new multiprocessor systems is still forthcoming and additional updates will be made when information becomes available.
