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Motorola building dual-core G4 processor

updated 12:55 pm EDT, Wed June 4, 2003

Motorola is preparing a next-generation , which it will unveil this week, accord to The Register: "The chip, as yet unnamed - at least in public - will contain two PowerPC cores with AltiVec, Motorola's SIMD engine. It will also contain its own memory controller, capable of connecting to DDR and DDR 2 SDRAM...The G4+ that appears on the January roadmap will be fabbed at 0.1 micron, the sales sheet says, and will feature a "higher level of integration" than previous G4-class CPUs."

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06/04, 01:03pm | report spam | close Reply |
WOW

Things are starting to look VERY interesting...

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06/04, 01:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
Woohoo!

No need for Apple to waste time with the 970. Wait a little longer for one of these things, that's what I say! I mean, it'll be available in January. Motorola says so!!!

Beyond all that sarcasm (that's right, sarcasm, so stop writing that scathing "Wait for the G4+??? Are you nuts!!!" reply now!), this might be worth looking at for apple for use in their notebooks (depending on heat and power requirements). I still don't buy people's claims that somehow "the 970's run so much faster on little power and with little heat that they'll show up in notebooks real soon".

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06/04, 01:10pm | report spam | close Reply |
laptops?

Maybe this will be the future in laptop chips?

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06/04, 01:13pm | report spam | close Reply |
vaporware?

Almost seems like a last ditch grasp.

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06/04, 01:22pm | report spam | close Reply |
a good thing

This seems to indicate that Motorola is finally realizing that Apple may no longer be content with them as the sole supplier of high-end CPUs. If true, this means they will hopefully start pouring more effort into competing with IBM for business, and as a result, we all benefit.

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06/04, 01:32pm | report spam | close Reply |
Each core at 500MHz...

...perhaps. Don't know why on earth you guys are getting excited. Did you miss the word "Motorola"? I guess the iBooks have some new G4 to look forward to.

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06/04, 01:33pm | report spam | close Reply |
Hmmph

that's all i have to say. neither a good "hmmph' nor a bad "hmmph", just "hmmph".

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06/04, 01:34pm | report spam | close Reply |
HA HA!

Come on Motorola....a little bit too late, eh?

unless Apple has been propagating some big smoke-screen w/the IBM 970...I don't see how this chip announcement has anything to do with Apple.

IMHO: The 970 is the Future.

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06/04, 01:41pm | report spam | close Reply |
Geek Love

I, for one, am tired of wasting all my Geek Love on Motorola. Oh IBM - your chip is sooo big!

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06/04, 01:46pm | report spam | close Reply |
Ooh-kay.

Seems suspiciously like too little, too late. Then again, it's not like Apple is going to dump the G4 entirely across the board--more than likely the 970s will only be in XServes, high end PMs, or maybe a new XStation workstation for quite a while.

So, if Motorola actually can get these things out the door in a reasonable timeframe, running at a reasonable clock (which I'm a bit skeptical of), it could make for some interesting dual-proc configurations in laptops, iMacs, or maybe low-end PowerMacs.

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06/04, 01:57pm | report spam | close Reply |
Shut your faces

You all are blabbling as if you know what apple has planed... Apple has not said one signle word on future processors. Not one! Rumor sites do not dictate the future of Apple, so shut your faces@!

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06/04, 01:58pm | report spam | close Reply |
This is a good thing...

This is a GOOD thing!!! The more competition (between IBM and Moto) and options (970 and Unnamed chip), the better for Apple and our favorite OS. I wonder how they are going to get the 970 into the iBook, perhaps this will be an option in the future.

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06/04, 02:05pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: Shut your faces

We know for a fact that they can't stay with the current configuration. People are still purchasing the G4, but all the "I only buy a computer every 3+ years" people are holding off for new hardware (no matter what Apple says).

I'm one of those people holding off... My single 733 is great and working just fine with 10.2.6, but I will be wanting more (sometime soon)... and the dual 1.42GHz looks amazing, but I'm going to hold on until after the show... and perhaps wait another six months to see what Apple has...

I'm also considering an iBook, but am holding off to see if they make the jump to G4 status... Considering Apple usually keeps the prices the same, why buy now when in less then a month, I could have the same thing for 25% off???

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06/04, 02:07pm | report spam | close Reply |
0.1 micron?

Good luck!

I like this implementation, if it works, better than Intel's hyperthreading. However, Intel has already shipped their product and is already on the second iteration of HT processors with 800 FSB. Moto's product still vaporware. - KL

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06/04, 02:13pm | report spam | close Reply |
More 970 conf

This is just one more thing pointing to the 970 coming out in a month- and IMHO a cry that's too little too late for Mot

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06/04, 02:35pm | report spam | close Reply |
Great!

Bout time we got this news from Moto.

I strongly suspect that this future chip will be used in the consumer-class Apple products like the iMac and iBook (maybe even the Powerbook for a time -- say what you like about Moto's speed, but for energy efficiency/heat they cannot be beat!). I hope it will give to the consumer class of products the benefits the 970 is going to give the pro class -- ie a roughly 100% jump in throughput along with a nice speed bump.

Anyone who thinks the 970 is going to show up in a laptop anytime between now and mid-2004 needs to have their head examined (or just stop reading so many crazy rumours sites).

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06/04, 02:50pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: shut your faces

We know for a fact that they can't stay with the current configuration. People are still purchasing the G4, but all the "I only buy a computer every 3+ years" people are holding off for new hardware (no matter what Apple says).

And people know apple hasn't announced new chips, but the rumors have killed them over the last two years as much as the lame hardware from Motorola. Everyone knows something new has to come along, and soon, so people hold off, realistically or not.

I'm one of those people holding off... My single 733 is great and working just fine with 10.2.6, but I will be wanting more (sometime soon)... and the dual 1.42GHz looks amazing, but I'm going to hold on until after the show... and perhaps wait another six months to see what Apple has...

Well, I've been holding on to my upgrade Beige G3 for some 5 years now. The G4s initially didn't thrill me, and I upgraded mine to a G4 with a add-on card. And there wasn't much new tech in the newer models (besides just speedier this or faster that). Then the G5 talk started, and I planned on waiting for that. (I usually skip a generation anyway, went from 68030 to PowerPC 601 to G3, skipping the 68040 and the 603/604 chips). But that generation hasn't arrived even yet, and as the rumors say, something is around the corner (it better be, or apple is just s******* itself more and more into the ground), so its just wait, wait, wait.

I did just buy a 900MHz iBook, as I can't imagine them getting that much better soon (plus, I wanted a new computer, and I wanted a laptop, so it seemed like a good filler while waiting for the 970s or G5s or G4+ or whatever to come out and knock my socks off). OS X runs great on it, and it boots into OS 9, so my old games work too (best of both worlds). I didn't realize how much my Beige G4/500 was holding me back (hey, for all I know, its still dog slow on the iBook, it just feels faster than on the Beige)

I'm also considering an iBook, but am holding off to see if they make the jump to G4 status... Considering Apple usually keeps the prices the same, why buy now when in less then a month, I could have the same thing for 25% off???

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06/04, 03:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
Looks like...

If it is indeed true,... somebody list a fire under Moto's A$$. This can only help us Mac Users with competition and a bigger selection of Mac Chips. Of course the 970 will be the big MacDaddy, but hey,.. dual core for entry level, other Digital Life devices or even a laptop can not hurt to have as an option, again, if it really exists.

My main questions... what are the specs for this Dual Core G4 and second... does Big Blue have any Dual Core 900 series or whatever chips in the works?

Tantalizing I say...

MacMoose

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06/04, 03:16pm | report spam | close Reply |
Are they kidding?

Waaaay to late, and not even that great!

This is almost funny!

Please Apple, don't waste anymore time with Mototola, or at least don't solely rely on their chips.

-GB

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06/04, 03:19pm | report spam | close Reply |
Like the big man said...

"We like options"

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06/04, 03:28pm | report spam | close Reply |
970 in laptop

It's not totally unreasonable to think that. Remember that when the G3's were first introduced back in the day, there was a laptop version available right away. Of course the G3 was a ridiculously cool running and power frugal chip, but the 970 is rumored to be the same, so it's really anyone's guess.

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06/04, 03:39pm | report spam | close Reply |
No more lawsuit?

Someone previously had reported that Apple was suing Motorola for not continuing development. Guess that lawsuit is gone.

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06/04, 04:25pm | report spam | close Reply |
The funny part

Read the article. It says:

The bottom line is that Motorola almost certainly can offer significantly higher clock speeds to its desktop customers, even though it doesn't generally discuss such products, presumably to indicate its strong focus on the embedded market.

Bahahahahahahaha. Is this like the significant increase in clock speed they offered with the G4 (how long did it take to get past 500MHz???????)

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06/04, 04:27pm | report spam | close Reply |
More article hilarity

As of January, the G4+ was simply a proposal to Motorola chiefs, but from presentations Motorola will make this week at SNDF, that the chip has been given the green light.

So, Motorola will somehow go from proposal in January 03 to release in January 04.

Yeah, and I got a bridge to sell you...

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06/04, 04:28pm | report spam | close Reply |
dude

"Well, I've been holding on to my upgrade Beige G3 for some 5 years now. The G4s initially didn't thrill me, and I upgraded mine to a G4 with a add-on card. And there wasn't much new tech in the newer models (besides just speedier this or faster that). Then the G5 talk started, and I planned on waiting for that. (I usually skip a generation anyway, went from 68030 to PowerPC 601 to G3, skipping the 68040 and the 603/604 chips). But that generation hasn't arrived even yet, and as the rumors say, something is around the corner (it better be, or apple is just s******* itself more and more into the ground), so its just wait, wait, wait."

You're on the wrong side of the "skip a generation" cycle. The good chips were the 68040, the 604, and the g4.

Oh, and there is a siginifcant amount of "tech" in the G4 above the G3. "Speedier this and that" adds up quite a bit and built-in firewire, 10/100/1000 ethernet and firewire make a g3 beige look pathetic. I should know, I have one too.

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06/04, 04:53pm | report spam | close Reply |
You're all wrong

This new chip is going into cell phones since that's all Moto cares about now. Just think, with this chip camera phones will be able to record tiny, grainy video at a full 30 fps and you'll be able to play a wicked game of tetris! I heard the next generation of Moto's phones will come of a special version of Office built right in! Oh, and access to the iTunes Music Store so you can download music and play it on your phone or use it as a ring tone. No bluetooth though.

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06/04, 05:05pm | report spam | close Reply |
dual CPUs

Yeh, Apple tries to defend its low MHz CPUs by sticking two on a motherboard... and then say it's faster than the Pentiums...

Now Motorola, who know they can't get their MHz high enough, pull the same ploy. "Let's stick two cores on one chip running at 800 MHz and call it fast!"

Oh, we can also state that for every CPU cycle, we calculate two instructions... so it's really a 1.6 GHz CPU... and two of them make it 3.2 GHz... ha.. prove that it IS faster than a Pentium... until next week when the 4 GHZ Intel process comes out...

*joke*

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06/04, 05:22pm | report spam | close Reply |
Rumors...

I hard to say how much of this is true rather than rumor. It is likely that the info on the 7457 and use of low-k dielectric on current 7455 is true but the rest is just rumor. But continued improvements in the G4 are a good thing for the iMac, iBook, and Powerbook.

Then again if you believe all the rumors, IBM is coming out with a 4.5GHz 980 next year.

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06/04, 05:54pm | report spam | close Reply |
So what's this mean...

..that it will be twice and SLOW?

Hah! I kill me!

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06/04, 06:17pm | report spam | close Reply |
Not even vaporware yet!

This so valled new chip unveiling is just a one slide announcement that Mot "PLANS" on developing a twin core chip. Notice the word PLANS--as in they haven't even designed it yet. This chip won't see the light of day for 18-24 months!

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06/04, 07:06pm | report spam | close Reply |
yeah ok

whatever

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06/04, 08:24pm | report spam | close Reply |
Prediction

To me, it seems that the 970 will be the next processor for the Xserves because of its memory capacity(for servers). And the G4+ will be the next processor for the Pro models and latter iMac models because of its speed. Both are gonna have good buses.

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06/04, 09:50pm | report spam | close Reply |
please people

Come on everyone... this will yet be one more reason for everyone in this forum to b****, whine and continue to WAIT until they think something better will come along. "I'll just wait until the 970's come out..." is what everyone says. Now it's "s**** the 970's, I'm waiting until the dual core whatever's come out!".

The real reason alot of you guys 'wait' is because you're too cheap to buy a new system now; so you place all the blame on Apple for not getting products to market fast enough and put all you hope in processors that you know nothing about. One of two things either happen in the Mac community when Apple does get a much hyped and 'waited' upon product. 1) People b**** for a week about how expensive it is - just to go buy the product anyways. 2) People b****. Period.

Regardless of what Apple does, they'll never make most of you happy. It'll never be fast enough or inexpensive enough for most of you.

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06/04, 09:54pm | report spam | close Reply |
I want my dual core 970!

nt

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06/05, 08:28am | report spam | close Reply |
That's great but...

Hooray for Motorola, but the real question is, will they be able to produce them in quantity? If they can't, then who cares? Certainly not Apple, I would hope. Hopefully they'll be smart enough to go with IBM's new chip and be rid of Mot once and for all in the PowerMac line. We've certainly had enough with the "x** MHz G4 will be shipping in x months", only to have further delays. Meanwhile IBM is churning out G3s like there's no tomorrow.

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06/05, 11:12am | report spam | close Reply |
Targets embedded market

I look forward to seeing these new Moto chips in cell phones and color printers.

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06/05, 11:37am | report spam | close Reply |
Response: "People Please

You say the real reason alot of you people 'wait' is because they're too cheap to buy a new system now. I have to disagree. A lot of Mac users, including myself, wait and wait because we want to buy a top of the line Mac system that is comparable to a top of the line PC or a mid-range Mac system that is comparable to a mid-range PC, etc. Yes, we will pay several hundred dollars more for a Mac than a comparably configured PC (most mac users accept that), but the problem is not price; rather, its paying for hardware that is more expensive, yet inferior to PCs, not comparable.

For example, I WILL buy a $3,000 Power Mac over a $2,300 PC, if the features (processor, memory, hard drive, bus speed, graphics card, etc.) are identical between the two. Yes, a PPC processor is faster at a lower frequency, but they should be similar on the performance front at least.

The fact is, Apple charges that much more, but doesn't offer features that come close to the cheaper PC. Therefore, most Mac users wait and wait and wait, until something comes out that at least has the same feature set, even if it is more expensive.

Case in point. I used to buy a new Mac every two years, because what they offered wasn't so far behind PC's. Macs were more expensive but at least the feature set was comparable. Now the Mac has gotten so far behind in hardware features, that I haven't bought a new Mac since the introduction of the Blue and White G3's (the last competitive Mac on both price and features).

And that is how a lot of Mac users feel.

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06/08, 04:53am | report spam | close Reply |
pooh

there is research going on at motorolla on how to use the the silicon residue of human poo to make the next g4 chip s*** loads faster,lets face it there going to have to make up some sort of s*** to steel the publicity from ibm

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06/08, 04:54am | report spam | close Reply |
pooh

there is research going on at motorolla on how to use the the silicon residue of human poo to make the next g4 chip s*** loads faster,lets face it there going to have to make up some sort of s*** to steel the publicity from ibm

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06/10, 12:08am | report spam | close Reply |
Motorola's too late

The only way I can see Motorola in Apple's future right now.. is the cheaper chip market to compete with Celeron and Duron prices. Unfortunately, Motorola has proven to Apple that they deliver too little too late.

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Motorola building dual-core G4 processor

updated 12:55 pm EDT, Wed June 4, 2003

Related Articles

Recent Articles

WOW

Woohoo!

laptops?

vaporware?

a good thing

Each core at 500MHz...

Hmmph

HA HA!

Geek Love

Ooh-kay.

Shut your faces

This is a good thing...

Re: Shut your faces

0.1 micron?

More 970 conf

Great!

Re: shut your faces

Looks like...

Are they kidding?

Like the big man said...

970 in laptop

No more lawsuit?

The funny part

More article hilarity

dude

You're all wrong

dual CPUs

Rumors...

So what's this mean...

Not even vaporware yet!

yeah ok

Prediction

please people

I want my dual core 970!

That's great but...

Targets embedded market

Response: "People Please

pooh

pooh

Motorola's too late

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