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By now most of you have heard about the problems with the G4, both the processor and the computer. So what happened? Who's fault is it? Well that is what this article is about.
According to Motorola, the G4 is the most powerful processor to date. It can outperfrom anything from the compitition. But in reality, this is just spin. In fact according to Mac Bench results I got at Low End Mac the G4 is about the same as the G3, the predecessor to the G4, EXCEPT when using Velocity Engine(or as Motorola calls it AltiVec) enhanced programs. Since there are very few of these, such as Adobe Photoshop, most people will never see this performance boost.
The PowerMac G4 is, according to Apple, the most powerful computer to date, exceeding anything the compitition has. But this is also spin. Since the basis for this claim is the G4, most people will never use the PowerMac to its full potential. While it does have a updated motherboard, graphics card, and drives, this really isn't that significant, because with a few modifications, the G3 could be used in place of the G4.
In August, Apple was ready to release the PowerMac G4. They were stopping the G3 line and replacing it with the PMG4. The low end model was running a G4 at 400MHz on a modified PMG3 motherboard(a Yikes!). The middle was running at 450MHz on a new motherboard(a Sawtooth), as was the high end, but it had a 500MHz G4
We now know that Motorol told them that they couldn't produce enough G4 processors at 500MHz, the one that Apple was going to use in their high end model of the PMG4. But Apple ignored them, and released it anyway. When they finally realized that they could fill all the orders for the PMG4, they reordered the line. The low end model would be a Yikes! motherboard with a 350MHz G4, the middle was a Sawtooth with a 400MHz G4, and the high end was a 450MHz G4 Sawtooth.
But they decided that not to change the pricing, nor would they honor any orders. After receiving many irate emails and calls from customers, Apple said they would honor orders, but they still didn't change any prices.
Now they reordered the line again, got rid of the 350MHz Yikes!, and replaced it with a 400MHz Sawtooth, the middle was a 450MHz Sawtooth, and the high end was a 500MHz Sawtooth. So finally they had a 500MHz version, 9 months after they announced it! Now IBM is also producing 500MHz G4s, to help compliment the Motorola production, and also showing off 600, 700 and 800MHz versions of the G3.
What caused this disaster? Well, Motorola couldn't produce faster G4s, Apple ignored them when they told them, Apple stopped the G3 line, and IBM didn't help out on the G4.
Well, Apple should bring back the G3, since most people won't need the power of the G4 yet. They can get rid of it when we see faster G4's. IBM should help Motorola develop faster G4's, while both produce faster G3's. Since Althon and Intel as showing 1GHz versions of their processors, the triad needs to do something fast, or watch as the customer base stops growing and maybe even shrinks.
Motorola finally upped their MHz speeds, to 733. But that came at a price, no more dual processors. With MacOS X multiprocessor native and aware, people would definitely see the speed increase. And there is still problems producing mass quatities. Hopefully Mot is improving there manufacturing processes.
Apple announced new speeds for the G4 733, 800, and 867. Slowly the MHz is rising. But the G4 is still way behind the Pentium, which is coming close to the 2GHz barrier.
Last Updated:12/28/01
Created and Maintained by Matthew Butch- libertyof76@supernet.com