Apple Computer updated the Power Mac G4 line today with G4 processors running up to 733 MHz, a new high-performance architecture featuring 133 MHz system and memory buses and five slots for increased expandability. In addition, Apple unveiled its industry-first SuperDrive, a combination CD RW/DVD-R drive that can read and write ("burn") DVDs, playable in consumer DVD players. The Apple SuperDrive comes standard in the top Power Mac G4 model. According to Apple:
Specs, Prices for Four New Models
- Power Mac G4 with PowerPC G4 466 MHz processor with 1MB level 2 backside cache, 128MB of PC133 SDRAM memory, 30GB Ultra ATA/66 hard disk drive, ATI RAGE 128 Pro AGP 4X with 16MB video SDRAM, CD-RW drive, two FireWire? and USB ports, four full-length 64 bit PCI slots at 33 MHz, 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet, AirPort ready, built-in 56K V.90 modem, iTunes and iMovie 2 available immediately for a suggested retail price of US$1,699;
- Power Mac G4 with PowerPC G4 533 MHz processor with 1MB level 2 backside cache, 128MB of PC133 SDRAM memory, 40GB Ultra ATA/66 hard disk drive, NVIDIA GeForce2 MX with 32MB video SDRAM, CD-RW drive, two FireWire and USB ports, four full-length 64 bit PCI slots at 33 MHz, 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet, AirPort ready, built-in 56K V.90 modem, iTunes and iMovie 2 available immediately for a suggested \retail price of US$2,199;
- Power Mac G4 with PowerPC G4 667 MHz processor with 256K level 2 on-chip cache and 1MB level 3 backside cache, 256MB of PC133 SDRAM memory, 60GB Ultra ATA/66 hard disk drive, NVIDIA GeForce2 MX with 32MB video SDRAM, CD-RW drive, two FireWire and USB ports, four full-length 64-bit PCI slots at 33 MHz, 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet, AirPort ready, built-in 56K V.90 modem, iTunes and iMovie 2 available in February for a suggested retail price of US$2,799; and
- Power Mac G4 with PowerPC G4 733 MHz processor with 256K level 2 on-chip cache and 1MB level 3 backside cache, 256MB of PC133 SDRAM memory, 60GB Ultra ATA/100 hard disk drive, NVIDIA GeForce2 MX with 32MB video SDRAM, CD-RW/DVD-R SuperDrive, two FireWire and USB ports, four full-length 64-bit PCI slots at 33 MHz, 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet, AirPort ready, built-in 56K V.90 modem, Ultra ATA/66 hard drives to 60GB, iTunes, iMovie 2 and iDVD software available in February for a suggested retail price of US$3,499.
Standard with each system is:
- 256K of Full-Speed level 2 cache and 1MB of half speed level 3 backside cache on some configurations;
- High performance 133 MHz system bus with over one gigabyte-per second of system throughput, with 128 to 256MB of DRAM expandable to 1.5GB;
- Four high-performance 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots with write-combining to provide up to 215 megabyte-per-second of sustained throughput double tht of previous generations;
- AGP 4x slot with new graphic card options including the new NVIDIA GeForce2 MX graphics card with 32MB of SDRAM;
- New digital audio sound system featuring built-in amplifier for support of multiple audio output capabilities and Apple Pro Speakers based on powerful Harman Kardon technology providing a frequency range of 70 hertz to 20 kilohertz; and
- Also available for all Macintosh systems is Appleis aforementioned iTunes "jukebox" software, all G4 users can now create and burn standard audio CDs with the Power Mac G4is new built-in CD-RW drives. The newly announced iDVD software, which allows consumer creation of DVDs for playback on consumer DVD players. iDVD is bundled with SuperDrive enabled G4s.
Pricing & Availability
The new 466 and 533 MHz Power Mac G4s are available immediately and the 667 and 733 MHz Power Mac G4s will be available in February through The Apple Store (www.apple.com) and Apple Authorized Resellers in the following standard configurations:
Additionally, Apple announced a price cut in its15-inch Apple Studio Display flat panel, reduced from $999 to $799.