The PowerPC G4 may yet have life in it. At the Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, CA, this October, Motorolais chip division, Freescale, will reportedly unveil a new dual-core G4 processor.

According to The Register, the dual-core G4 will sport an on-board memory controller capable of supporting DDR 2 SDRAM and a Gigabit Ethernet controller. The processor is also expected to employ the Rapid IO bus while maintaining backwards compatibility with old technologies. Speeds are expected to top 2GHz, although the chip could run slower at its debut.

The Reg believes this new G4 could usher in a new line of PowerBooks, prior to the debut of G5-based laptops. Additionally, Freescale is said to be working on an update to the MPC 7447A, its high-end G4 currently used in PowerBooks with speeds up to 1.5GHz.