Observers Speak Up About Motorola G4 Announcement

Since we posted a story yesterday on Motorola producing a 550MHz G4 chip, we have received a ton of e-mail from readers with rather strong opinions on the subject. Not surprisingly, the general level of enthusiasm is noticeably low for such a minor speed increase, though some looked for a silver lining. It seems that Mac users are hoping to see a 700+MHz G4 chip before becoming truly excited about the state of PPC processor speeds. Here are some of the letters we have received:

This is from [email protected]:

Itis got to be a joke... right ?

The Moto-500 speed barrier has been broken you say? And now we may be able to get a G4 550... nothing more?

I think Iim going to cry... yep Iim going to.......

Please, tell me there is more Mega coming, something more than this G4 550 MotoHurtz chip....... PLEASE !

Iim crying, but wanting to Laugh at the same time here, I donit know what to think about this news, should I be happy and hopeful?

Iill just weep some more and perhaps dream at night for the Monster G4 to arrive with OS X GM running on it, and all the PC folks are then crying... Yep, Is it all a dream, or is it real, or does the " Matrix " have me........

Can I take the Blue (Intel) pill now, and be awaken with the Red (Apple) pill later down the road... Ahh... who am I kidding, Iim glad I have taken the Red pill, I know what the true Macalitly is ;)

Sorry for the tear stains on the message!

This message is from a less skeptical, more "realistic" Observer, [email protected]:

There is one very interesting thing in the press release of the MPC7410 the low power required at 550MHz. A guess would be that Apple is going to use it in their PowerBook.

But last time, I remember Apple released the PowerMac G4 at the same time as Moto launched the 7400. Now moto launches the 7410, and Apple hasnit showed an Powerbook "G4".

Orjan Larsson Sweden

Many readers pointed out the low power requirement as an indication that these new chips could indeed be used in a PowerBook. Another reader, [email protected], had this to say on the subject:

I can not imagine that Apple would bother upgrading their G4 line by 50 Hz it would only draw attention to the fact that the G3?G4 basically have stuck speedwise since January 99. OTOH the lower power requirements may come in handy in iMacs and PBs.

To keep up with AMD Intel Apple have to either use multiple CPUs (very possible with native OS X apps) or get IBM back in the CPU race.

Thomas

Generally, it seems that readers are more skeptical than excited about the potential of a 550Mhz G4 chip. Expect Mac users to become genuinely excited when Motorola approaches the 800Mhz range, hopefully in time for MACWORLD San Francisco. Thanks to the many people who wrote in with their thoughts.

MacWeek has published a report that includes comments from Motorola who says that the new processor could easily be used for the Mac though it was designed with other markets in mind. Itis a good read if you are interested in this subject.