Apple Computer Inc will deliver early versions of its PowerPC RISC-based Macintosh systems to developers next month, ahead of the public launch which, as reported, is set for March, according to US PC Week. The low-end model, codenamed PDM, will use a 50MHz PowerPC 601 CPU, come with 8Mb and a 160Mb drive housed in a Centris 610-type chassis with a street price of around $2,000. A 66MHz version, code-named Carl Sagan, and based on the Centris 650 design, will come with 8Mb RAM, three NuBus slots and 230Mb drive for $3,000. Options will include a 500Mb drive and CD-ROM. A high-end 66MHz PowerPC Mac codenamed Cold Fusion will come with 8Mb and 230Mb disk $4,000, with options for 8Mb more RAM, 500Mb or 1Gb disks and CD-ROM. The US trade weekly claims Apple isn’t meeting its goal of having Mac software running in emulation mode under the PowerOpen operating system at the same speed as a 25MHz Motorola Inc 68040. Software in emulation on the PDM is no faster than on an LC III with a 25MHz 68030 – Carl Sagan and Cold Fusion are short of the Quadra 800 benchmark, it says. PDM may appear as the Macintosh Quadra 6000 or Quadra 6100, the paper adds. Meantime according to MacWeek, goodies in the Mac pipeline for launch in October include two new low-cost 68040-based models, and active-matrix display models in the PowerBook Duo series. The company is also expected to sectionalise its product lines, with all business machines to be called Quadras for business, and LC retained for education, PowerBook for mobile use and Performa for home. The current Centris models are expected to become Quadras, with the 610, currently based on a 20MHz 68LC040, getting a 25MHz full 68040, the 650 moving to a 33MHz chip from 25MHz, and the 660AV changing its name. A new low-end Quadra model called the 605, using a 25MHz 68LC040, is expected to be less than $1,500. It will come in a new slimline box with single processor direct slot and no bays for floppies or tapes. The new PowerBook Duo 250 is expected to come with a 9 active-matrix screen capable of displaying 16 shades of gray. The Duo 270c will have 8.4 active-matrix colour screen – presumably the one from NEC Corp, doing both 16- and 8-bit colour.
