Meantime Apple Computer Inc is now thought to be looking to the PowerPC RISC family as a short cut to offering Macintosh customers more power more cheaply. According to MacWeek the company is mapping out a three-prong strategy that involves moving to the 40MHz version of 68040 for all high-end models, moving to the 68040 from the 68030 in Classic and LC models before moving over to the PowerPC for all high-end and mid-range Macs. The paper hears there is a groundswell at Apple move to replace the 60040-based Quadra and Centris lines with PowerPC models as soon as possible, perhaps by the end of 1994 or early 1995. The first PowerPC Mac is to be a Centris 610-style machine with a PowerPC 601 chip, at from under $2,000, planned to be launched in January. A Centris 650-like model with three NuBus slots is expected around March, and a second generation of 601 systems, with much higher performance, is due by autumn 1994. Later in 1994 and early in 1995, Apple is expected add models using the PowerPC 603, a low power consumption chip with 601 performance at lower cost, and PowerPC 604, a replacement for the 601 that should boost performance twofold to threefold. The paper’s sources at Apple say that the plan to ship 1m PowerPC-based Macs in 1994 is a conservative estimate and that internal projections are for as many as 1.5m RISC systems next year. Motorola Inc is expected to make volume ships of the 68060 with two to three times the power of the 68040 by mid-1994, but Apple currently has no plans for 68060 systems; the chip is seen as a fallback if unexpected snags hit the PowerPC. Apple would say only that it plans to ship PowerPC systems in the first half 1994.
