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Apple to build Power Mac with IBM chip

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CIOL Bureau
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BANGALORE: Apple Computer changes its colors. It dumps its G4 processors for the new IBM chip to stay in the reckoning in the race for speed. The company is expected to debut a new line of high-end G5 Power Macs on Monday with the IBM PowerPC 970 chip.



This information was leaked on the Apple online store, when it briefly put up the specs for the new G5 Power Macs. The desktops were said to range from a 1.6GHz model to a dual 2GHz machine, with up to 8GB of RAM, and a 1GHz procesor bus. These new machines are also expected to expensive but promise high performance.

The screenshots of the new G5 specs appeared on various websites on the Internet, but have been removed

Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple Computer Inc. on Monday will likely preview the next version of Apple's OS X operating and the new G5 Power Macs system, financial analysts said.

Reuters adds:

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Apple has announced that it will preview the next version of OS X, code-named Panther, before releasing it. Analysts expect it to contain significant refinements of what is already regarded as a stable, reliable and sleek operating system.

MARKET SHARE AT A LOW

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Apple has seen its market share of the personal computer market dwindle to 2 percent worldwide, and while credited for sleek, well-designed and easy-to-use computers, has not had much success in increasing sales of its Macintosh computers, particularly desktops, Kay said. 'That's a historical low,' Kay said of Apple's market share. But some analysts see the new IBM 970 processor, referred to by some as the G5, as helping to change that. Another factor, Wolf said, could augur for increased demand for the PowerMac among graphics professionals.

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Wolf also cited continuing momentum for Apple's online music store, which is incorporated into its iTunes digital music software, which he said has sold 3.5 million downloads in the past six weeks. 'Apple could have a winner on its hands, especially when it introduces a Windows version later this year,' Wolf wrote.

Wolf also noted that the new 970 chips will run at 1.4 gigahertz, or billion cycles per second, to 1.8 gigahertz, compared with Intel's Pentium 4 chips that run at more than 3.0 gigahertz. 'However, the 970 could reach a 2.5 gigahertz speed by mid-2004 and 4.0 to 5.0 gigahertz speeds by 2005,' Wolf wrote.

What next? An Apple computer based on the Intel chip?

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