In the following MACWEEK article, looks like the Wallstreet model is due in May now for shipping, but it will have a 56K/Ethernet modem...the higher margine variety...so that should be good for our bottom line.
R.
Apple preps new CPUs
Wall Street PB now due in May
By John Poultney (john_poultney@macweek.com)
Apple's upcoming high-end PowerBook, code-named Wall Street, will reportedly pack a few surprises when it ships in early May, including a fast system bus, expanded video output capabilities and a completely redesigned case.
Sources said the notebook, which will use a 250- or 292-MHz version of the PowerPC 750 (G3) chip, will have the fastest system bus of any Power Mac.
In addition, sources said, the model will ship with 1 Mbyte of backside cache running at a 2:1 ratio to the processor speed, twice as much as first reported. The system will pack 4 Mbytes of synchronous graphics RAM for the video subsystem, which will enable the computer to drive a 1,024-by-768-pixel display in 24-bit color, sources said.
Sources lauded the device's active-matrix screen, which will range from 13.3 to 14.1 inches diagonally. "The screen is absolutely gorgeous, the best I've ever seen on a laptop," one source said. "Beautiful color, great brightness, awesome uniformity, no dark areas."
The system will reportedly also support ATI Technologies Inc.'s RAGE technology for 2-D and 3-D graphics acceleration.
Sources said Wall Street's back panel will include a surprise -- an S-video out port that will undoubtedly extend the system's usefulness for mobile video production. S-video is a multipin video connection type that gives higher resolution than composite video by separating the luminance and chroma channels for separate processing. The port will allow Wall Street to connect directly to NTSC- or PAL (European)-standard VCRs, TVs and other video devices.
Sources said the Wall Street system will also feature a redesigned notebook case, with slimmer, rounded contours and a new keyboard with inverted "T" cursors. A special function button will reportedly switch a group of keys to act as a numeric keypad.
The top-of-the-line, $6,300 Wall Street will come with 64 Mbytes of RAM, while the $4,600 250-MHz model will pack 32 Mbytes. Sources said both models will accept up to 192 Mbytes of memory. The systems are expected to come with 4- or 5-Gbyte hard drives.
Wall Street will also include audio in and out, ADB, serial, HDI-30 SCSI, and VGA ports, as well as a combination Ethernet and 56-Kbps modem card. |
