Rumored Timeline: G4, 970 and Beyond

MacBidouille posts (english translation provided on their site) a timeline based their rumors. It's unclear how much of it is based on substantiated rumors vs. speculation.

The timeline starts with PPC 970 Based PowerMacs and Xserves in June/July 2003, and promises faster G4 iMacs and Gobi G3 based iBooks by year's end. Jan/Feb 2004 brings the PPC 970 to the iMac and a second generation 970 to the PowerMacs/Xserves.... with the possibility of the 980'd PowerMacs and 970'd PowerBooks in March of 2004.

Also mentioned is a high-end "Xstation" with up to 64 processors, as well as a Xserve Enterprise Edition.

Readers will remember first mention of both an "Xstation" as well as an Xserve Enterprise Edition in an unusually detailed anonymous report from November 2002, posted here on MacRumors. In it, the writer mentions the following:


    An eight way 2U Xserve is currently in the works, and will be based on the 970, and will switch over to the Power 5. It will be Apple's high end server, and the name Xserve enterprise edition has been proposed. A high end multiprocessor workstation class pro model is also in the works. The name XStation has been proposed for it, and it could debut a year from now. It will feature Nvidia's highest end Quadro or equivalent graphics card, and it will feature the upcoming Power 5 chip from IBM.
Related Roundup: Mac Pro
Buyer's Guide: Mac Pro (Caution)
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