Motorola developing dual-core PowerPC G4, MPC 7447A successor
Three new PowerPC microprocessors under development at Motorola could provide Apple with additional options for forthcoming revisions its PowerBook product-line, assuming that the company is unable to deliver a PowerBook G5 by year's end.
Freescale, Motorola's soon to be spun-off chip division, is expected to debut its dual-core PowerPC G4 processor at the Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, CA, in October.
According to documents received by The Register, the new G4 will contain two PowerPC cores with AltiVec and expected to feature an on-board memory controller capable of supporting DDR 2 SDRAM, a Gigabit Ethernet controller, Rapid IO bus, and eventually run at speeds in excess of 2GHz.
Freescale's PowerPC Roadmap
The new chip will reportedly be a member of Freescale's e600 series, and the company is also working on a G5-style e700 processor that combines 32-bit and 64-bit operation.
The Register speculates that the dual core chip may pave the way for a future PowerBook G4, if Apple is unable to solve its G5 PowerBook complex in a reasonable amount of time.
Additionally, the article also confirms rumors that Motorola is working on successor to the MPC 7447A— the chip used in the most current PowerBook G4 systems— which AppleInsider sources have previously referred to as the "G4 extended" chip. This chip is rumored to reach speeds of 2G GHz, but is yet unnamed.
59 Comments
I will prefer this chip (dual core G4 with on board memory controller) to a G5. I am ready to bet, that this chip, will be very performant.
Good news (if he ship in time ....)
Wow, if true, this'll be one kick-ass mother, unless the timing is less than perfect (knowing Motorola, this is almost certain to happen anyways). I wonder if it will be cool enough to put in a laptop, where Apple's biggest need is right now.
Wow...there are still people that have faith in Motorola?
I'll believe it when I have a dual-core PowerBook sitting on my lap without causing skin to turn black and flake off...and not a second sooner.
I really hope Freescale succeeds though. Always better to have two CPU suppliers than one. But these over-joyous posts about a product that is still considered vaporware *and* coming from a company that has gathered a bad rep as far as processor development goes is really funny.
what about the bus speed?
the G4 was never able to get past the 167MHz mark. the G5 tops out at 1.25GHz bus. who cares how fast it is, if it still has a bottleneck like this.
my 2 cents.
-dornball
Firs question is how free is Freescale from Moto. It they are operating without Moto's guidance ( ) then this chip has a chance.
Dual core G4s would be great for a bridge chip until the G5 can be put into a PB and would also keep the iBook and eMac moving right along for quite a while.
If it performs it will also be a stick goading IBM into working hard on their roadmap.
Personally I believe that Apple's switch to IBM for the G5 is a very strong motivation for Freescale to perform like the old Moto hasn't for years. It should be good news over the next few years.