Apple Cuts Out Single-Core Power Macs

Apple is phasing out its single-processor Power Mac G5, effectively shifting the desktop line to dual-processors.

The desktops, which Apple Computer Inc. updated in April with dual 2GHz, dual 2.3GHz and dual 2.7GHz G5 processors, continue to sell at prices starting at $1,999. But the 1.8GHz Power Mac G5, which no longer appears in Apples online store, will be catch as catch can until supplies are exhausted.

“The 1.8 GHz Power Mac G5 is no longer available at the online Apple Store, but is available in other channels while supplies last,” an Apple spokesperson said in an e-mail. “The Power Mac G5 line is now all dual-processor.”

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Apple, which said in early June that it would begin switching to Intel processors within a year, is still expected to update the Power Mac line with new G5 chips—Apple has dubbed the IBM PowerPC 970 line of processors it uses its G5—at least one more time.

Analysts expect Apple to move its future Power Macs to a dual-core version of the Power PC 970, dubbed PowerPC 970MP, by IBM. That chip is expected to run at 3GHz.

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With dual-core chips in hand, Apple could potentially offer two- and four-processor Power Mac G5s by varying the number it adds to each desktop.

Analysts have said Apple might offer single-chip, dual-core models that match its current two-processor machines, along with a four-processor machine built with twin dual-core chips.

The Apple representative declined to comment on the companys future plans.

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