Next-Generation CPUs.
The Kansas system, likely to be named the 9700, is essentially a modified 9600 that is likely to use the forthcoming PowerPC G3 CPU at initial speeds of 266MHz, along with a new inline cache that essentially doubles the CPU-to-cache communication speed to 100MHz. The system also has a 50MHz bus, sources say. It is unclear whether Apple will use the PowerPC 740 or 750 G3 CPUs; the 750 has a direct, high-speed cache connection, while the 740 uses the system bus or an inline cache bus.
The Gossamer will likely use the forthcoming 300MHz and 350MHz PowerPC 604e, redesigned versions of today's 604e known by the code-name Mach 5. It will likely have a 66MHz system bus, the same speed the Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP) will initially offer. But Apple will use a mix of proprietary and CHRP technologies, not a pure CHRP solution.
Constrained Competitors.
High-end systems are the most profitable, and in the last year Apple has faced fierce competition in this arena--primarily from Power Computing and Umax Computer--while losing money on entry-level Power Macs and Performas. To help ensure that its new systems earn enough profits, Apple has apparently decided to keep the competition at bay, giving itself a head start in selling the next generation of high-performance Macs, ac-cording to industry sources.
According to sources, Apple won't let the other Mac makers use the G3 or Mach 5 CPUs in their existing designs. Instead, they must use them in CHRP systems, ostensibly to reduce the certification effort at Apple by cutting the number of systems to be certified.
Certification can take a month or more, and lets Apple decide whether to permit another Mac maker's technology, even though CHRP was meant to get Apple out of the certification business by providing an open standard with independently verifiable requirements. The other Mac makers have called on Apple to disband its certification requirement or to let them set up a neutral, independent certification process, but Apple has so far declined.
CHRP Foundation Delays.
No matter what CPUs a Mac maker decides to use, its CHRP systems will be delayed because Apple is late in delivering the two fundamental CHRP tech- nologies: a CHRP-enabled Mac OS and ROM.
CHRP promises to boost the market for the Mac OS by making it easier and cheaper for vendors to build Mac systems. To fulfill this promise, Apple must separate the Mac OS from the Macintosh ROM.
But in May, a mere two months before the first CHRP-enabled Mac OS was originally expected to ship, Apple's top hardware-systems engineer, Jon Rubinstein, said the company wasn't even close to achieving this goal. Among the companies awaiting the CHRP OS and ROM are Akia, Motorola Computer Group, Tatung, and Umax Computer--all of whom have shown working CHRP prototypes.
However, in a May meeting with Macworld editors, Apple's Rubinstein said that CHRP ROMs will not be available until at least a month after the Mac OS 8 July ship date. According to other sources, Apple could be as much as two months behind on the CHRP software and ROMs, which Mac makers originally hoped would be ready for the Mac OS 8 ship. Although Mac OS 8 will be the first Mac OS to support CHRP, no company will be able to ship a CHRP-based Mac until the ROMs are available, Rubinstein said.
According to sources, Apple's delay has less to do with engineering issues than with business decisions. The engineering work on CHRP is actually on schedule and nearly complete, says Apple's CHRP lead engineer Mike Bell, which sources at several licensees confirm--contrary to Rubinstein's statements.
Rubinstein also pushed back the schedule for offering a ROM-less Mac, estimat- ing that it could take as much as 18 months to eliminate CHRP ROMs. He said that Apple engineers have told him it is impossible to create ROM-less sys- tems, citing the difficulty of separating hardware dependencies from the Mac OS code inside the ROMs. Rubinstein said he does not accept this assertion and intends to make the separation happen. But Bell and sources outside Apple dis- pute that there is a delay, saying the basic separation has in fact already been completed.
Industry sources have also told Macworld that Apple may not include multi- processing support for CHRP-based systems in Mac OS 8. Apple did not return calls about the subject. Support for IDE is also delayed because of a bug Apple found in popular IDE controller circuits, although Apple expects to have a software patch to offer IDE support in early August.
An Industry Waits.
The ROM and OS delays mean it's unlikely that Mac makers will be able to offer competing G3-based and Mach 5-based systems before Apple ships its Kansas and Gossamer systems. Apple has also decided not to license its Kansas and Gos- samer motherboard designs to the other Mac makers, at least not until Apple has released its systems, an Apple official said (without admitting the existence of the two products).
Apple has said it will not create its own CHRP systems, so any delays in CHRP won't necessarily delay Apple products, although they will use some CHRP tech- nologies.
Apple has commitments from IBM and Motorola for large volumes of the new CPUs, giving it priority over other Mac makers. One source told Macworld that the chip companies had little choice, since the other Mac makers won't be able to deliver systems--and thus won't be able to buy CPUs--until after Apple does.
Other Mac makers say they understand Apple's need to gain new revenues. But they are concerned that Apple's apparent tactic of suppressing or delaying competition will continue even after it delivers profitable systems, leaving unfulfilled the promise of a competitive, open Mac market.
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