Motorola on Monday announced a faster PowerPC chip that could be used in speedier Apple Computer laptops.
Motorola said it is now producing samples of a 1.42GHz PowerPC processor, a chip analysts say might soon find its way into the PowerBook, Apple"s high-end laptop. Motorola said the chip has a typical power consumption of less than 20 watts, a level that makes it suitable for laptops. The chip also contains multimedia instructions that are required for chips that Apple bills as G4 processors. "It certainly would be a fit for a portable Mac," Mercury Research analyst Dean McCarron said. "It"s obviously up to Apple whether they would do that versus using an IBM (chip)."
A Motorola representative declined to comment on whether Apple might be interested in the chip. In a press release, Motorola said the chip is designed for a wide range of uses, including in computing as well as embedded, noncomputer, tasks. An Apple representative also declined to comment, citing its policy of not discussing future products. Motorola made the chips for the first Mac in 1984 and was the provider of the "68000" chips that powered all Macs until the PowerPC arrived in the mid-1990s. Originally a joint effort of IBM and Motorola, both companies now make PowerPC chips independently. IBM is the sole supplier of G5 chips, while Apple has used both companies at various times to supply other PowerPC processors.