IBM has unveiled two new PowerPC chips. The news comes
after Apple’s recent announcement that it was dropping PowerPC
processors in favour of Intel chips.
The new PowerPC 970MP is a dual-core version of the PowerPC
970FX, which is known as the G5 processor in Apple’s PowerMac and
iMac machines.
Dual-core chips contain more than one processor on a single
piece of silicon to boost data processing performance.
IBM has also unveiled a low-power version of the 970FX chip for
laptop computers, which need to conserve battery power.
Apple, which is currently the main customer for PowerPC chips,
will start migrating to Intel processors next year. The full switch
will be completed in 2007.
Apple has not said whether it will use the new PowerPC chips in
its machines.
When Apple announced its switch to Intel, it said it was
impressed with Intel's roadmap to introduce low-power and dual-core
solutions.
