A shortage of G4 CPUs is blamed for Apple's lower than expected estimated 4th quarter profits in this news.com story. [Note: the news.com page links were not valid in 2000, so the links were removed.]

A reader notes that there were plenty of G4 systems at the Apple France Expo:

"Hey there, Mike...
Long time reader and just happened to be working in Paris when the Apple Expo rolled into town.

Nothing was really too different from the shows we had in the U.S. -- nothing new was announced, and nothing new being shown on the floor, but there *were* tons of G4s available for purchase by the Parisians, regardless of what kind of export restrictions the commercials may claim.

I would have bought one myself, but French keyboards are really hard to get used to and I figure the 500Mhz box with AGP will be worth the wait.
Mike Baker "

I agree - I've ordered a G4/500 AGP for use in reviews, etc for the site. If you can afford it, I'd go for the AGP (Sawtooth) system for its faster system bus (Maxbus design), AGP slot, internal firewire and other improvements. The price is quite a bit higher however, but in the long haul it might be worth it as there is no adding these features (AGP, etc.) to a 'Yikes' system.

Apple has press releases today on their Injunction against Sotec for copying the iMac and an expected $75-85 Million 4th Quarter profit earnings.

In case anyone considers trying to run Unreal Tournament under Virtual PC, forget it unless you like a slide show according to this reader:

"Well, I downloaded the UTDemo file and installed it into Virtual PC. Of course, my expectations were low, and a good thing, too. We all know Virtual PC is great and that it makes the PC universe seem very small. Most of us also know that even if you have a 3D card (mine is a Microconversions VooDoo 2) you simply cannot achieve good performace in a PC emulator. However, you CAN play the games, and in the case of the UT demo for PC, I DID play it, if you call 1 frame per 2 seconds PLAYING! I really just wanted to see what it looked like and it looks great. It was fun to see the game on the mac, even if it was the PC version. The interface looks good and the demo options are extensive. Let's hope Westlake gets a UTDemo out soon. Looks like a great game!
--Randy Hanson"

As mentioned in the FAQ, even with a very fast G3 CPU and 3Dfx card, Windows OS emulation can't really run the latest 3D games fast enough to be playable. (I have run older games like Doom and Rise of the Triad fine however.) The good news is the Mac native version of Unreal Tournament runs very well on a G3 with 3dfx card or Rage128.

Based on a tip from Simon Lisney, Allan Landwer reports that disabling the TechTool Pro Protection extension seems to have solved his problem of disk damage after running TechTool Pro on his PTP250/MAChCarrier 450 system.

More on Future PowerPCs: Jim Downs writes:

"Mike,
This silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology is the next boon to Power PC's (and thus Apple). I think the links below would make great (inspirational) info for your readers:

www.chips.ibm.com/bluelogic/showcase/soi/

Note that the piece below says the G5's will initially ship at 2 Ghz in desktop machines. Also a funny shot at Merced: 'cigarette-pack size chip.'
macweek.zdnet.com/1999/09/12/g5.html

Motorola's Power PC road map: macweek.zdnet.com/1999/09/12/motorola.html
[Note: macweek is no longer online]

I can already see Job's at Macworld in about 18 months, talking about how the new G5 blows Merced out of the water.
FYI,
JD "

Phillip Miller writes with notes on G4 OEM CPU (*chip only*) pricing.:

"While at the Motorola web site I read the following in the G4 press release:

'The MPC7400 PowerPC microprocessor with AltiVec technology is available in 350, 400 and 450 MHz versions, with 500MHz versions available soon, priced at $210, $275, $355 and $475 respectively in quantities of 1,000.'

The url is: http://mot-sps.com/news_center/press_releases/PR990831A.html

I can't wait to read how processor upgrade vendors and retailers are going to justify how a 400 MHz G4 starts at $899 I believe.
It's time for the price gouging to stop....
Phillip Miller"

As someone that has worked in the electronics industry, I'm not surprised at CPU upgrades that sell for twice the chip cost. Remember there are the following costs that have to be added to the basic chip price :

• The circuit board design and production cost
• Support components on the CPU card
• Backside cache
• Costs to purchase, inspect and assemble the components
• Testing and development costs (hardware and software)
• Advertising and Customer Support
• Packaging and distribution

All these factors add to the final product cost. If you added up the cost to Apple for just the component costs of a system you'd see they are well under 1/2 the final system cost. In fact, I suspect upgrade companies have less margin in many cases than Apple.

OWC G3 CPU Rebate Program:

"Other World Computing announces a new G3 Upgrade Rebate Program:
With purchase of any G3 ZIF Upgrade from Other World Computing, Other World Computing offers the rebates for the return of the following properly functioning Apple G3 ZIF Processors:

G3/233mhz 512k - $35
G3/266mhz 512k - $40
G3/300mhz 512k - $60
G3/300mhz 1mb - $75
G3/333mhz 1mb - $85

For DaughterCard Upgrade purchases, including Zif Carrier Card Purchases, Other World Computing will rebate $25 for any 604e daughtercard based upgrade, $75 for any Daughtercard based G3 Upgrade in working order.

These offers are only good for customers of Other World Computing who have purchased a G3 Upgrade from Other World Computing on or after 9/1/99. This offer may be modified or terminated at any time by Other World Computing without prior notice.

Full Details will be posted on http://www.fastermacs.com/ Monday September 20th.
Larry O'Connor
Other World Computing, Inc."

SoftRaid 2.2 Feedback: Derrick Yamaura writes that the latest update to Softraid has another benefit besides OS 9 compatibility:

"Mike,
The other feature that I like is that the HDs now spin down when you set your Mac to sleep. I never thought about this before about the old drivers (2.1.7 and earlier) not being able to do this, but this is a great new feature. It helps with power conservation, heat emissions, and certainly must extend drive life. I'm impressed.

And now, I'm not leery about updating my machines to OS 8.6 or higher.
Derrick "

Joe DelPopolo reported the low-cost SCSI card option in the new G4 systems is an Adaptec 2930 Card according to Apple system profiler and also noted that the system booted from a Norton Utilities CD (OS 8.5.1).

Insider Software today announced FontAgent 8.0.1. The latest version improves the software's registration process. A registered copy now remains unlocked if the Extensions are disabled or a new System folder is installed. All users of FontAgent 8.0 are urged to install the new version and unlock it with their Access Code.

Other Net News:

• Microsoft secretly paid for ads for Independent Institute (News.com)
• HP's first Rambus PC debuts (News.com)

If you don't check every day's daily news (updated several times a day normally) you might miss something valuable. Check the summary list below for highlights of the last few day's news and the archives page for older new page links. The recent features page has a list of recent reviews/articles posted. For a blast from the past, read what was on the news page here exactly a year ago.

Weekend's News Summary

• S900 Audio Input Adapters
• XLR8 G3/Adaptec 2940U2W problem turns out to be bad SCSI card
• G4 ZIP Drive Bezels available at Bottom Line
• Lombard PB G3/400 Disk Tests
• Softraid 2.2 update available
• Z-Force to Ship Soon
• RAM pricing commentary, retail store pricing
• Game News page updated
• Other Net News
• Mac Game Framerates database updated
• Rate Your G3 Upgrade database updated
• Rate Your Mac Games database updated

Friday's News Summary

• Powerlogix announces G4 CPU upgrade fix for ROM updated B&W G3s
• iMac Voodoo2 Cards at OWC
• Mac Networking how-to site updated
• Apple TIL on CD Drive and Media Compatibility
• Yikes G4/400 Benchmarks/Impressions
• More on Mac UPS (battery backup power supplies)
• Apple to add Altivec support to Final Cut Pro
• Matrox's reply to my inquiry on G400 graphics card for Mac
• SpeedTools 2.5/IDE ORB Drive comments
• Mactell Firewire DAT tape drive
• Other Net News
• Mac Game FPS database updated
• Rate Your Mac Games database updated
• Rate Your G3 Upgrade database updated

Thursday's News Summary

• Reader reports of UPSs with Mac compatible software
• Mac Game Framerates database has new entries on the Yikes G4 (PCI) system with a Voodoo3 and stock Rage128
• Kent Kanja reviews Y-Mouse PS/2 to USB Adapter
• Reader from France Apple expo comments on Sawtooth G4/450 performance echoes my comments from First Look at the XLR8 G4 Upgrade
• Adaptec 160/m SCSI Card for Mac
• Reminder on Atlas 10K reader review (SCSI 160/m drive)
• Web Site Turbo v3.0.1 released
• Radius Pressview 21 SR owner reports Rage128 and Proformance 3 doesn't fully support it
• Intech releases v2.5 of SpeedTools that supports IDE ORB drives
• Game News page updated
• Reminder on ATX Power Supply airflow direction
• Reader report of TechTool Pro disk damage running on PTP w/G3 upgrade
• Mac Game Framerates database updated
• Rate Your G3 Upgrade database updated
• Rate Your Mac Games database updated

For a guide to finding answers to questions - see my Site Guide page.

If you own a G3/300 or faster Mac, you might want to get our PPC Checker utility that will report if your CPU is copper or aluminum based.

Considering a G3 Upgrade? Check the CPU Upgrade Owner's Survey results and search for owner reports by Mac model and/or card brand. The database is being updated daily for new reports. Also make sure you ask your dealer about any issues with your particular mac model as I have gotten several reports of issues with certain G3 upgrades in some Mac models (Mach 5, PowerBase, 7300). I urge any owners that have had problems to report this via the Survey Form. Always give the most weight to recent owner reports (dated in the listing).

-Freq Asked Questions

Check VersionTracker
and Apple's Software Updates
(especially their Recent Updates)

Apple TIL Updates

Apple Forums