Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 20, 1994 TAG: 9403150152
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By EVAN RAMSTAD ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
They are the first personal computers based on the new PowerPC microprocessing chip and represent a bet by Apple that a chip design called RISC will eventually become more popular than the current standard, known as CISC.
The first Power Macintosh computers run at speeds of 60 MHz, 66 MHz and 80 MHz. That's compared with the 66 MHz top speed of Intel Corp.'s Pentium chip, the state-of-the-art microprocessor in PCs made by companies other than Apple.
Intel, however, recently announced plans to soon roll out versions that run at up to 100 MHz.
Apple, forced to slash prices, lay off people and cut costs last year, has staked its future on the new chip, which will eventually be used in all its desktop computers.
RISC (reduced instruction set computing) chips use simpler commands and can work faster and cost less than the industry standard CISC (complex instruction set computing) chips. Pentium is a CISC chip.
Apple said that a 60 MHz model, dubbed the Power Macintosh 6100, with 8 megabytes of memory and 160-megabyte hard drive will sell for $1,819.
The 7100 model, running at 66 MHz speed with 8 megabytes of memory and a 250 megabyte hard drive, begins at $2,899. Apple said this is the model it will market for general business use.
The 8100 model, running at 80 MHz speed with 8 megabytes of memory and a 250 megabyte hard drive, begins at $4,249. The company is aiming this line at people who need the most power from a Macintosh, such as graphic designers.
Trade press and analysts' estimates had placed the lowest cost of a new Macintosh at around $2,000.
Monitors and accessories like CD-ROM drives are extra. CD-ROMs are compact disks that store large amounts of data and allow sophisticated computing functions.
Apple aims to sell 1 million PowerPC-based Macintosh computers during the next year. The company already has orders for 150,000 of the machines, said Ian Diery, executive vice president of Apple's personal computer division.
The first models were sent to stores and wholesalers during the past two weeks so demand could be met immediately.
The PowerPC chip was co-designed by Apple, International Business Machines Corp. and Motorola Inc.
IBM, which already sells workstations based on the chip, will introduce PCs later this year. A group of Taiwanese makers, Canon Corp., Group Bull and some others are also expected to develop PCs based on the chip.
by CNB