Conference 7.286::macintosh

Friday April 4 8:30 AM EDT

Apple Introduces First 300 Megahertz Desktop Computer

Simplifies Desktop Line Under Power Macintosh Brand

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., April 4 /PRNewswire/ --
Apple Computer Inc is bringing unprecedented speed to the
home desktop with today's announcement of the Apple
Power Macintosh 6500/300 -- the first 300 megahertz
system available today. Following less than two months
after Apple introduced the fastest laptop computer currently
available, the new Power Macintosh 6500 line gives
customers a choice of systems ranging in speeds from 225
to 300 megahertz, all with accelerated multimedia features;
built-in Internet access capabilities; and, advanced video
capture, edit and publishing options. The announcement
reflects Apple's drive toward a simplified desktop line under
the strength of the Power Macintosh brand.

"The introduction of the first 300 megahertz personal
computers should be viewed as a sign that Apple is one
hundred percent committed to providing individuals with the
most powerful multimedia systems for home, small
business, and education," said Guerrino de Luca, Apple's
executive vice president of Marketing. "Our new Power
Macintosh 6500 series matches world class power with the
competitive prices that consumers expect."

Aggressively priced in the United States from around U.S.
$2,000 for the Power Macintosh 6500/225 to around U.S.
$3,000 for the top-of-the-line Power Macintosh 6500/300,
the new series is designed to run Mac OS 7.6, the upcoming
Mac OS 8, as well as Apple's next-generation Macintosh
system software -- code named Rhapsody.

The unveiling of the Power Macintosh 6500 series is
marked by the kick-off of a three-day "Multimedia
Discovery" technology fair at Walt Disney World in Lake
Buena Vista, Fla. Co-hosted by Apple and Disney, the fair
showcases the power and fun of multimedia with
performance and capabilities that only the Macintosh can
deliver. From playing the hottest 3D accelerated games for
the Macintosh, to exploring video conferencing as a way for
students to solve typical school homework problems, the
technology fair offers interactive and engaging multimedia
activities at the Epcot Theme Park along with special media
creativity workshops being held at Apple's existing exhibit
at Innoventions. All activities are planned to take place from
April 4 through 6 and are designed to provide Disney guests
the opportunity to discover the dynamic world of multimedia
using leading-edge Apple technology.

Power Macintosh Systems Equipped With New Motorola
PowerPC Chip

The new Power Macintosh 6500 series significantly
enhances performance in areas such as media capture,
creation, editing and publishing, 2D and 3D graphics and
processor speed for home, small business and education
customers. Based on in-house tests running real
applications, the new Power Macintosh systems complete
tasks up to twice the speed of Pentium processors with
MMX technology running at 200 megahertz. A user's actual
performance may vary depending on what tasks they are
performing.

"Our version of the PowerPC 603e chip is the first
mainstream, volume microprocessor in the industry to reach
the speed of 300 MHz," said Tom Gunter, corporate vice
president and general manager of Motorola's RISC
Microprocessor Division. "Motorola applauds Apple's
ability to bring both the fastest home desktop and the fastest
notebook to the market within two months of each other --
all based on the high-performance, low-power PowerPC
603e microprocessor family."

Performance, User Experience, Connectivity,
Compatibility, Industrial Design All Part Of The Power
Macintosh Experience

The Power Macintosh 6500 mini-tower systems are
equipped with powerful integrated hardware and software
components. Each come with a minimum 256K level 2
cache, with 512K standard on the 6500/275 and 6500/300
systems; 32MB to 64MB of RAM (expandable to 128MB);
a 3GB or 4GB hard drive; 16-bit CD-quality stereo sound
with SRS surround sound and integrated dual-mode
subwoofer; and, Iomega Zip drives are standard in three
models allowing customers to easily transfer large files,
backup critical applications and expand storage capacity.
The ATI RAGE II graphics acceleration chip provides Mac
customers with video and graphics performance previously
seen only in high-end systems. The 6500 series' advanced
multimedia functionality includes accelerated QuickTime and
QuickTime MPEG for impressive full screen, full motion
movie playback; accelerated QuickDraw and QuickDraw 3D
for fast, fluid handling of complex 2D and 3D graphics;
and, accelerated video capture for video editing, Internet
video conferencing, and, general purpose image input.

Other standard features include 2MB of video RAM to
support millions of colors on 17" monitors, built-in
12x-speed CD-ROM drive, a built-in 33.6kps modem for
fast "single-click" connectivity to the Internet and advanced
telephony capabilities such as digital voicemail and
send/receive faxing. Each system also comes with
keyboard, mouse and high-quality software bundles.
Monitors are sold separately.

Configurations, Availability and Estimated U.S. Retail
Pricing

The Power Macintosh 6500 series comes in five
configurations to meet the diverse price-performance and
feature needs of home, small business and education
customers. Additionally, each system comes with an array
of powerful, high-quality applications and CD-ROMs.
[Note: for a detailed list of preinstalled software/CD-ROM
titles on each system, please refer to apple.com.]

The Power Macintosh 6500/300 and Power Macintosh
6500/275 systems are planned to be available in limited
quantities later this spring. The Power Macintosh 6500/225
and 6500/250 models are scheduled to be available
immediately. Pricing, configurations, product availability,
and software bundles vary.

Power Macintosh 6500/300: U.S. $3,000

300MHz/64MB RAM/4GB hard drive/12x-speed CD-ROM
drive/Iomega Zip drive/33.6kps modem/L2-512 cache
Software/CD-ROMs included: Home bundle featuring
personal productivity, learning/reference,
games/entertainment and Internet titles such as Adobe Photo
Deluxe, ClarisWorks 4.0 and Quicken SE by Intuit.

Power Macintosh 6500/275: U.S. $3,000

275MHz/32MB RAM/4GB hard drive/12x-speed CD-ROM
drive/33.6kps modem/L2-512 cache/Avid Cinema/Apple
Video System/Apple TV/FM Radio System
Software/hardware/CD-ROMs included: Creative Studio
bundle featuring everything creative individuals need to
capture, create, edit and publish video, music/audio, 3D
graphics, art, photos and Internet content -- from Adobe
PageMill 2.0 to Microspot 3D World for 3D creation.

Power Macintosh 6500/250: U.S. $2,600

250MHz/48MB RAM/4GB hard drive/12x-speed CD-ROM
drive/Iomega Zip drive/33.6kps modem/L2-256 cache
Software/CD-ROMS included: Small Business bundle
featuring presentation, Internet access, and finance,
productivity and business management titles such as the
newly enhanced Microsoft Office for Macintosh and
Symantec's Norton Utilities.

Power Macintosh 6500/250: U.S. $2,300

250MHz/32MB RAM/4GB hard drive/12x-speed CD-ROM
drive/Iomega Zip drive/33.6kps modem/L2-256 cache
Software/CD-ROMs included: Home software bundle.

Power Macintosh 6500/225: U.S. $2,000

225MHz/32MB RAM/3GB hard drive/12x-speed CD-ROM
drive/33.6kps modem/L2-256 cache Software/CD-ROMs
included: Home software bundle.

All pricing listed represents estimated U.S. retail prices, and
may vary.

Apple Computer, Inc., a recognized innovator in the
information industry and leader in multimedia technologies,
creates powerful solutions based on easy-to-user personal
computers, servers, peripherals, software, information
appliances and Internet technologies. Headquartered in
Cupertino, California, Apple develops, manufactures,
licenses and markets solutions, products, technologies and
services for business, education, home use, entertainment,
scientific and engineering and government customers in
more than 140 countries.

Apple's home page on the World Wide Web is:
http://www.apple.com

Customer Information Contact: If you are considering the
purchase of an Apple product and would like to have
product information faxed to you, call 800-462-4396 in the
U.S. or 800-263-3394 in Canada. If you do not have a fax
machine or would like to locate an Apple authorized reseller
near you, call 800-538-9696. Customers outside the U.S.
should contact their local Apple representatives for
information.

NOTE: Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, and Power
Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer,
Inc. PowerPC and the PowerPC logo are trademarks of
International Business Machines Corporation, used under
license therefrom. All other brand names mentioned are
registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective
holders, and are hereby acknowledged. SOURCE Apple
Computer Inc.

>Friday April 4 8:30 AM EDT
>Apple Introduces First 300 Megahertz Desktop Computer

Gee, just when did Digital (or its partners) recently introduce the new 400+
MHz 21164PC Alpha-based desktop computers? Before April 4th, yes?
						-- Tom

    
    It's not a false claim, it appears to me to be a newpaper headline.
    Apple didn't make any claim, the newspaper said it. 
    
    The problem I find with it is that the media does not even consider
    Digital a player in the market. They should be made aware of our
    presence in the desktop market.
    
    Mario

>   "The introduction of the first 300 megahertz personal computers ... "
                                                 --------

This is a key phrase.  Digital just isn't interested in home computer users or
the small business crowd, as it has shown time and time again.  Apple is; they
have a much stronger claim to the term "personal computer".

As part of the 21164PC rollout, a Digital spokesperson was quoted as saying we
would be thrilled if Alpha got 10% of the market for Windows NT.

Thrilled with only 10% of the Windows NT market?  When the NT market itself is
only a tiny niche within the Windows market?  Where does that put the Alpha-NT
goal, at less than 1% of the personal computer market?

With that goal, we should count ourselves lucky to get any press coverage!

Also keep in mind that Apple announced a real machine, complete with the model
number and specifications.  All we announced was a chip that would let someone
(not necessarily us) make a sub-$2,700 machine.  There is a big difference.

RE: <<< Note 456.152 by NPSS::NEWTON "Thomas Newton" >>>

>>   "The introduction of the first 300 megahertz personal computers ... "
>                                                 --------
>
>This is a key phrase.  Digital just isn't interested in home computer users or
>the small business crowd, as it has shown time and time again.  Apple is; they
>have a much stronger claim to the term "personal computer".

I agree. Note, however, that (high end) personal computers are used by big
businesses and institutions too. To me, "personal" implies dedicated to one
person; the needs or resources of that person are another matter.

>Also keep in mind that Apple announced a real machine, complete with the model
>number and specifications.  All we announced was a chip that would let someone
>(not necessarily us) make a sub-$2,700 machine.  There is a big difference.

I guess I don't know what whole systems Digital has announced, if any; what is
the state of the German PC company that is building Alpha PCs -- how far along
are their systems?
						-- Tom

re .-1

>Also keep in mind that Apple announced a real machine, complete with the model
>number and specifications.  All we announced was a chip that would let someone
>(not necessarily us) make a sub-$2,700 machine.  There is a big difference.

Well Apple might have announced the system and given part numbers, prices and 
performance but the 300 MHz model won't be shipping for a while yet.

As far as a complete Alpha system available today in this price range, check
out Enorex where you can pick up a 366 MHz system complete with monitor for
$2999 today. This system is based on today's 21164, not the 21164PC 
microprocessor and it's shipping now. 

tim m.