SAN FRANCISCO, CA Macworld (Jan. 9, 2001) -- Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs detailed new Power Mac G4s with faster processor speeds, a DVD authoring program called iDVD, an audio application called iTunes, and the release date for OS X, March 24, 2001. Jobs also discussed his future vision for the PC while trying to debunk the assumption that the PC has reached a plateau and that demand will being to wane.

"We don't think the PC is dying at all," Jobs said during his keynote at Macworld Expo San Francisco. "We think it is evolving just like it has since the PC was invented right around 1975, 1976." The golden age of productivity lasted almost a decade and a half driving this industry. Right around the mid-90s we entered the second golden age of the PC with the age of the Internet. The Internet propelled the PC for business and personal use to new highs." We think the PC --more importantly the Mac-- is on the threshold of entering the age of digital lifestyles." We are living in a digital lifestyle where the PC will serve as a digital hub, connecting devices such as DV cameras, MP3 players, handheld organizers, Jobs said.

Jobs said that contrary to the views of the CEOs of Compaq and Gateway, the era of the PC is not over, because the PC can run complex applications and has a big screen to connect to the Internet. And, unlike the avalanche of digital devices such as MP3 players, PDAs, and digital cameras, which have limited user interfaces, the PC will serve as a digital hub, enabling users to download and share digital media such as MP3s, digital images, and video.

Power to Burn
The new PowerMac G4s will range in processor speeds from 466MHz to 733MHz, will ship with 128MB RAM at the entry level and 256MB RAM at the high end, and will feature 30GB to 60GB hard drives. Also new is a 10 watt digital amplifier built into every new PowerMac G4 system.

The new systems will generate 5.5 gigaflops of sustained performance on all models, 133MHz system and memory bus, CD-RW, and AGP 4X graphics. The new systems will also ship standard with five PCI slots and will be OS X ready when OS X ships, March 24.

The 733MHz PowerMac G4 will include a DVD-RW, called the SuperDrive. This drive will enable you to burn a DVD for playback on a standard home DVD player, in addition to the computer DVD drive.

Prices range from $1649 at the entry level to $3499 for the top of the line 733MHz model with DVD-RW. In addition, a 533MHz dual G4 is available as a build to order option.

"This whole megahertz thing has gotten out of hand," Jobs said. "What matters is how fast the machines are."

Titanium PowerBook G4
Jobs also announced the PowerBook G4 with a 15.2 inch display outputting 1152 x 768 pixel resolution. The notebook computer is one-inch thick, comes in a pure titanium enclosure, and weighs 5.3 pounds. It includes up to 30GB hard disk space, 1GB RAM, ATI RAGE Mobility 128 graphics, FireWire, USB, PC Card slot, VGA output and S-Video output, built-in 10/100BASE-T Ethernet for access to a network, DSL modem, or cable modem, a 56k V.90 modem, and 4Mbps IrDA infrared technology, a built-in microphone and stereo sound output. a slot loading DVD-ROM drive. It will ship by the end of January with processor speeds up to 500MHz, a 100Mhz system bus, 1MM backside level 2 cache with speeds of up to 250MHz. Prices for the new PowerBook G4 are $2,599 for a 400MHz G4with 128MB RAM and a 10GB hard drive, $3,499 for a 500MHz G4 and 256MB RAM, and a 20GB hard drive, and $3,997 for a 500MHz G4, 256 MB RAM, 30GB hard drive.

Other new products that jobs announced at Macworld are iTunes, a free music playing and ripping application and iDVD, a single window DVD authoring application that enables you to design and rip a DVD movie for playback on a standard DVD player.

"If you want to encode an hour DVD it'll take you a day," Jobs said. "Today, we have a technical breakthrough that uses the Velocity Engine on the G4 to reduce the encoding time of a DVD from 25x to 2x, If you have a 30 minute disk it takes an hour instead of 12.5 hours."

PowerMac G4s that ship with the new SuperDrive that can read and write CDs and DVDs will come bundled with iDVD. The company also launched a pro level DVD authoring solution called DVD Studio Pro. It is expected to ship for $995.

For more information, visit apple.com.