It looks as if October 21 has been set by Apple for the launch of seven new machines: three notebook offerings, two high end desktop Apple Macs and two tower models. According to MacWEEK, the high end machines all use the 25MHz 68040 Motorola chip with two 4Kb caches and a floating point unit built in. The new desktops have 4Mb of RAM and a 1.44Mb SuperDrive – one comes with an 80Mb hard disk drive and costs $6,500, while the other boasts a 160Mb hard drive and will sell for $7,000. The tower models also have 4Mb of RAM and a 1.44Mb SuperDrive and come in similar sizes – the 80Mb hard disk drive machine will sell for $7,600, while the 160Mb version is likely to cost $8,900. The three notebook models will range in price from $2,000 to $4,000. The entry level notebook is being made by Sony Corp, but the other two systems have more features and use Motorola’s 68030 chip. However, the lightest model is expected to weigh in at around 4.5 lbs, which is heavier than many next generation MS-DOS notebooks are likely to be. There is also some scepticism about the wisdom of designing the Apple trackball device into the notebooks – this is a pointer akin to the mouse that has reportedly not made the transition to portable computing with grace. Some shortcomings are also likely to be found with the new high end models: for example, A/UX 2.0 will reportedly not run on the new Macs and will require a major upgrade, not expect-ed for some time. Furthermore, there are some compatibility issues with existing applications such as surprise – Microsoft’s Mac suite. But, on the whole Mac managers have been impressed with the machines in test, citing features such as built-in Ethernet, on-board video expandable to 24-bit colour and the ability to change to server mode with a key switch.
