Apricot Computers Plc is expected to tell its dealers on July 5 about a new generation of 80386 machines it has in the for launch within a few weeks – and the new family is expected to include models based on the 16-bit bus 80386SX and on the 25MHz version of the full 32-bit part. Samples of Intel’s next generation 80486, expected to include on-chip cache memory and to be inter alia optimised for artificial intelligence applications, are also believed to be doing the rounds now, and word is that Apricot may preview a multiprocessor machine based on the new chip at the Which Computer? Show next January. The 80486 is said to be much more amenable to multiprocessor configurations than the 386, but it is not clear whether the machine in Apricot’s future will be all its own work, will be a joint development with its existing supplier of top-end machines, Sequent Computer, or will be another straight Sequent box. And while designers wait impatiently for the 80486, Intel is thought to be set with a 33MHz version of the 80386, the better performance being achieved by moving the design to one micron CHMOS from the 1.5 micron presently used.
