Remember way back when Apple, IBM, and Motorola formed a shiny, happy alliance dedicated to a new RISC-based processor architecture called the PowerPC, which was poised to crush Intel's aging CISC-based x86 architecture like a slow, power-sucking, '70s-era grape? Remember when the first Power Macs shipped, offering a glimpse at the promise of a seriously Intel-thrashing future? Remember back in 1996 when Power Computing shipped a 225 MHz 604e-based Mac clone running at a full 25 MHz higher clock speed than Intel's fastest horse, the top-of-the-line 200 MHz Pentium Pro? Yes, for a brief moment, the PowerPC was actually ahead in the Megahertz Race. Ah, those were the days...

On the flip side, let's take a walk down the less sunny side of Memory Lane; remember that seemingly endless stretch of time when the PowerPC G4 was stuck at 500 MHz while Intel and AMD duked it out at the over-1 GHz level? When Motorola finally emerged from its coma to end the drought last January and Apple shipped Power Macs running at up to 733 MHz, you probably thought that the PowerPC's darkest days were over, right? Well, we hate to step all over your buzz, there, but if Mac OS Rumors is correct, then the PowerPC architecture is sailing into some seriously choppy water-- and it's Mac users who might be getting seasick.

The G4 is one kickin' processor, but it can't sustain the Mac platform forever. While the G4 will eventually bring us to clock speeds as high as 1.3 GHz sometime late next year (with a whole lotta luck), sooner or later it's going to bottom out, and the Mac platform will be looking for the Next Big Thing: the 64-bit PowerPC 7500, otherwise known as the G5. There's a small snag, however; if MOSR is correct, then the G5 has all but fallen off of Motorola's roadmap. Seeing as Apple is pretty much its only customer for chips designed for desktop and laptop computers (as opposed to embedded devices), Motorola's got "very little economic incentive" to sink a ton of R&D into next-generation PowerPCs suitable for Macs-- especially given the company's current financial situation, which is sketchy at best.

If Motorola sticks to its current development timetable, then the G5 would debut about a year from now; given how little attention the chip is getting, though, don't bet the house on it. Indeed, it's news like this that dredges up all those old "Mac OS X on x86" rumors from time to time, and while Apple would be foolish not to be investigating PowerPC exit strategies, we're still skeptical that such a move would be anything other than a last-ditch Plan Z. Don't forget, IBM is still cranking out its own PowerPCs, though it's far more interested in powering servers than desktops. Still, with Mac OS X being UNIX-based at its core, perhaps Apple's hardware direction is more aligned with Big Blue's these days.

Personally, we find ourselves wishing Apple would take a Gordian Knot approach to the problem, which has at its root the fact that Apple has no ultimate control over Motorola's (or IBM's) PowerPC development. Now, let's see; the retail sale of Macs was unacceptable for years, as long as Apple lacked control over the retail experience. After trying all sorts of ways to improve the display and sale of Macs in such horrendous environments as Best Buy and Sears, eventually Apple started opening its own stores-- and by all accounts, the early reports are fantastic. Hmmm, Apple's got $4 billion in the bank, and Motorola's hurting for money... does anyone know offhand how much a chunk of a semiconductor business goes for these days?