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From: gillies@p.cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: 16Mhz  why in the world....
Message-ID: <126900009@p.cs.uiuc.edu>
Date: 24 Mar 89 17:24:00 GMT
References: <430095@hpcea.CE.HP.COM>
Lines: 21
Nf-ID: #R:hpcea.CE.HP.COM:430095:p.cs.uiuc.edu:126900009:000:934
Nf-From: p.cs.uiuc.edu!gillies    Mar 24 11:24:00 1989


Q:  Why is apple bothering with 16Mhz 68030's?

A:  Why did IBM use the 8088, when the faster 8086 was available, for
    the PC?  First, they saved $30/machine.  I am bet Apple is probably
    saving several hundred dollars per machine, when you consider the caches
    needed to fully utilize a 33Mhz processor.

B:  How many 33Mhz parts do you think Motorola can produce?  I doubt they
    can produce enough to satisfy Sun, Apple, etc, all at the same time.
    Can you imagine how this would bid up the price of macintoshes, if
    Apple could not get CPUs for its computers????  

C.  33Mhz chips are very nearly state-of-the-art for microprocessor 
    silicon.  Rarely can you satisfy a customer by giving him flakey
    state-of-the-art equipment.  


Don Gillies, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Illinois
1304 W. Springfield, Urbana, Ill 61801      
ARPA: gillies@cs.uiuc.edu   UUCP: {uunet,harvard}!uiucdcs!gillies