Via a
press release, Apple is revealing to have signed up a purchase agreement vith Freescale; the contract end up in december 2008.
there is no real details given, but the contract seems to be rather flexible for Apple, and in addition,
Apple is under no obligation to purchase Freescale microprocessors beyond work that was in progress and in place at the time of the agreement.
consequences?
Well let's do some math. A extended AppleCare stands for 3 years from the time of purchase. It would also mean that Apple might need G4 supply for manufacturing and/or replacement parts for current G4-based computers till 2008. So, Dec. 2008 (end of the agreement) - 3years extended AppleCare = Dec. 2005!
In other words, if Apple stops all G4-based computer models by the end of the year, it will still have G4 supply for manufacturing till end of 2005 and for replacement parts till Dec. 2008. Taking into account that Apple might get an additional percentage of stocks for AppleSupport, it will definitely confirms that all G4-based models will be shifted to x86 by June 2006 at the lastest; maybe even earlier.
We will see at the AppleExpo if there a ma jor or a minor update for current Powerbook models, it might give information related to the introduction of the future x86-based models.