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Apple to unveil new Power Macintosh computers

PALO ALTO (Calif): Apple Computer Inc., with an eye on its nemesis Microsoft Corp. and its upcoming Windows 95 operating system upgrade, plans to introduce new souped-up, competitively priced Power Macintosh computers on Monday.

Prices for the new models will start as low as $1,700, according to David Limp, Power Macintosh product manager.

The high-end Power Mac models, targeted at the media, in-house publishing and technical markets, will range in price from around $4,000 to $4,700.

"We're firing on all cilinders," said Limp. "We've got the lowest prices we've ever had and demand for the Power Mac line is stronger than ever."

Apple is also expected to announce price cuts this week. According to a report in MacWeek magazine, it will announce reductions spanning from 16 percent to 26 percent on a range of existing desktop models.

Limp did not discuss any specific planned price cuts but noted Apple has been trimming prices of existing machines for several months to clear the path for new models.

MacWeek said the reductions are pegged to the Apple trade show, Maccworld Expo, which begins in Boston on Monday.

The new Apple machines will further the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's strategic plan to migrate all its computers to those built around the PowerPC microprocessor jointly designed by Apple, International Business Machines Corp. and Motorola Inc.

The powerful chip is Apple's weapon against chip giant Intel Corp.'s Pentium processor, which has become pervasively used in newer IBM-compatible personal computers.

Intel, whose chips power some 85 percent of the world's PCs, slashed Pentium prices by an average of 20 percent last week, effectively taunting Apple to cut Mac prices. Macs have typically sold at a premium of several hundred dollars to IBM and IBM-compatible PCs.

But Apple appears determined to narrow that gap.

"We think we'll be in a range with the leading PCs ... say, 10 percent above or below their prices," Limp said in an interview.

Apple believes it can afford to cut prices further because the PowerPC chips are cheaper to make than the Pentium chip. They are based on RISC (reduced instruction set computer) architecture, which reduces the complexity, and cost, of a chip by using simpler, and fewer instructions.

Intel's chips are based on CISC (complex instruction set computer) architecture, which requires complex circuitry.

The three new Power Mac 7200 models will range in price from $1,700 to $3,100, depending on the configuration. All are built around the PowerPC 601 chip.

The high-end 8500/120 model, built around the next-generation PowerPC 604 chip, is expected to range in price from about $4,000 to $4,700.

A few weeks ago Apple introduced new Performa 5200 models for home users, priced as low as $2,000. In June it rolled out another high-end Power Mac, the 9500 model, which also features the PowerPC 604 chip.-Reuter