If any of you out there in TV-Land are lucky enough to be working at a company that still buys Macs, you may be aware of a problem that plagues us on an ongoing basis: we have "build-to-order envy." Whereas Joe Consumer (and now, Jane Student) can visit the online Apple Store and custom-configure a cool new Mac to his (or her) heart's content, those of us working at companies that require us to purchase all equipment through a list of approved value-added resellers are stuck choosing from among Apple's shelf configurations. Which is why we just bought six PowerBook G3/233's with the 13" screen, and had to settle for separate PCMCIA card modems instead of getting Apple's internal one. (The only shelf configuration including both the required 13" screen and the internal modem also includes a 250 MHz processor, which is more horsepower than we need, and adds about $800 to the price.) So we're stuck with a less elegant solution.

There have been rumors floating around for months that Apple will soon open up build-to-order capabilities to its VAR's, and the latest reports at MacNN and MacInTouch indicate that this new incarnation of the Apple Store is expected to be launched on August 3rd. Once it goes up, customers will be able to call their vendors, describe a custom-built configuration, and have the vendor obtain that exact configuration from Apple to resell to the end user. Not exactly thrilling news if you've been able to buy your equipment built-to-order directly from the Apple store since November, but for those of us who have to buy through certain resellers (and for those resellers themselves), this is a huge step forward.

Unfortunately, even when the Reseller Apple Store does go live in a week and a half, it sounds like we'll have to wait still longer for the ability to order custom-configured PowerBooks from our vendors. When the new site first becomes available, it will offer custom configuration options for G3 desktops, minitowers, and servers-- but not for PowerBooks. Reportedly we'll have to wait for September before Apple adds that feature. (We're guessing it has more to do with the continued drought of PowerBook parts and Apple's 6000-unit backorder list than anything else.)

If you're looking for clues as to what kind of processors are likely to surface in this fall's pro-level Power Macs, a helpful clue exists in the form of a CNET article about IBM's current chip plans. It appears that IBM is plunging ahead with its new copper manufacturing technology, which provides better on-chip conductivity than the traditional aluminum. The first chips to use the copper system are code-named "Lone Star" and are PowerPC processors expected to debut in September at 333, 366, and 400 MHz.

Given the expected release of the 400 MHz Lone Star only a month after next month's Seybold show (and the reports that pre-production "samples" of the processor have already found their way into the hands of IBM's partners, probably including Apple), we at AtAT fully expect a formal announcement of 400 MHz copper G3 pro systems at that fun-and-frenzied publishing event. The systems themselves will then likely become available sometime in the September or October timeframe. Since the G3's are so small and low-power, expect to see 400 MHz PowerBooks, as well-- we've even heard from several sources that the 400 MHz processor will consume less power than the current 292 MHz chip in the highest-end PowerBook, which implies that the new speed-bumped models may run a little cooler when they finally surface.

The Lone Star processors represent copper technology in its infancy, so don't expect anything particularly mind-boggling right out of the gate. But after the initial 400 MHz chips, we can look forward to copper-based PowerPC's running at higher and higher clock speeds, eventually reaching 1 GHz and beyond. Our bet is that 600 MHz chips won't show up in shipping systems until the middle of next year at the earliest, however, so don't hold your breath. Breathe normally; they'll be here soon enough...

Rumors of what may be an "eMac" prototype sighting are floating out of Hong Kong. As faithful viewers are aware, after killing the Newton, Apple announced that it would re-enter the handheld market in 1999 with new machines based on the eMate form factor, but running a version of the Mac OS. Since then, the strategy has been elaborated a little further, as Steve Jobs outlined Apple's plan to ship a consumer-level portable Mac as a low-cost counterpoint to the high-end PowerBook G3. Unfortunately, there have been zero details about the system itself, and as recently as MacWorld Expo a couple of weeks ago, Apple would say nothing about the project, except that it was still due sometime next year.

But that doesn't mean we can't latch onto the faintest glimmer of third-party information from another country and focus obsessively over every word, right? And that's why the anonymous tip over at the Hong Kong Newton Users' Group holds our interest. According to the "anonymous source" who is allegedly close to Apple, while on a tour of the Technology Group office, he caught sight of a handheld described as being larger than a Palm Pilot, though not as large as a full-fledged MessagePad 2100. If it were simply a Newton device that never made it out of the labs, it wouldn't be terribly interesting, but reportedly this machine had a Mac OS look-and-feel without the hard disk icon or the trash can. Also, it allegedly included a detachable keyboard that folds over the screen and serves as a cover when the unit is closed. When the anonymous source started asking questions about the unit, the Apple representative grabbed the MessageMac, stashed it out of sight, and misdirected attention towards some new iMac designs-- which is a different sphere of speculation entirely.

Now, it seems pretty unlikely that anything with this form factor could really be Apple's upcoming consumer portable, so it's most likely just one of those hundreds of Apple designs that never actually turns into a product... assuming the rumor is even true in the first place. But there have been other reports of something like the Mac OS running on Newton-style handhelds, so we can't discount it completely. Does Apple have unannounced long-term plans to compete full-on with Palm Pilots and Windows CE pocket-sized devices? It's an exciting prospect; the AtAT office would buy a couple of $600 MessageMacs before you could say "Aliens Abducted My Newton."