Well, we sat on some "very interesting information" all weekend, concerned that we'd be the ones spoiling the potential surprise, but now that the exact same info has surfaced at Accelerate Your Mac, Think Secret, and various other virtual locations (and will likely spread faster than the Melissa virus), we figure we can probably discuss it with impunity. Our weekend began with email from a trusted source-- one who is usually pretty chatty and outgoing, jazzing up his/her tips with some clever commentary and relaxed email niceties. This time, however, the data he/she imparted was in very raw form, without so much as a "howdy" or even an email signature. Given how unusual that was, it made us sit up and take notice. And when we saw that the message contained Power Macintosh G4 configurations and pricing, well, suddenly our friend's curtness became understandable. Heck, he/she was probably trying to send the data while dodging the bullets of Steve Jobs' elite hit squad.

So here goes: according to this unsubstantiated data, the Power Mac G4 will be based on the next-generation Sawtooth motherboard, and won't be a "Yikes!" project marrying the new G4 processor with the current Yosemite motherboard; we assume this from the presence of 4x AGP graphics in all models. Apple will ship four workstation configurations. The entry-level model includes a 400 MHz G4, an 8 GB Ultra DMA hard drive, 64 MB of RAM, and a CD-ROM drive for $1599. That's followed by two 450 MHz models, both with DVD-ROM; the first has the 8 GB hard drive and is $1999, and the second has an 18 GB drive instead and a total of 128 MB of RAM and costs $2399. And the fourth configuration boasts a 500 MHz G4 processor, DVD-ROM, 128 MB of RAM, and an 18 GB Ultra2 SCSI hard disk for $2999. But wait, there's more-- there's also a server configuration, which has two 500 MHz G4 chips, 256 MB of RAM, a 36 GB Ultra2 SCSI hard disk, gigabit Ethernet, and Mac OS X Server all for $4999. That's a big spicy meatball.

Once again, kiddies, in this Golden Age of Disinformation, take all this with a shaker of salt. To be honest, we'd be a little surprised if Steve actually announced G4s on Tuesday that match these specs and pricing. For one thing, we're holding out hope that Apple will standardize on DVD-ROM across all pro models (well, maybe excluding servers) starting with the Power Mac G4. For another, it's hard to discount the recent "Yikes!" rumors which place the Sawtooth motherboard at a 2000 delivery-- though we suppose these specs don't include any availability dates. Anyway, look at these rumored specs and pricing as just another piece of the puzzle that may or may not fit into the big picture. It's also worth noting that the folks at Mac Observer have their own specs from a separate source, and they contradict at least a few of the above listings. Hopefully we'll find out one way or another when Steve takes the stage on Tuesday-- and hopefully our friendly source didn't meet with an untimely demise.

Speaking of Seybold, it's not uncommon for a Steve Jobs keynote at any event to spark some higher trading of Apple's stock. So what'll happen on Tuesday after Steve announces whatever it is he's going to announce? AAPL has been on a rampage lately, with the most recent close at $64.75 last Friday. That climb followed yet another analyst upgrade, which seems to be the latest hip trend on Wall Street; this time, it was investment bank Warburg Dillon Read who upped its price target for Apple stock from $65 to $75-- within spitting distance of the highest it's been since 1986, according to a Yahoo chart. A MacWEEK article has the details.

So given the past history of Jobsian keynotes, whatever Steve pulls out of his, er, sleeve might just cause another AAPL spike, and on Tuesday or Wednesday we may see that stock trading as high as $70 or maybe even higher. That's optimistic, sure, but what can we say? We're glass-half-full kind of people. At the very worst, we figure the keynote will help stave off whatever losses may occur when those lucky sods that bought in the teens sell their holdings because they don't want to push their fabulous luck any further.

Now, the other possibility is that Apple's stock is so high because Wall Street is expecting great things at Seybold; it seems that more than a couple of people still think Jobs will unveil the new iMac, which we consider pretty unlikely a such a non-consumer event. But if Wall Street's expecting that and Apple doesn't deliver, we suppose it's possible that AAPL will actually take a significant dip. On the other hand, have we ever known Steve to disappoint? Not at any event where the whole world is watching. Our bet is that the master showman will introduce something that'll catch the attention of the average reporter, most likely some form of Power Mac G4. (Whatever it is, a Reuters article quotes Apple spokeswoman Rhona Hamilton as saying it's "major news.") And then where the stock goes, nobody knows...

One thing about Michael Dell-- you won't see him stubbornly sticking to a public statement he once made if swallowing his pride will make more money for his company. The infamous statement to which we refer, of course, was his comment a couple of years ago that if he were running Apple, he'd "shut it down and give the money back to the stockholders." Wow. Not much confidence in Steve Jobs or the power of the Macintosh faithful, huh, Michael? And since then, it seems that Steve has adopted Dell as Apple's personal corporate rival; there were (unaired) Dell-targeted commercials, Dell-beating inventory levels, etc.

But Mike, while never explicitly admitting he was wrong, is owning up in one of those "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" ways. According to a Reuters story, at the recent Dell DirectConnect customer conference, Mike gave the crowd a "glimpse of a small, stylish computer it will begin offering this fall"-- a computer that's targeted at the "cool consumer." Gee, what could have inspired the creation of that "small, stylish computer"? Could it possibly be the phenomenal consumer sales success of the iMac? A system made by a company that Dell himself had valued at no more than the cash it could raise by shutting down? Hmmm, interesting.

Now, while we seriously doubt that Dell would do something as silly as making their "small, stylish computer" resemble the iMac, we sincerely hope they do-- because the ensuing lawsuit would be great fun. Sure, it's kind of cool to watch Apple take on the likes of Future Power and emachines, but a legal battle between Apple and Dell would be entertainment gold, baby. Aw, heck; let's just throw Steve and Mike into a big metal cage, toss in various implements of destruction, and see who's left standing at the end.