So, uh, are you as disappointed by the G4 as we are? The chip, we mean, not the Mac-- the Power Mac G4 is one gorgeous hunk of plastic, and its Graphite-and-Ice enclosure would score highly even if the processor at its core were, say, that of a Texas Instruments Speak & Spell. But as far as the chip itself goes, even with all that early supercomputer hype, we find ourselves a little underwhelmed. Well, okay, maybe just whelmed. After all, the performance is great, especially in Altivec Velocity Engine-enhanced applications, but when you consider the incredible speed boost we all saw when the Mac moved from the 604e to the G3, the jump from G3 to G4 just doesn't seem as earth-shattering.

What's worse, of course, is that the G4's clock speeds are significantly lower than those of the fastest current G3, which is pushing 600 MHz these days; a G4/350 just doesn't look as impressive on paper as, say, an iMac DV running at 400 MHz. As you all know, after Apple announced the G4/500 last August, the company was forced to ship it as a G4/450 instead-- and here we are five months later, and a G4/500 is still nowhere to be seen. Is it just around the corner? Maybe; some faithful viewers (who will remain anonymous to protect their sources) report their dealers claim that Apple's promising a G4/500 by the end of the month. Feeling lucky?

More likely, though, is the daunting prospect that faster G4 systems are still a long way off. AppleInsider reports that Motorola was only able to create about ten thousand 500 MHz G4 chips between August and December-- not nearly enough for Apple to announce a new Power Mac speed-bumped back to its original megahertz rating. Apparently fewer than 1% of G4 processors coming off the line can be run reliably at 500 MHz. And even though Apple persuaded IBM to lend a hand producing the chips, things won't be getting much better anytime soon. The problem seems to be that the current G4 design simply isn't cut out for higher clock speeds; we'll probably have to wait for the next G4 revision this fall before we see clock speeds start to ramp up. We're always open to pleasant surprises, but AppleInsider's assertion that it's "a fair assumption" that the Power Mac G4 won't go higher than 500 MHz for eight months or so doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

But hey, times are tough all over-- according to The Register, even Intel's having chip shortages these days. So here's hoping that Apple's able to maintain its professional customer base with G4/450 systems for the next several months. We imagine the much-rumored "Mystic" dual-G4 systems may be a welcome stopgap, even with both chips running at "only" 450 MHz; hopefully those'll make it out the door relatively soon.