It all started as a seemingly innocuous press release; faithful viewer Joe Valentino tipped us off to the fact that Apple has seen fit to add a new configuration to its Power Mac G4 line-up. Itching for a Mac packing the finest G4 Motorola has to offer? Suddenly you've got a choice; either you can drop $3499 for the does-it-all iDVD model that Apple introduced a couple of months ago, or you can opt for a $2999 system that only burns CDs instead. You heard right, Skippy! Starting next week, customers who want the zippiest G4 on the market but don't need the DVD-burning capability of the SuperDrive can pick up a Power Mac G4/733 with a CD-RW drive instead.

Terrific, we thought; suddenly cheapskates and people without Spielberg complexes can get maximum Mac power for $500 less, and all they sacrifice is the ability to make their own DVDs. That, we thought, was the news. Of course, that's when we actually read the press release, and we learned why Apple introduced the new CD-RW-equipped Power Mac G4/733: because "Motorola is exceeding their plan and can now deliver greater than anticipated quantities of the blazingly fast 733 MHz processor." And that, of course, was when we blacked out.

We don't know whether it was a stroke, an aneurysm, or just a hysterical reaction to a nerve-shattering shock-- but we're betting on that last one, because we don't seem to be suffering any permanent physical effects other than jaws that are locked in the open position and faces that are frozen in comical looks of confusion. Motorola producing more chips than expected? Our Motorola? C'mon, guys, April 1st is still three weeks away; no fair freaking us out with early April Fools jokes.

On the other hand, we have to admit, this press release looks legit, so we're probably going to have to ditch our plans to sue Apple for incurring severe mental anguish by torturing us with false reports of easy processor availability. All Apple is really saying is that it's got more 733 MHz G4 processors than SuperDrives-- and when you think about it, that's not necessarily saying much at all. Still, to see Apple itself tout "higher than expected volumes of the blazingly fast PowerPC G4 733 MHz processor" gives us a little more hope that yesterday's rumor was true; maybe we will see dual-processor 733 MHz Power Macs by May, and a 1 GHz Mac by the end of the summer. And maybe we'll even be able to scrape our jaws off the floor before then.