Apple Revs G4s, Adds Digital Video Options -- Apple Computer has revised its Power Macintosh G4 offerings, expanding the more-advanced AGP architecture across the product line and adding a digital video interface. (See "Back to Class with the Power Mac G4" in TidBITS-496 for an overview of the initial G4 offerings; see "Speed Dips for Power Mac G4s" in TidBITS-502 for details of Apple's subsequent downshift in G4 processor speeds.) Apple's new G4s offer the same processor speeds (350, 400, and 450 MHz) and the same base prices (ranging $1,600 to $3,500) as their predecessors; however, the new machines all feature DVD-ROM drives by default, offer options for Airport wireless networking, and sport a new AGP-based ATI Rage 128 Pro video which provides improved graphics performance over earlier cards and adds a digital video interface to support the high-end LCD Apple Cinema Display and the just-announced Flat Panel Studio Display. The Flat Panel Studio Display is a digital 15-inch LCD screen with a maximum resolution of 1,024 by 768 pixels; Apple says it will be available before the end of the year for $1,300, while the 22-inch $4,000 Apple Cinema Display won't be available until January. Apple also announced it plans to make the AGP-based Rage 128 Pro video card with digital video output available in early 2000 to current owners of AGP Graphics G4 systems for $99; current owners of AGP Graphics G4s could then use Apple's digital LCD displays with their existing systems. [GD]

<http://www.apple.com/powermac/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/05546>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/05615>
<http://www.apple.com/displays/asd15/>