Zeit für neue PowerMacs und PowerBooks? (Update)

Die Gerüchteküche verspricht es schon seit langem (unter anderem hier im fscklog), nun schreibt CNET:

"The tech giant plans to announce on Friday that it has started mass production of PowerPCs on the 90-nanometer process, which refers to the average feature size on the chips. (A nanometer is a billionth of a meter.) The PowerPC 970FX, which is used inside IBM's blade servers and Apple Computer's Xserve G5 server, is the first processor to be made with this manufacturing method.
Big Blue is expected to describe a 2.5GHz version of the chip made on the 90-nanometer process at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco next week. PowerPCs on the market today, produced on a 130-nanometer process, top out at 2GHz."

Update:
Inzwischen hat sich IBM geäußert:

"IBM, based in Armonk, New York, said that it was using the method, which combines three existing technologies used in chip manufacturing, to build its PowerPC 970FX microprocessor in its new East Fishkill, New York plant.[...]
Given the chip's reduced need for power, which means longer battery life, Apple may consider it for use in a notebook computer for gaming enthusiasts, Doherty said.
"It's logical that Apple would select the flexibility of this chip for a next-generation notebook computer," Doherty said."

The Reg erklärt ein wenig mehr zur Methode:

"Now, where IBM differs from Intel is in the use of silicon-on-insulator (SOI), which conveniently aids the implementation of strained silicon. As it announced last September, IBM removes the SiGe layer before fabrication, after applying the strained silicon onto the insulator. The upshot: it gains benefits of strained silicon using what is essentially its standard SOI process. By removing the SiGe layer, it doesn't have to integrate that material into the chip fabrication process per se. It calls the new technique, Strained Silicon Directly on Insulator (SSDOI)."