Apple pips cloners to Power Mac upgrades post

Vendor?s decision to withold third-party access to latest Power PC systems angers licensees

Apple will give itself a headstart against clonemakers when it releases updated Power Mac designs this autumn, but will delay access to the technology for its licensees.

The vendor will release a system, codenamed Kansas, in the autumn, followed by a second, codenamed Gossamer, in time for the Macworld Expo in January 1998. Both will run on different versions of the Power PC processor, called G3 and Mach 5.

Apple has stated that it will not allow clonemakers to sell any systems based on these processors unless they are first certified by Apple. This will delay their release and give Apple a headstart that analysts and dealers say it badly needs to establish the technology and to rebuild its revenue streams, free from the fierce attacks from rivals such as Umax and Power Computing that have contributed to its recent financial problems.

But the move met with hostility from some Apple licensees. One clonemaker said: ?So what happened to those promises that the Mac market would be open to competition??

Licensees have previously criticised Apple for its certification process, which prevents third parties selling systems based on Power PC versions without an Apple licence.

The manufacturer has also decided not to license motherboards for the new range, at least until its own products are well established.