!pr2
Some More Rumors

Electronics magazine printed a brief news item about a second source for 65816 chips.  Western Design has signed up a lot of licensees to make these chips, but none of them are in production as of this month.  Electronics says VLSI Technology Inc., of San Jose, California, is projecting prices in the $10 range for volume purchases.  When?  Target is to start selling sample quantities next summer.  Meanwhile, volume prices are in the $35 range from Western Design Center.  The single-unit price is still about $100.

The parts we are selling are the 65C802 from Western Design Center.  Our price to you is $50 each.  These are normally spec'd at 2MHz, but sometimes we get 4MHz parts at the same price, when they are out of the slower ones.  Either speed works equally well in an Apple motherboard, but you need the 4MHz chip to use in a Transwarp accelerator card.

Rumors continue to ricochet around the club newsletter circuit about the possible configuration of the new Apple II (usually called the //x).  Most rumor sources agree now that the //x will use a 65C816.  We sure HOPE so!  One source said he looks for an 8MHz clock.  We doubt that, because current projections are for 8MHz chips becoming available about 1st quarter 1987.  And the RAM for 8MHz operation would be far too expensive.  My guess we will see either 2MHz or 3.58MHz.

Most are now including a SCSI port in their list of features, since the Macintosh Plus has one.  Some are talking about a smaller set of normal slots, supplemented by some new super-slots having more signals available.  There are reportedly a number of different versions of the //x already in existence, seeded around.  If that is true, it could be than no one (even inside Apple) yet knows what the REAL //x will be.
