Troubleshooting Power Macintosh G5: SuperDrive model; Will processor upgrades be possible?

SuperDrive model Our friends at Macintosh reseller MacForce (who just received their first G5s yesterday) note that the drive mechanism labeled as the SuperDrive in the new systems is a Sony DW-U10A, as indicated by the Apple System Profiler. Traditionally Apple has used Pioneer drives for its desktop SuperDrives.

Sony's specifications indicate that the DW-U10A can burn DVD-R/-RW, DVD RW/ R, and CD-R/CD-RW discs. However, we spoke with Nathalie Welch in Apple's Hardware PR department, and she re-iterated the specs stated on Apple's site, which indicate only DVD-R and CD-R/W write capabilities.

"Optical drive bay with SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) installed; writes DVD-R discs at up to 4x speed, reads DVDs at up to 8x speed, writes CD-R discs at up to 16x speed, writes CD-RW discs at up to 10x speed, reads CDs at up to 32x speed."

We are awaiting reports from readers who have attempted to burn DVD RW or DVD-RW discs. If you have any information, please drop us a line at late-breakers@macfixit.com.

Will processor upgrades be possible? Though it may seem early to discuss such an issue, several MacFixIt readers have inquired about the possibility of Power Mac G5s accepting processor upgrades in the future. While speed certainly will not be an issue for some time to come, a number of readers are concerned about staying at the top of the speed hill. After all, Steve Jobs promised Macs running at 3 GHz within the next 12 months.

Processor manufacturer PowerLogix told us "Just a little too premature, but yes, we have one and are already working on it."

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