MacCentral readers confirm that graphics cards based on Nvidia Corp.’s flagship GeForce4 Ti chip are now shipping from Apple. The cards are being sent to Power Mac G4 users who ordered their systems from the Apple Store earlier this year with the GeForce4 Ti card as a build-to-order option.
Although Apple has been offering the more mainstream GeForce4 MX graphics card since its introduction in February, the GeForce4 Ti-based cards have, up until now, been non-existent — despite the release of PC-compatible graphics cards based on the same chip design by a multitude of Windows-friendly third party graphics card makers.
This shortage caused Apple to volunteer to send Power Mac G4 systems equipped with GeForce4 MX cards to those customers who had backordered the GeForce4 Ti-equipped configurations, with the guarantee that once a GeForce4 Ti-based card was available, it would be sent to them. In the past day, customers who have taken delivery of those configurations have received e-mail from the Apple Store confirming that GeForce4 Ti-equipped video cards are now on their way “at no charge.” The Apple Store has also thanked customers for their patience during the long delay.
The experience for many of these Power Mac G4 users has invoked a sense of deja vu: The exact same thing happened when Apple debuted Nvidia’s GeForce3 graphics hardware during Macworld Expo in Tokyo in 2001. Orders were taken following the introduction of the technology, delivery of the cards was delayed, Apple shipped Power Mac G4s with GeForce2 MX cards instead, and later shipped GeForce3 cards.
At the time the cards were introduced in February, Apple indicated that the GeForce4 Ti-equipped graphics card would also be available as a separate accessory to order for existing Power Mac G4s. As MacCentral posted this article, such an accessory was not yet available for order from The Apple Store.