Apple Computer and Freescale Semiconductor recently announced a purchase agreement under the terms of which Apple secures supplies of the G4 central processing units for the following three years, which would allow Apple not only to make PowerPC-based notebooks on demand, but also to replace broken machines.

Under the terms of the agreement, subject to certain conditions, Freescale is obligated to supply its microprocessors for orders placed by Apple through December 31, 2008, Apple Computer indicated in a Form 8-K filing with Securities and Exchange Commission.

Freescale Semiconductor manufactures G4 processors for Apple Computer. The G4 chips are used in Apple Mac mini desktop computers as well as iBook notebooks. But Apple said it is “under no obligation to purchase Freescale microprocessors other than work in progress that was in place at the time the agreement was executed”, which means that the company has no intention to use any higher-performance G4 processors. This is logical, as the company has plans to fully transit its lineup of computers to x86 microprocessors made by Intel Corp. by late 2007.

Last year, Apple accounted for 3% of Freescale’s $5.7 billion in total sales, notes Xinhua Financial News agency.

IBM produces PowerPC 970FX (or G5) processors that are used in desktop Macintosh computers from Apple. It is unknown whether Apple and IBM also have similar purchase agreements.