PowerBooks in the Pipeline?

[MacRumors]

ThinkSecret chimes in (http://www.thinksecret.com/news/augustpowerbooks.html) with a report that PowerBook revision development wrapped up earlier this month.

According to the rumor site, the upcoming upgrades are for the 15-inch and 17-inch PowerBook line. The new machines should be running a minor revision to Mac OS X (Blackrider). The fate of the 12" PowerBook is uncertain.

While no definitive date is provided, "later this week" is floated as an expectation.

Last week internet whispers (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/08/20030813035204.shtml) predicted PowerBook updates in the pipeline, with expectations of a thinner 12", 1.33GHz top speeds and FW800 -- while a recent Page 2 note (http://page2.macrumors.com/) revealed near zero stock of 12" and 15" PowerBooks at Ingram Micro (a major distributor).

[Grimace]

Bring em on!

[michaelrjohnson]

Wahoooooooooo!!!!! :)


Let's just pray!

I seriously hope so! One of those babies is MINE! Line forms below.

[mainstreetmark]

Please for the love of all that is good and holy, please let this be true.

[shecky]

oh pllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaseeeeeeeeeeeeee let this happen already...my precious.......

[evolu]

why the hardware specific OS? What's new that justifies special software optimization?

Smeagol is Jaguar optimized for the G5.
Blackrider is Jaguar optimized for ?

[MacsRgr8]

Originally posted by evolu
why the hardware specific OS? What's new that justifies special software optimization?

Smeagol is Jaguar optimized for the G5.
Blackrider is Jaguar optimized for ?

7457 G4....?

[BrandonRP0123]

Originally posted by Macrumors
The fate of the 12" PowerBook is uncertain.


I don't know if that's completely true or not. It's been my impression (and the apple financial report should tell the truth?) that the 12" was a seller.

Otherwise, we might have another collectors item on our hands. :)

[arn]

Originally posted by evolu
why the hardware specific OS? What's new that justifies special software optimization?

Smeagol is Jaguar optimized for the G5.
Blackrider is Jaguar optimized for ?

nothing.

Every new macintosh requires a (minor) new version of the operating system to support it.

arn

[AndrewMT]

The 12" powerbook should be revised to have the same widescreen ratio that all the pro laptops have. Several of the new high performace centrino laptops are widescreen.

[arn]

Originally posted by BrandonRP0123
I don't know if that's completely true or not. It's been my impression (and the apple financial report should tell the truth?) that the 12" was a seller.

Otherwise, we might have another collectors item on our hands. :)

I meant w/ regard to these updates.

arn

[GrizzlyHippo]

Could it finally be??

Well I had my credit card ready for Tuesday 19th anyway, so here's hoping Think Secret are right again.

Grizzly

[Powerbook G5]

What would be really cool is if these are 15/17" PowerBook G5s, the 12" becomes the new G4 iBook, and Blackrider is some newer hybrid 10.2/10.3 64 bit optimized OS X for the new PowerBook G5s...but, this is not fantasy land and this could just be another weekly PowerBook rumor...damn, I could almost be so excited for a G5 PowerBook that I'd wet myself.

[Gus]

It's starting to get ridiculous actually, how long it has been for updates on these machines, and part of me can't help feeling like this delay has been purposeful. Getting everyone who has been waiting for the revisions, plus the added ones everyday, on top of the release of the G5 this week would really make a Q4 balance sheet look really nice, wouldn't it? ;)

Regards,
Gus

[ELYXR]

If they wrapped up the PowerBook revision development earlier this month, how much time until a final shipping product? Unless the development they're talking about is all software based it could take some time. Maybe they already have the hardware stacked on palettes in cupertino and ready to roll. Please let this be the case!!! If Apple sells me the pieces, I'd put it together in my garage and save them the trouble, seriously! :)

[xtekdiver]

Let's have a vote: will it be a piddly G4 update or an all out assault with a G5? If we get something Tuesday it will be G4, if we don't I think they will announce a G5 Powerbook in Paris. Frankly, I think this Moto thing has really hurt Apple's cred, a 1.2 or 1.3 just isn't going to cut it.

[PVD 45RPM]

I hope the 12 gets updated 'cause thats the one I've been wating for...

[GrizzlyHippo]

Think Secret formally posted the following info about Blackrider:

"There is one additional mystery product in the short-term pipeline, a hardware project known as Q6. Little is known about Q6 other than that it will ship with a build train of Mac OS X code-named "Blackrider," and that Apple previously intended to wrap up development this month or the next. Whether or not Q6 is now slated to be one of the hardware announcements at WWDC is unclear."

However, their latest post refers to the new PowerBooks as Q16 and Q41.

So what is Q6?

and

Why would the new PB machine-centric parts of OSX not be built into 10.2.7 (Smeagol) which must surely be ready as G5's are starting (ish) to ship. Why build another OS at the same time as Smeagol?

Blackrider doen't make sense to me.

Grizzly

[neutrino23]

Originally posted by xtekdiver
Let's have a vote: will it be a piddly G4 update or an all out assault with a G5? If we get something Tuesday it will be G4, if we don't I think they will announce a G5 Powerbook in Paris. Frankly, I think this Moto thing has really hurt Apple's cred, a 1.2 or 1.3 just isn't going to cut it.

I think the G5 PB will come next summer. The G4 for will have to do for the time being. Personally, this will be a wonderful update. A brighter, sharper display, better GPU, Airport Extreme, FW800, backlit keyboard (I hope), faster CPU, etc. This will be a really sweet PB.

I've been waiting for this upgrade since April. I think it is finally going to happen this week.

[MasterMac]

Originally posted by neutrino23
I think the G5 PB will come next summer. The G4 for will have to do for the time being. Personally, this will be a wonderful update. A brighter, sharper display, better GPU, Airport Extreme, FW800, backlit keyboard (I hope), faster CPU, etc. This will be a really sweet PB.

I've been waiting for this upgrade since April. I think it is finally going to happen this week.

I'm with ya on that! This updated PB was supposed to be my graduation present (from high school), and as of now it's way overdue ;)

[mim]

Originally posted by GrizzlyHippo
Think Secret formally posted the following info about Blackrider:

"There is one additional mystery product in the short-term pipeline, a hardware project known as Q6. Little is known about Q6 other than that it will ship with a build train of Mac OS X code-named "Blackrider," and that Apple previously intended to wrap up development this month or the next. Whether or not Q6 is now slated to be one of the hardware announcements at WWDC is unclear."

However, their latest post refers to the new PowerBooks as Q16 and Q41.

So what is Q6?

and

Why would the new PB machine-centric parts of OSX not be built into 10.2.7 (Smeagol) which must surely be ready as G5's are starting (ish) to ship. Why build another OS at the same time as Smeagol?

Blackrider doen't make sense to me.

Grizzly

If Blackrider is the tweaked OS, then Q6 is either a typo for Q16 (or vice-versa) or the updated 12".

Just a guess, but if TS's source is involved with Powerbook development it may be one reason why the 12" wasn't mentioned - I mean the 12" is really an iBook...I wouldn't be suprised if it's actually engineered by the iBook team (if they are indeed separate teams and I'm not totally speaking out my arse. Please correct me if you know!)

[cycle]

iam going to sacrifice my ***** if there is a chance to hold a 15"albook in my hands next month!!! :)

[sacrilicious]

Indeed. The 12" is a G4 iBook.

Let's see those 15"s, though, real soon.

[cb911]

it's good to finally hear some good, actual facts, that is that the developement for the PowerBook revisions (at least the 15" & 17") is all wrapped up... but i'm not liking the hints of 'expected in stores later this week'. unless they're still going to announce it, then get it in stores later... Apple might be trying to stop staff from letting the cat out of the bag.

i guess it's pretty much set in stone now that the PowerBooks won't get the G5 this time around, seeing as the development is all wrapped up.

i'm way too excited about this now. i'm going to have to try hard to sleep tonight. :D lets see.... about 28 hours now until it's 9:00 Tuesday morning in the States. :D w00t!!! :D

[fpnc]

A new OS X build for the PowerBooks could include support for USB 2.0. However, I have to agree that it would be strange for Apple to develop and ship two different versions of 10.2.X (one for new PowerBook, the other for the G5). But maybe they expected the PowerBooks to ship well before the G5 (like last month or at WWDC).

Early last week I felt fairly certain that we'd see new PowerBooks on Aug. 19 (this Tuesday). However, by Friday I had changed my mind completely and this new information from Think Secret hasn't restored my optimism. I now believe that there is very little possibility of new PowerBooks this week. The reason I say this is that there have been no announcements about an Apple special event for next week and I can't imagine that Apple would provide significant upgrades to the PowerBooks without some form of pre-announced Apple event or news conference. This would be particularly true if the 15" came in a new enclosure. Now I'm guessing that new PowerBooks will be introduced at the Apple Expo in Paris (but still based on the G4, a speed bump to 1.2 or 1.3GHz, USB 2.0, FW800, Bluetooth, and Airport Extreme in all models, and a new 15" enclosure).

In any case, we should see the release of DVD Studio Pro 2.0 and probably demo G5's this week, so there will be some cause for celebration even without new PowerBooks (which, IMO, are becoming long overdue).

[paulie]

Didn't I already have to post this in the Page 2 discussions??

I've owned both an iBook (last July's 600 mhz version) and a 12" PowerBook (picked it up earlier this month).. While the external similarities are noted between the two machines, they are vastly different in terms of performance and ability.

The 12" PB is, for one, a much more capable computer. It dances circles around my old iBook, and keeps up quite well with my 1 GHz iMac.

It does get a little warm when I tell it do do a lot of things (146 F max processor temp so far) but all computers do that. It's not much warmer than the iBook was.

Internally, it's a whole new beast. The slot-load DVD-R is fantastic, the machine is lighter, and I love having all the cables on one side. Plus, fitting in extra memory and the Airport card - a total dream on the PB. No more crappy, spongy keyboard.

The sound out of those three speakers is far beyond anything I've heard on any of my laptops before (VAIO, ThinkPad, Satellite, iBook, and this one).

And the looks this little machine gets. Amazing. I thought my iBook turned heads. I've had everyone in the office asking just to touch the PowerBook.

The *ONLY* thing I'd ask for in the PB is the ability to hit 1GB of RAM, and have a backlit keyboard (for typing at night, and on the plane).

It fits perfectly in a daypack, is sturdier than my old iBook, and gets everything done I need it to, and then some.

Please stop bashing this little marvel.

[Alexander]

Originally posted by fpnc
I now believe that there is very little possibility of new PowerBooks this week. The reason I say this is that there have been no announcements about an Apple special event for next week...

They're not going to hold an Apple Event for anything less than a G5 PowerBook.

Remember, they're long overdue, everyone knows what the Aluminium enclosure will look like, and they're using "yesterday's" processor. This is not a "wow the press" kind of product.

These PowerBooks will be released with a press release and a web site update. That's it.

[mim]

Originally posted by paulie
Please stop bashing this little marvel.

Easy, tiger!

Calling it an iBook shouldn't be bashing it...and certainly isn't my intention. My point (and I think others have said the same thing before) is that the form-factor, lack of L3, reduced video out, 640meg ram limit, etc etc make it look like it was actually developed to replace the iBook (or more acurately - update it).

Everyone is lusting after them....

...err, no that's not what I was going to say....

...Everyone is pretty certain that the only reason that the iBook line hasn't advanced far is a marketing issue - the G4's (procs) haven't advanced enough that there would be a distinction between the iBooks and the Powerbooks. Hell, I'd get an iBook today if it had altivec. I don't need no stinking glow in the dark keyboard (well, I do ofcourse, Steve told me I do).

My point - TS's source might not have mentioned the 12" because the 15" & 17" have a separate team on them. That's all.

So - please, don't be offended. EVERYONE loves the 12". Can I touch it too....please?

[Ambrose Chapel]

so has everyone got their champagne on ice? it'll be nice to finally have them, even if it means that my TiBook is that much more outdated. sniff...

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by Ambrose Chapel
so has everyone got their champagne on ice? it'll be nice to finally have them, even if it means that my TiBook is that much more outdated. sniff... that's the most amazing part about this. i waited and waited for apple to release the GHz tibook (and ordered one the day it came out), and while i thought apple had screwed me by adding the 17 inch and 12 in january, i realized, hell, all i wanted was the 15, and it's just as good as even the 17, pretty much, except on screen real estate. and this 15 has been top of their line for... 9.5 months now! i'm about ready for it to finally be a little outdated--in the interest of my own curiosity about what apple will do next. i'm still pulling for tomorrow on the release. it's time already, sheesh!

[smartperson]

There are so many people saying that they would only believe it when ThinkSecret said it...

There ya go. Happy? ;)

When Apple makes (relatively) minor updates like this one, they usually just announce it by NewsWire and if the press wants it they know it.

Besides, they know all the Mac-centric Websites are watching every day for this bit of news...

Hey what better time to announce new Powerbooks than after the Power Mac G5's have started to ship/have been put on display.

The last thing Apple wants is to steal any thunder from the Power Mac G5 by announcing a lowly Powerbook G4!

[AllenPSU]

I wonder if a cosmetic (same motherboard) upgrade to the 12" could slip by the scope. (Larger HD, Slightly faster G4, etc.)

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by AndrewMT
The 12" powerbook should be revised to have the same widescreen ratio that all the pro laptops have. Several of the new high performace centrino laptops are widescreen.

Which Centrino notebooks at 12" have widescreens? I only know of a few 10.6" widescreen notebooks. I don't know anyone making a 12-13" widescreen...that would be awesome if Apple did it.

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by BrandonRP0123
I don't know if that's completely true or not. It's been my impression (and the apple financial report should tell the truth?) that the 12" was a seller.

Otherwise, we might have another collectors item on our hands. :)

I was wondering about this also. I took it as they just don't have any new info on 12" pBook upgrades. I think the 12" pBook is around for awhile.

[9hundred]

This new powerbook will surely be a tablet style invention.
something revolutionary!!! yeah baby yeah!!!

[chazmox]

Well, I have had my doubts about tomorrow, but if ThinkSecret says it is going to happen, then there is a very high probability it will. Their rep is so solid and they rarely post and miss.

I've noticed that most of their predictions like this come within a 24 hour window of product arrival, so this Tue will probably be it!

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by chazmox
Well, I have had my doubts about tomorrow, but if ThinkSecret says it is going to happen, then there is a very high probability it will. Their rep is so solid and they rarely post and miss.

I've noticed that most of their predictions like this come within a 24 hour window of product arrival, so this Tue will probably be it!

Yeah, I hope so.

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by 9hundred
This new powerbook will surely be a tablet style invention.
something revolutionary!!! yeah baby yeah!!!

No.

[penguin]

Hmmm... wonder if BlackRider is going to ride on a black horse?
When will we see colored powerbooks or are they saving that for g5.

[sanford]

Originally posted by paulie
Please stop bashing this little marvel.

The 12-inch is *the* perfect PowerBook for those on the road or anyone using both a desktop and a notebook. I have a desktop Quicksilver and a TiBook, bought with in a few months of each other because I like having both a portable and a desktop. I bought the TiBook because I wanted a G4 notebook and the 12-inch was just a distant dream at that time. The larger screen is kind of nice but not necessary as I presently plan on having both a desktop and a notebook: I've tried either/or and keep wishing I had both.

My next upgrade will go to the 12-inch and either a 17-inch iMac -- all I really need -- or a PowerMac G5 -- since I already have a 17-inch studio display and won't have to shell out extra for a display.

But I don't have the same complaints about the TiBook keyboard as compared with the 12/17 models as other people seem to.

[crees!]

I can't remember where I read this post but someone said that "why would Apple have a Microsoft product as the main feature on the front page of their site for any length of time... maybe that the powerbooks will replace the Office suite Ad next."

Well, now that the G5 has hit the front page I doubt they would replace it tomorrow with one for the new powerbooks. My guess is that powerbooks will be out after this site advertising of the G5.. translation.. 2 more weeks until we see new PB's.

I say gawdangit. :rolleyes:

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by sanford
The 12-inch is *the* perfect PowerBook for those on the road or anyone using both a desktop and a notebook. I have a desktop Quicksilver and a TiBook, bought with in a few months of each other because I like having both a portable and a desktop. I bought the TiBook because I wanted a G4 notebook and the 12-inch was just a distant dream at that time. The larger screen is kind of nice but not necessary as I presently plan on having both a desktop and a notebook: I've tried either/or and keep wishing I had both.

My next upgrade will go to the 12-inch and either a 17-inch iMac -- all I really need -- or a PowerMac G5 -- since I already have a 17-inch studio display and won't have to shell out extra for a display.

But I don't have the same complaints about the TiBook keyboard as compared with the 12/17 models as other people seem to.

I have the 12" pBook...and it is great for all of the reasons you stated. I like the keyboard alot...and the TiBook's keyboard...among the best in the industry.

[gadg]

Originally posted by 9hundred
This new powerbook will surely be a tablet style invention.
something revolutionary!!! yeah baby yeah!!!
If only! I've tried 2 tablet pc's and loved them!

Right now I'm in the market for a notebook and figured I had the choice between a Powerbook and a tablet pc. I decided to go for the Powerbook because support for the digital ink format is not something I see being widespread anytime soon. But if Apple released a tablet-style notebook (with the flipover screen, not the Fujitsu solution!), boy would I be running for them!

A G5 12" Powerbook with tablet functionality ... excuse me while I go take the dribble of my chin! ;-)

[aasmund]

I think if there are new powerbooks, they will be G5's. Apple will want to make the first 64bit laptop. However i think it is unlikely that the 12" will have a G5.

[mactastic]

Originally posted by shadowfax
that's the most amazing part about this. i waited and waited for apple to release the GHz tibook (and ordered one the day it came out), and while i thought apple had screwed me by adding the 17 inch and 12 in january, i realized, hell, all i wanted was the 15, and it's just as good as even the 17, pretty much, except on screen real estate. and this 15 has been top of their line for... 9.5 months now! i'm about ready for it to finally be a little outdated--in the interest of my own curiosity about what apple will do next. i'm still pulling for tomorrow on the release. it's time already, sheesh!

So true. I waited and waited patiently for the PB revisions this time last year, and had just about chewed off all my fingernails when they were updated in Nov. I ordered mine immediatly, and the had that sinking feeling when i had had mine for 2 months and all of a sudden there were new PB's out! However I didn't really want either of them, just the AE, bluetooth, and that nice new keyboard. I didn't really care about FW 800, it's nice and all, but I barely use FW 400 as is. Now after nearly a year, it is time for apple to give us a whole new reason to want a powerbook, and I've been really happy to have a top o' the line machine for as long as I have. I was really only expecting it to last 6 months at most.:p

[gadg]

double post. sorry.

[IDTheft]

Apple better come out with new PBs tomorrow so I can quit obssesing about them. Gosh, being a Mac user has a serious downside sometimes.

[Powerbook G5]

Originally posted by crees!
I can't remember where I read this post but someone said that "why would Apple have a Microsoft product as the main feature on the front page of their site for any length of time... maybe that the powerbooks will replace the Office suite Ad next."

Well, now that the G5 has hit the front page I doubt they would replace it tomorrow with one for the new powerbooks. My guess is that powerbooks will be out after this site advertising of the G5.. translation.. 2 more weeks until we see new PB's.

I say gawdangit. :rolleyes:

I'd disagree...the G5s shipping is awesome news, but it's not so amazing that they'd have it on the main page as their hottest news item for 2 weeks...a day is all they need to get the buzz going on it and show off the flashy box to drive everyone insane for one. The PowerBooks are sorely overdue, so having them sitting around and just holding onto them for half a month "just because" would not help them out at all.

[yuc7zhd2]

I completely disagree that apple would wait two weeks to release the pbooks so that it could be front page news on apple.com. The "now shipping" announcement on the G5 is hardly worth two weeks in front, especially when it just means "now shipping to the first 25,000 people who ordered them, if you ordered later you're screwed, and dont even think about touching one for 2 months if you order now". When they release the new pbooks, it will be front page news, and they won't hesitate to take down a shipping announcement for it.

[clonenode]

Originally posted by AndrewMT
The 12" powerbook should be revised to have the same widescreen ratio that all the pro laptops have. Several of the new high performace centrino laptops are widescreen. Well that's dumb... do you go shorter with the height of the screen to get the wide format or wider with the width?

A shorter screen would make the diplay very small and not leave a lot of room for the current motherboard, ports, optical drive, etc. You're talking about turning it inot something even smaller than it is now.

Going wider with the screen will also not work as that makes it close in size to the 15" PowerBook.

You have to think these things though more.

[Bruja]

Originally posted by PVD 45RPM
I hope the 12 gets updated 'cause thats the one I've been wating for... I don't know.. The Apple site used to have a 1Ghz Superdrive 12" 'er and now they have 867's. Not only that, but Consumer Reports Magazine (Current Edition) is rating the 867 against other mobile lappers. It left me wondering wheather or not the 1Ghz or the entire G4 12" line would be discontinued?? Still, make mine 15.4" Al Pbk :)

[amin]

Originally posted by PVD 45RPM
I hope the 12 gets updated 'cause thats the one I've been wating for...

My guess is that they'll all get updated at the same time. However, if the 15" gets updated first, that's not to say the 12" wont get updated later. The 12" has sold well and will be updated for sure!

BTW, I am another extremely satisfied 12" PB owner.

[randomx]

I realize that ThinkSecret has a pretty good track record, but one thing seems odd to me. The Apple Store is showing build delays for the 12" and the 15", but the 17" is still showing "Same business day." That seems to agree with the reports about Ingram inventory as well. I can't imagine updates to the 12 & 15 without also bumping the 17 to 1.33GHz, so my guess is that we won't see anything until Paris. :(

P.S. G5 Powerbook? Just ain't gonna happen this year.

[Powerbook G5]

Originally posted by yuc7zhd2
I completely disagree that apple would wait two weeks to release the pbooks so that it could be front page news on apple.com. The "now shipping" announcement on the G5 is hardly worth two weeks in front, especially when it just means "now shipping to the first 25,000 people who ordered them, if you ordered later you're screwed, and dont even think about touching one for 2 months if you order now". When they release the new pbooks, it will be front page news, and they won't hesitate to take down a shipping announcement for it.

Looks I was being echoed... ;)

[Powerbook G5]

Originally posted by Bruja
I don't know.. The Apple site used to have a 1Ghz Superdrive 12" 'er and now they have 867's. Not only that, but Consumer Reports Magazine (Current Edition) is rating the 867 against other mobile lappers. It left me wondering wheather or not the 1Ghz or the entire G4 12" line would be discontinued?? Still, make mine 15.4" Al Pbk :)

When was the 12" ever at 1 GHz? Was I missing something?

[nickfit]

there never was a 1ghz 12 inch. Unless they sold it as a kitchen appliance (can we say hot plate?).

[wizard]

OK so what makes you think that this info is based on actual facts. The reality like everthing else here is that there is always the possibility that the information is wrong or misinterpeted.

Frankly they could have wrapped up development after realizing that the G4 wasn't going to cut it. No one knows for sure untill official info comes from Apple. Now that doesn't mean that I don't have some hope for truth in this message as I'm a bit torn between a PowerBook and a MAC G5. Frankly the PowerBooks are better designed to service the needs of their users than the PowerMacs.

Dave



Originally posted by cb911
it's good to finally hear some good, actual facts, that is that the developement for the PowerBook revisions (at least the 15" & 17") is all wrapped up... but i'm not liking the hints of 'expected in stores later this week'. unless they're still going to announce it, then get it in stores later... Apple might be trying to stop staff from letting the cat out of the bag.

i guess it's pretty much set in stone now that the PowerBooks won't get the G5 this time around, seeing as the development is all wrapped up.

i'm way too excited about this now. i'm going to have to try hard to sleep tonight. :D lets see.... about 28 hours now until it's 9:00 Tuesday morning in the States. :D w00t!!! :D

[Bruja]

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
When was the 12" ever at 1 GHz? Was I missing something? Earlier (June) there were 1Ghz /Superdrives accross the lines w/ 867's as the "other" option

[betoranaldi]

Originally posted by Bruja
Earlier (June) there were 1Ghz /Superdrives accross the lines w/ 867's as the "other" option

The 12" powerbook never had a 1ghz processor in it

[Bruja]

Okay, that does it!! I'm going to stop mixing strange herbs in by brew *schmacks himself on the head*

[ColoJohnBoy]

Originally posted by clonenode
Well that's dumb... do you go shorter with the height of the screen to get the wide format or wider with the width?

A shorter screen would make the diplay very small and not leave a lot of room for the current motherboard, ports, optical drive, etc. You're talking about turning it inot something even smaller than it is now.

Going wider with the screen will also not work as that makes it close in size to the 15" PowerBook.

You have to think these things though more.

Uhhhhh, perhaps you should think these things through more yourself. If they were to change the 12" to a wide aspect ratio and still maintain an approximately 12" screen, the PowerBook would become BOTH wider and shorter. There would still be plenty of room for ports, motherboard, optical drive, etc.

I think it's a great a idea to have the entire line be wide aspect - the different models would be more consistent in appearance and fucntion, and the 12" PowerBook could be readily distinguished from the 12" iBook.

[Nitrous250]

I just bought my 17 inch powerbook thursday and did this so incase tomm. is a new release I can return mine and get the new one. I have been looking into this alot over the last few days and spoken with many people and come to the conclusion that tommorow we will most likely see No New Powerbooks. I am all for it and hope but I dont think it will happen. If it does I only hope they are available at the store tommorow since I am leaving the country in 8 days and would not want the new one to become available the day I leave.
Anyone gets any info LET ME KNOW PLEASE,

[NavyIntel007]

Even if the 12" powerbook is a big hit, there's a great possibility that having it with a superdrive undercut iBook sales. It really is the consumer powerbook which is a contradiction.

For those who said it earlier... the max ram on a 12" powerbook is 1.128 Gigabytes. That is assuming you can find (and afford) the ram. Some company is selling 1 gb ram chips for the 17" powerbook. They are 333 Mhz DDR which theoretically should work in the 12".

The new OS version is probably to support USB 2.0 because no G4 macs have that support (even the ones that shipped with USB 2.0 ports).

[cplater]

Here are the release dates for the 15inch PBG4:
Original PBG4: January 2001
PBG4 GB eNet: October 2001
PBG5 DVI: April 2002
PBG4 1Ghz/867MHz: November 2002
PBG4 17"/12": January 2003

The original PBG4 was released at MWSF '01. The first update was a Apple Expo 2001(IIRC.) I think the DVI update was a silent update, as was the 1GHz/867MHz. And the 17"/12" were announced at MWSF '03.

I am currenty in the market for a new PowerBook to replace my 500MHz original TiBook, and I am hoping that the new models are released before my purchasing deadline.
With the features that are rumored to be included, this seems like more of a silent update, and sine Steve Jobs has said that they want to dissassociate the introduction of new machines from the trace show cycle, I think there is a good chance that we will see the updates announced this week. If they are not announced this week, I think it would be safe to say that they will be announced at Apple Expo at the latest.

[mainstreetmark]

Originally posted by ColoJohnBoy
Uhhhhh, perhaps you should think these things through more yourself. If they were to change the 12" to a wide aspect ratio and still maintain an approximately 12" screen, the PowerBook would become BOTH wider and shorter. There would still be plenty of room for ports, motherboard, optical drive, etc.

I think it's a great a idea to have the entire line be wide aspect - the different models would be more consistent in appearance and fucntion, and the 12" PowerBook could be readily distinguished from the 12" iBook.

But, you can't make a 12" screen wider than 12", so the only way to get your aspect ratio is to shorten it. The 'gain' would be less screen space. I have no idea why you would even want to do this.

[skamuel]

Originally posted by clonenode
You have to think these things though more.

Whew...say that sentence as fast as you can! :-)

/Samuel

[betoranaldi]

well according to http://macprices.com

12 out of 13 retailers have some sort of 12" pb stock

5 out of 13 retailers have some sort of 15" pb stock

13 out of 13 retailers have some sort of 17" pb stock

All in all I don't think this can tell us anything becuase I dont think apple would be able to clear the channel of all pb stock before an update, it's just not possible.

My prediction about tomorrow is that it has the same chance of powerbook updates as the last three tuesdays.

[Sergem]

O'Grady's PowerPage says a source has seen the new AL15 and that it looks just like the 17 just smaller. Specs:

Ports on right side
1.25GHz G4 processor
Firewire 800 on board
nVIDIA video cards across the 12, 15 and 17
illuminated keyboard for the 15

To be released before Friday.

For more the complete story visit http://ogrady.blogspot.com/ as www.powerpage.org is down for maintenance,

My thoughts:

nVidia cards is a let down, we all know ATI is better. I just hope is an FX5600

What about USB 2.0? :confused:

illuminated keyboard!!! :D

I'll still have one on my desk ASAP!

[Lord Bodak]

Originally posted by Sergem
O'Grady's PowerPage says a source has seen the new AL15 and that it looks just like the 17 just smaller. Specs:

Ports on right side


Ports on the right side? Please no!

[rufwork]

Originally posted by amin
My guess is that they'll all get updated at the same time. However, if the 15" gets updated first, that's not to say the 12" wont get updated later. The 12" has sold well and will be updated for sure!

BTW, I am another extremely satisfied 12" PB owner.

I'm a pretty satisfied 12" iBook owner and would also like to think I'm "waiting on a 12" speedbump".

But the more I think about it, the less excited I get. If the 12" is selling well, and I believe it is, then all the more reason to think it won't get updated!

If we've all got $$$ waiting for a PB bump and the 12" doesn't get updated, what happens? We buy a 15", which == more dough for Apple. We cheese out and go ahead and get the 12" *now* == same money for cheaper hardware to Apple. We wait until later == What did Apple really lose? A month or two (or three?) of interest on that money?

Let's face it, there are probably enough people who *want* 12" PBs that'll shell out for 15"ers if the 12" isn't updated that Apple will make a few extra bucks that way. And more $$$ for Apple is, imo, a good thing. The question is just, "What and when do *I* buy?"

[zarrick]

Originally posted by Lord Bodak
Ports on the right side? Please no!

Why are ports on the right side so bad?

It is annoying plugging in the Apple pro mouse onthe left and having the cord lay (lie) across the keyboard.

Zach

[SilentPanda]

I would *love* to get a 12" Powerbook but am waiting... probably won't get one right now even if they are updated... but for traveling around (even just too and from around the city) having a 12" would be nice... then when I get home just plug it into the 20" monitor... I'm assuming the 12" PB can do higher resolutions when hooked up to an external monitor right?

[agentmouthwash]

Originally posted by cplater
Steve Jobs has said that they want to dissassociate the introduction of new machines from the trace show cycle, I think there is a good chance that we will see the updates announced this week.

I think you hit the nail on the head. I think Apple is plague by the fact that a lot of people delay computer purchases when a trade show is in the horizon. Reason being: you are anxoius to see what Apple is going to release. I can see Apple releases G5 powerbooks tomorrow - surprising us because if they just releases updated G4 powerbooks, a lot of people (including me) are going to put off that purchase and wait until the next trade show - whether that be Paris or San Fran with the hopes of Apple releasing G5 powerbooks. Apple wants to sell computers TODAY.

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by clonenode
Well that's dumb... do you go shorter with the height of the screen to get the wide format or wider with the width?


It would not have to be a shorter screen at all. Have you seen the Sony TR1 ot the Fujitsu P5000. They have 10.6" widescreens with SXGA res.

[JSRockit]

dupe

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by SilentPanda
I would *love* to get a 12" Powerbook but am waiting... probably won't get one right now even if they are updated... but for traveling around (even just too and from around the city) having a 12" would be nice... then when I get home just plug it into the 20" monitor... I'm assuming the 12" PB can do higher resolutions when hooked up to an external monitor right?

1600x1200 ext res.

[Lord Bodak]

Originally posted by zarrick
Why are ports on the right side so bad?

It is annoying plugging in the Apple pro mouse onthe left and having the cord lay (lie) across the keyboard.

Zach

When you have a couple USB devices, a firewire device, a video output, the power cord, the speaker cord, the ethernet cord, the phone cord (for faxing), where do you put the mouse?

Ports on the left side make the most sense-- easy to access, most mice have cords plenty long enough to route around the back, and it keeps everything out of the way.

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by zarrick
Why are ports on the right side so bad?

It is annoying plugging in the Apple pro mouse onthe left and having the cord lay (lie) across the keyboard.

Zach

You can bring the cord around the back of the computer...you don't have to have it over the keyboard...it is no big deal really.

[SilentPanda]

Originally posted by JSRockit
1600x1200 ext res.

*In Mr. Burns voice* Excellent...

[Powerbook G5]

The specs that are on the Powerpage are a bit disappointing, I mean, lower clockspeed than most of us hope for, no mention of USB 2.0, nVidia graphics, and ports all on the right side. I do hope it is a mix likeon the new 17" with ports on both side for convenience and so they aren't all crammed on the right. I hope the specs are a bit higher and I also hope for at least a 2x Superdrive. As far as the GPU, at least an FX 5600 if we have to have an nVidia...or how about this one? (http://www.nvidia.com/page/quadrofx_go.html)

[AllenPSU]

Originally posted by evolu
why the hardware specific OS? What's new that justifies special software optimization?

Smeagol is Jaguar optimized for the G5.
Blackrider is Jaguar optimized for ?

Could be something as minor as enabling USB 2.0 or allowing a new video driver.

I guess we could hope for something more significant.

[AllenPSU]

Originally posted by AndrewMT
The 12" powerbook should be revised to have the same widescreen ratio that all the pro laptops have. Several of the new high performace centrino laptops are widescreen.

I wonder if shifting to a wide aspect ratio will drive costs up. Not sure how many buyers there are for that size. I am sure the existing ratio is partially driven by the cost.

[AllenPSU]

Originally posted by Gus
It's starting to get ridiculous actually, how long it has been for updates on these machines, and part of me can't help feeling like this delay has been purposeful.

Apple is actually close to the same product update time between the initial 15" TiBook and its first update.

[AllenPSU]

Originally posted by PVD 45RPM
I hope the 12 gets updated 'cause thats the one I've been waiting for...

Ditto!

[Hermione]

I am so anxious for the revision to come out. :( I leave for college in Boston on Wednesday and it would be very very very nice for there to be a spiffy new 17" waiting at my dorm when I arrive. ;)

Of course, I could probably survive with this Dell Inspiron 5000e for maybe three or four days of school before chucking it off the roof of the tower.

Apple: For the sake of all of us waiting students, roll out the new PowerBooks!

kthnx.

[cplater]

Here's to hoping that the 17" uses the GeForce4 4200 Go

http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce4go.html

[ratlee]

Doesn't Apple usually make a huge announcement before releasing something new like a powerbook?
I cant wait, I need to know!

[kterzino]

hi everyone! i am going to be buying my very first mac soon...i found this board and have become addicted! :) i am super excited about the possibility of the updates. do you have any idea what is going to happen to the prices of the current powerbooks? will they drop? and since the powerbooks are getting updated, this means that the current configurations will no longer be produced, correct? sorry if i sound stupid, i don't know much about the system like everyone else does! :) also, how long do you think it will take for the new ones to get to stores? i found out that my school has a deal with apple and other companies, and they are selling the current 17 in for $2799! i almost bought it until i found this site. but if the updates aren't that significant, i might still just get the 17 for that price.

[Felix_the_Mac]

If you speak french:

- Aujourd'hui est un grand jour ! - Yoc - 08:00:13 L'édition de ce matin du New-York Times, dans un article sur le 64 bits (il faut être enregistré pour lire), annonce que les premiers G5 devraient arriver comme prévu aujourd'hui dans les magasins. Il y aurait eu 100 000 commandes de cette machine.
Dans le même temps, toujours d'après le quotidien, Adobe devrait mettre en téléchargement son plug-in qui optimise Photoshop pour le 64 bits dès demain. L'augmentation des performances devrait être entre 75 et 200%.

Des sources nous ont confirmé que les premières livraisons auraient bien lieu cette semaine. D'autre part, ces mêmes sources nous ont aussi affirmé qu'aujourd'hui serait un jour d'annonces, avec entre autre le renouvellement des PowerBook. Restez donc en ligne pour ne rien rater de ce grand jour pour Apple.

To transliterate:
"These sources have also confirmed that today will be a day of announcements with the renewing of the PowerBook.
So stay on lign so as not to miss a big day for Apple"

[carboy]

I spoke with a great Apple source on Saturday and this is what he told me:
17 in EOL

15 and 17 updates by the end of the week-They have a meeting on Thursday

17 to include USB2 (one port) and only 1.25 Mhz-Don't know about price-2999?? No 2x on the DVD

15 to naturally pick up AL with backlit keys and USB2 port-I think that the 15 was going to be 1.25 as well...-bluetooth

12 up to 1ghz-NO size change-common sense!

New monitors in the works for the G5-could be in the same release...

No word on the bluetooth mouse/keyboard....

Panther looking good for September-Doubt that Powerbooks will ship with it..

That's all I know!!

[jcgerm]

Originally posted by cplater
Here's to hoping that the 17" uses the GeForce4 4200 Go

http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce4go.html

GeForce4 4200 Go? I'm hoping for a GeForce FX 5600 Go.

http://www.nvidia.com/page/fx_mobile.html

[Powerbook G5]

I hope the specs will be better than that, it kind of sounds even more disappointing...but we'll see.

[Mikoyan]

My PB 12" which I ordered on the 7th, is due to be shipped tomorrow, the 19th.

I can only hope this means they'll be updating the line tomorrow and shipping out to those of us who've had our orders pushed back again, and again.

People are saying that resellers have them in stock. This, to me, isn't that good of an indication because (for example) my local computer shop has some P3 800s in stock still, which have long been updated by Intel.

I ordered directly from apple's online store, if apple's wherehouses don't have any 12"s left, then there's nowhere for apple to get them; they can't call up a reseller and say "ship us back 50 units". And they're not going to pump out more current gen laptops, they're smarter to delay shipments of PBs still on order, until they announce the new ones.

Sure they'll take a hit for giving the new PBs at old PB prices, but there's nothing apple as a business can do about it.



On a brighter note, my 10g iPod arrived today :) :) :)

[agentmouthwash]

Yeah that sounds very disappointing.. Powerpage.org is predicting the same thing. Apple is making a big mistake.

Originally posted by carboy
I spoke with a great Apple source on Saturday and this is what he told me:
17 in EOL

15 and 17 updates by the end of the week-They have a meeting on Thursday

17 to include USB2 (one port) and only 1.25 Mhz-Don't know about price-2999?? No 2x on the DVD

15 to naturally pick up AL with backlit keys and USB2 port-I think that the 15 was going to be 1.25 as well...-bluetooth

12 up to 1ghz-NO size change-common sense!

New monitors in the works for the G5-could be in the same release...

No word on the bluetooth mouse/keyboard....

Panther looking good for September-Doubt that Powerbooks will ship with it..

That's all I know!!

[carboy]

Did not see Powerpages info., but it looks like it is pretty accurate. I have been waiting to update my Ti400 for over three months to a 17. The .25 mhz bump is VERY dissappointing. I am wondering if they are still going to offer the student discount package on the new powerbooks. If they do, at least I can get the new processor,$300 off and educational prices. I guess that will have to do! They really need to bring the 17in to $2999.

[IDTheft]

Originally posted by Sergem
O'Grady's PowerPage says a source has seen the new AL15 and that it looks just like the 17 just smaller. Specs:

Ports on right side
1.25GHz G4 processor
Firewire 800 on board
nVIDIA video cards across the 12, 15 and 17
illuminated keyboard for the 15

To be released before Friday.

For more the complete story visit http://ogrady.blogspot.com/ as www.powerpage.org is down for maintenance,

My thoughts:

nVidia cards is a let down, we all know ATI is better. I just hope is an FX5600

What about USB 2.0? :confused:

illuminated keyboard!!! :D

I'll still have one on my desk ASAP!

I don't think you should trust O'Grady's information. It's seldom reliable. Maybe they did see a 17inch and thought it was a 15inch.

[Powerbook G5]

I just cannot wait for the updated PowerBooks to come out, if they are disappointing, they'd still at least be a huge step up from what I have now.

[soggywulf]

Originally posted by carboy
The .25 mhz bump is VERY dissappointing.

Yeah, I agree. Just out of curiosity, though, how much of a boost would you want to see before it becomes non-disappointing?

[IDTheft]

Originally posted by kterzino
hi everyone! i am going to be buying my very first mac soon...i found this board and have become addicted! :) i am super excited about the possibility of the updates. do you have any idea what is going to happen to the prices of the current powerbooks? will they drop? and since the powerbooks are getting updated, this means that the current configurations will no longer be produced, correct? sorry if i sound stupid, i don't know much about the system like everyone else does! :) also, how long do you think it will take for the new ones to get to stores? i found out that my school has a deal with apple and other companies, and they are selling the current 17 in for $2799! i almost bought it until i found this site. but if the updates aren't that significant, i might still just get the 17 for that price.

I'm afraid both congradulations and condolences are in order :p . I too just bought a Mac (yay!) and also addicted to this forum (arghhh). Welcome anyways!:D

[fpnc]

Originally posted by Alexander
They're not going to hold an Apple Event for anything less than a G5 PowerBook.

Remember, they're long overdue, everyone knows what the Aluminium enclosure will look like, and they're using "yesterday's" processor. This is not a "wow the press" kind of product.

These PowerBooks will be released with a press release and a web site update. That's it.

I could not disagree more. They aren't going to miss an opportunity to generate interest in a completely new product (15" Aluminium PowerBook).

I guess you're saying that some product marketing "genius" at Apple was thinking, "Let's see, we have this completely new 15" PowerBook so let's try to slip it in under the radar so that no one notices."

IMO, anyone who thinks that there will not be a special event for these new PowerBooks is just showing their personal prejudice against all G4-based products. If a 15" PowerBook is coming with a new enclosure, faster ports, and speed-bumped G4 then I can absolutely guarantee that there will be some type of special event associated with it (even it it were a "join us" for new products at the Apple Store announcement). So, again, I don't see any possibility of new PowerBooks this Tuesday. If some press announcement comes out either today or tomorrow I guess they could do a Powerbook event at the end of this week, but that would break the Tuesday tradition for new products. So, now I'm guessing that the new PowerBooks will be introduced at the Apple Expo in Paris, or perhaps next week if we see some type of product teaser from Apple in the next few days.

[Powerbook G5]

Well, it's actually a .25 GHz boost, not .25 MHz...much bigger ;) But I think I speak for everyone when I say one of those rumored PPC 9900 at around 25-30 GHz would be slightly less disappointing. :D Personally, I figured it would be 1.33 GHz at least, so 1.25 GHz is a let down, along with *still* a 1x DVD...come on, if the drives can do 2x, then why not ship with 2x? Same with all ports on one side, it seems just too cramped that way, and an nVidia is disappointing, especially if it's still a 440 Go...if it has to be a nVidia, I'd hope at least for an FX 5600 Go to give us a newer tech chip than the already disappointing 420/440 Go.

[carboy]

If it were not for the 8 months, I think that .25 would be OK. Considering the time frame I think at least .33 would be in order. I was in wireless for years and Motorola was always thinking inside the box! Until we can get away from Moto, things are going to be SLOOOOW!

[XForge]

Originally posted by evolu
why the hardware specific OS? What's new that justifies special software optimization?

Smeagol is Jaguar optimized for the G5.
Blackrider is Jaguar optimized for ?

Uh.... Sauron?

[Nitrous250]

Originally posted by kterzino
hi everyone! i am going to be buying my very first mac soon...i found this board and have become addicted! :) i am super excited about the possibility of the updates. do you have any idea what is going to happen to the prices of the current powerbooks? will they drop? and since the powerbooks are getting updated, this means that the current configurations will no longer be produced, correct? sorry if i sound stupid, i don't know much about the system like everyone else does! :) also, how long do you think it will take for the new ones to get to stores? i found out that my school has a deal with apple and other companies, and they are selling the current 17 in for $2799! i almost bought it until i found this site. but if the updates aren't that significant, i might still just get the 17 for that price.

I also am new to mac and just bought my first, i got the 17 inch powerbook for school and love it
GET IT

[Powerbook G5]

I want a Precious! :D

[soggywulf]

Originally posted by XForge
Uh.... Sauron?

Pretty amazing...until I saw this, the word "blackrider" didn't even register with me. Nice. :)

Anyway, yeah...if Moto can't keep up, it'll be nice to be rid of them, at least for the powerbooks.

[Lanbrown]

Originally posted by aasmund
I think if there are new powerbooks, they will be G5's. Apple will want to make the first 64bit laptop. However i think it is unlikely that the 12" will have a G5.

There is already a 64-bit laptop. Actually, two companies make them and have been for a few years now.

[arn]

"ThinkSecret article updated with info about the 12" PowerBooks, which should arrive after the 15"/17" updates."

[Lord Bodak]

Originally posted by arn
"ThinkSecret article updated with info about the 12" PowerBooks, which should arrive after the 15"/17" updates."

I think Apple is making a mistake if they delay the 12" announcement. I can understand it not being ready, but they should _announce_ all three at the same time and let us start ordering.

[MacWorks]

No one in this forum, or anywhere else, has suggested that the 17" could get dual processors. I think a bump to 1.25 or 1.33 in the 17" is not going to be significant enough to set it apart from the 15" or the 12" (asside from the screen of course). In addition, dual G4 processors in the 17" would not threaten the new G5 offerings too much.

A 17" with dual 1GHz would make me cream in my pants! Here's hoping!

[fpnc]

Originally posted by MacWorks
No one in this forum, or anywhere else, has suggested that the 17" could get dual processors. I think a bump to 1.25 or 1.33 in the 17" is not going to be significant enough to set it apart from the 15" or the 12" (asside from the screen of course). In addition, dual G4 processors in the 17" would not threaten the new G5 offerings too much.

A 17" with dual 1GHz would make me cream in my pants! Here's hoping!

This possibility was raised in last week's thread (on Macrumors) concerning new PowerBook introductions. It was pretty much dismissed but I suspect that it would be technically possible with the new MPC7457 from Motorola.

However, I think it is very unlikely given the engineering resources that a dual-G4 PowerBook would require. Since it seems likely that we will have G5-based PowerBooks within the next 4 to 6 months.

[Hermione]

Thank goodness...

Originally posted by carboy
I spoke with a great Apple source on Saturday and this is what he told me:
17 in EOL

15 and 17 updates by the end of the week-They have a meeting on Thursday

17 to include USB2 (one port) and only 1.25 Mhz-Don't know about price-2999?? No 2x on the DVD

15 to naturally pick up AL with backlit keys and USB2 port-I think that the 15 was going to be 1.25 as well...-bluetooth

12 up to 1ghz-NO size change-common sense!

New monitors in the works for the G5-could be in the same release...

No word on the bluetooth mouse/keyboard....

Panther looking good for September-Doubt that Powerbooks will ship with it..

That's all I know!!

WOO HOO!

Insert *very* happy Sondy here. =D

/me does a victory dance

[plinkoman]

Originally posted by MacWorks
No one in this forum, or anywhere else, has suggested that the 17" could get dual processors. I think a bump to 1.25 or 1.33 in the 17" is not going to be significant enough to set it apart from the 15" or the 12" (asside from the screen of course). In addition, dual G4 processors in the 17" would not threaten the new G5 offerings too much.

A 17" with dual 1GHz would make me cream in my pants! Here's hoping!

umm, the 17" isn't supposed to be set apart in any other way then the screen. the 3 pb models are not in order of power, just screen size, one isn't meant to be more powerful then the other....
if only they would update the 15" and give the 12" some L3 cache....

[Hermione]

Sounds like someone at Apple is a Lordie.

Not like that's a bad thing...

Big cats, now evil minions, what's next? Matrix characters?

"This is the sixth revision of Neo this year..."

Originally posted by XForge
Uh.... Sauron?

[NoPrideELF]

First, If I hear one more person talking about how they actually think it might be a pb G5, i might go completely nuts. Not....any....time....soon. okay, sorry, had to vent. Now that we have the unpleasantries out of the way, Help me out. What's the track record for thinksecrets. I assume it's nothing like macOSrumors, but tell me how they usually are (i'm fairly new at this). Like many others, my updated Al15" is my graduation present and needed for college. Sometime this week better be TOMORROW (Damn i'm excited 8Þ). Not to mention, in addition to graduation it is now my birthday present as well. Come on Jobs, make it worth it!

[agentmouthwash]

Originally posted by plinkoman
umm, the 17" isn't supposed to be set apart in any other way then the screen. the 3 pb models are not in order of power, just screen size, one isn't meant to be more powerful then the other....
if only they would update the 15" and give the 12" some L3 cache....

yeah I agree. Everybody here seems to think the 17" HAS to be the most powerful out the 3.

[NoPrideELF]

Carboy, no Firewire800?

[agentmouthwash]

Originally posted by NoPrideELF
What's the track record for thinksecrets.

Thinksecret is right 100 percent of the time. All you need is macrumors.com and thinksecret.com and you have all the mac rumors you want.

[MacWorks]

Well, if screen size was the only difference between the 12" and 15", you might be right. But you're wrong. Serious audio & video professionals are increasingly looking to the increasingly powerful PowerBooks. Steve has already stated that Apple see's a move away from desktops. To make the top-end powerbook dual processor is the next logical step.

Regarding G5's in PowerBooks: I think 6 months is darn hopeful if you ask me. I give it atleast 9 to 14 months. G5's likely run hotter and require more power. The G4 is going to be around for a while. iBooks are still using G3's -- remember?

[naz]

please be true I'm waiting on my 17" PB :p

[MattG]

I'm beginning to doubt anything will be announced tomorrow...

Seems like they wouldn't want to put something on the page that would dwarf the "G5's now shipping" announcement.

But if they did, I'd be nothing short of pleased :)

[plinkoman]

Originally posted by MacWorks
Regarding G5's in PowerBooks: I think 6 months is darn hopeful if you ask me. I give it atleast 9 to 14 months. G5's likely run hotter and require more power. The G4 is going to be around for a while. iBooks are still using G3's -- remember?

the G5 isn't necesarily as hot as you think, the reason behind the nine fans was to keep it cool while keeping it quiet, i'm sure 1 big and loud fan could have done the job just fine

[soggywulf]

Originally posted by MacWorks
G5's likely run hotter and require more power.

Not according to the specs IBM released.

Originally posted by MacWorks
The G4 is going to be around for a while.

Which is too bad if it turns out to be true. And I have to agree that it certainly is looking that way.

Originally posted by MacWorks
iBooks are still using G3's -- remember?

Which is REALLY too bad.

[yuc7zhd2]

How accurate is that blog? I really hope not very, because the 1.25 ghz is disapointing, and it would be terribly stupid for apple to start basing performance on screen size. If its not 1.33 ghz, I will be pissed.

[sacrilicious]

So, at this point, should I just start refreshing 'http://www.apple.com/powerbook/index15.html' over and over again?

[Abstract]

These rumours are just a bad bout of deja vu. How cruel!! :(

I'll be glad to see these new PBs..........in September when they come out.

[PVD 45RPM]

Must....keep...the....faith....

[stockscalper]

<YAWN>

new rumor please ....

[smartperson]

I trust Think Secret. If they say this week, then it's going to be this week.

I just hope it's tomorrow or I'll have to place my order on Monday when I get back from my biking tour.


ARG!

[sacrilicious]

You can just give the $3k to me and I'll try to remember to do it for you.

[illumin8]

Originally posted by aasmund
I think if there are new powerbooks, they will be G5's. Apple will want to make the first 64bit laptop. However i think it is unlikely that the 12" will have a G5.
Too late. Tadpole computers already made a 64-bit laptop that runs Solaris.

[Puppies]

I don't see what's disappointing about a 250mhz speed boost. That’s 25% faster clock speed, plus probably a 25% (or more) faster system bus, plus the chip is faster at the same clock speed anyway. Nothing disappointing there.

What WILL be disappointing is if Apple uses those stupid Geforce 4x0 GPUs again. Those were lame in January and they certainly aren’t any better now. They need to use either the Geforce 5600 or Radeon 9600 in the 15 and 17” PowerBooks (actually the Geforce 4 4200 wouldn’t be bad either, but it was kind of a stopgap part that Nvidia probably doesn’t push now that the slightly more powerful 5600 is out). I could see the 12” model or the iBooks using either a Geforce 5200 or a Radeon 9000/9200. Apperently the Radeon 9600 is a bit better than the Geforce 5600 (plus it can have double the RAM), so I guess ideally I’d like a 128MB Radeon 9600, but either that or the Geforce 5600 would be good enough for me to buy.

No way I was spending more than $2000 on a laptop with a crusty old Geforce 2 *COUGH* I meant Geforce 4MX.

[tizza]

well the 12'' is the one I'm waiting for ... might be Sep hey :( , but then who knows what tomorrow brings ... (even though it's already tomorrow here in Australia ;) )

[cb911]

i know what you mean Tizza. we've got to wait until Wednesday morning just to see what's going on in the States.

or we could stay up till 11-12:00 tonight... then i'd have a hard time getting any sleep. :D


It seems certain that it will be this week now, with PowerPage reporting as well. I was disappointed that nVidia is supplying the VRAM, but as long as it's a high enough spec.

i'm just glad to see so many sources speaking with such certainty about the updates. :D

[Lord Bodak]

Originally posted by tizza
well the 12'' is the one I'm waiting for ... might be Sep hey :( , but then who knows what tomorrow brings ... (even though it's already tomorrow here in Australia ;) )

I really hope they announce the 12" at the same time as the 15" and 17"! If the 12" doesn't get a good upgrade, I might be tempted to go with the 15", but it would be nice to find out ASAP what the options are.

I can handle if they don't ship at the same time (just like the G5s aren't all shipping at the same time, but we got all our options at the same time!), but I want to know what my choices are so I can figure out how much money I need :)

[yuc7zhd2]

1.25 is not disapointing because it is 1.25, it is disapointing because the 7457 is available in 1.33 ghz. If the top of the line 15" is 1.25, then they will probably release the 1.33 chip only in the 17s, which is totally bad business. I can afford a 17. I don't WANT a 17. But this is all rumor so far anyways.

[sacrilicious]

I don't think the 17" is supposed to be faster, but just bigger.

[naz]

I am almost ready to just order what is currently on the market.

I want my 17" as soon as possible .25 bump or not

I hope the next 12-16 hours will prove this true :)

[soggywulf]

Originally posted by Puppies
I don't see what's disappointing about a 250mhz speed boost.

Weak.

Originally posted by Puppies
plus probably a 25% (or more) faster system bus

No.

Originally posted by Puppies
plus the chip is faster at the same clock speed anyway.

Really? Is there any supporting evidence for this?

Originally posted by yuc7zhd2
1.25 is not disapointing because it is 1.25, it is disapointing because the 7457 is available in 1.33 ghz.

You will experience extremely little difference between 1.25 and 1.33.

[JSRockit]

The 17" pBook will not have a faster processor. The 15" pBook will be the highest seller among the 3 once it is released. The only reason the 12" and 17" sold as many is because alot of potential 15" AlBook buyers couldn't wait. I'm not saying they wouldn't have sold well...but if all 3 were released at the same time...then the 15" would have done best,

[AllenPSU]

Originally posted by JSRockit
The 17" pBook will not have a faster processor. The 15" pBook will be the highest seller among the 3 once it is released. The only reason the 12" and 17" sold as many is because alot of potential 15" AlBook buyers couldn't wait. I'm not saying they wouldn't have sold well...but if all 3 were released at the same time...then the 15" would have done best,

Not so sure about that. The 12" PB has the eye of those who already have a Mac desktop. I personally would go for the 12" PB just because it is smaller and lighter. The 15" would have to be significantly better for me to buy it. At its current price, I think the 12" PB is killing the higher end 12" iBook but I am sure it is taking a little of the 15 PB sales.

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by AllenPSU
Not so sure about that. The 12" PB has the eye of those who already have a Mac desktop. I personally would go for the 12" PB just because it is smaller and lighter. The 15" would have to be significantly better for me to buy it. At its current price, I think the 12" PB is killing the higher end 12" iBook but I am sure it is taking a little of the 15 PB sales.

The 12" pBook is only .7 lbs lighter than the TiBook. The length makes it a little worse to carry around. I have the 12" pBook and it is cool...but the 15" has the nice resolution. 1024x768 is not good enough today...but I'm sure you are right...desktop users might go for it over the 15" pBook.

[Phil Of Mac]

Originally posted by Felix_the_Mac
To transliterate:
"These sources have also confirmed that today will be a day of announcements with the renewing of the PowerBook.
So stay on lign so as not to miss a big day for Apple"

Isn't it already Tuesday in France?

Originally posted by mainstreetmark
But, you can't make a 12" screen wider than 12", so the only way to get your aspect ratio is to shorten it. The 'gain' would be less screen space. I have no idea why you would even want to do this.

If it's 12" diagonally, and you shorten it vertically, you also have to make it wider in order to make it 12". Simple geometry.

To visualize this, get a ruler, and hold it at an angle. Then, holding onto the ruler by the center, rotate the ruler so it's at a shallower angle. See how it's not only shorter, but wider?

Originally posted by Hermione
Sounds like someone at Apple is a Lordie.

Not like that's a bad thing...

Big cats, now evil minions, what's next? Matrix characters?

"This is the sixth revision of Neo this year..."

Neo is the codename for the G5 processor.

Originally posted by aasmund
I think if there are new powerbooks, they will be G5's. Apple will want to make the first 64bit laptop. However i think it is unlikely that the 12" will have a G5.

*sigh* Read my sig...

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by Phil Of Mac
If it's 12" diagonally, and you shorten it vertically, you also have to make it wider in order to make it 12". Simple geometry.



ok, so make it a 12. whatever size screen to make the dimensions correct. Like the Fujitsu P5000 or the Sony TR1...which have a 10.6" widescreen.

[Puppies]

SoggyWulf: Weak.
Why? 25% faster clock speed isn’t bad! What were you expecting? I mean yeah, the G4 in general has been a bit of a disappointment, but this is the same kind of leap each PowerBook revision has gotten.
(Regarding faster system bus) No.
Yes. The new PowerBooks will probably go to at least 167mhz, if not 200mhz system busses. That’s a 25-50% boost over the current 15” model’s bus.
(Regarding faster at same clock speed) Really? Is there any supporting evidence for this?

Yeah… It’s a new chip, the 7457 versus the 7455. The new one isn’t THAT big of a revision, but it does have double the L2 cache. The figure that’s been thrown around here all the time is that at 1.3Ghz it’s 40% faster than the 7455 at 1Ghz. Even if it’s ‘only’ at 1.25Ghz, between the faster CPU, faster memory/system bus, and faster GPU, depending on what you’re doing you’ll probably see a 25-300% boost in performance over the old PowerBooks. That’s nothing to sneeze at IMO.

[AllenPSU]

Originally posted by JSRockit
The 12" pBook is only .7 lbs lighter than the TiBook. The length makes it a little worse to carry around. I have the 12" pBook and it is cool...but the 15" has the nice resolution. 1024x768 is not good enough today...but I'm sure you are right...desktop users might go for it over the 15" pBook.

My brother-in-law has a 15" PB and I have a Dell 15" (It's a loaner... would never have bought it on my own), and the slight difference in weight is a REAL BIG deal when you have to tote it around a lot. I like the 12" weight, screen is a little small but a laptop is not my primary computer.

I almost bought a 12" iBook but was not happy with some of the features and the 12" PB is about perfect. To be honest the only reason I am waiting is to see if USB 2.0 comes to a PB.

[Phil Of Mac]

Originally posted by Puppies
Even if it’s ‘only’ at 1.25Ghz, between the faster CPU, faster memory/system bus, and faster GPU, depending on what you’re doing you’ll probably see a 25-300% boost in performance over the old PowerBooks. That’s nothing to sneeze at IMO.

300% is a rather high estimate :)

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by AllenPSU
My brother-in-law has a 15" PB and I have a Dell 15" (It's a loaner... would never have bought it on my own), and the slight difference in weight is a REAL BIG deal when you have to tote it around a lot. I like the 12" weight, screen is a little small but a laptop is not my primary computer.

I almost bought a 12" iBook but was not happy with some of the features and the 12" PB is about perfect. To be honest the only reason I am waiting is to see if USB 2.0 comes to a PB.

Your Dell is most likely, at the least, 2lbs heavier than the TiBook. The TiBook weighs 5.4-5.5lbs...a 15" Dell weighs 7-8lbs. That is a big difference. But the difference between a 12" pBook and a 15" TiBook is not much....5.5lbs is light for a laptop...especially a 15" widescreen laptop. 4.8lbs is actually heavy for a 12" laptop.

[Nitrous250]

Originally posted by Phil Of Mac
300% is a rather high estimate :)

So is tommorow the day or not cause im gettin tired allready waiting at the computer hoping to find out info? Also, if tomm. is the day is it just an announcement or are they available??

[Lori]

I'm glad to see that ThinkSecret has finally made a comment on this subject. I've been waiting for them to do so for a long time cuz I think they're pretty good with their rumours. Back in the iBook updating days in May/June, they posted a rumour and sure enough, right on time the new iBooks came out.

Originally posted by Mim
Just a guess, but if TS's source is involved with Powerbook development it may be one reason why the 12" wasn't mentioned - I mean the 12" is really an iBook...I wouldn't be suprised if it's actually engineered by the iBook team (if they are indeed separate teams and I'm not totally speaking out my arse. Please correct me if you know!)

Someone in the Apple store told me once that this is true. I had been talking with him about how a lot of the people I know think I should skip out on the Powerbook and get an iBook instead. He said that the 12" PBs are actually made by the iBook ppl. I couldn't tell if he was endorsing the PB or hinting I should get the iBook...lol

Originally posted by kterzino
hi everyone! i am going to be buying my very first mac soon...i found this board and have become addicted!

Very easy to do! :)

Originally posted by NoPrideElf
First, If I hear one more person talking about how they actually think it might be a pb G5, i might go completely nuts. Not....any....time....soon.

I think I can definitely agree with that. One of my friends and I were talking about this yesterday and we think if this happened, the computer might spontaneously combust. A ton of ppl have said that heat wouldn't be an issue, the g5 could run cool, but I personally doubt that...just my opinion, though, maybe Apple will disprove me just to spite me? I bet a ton of us sure hope so! ;)

[Nitrous250]

Speaking with a person from apple tech support about G5 chip when discussing powerbooks, he strongly felt that the g5 will not see powerbooks for a while due to the heat it gives off and some other tech. talk he was speaking which I did not understand.
Yet all I want to know is if tommorow I am gettin a new 17 inch powerbook or keeping the one i bought on thursday>?

[AllenPSU]

Originally posted by JSRockit
Your Dell is most likely, at the least, 2lbs heavier than the TiBook.

The Dell is actually only 5.9 lbs. (That is with the CD-ROM removed and one battery). That is the only way I carry it and its still heavy. I'm not sure how much the power supply weighs but I take that along too.

The Ti-Book with power supply feels like a pound less than the Dell. The 12" PB I was playing with at the Apple Store felt signifiantly lighter (no power supply).

I think I am going to wait and see what happens this week and then buy. If there are no updates then I am going with a 12". If the 12" PB is not updated and the 15" get a 1.X G4 with USB 2.0 then it's going to be a tough call...

[Bruja]

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
I want a Precious! :D Actually I think the Dark Lord Billy G wants his precious ;)

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by AllenPSU
The Dell is actually only 5.9 lbs. (That is with the CD-ROM removed and one battery). That is the only way I carry it and its still heavy. I'm not sure how much the power supply weighs but I take that along too.

The Ti-Book with power supply feels like a pound less than the Dell. The 12" PB I was playing with at the Apple Store felt signifiantly lighter (no power supply).

I think I am going to wait and see what happens this week and then buy. If there are no updates then I am going with a 12". If the 12" PB is not updated and the 15" get a 1.X G4 with USB 2.0 then it's going to be a tough call...

Yes, but that is with the drive removed...the drive is heavy...and the apple power supplies are light...a great advantage...however, your dell isn't that bad...weight wise...it must be an older one?

The 12" is nice, and tiny. It is no problem to carry around. I will get a 15" pBook in Feb 2004...to go with my 12" pBook.

[AllenPSU]

Originally posted by Lori
...and we think if this happened [G5 in a PowerBook], the computer might spontaneously combust. A ton of ppl have said that heat wouldn't be an issue, the g5 could run cool, but I personally doubt that...just my opinion, though, maybe Apple will disprove me just to spite me? I bet a ton of us sure hope so! ;)

IBM seems to think the G5 can run cool. I'm not sure how far along they are in their process, but you could cool the chip significantly by lowering is speed.

You would need to see the Power/Heat relationships with CPU speed to see if you can make it work.

[kwajo.com]

I ordered a 15" on Saturday (please no mock me, I need it before I leave), and I was talking to an Apple sales guy on the phone today. I was asking him about shipping times, and he said my order was nearing assembly (it was a BTO) on between the 21st and 25th. assuming that new pbooks come out tomorrow, is it logical to think that Apple would not assemble and ship the old tibook to me AFTER a newer product is announced? i sure hope not. . .

[amin]

Originally posted by kwajo.com
I ordered a 15" on Saturday (please no mock me, I need it before I leave), and I was talking to an Apple sales guy on the phone today. I was asking him about shipping times, and he said my order was nearing assembly (it was a BTO) on between the 21st and 25th. assuming that new pbooks come out tomorrow, is it logical to think that Apple would not assemble and ship the old tibook to me AFTER a newer product is announced? i sure hope not. . .

If the new models cost more, I think that Apple may just find some older stock rather than give you the new model for the old price. I wish you good luck though!

[AllenPSU]

Originally posted by JSRockit
your dell isn't that bad...weight wise...it must be an older one?

Be carefull with the "your" part of that. I would hate someone reading this to think I actually bought the thing. I would never spend good money on a windows laptop!!! :-)

As for its age, they replaced my old one about a month ago with this thing so it cannot be too old. It has a 2.0 GHz P4 (Or so the sticker says). It is fast but its picky. You can upset it by looking at it wrong. Comparing the three different ones I've had in the last year, its the fastest but the most unstable. The Panasonic Toughbook was the best of the bunch.

Still I would take a 800Mhz iBook over all of them.

[AllenPSU]

Originally posted by kwajo.com
I ordered a 15" on Saturday ... is it logical to think that Apple would not assemble and ship the old tibook to me AFTER a newer product is announced? i sure hope not. . .

I've heard of apple going both ways. I will pray that you get lucky and get the new machine.

If Apple drops the price before it ships, they have typically lowered the price on unshipped models. That would be kind of a compromise for you though.

[ratlee]

I'm new to the powerbooks (and mac's for that matter). I was wondering if the heat of the 12 inch powerbook is an isssue? Do they overheat easily?

[ahol19]

Hey, i think that this is all lies, i have been hearing this type of rumor since feb. Apple will wait until jan 2004 i think, then they will have put the G5 chip in.
Ahol19

[filmmaker2002]

For what it's worth


http://www.powerpage.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/powerpage.woa/wa/story?newsID=11323

[plinkoman]

Originally posted by Lori
I think I can definitely agree with that. One of my friends and I were talking about this yesterday and we think if this happened, the computer might spontaneously combust. A ton of ppl have said that heat wouldn't be an issue, the g5 could run cool, but I personally doubt that...just my opinion, though, maybe Apple will disprove me just to spite me? I bet a ton of us sure hope so! ;)

why do you think the G5 is any hotter then the G4? the nine case fans? again, those are very slow moving fans to cool it while keeping it quiet, 1 or 2 fans would do just fine, but it would be as loud as any pc.......

[robodweeb]

Originally posted by rufwork
We wait until later == What did Apple really lose? A month or two (or three?) of interest on that money?

This is a little simplistic. It ignores the network (economic, not computer) effects of Apple being able to report higher per-month sales. Each additional unit sold increases the future (near-term) likelihood of additional sales.

[Lori]

I'm thinking that they'd run hotter because of the size differences. It's not based on the amount of fans. But if you put a processor that powerful (even if it is a scaled down version) and then have things still like an L3 cache (cuz, dammit, even the 12" better have that w/a g5), then it just makes sense to me that things are gonna get pretty toasty.

[agentmouthwash]

It's going to be a G4 Powerbook...


10.2.7 for all non-G5 systems is called 'blackrider'.

10.2.7 for all G5 systems is called 'smeagol' .

According to the Think Secret article the new Powerbooks will be loaded with 'blackrider'.

[Phil Of Mac]

Originally posted by Lori
and then have things still like an L3 cache (cuz, dammit, even the 12" better have that w/a g5)

Not even the Power Mac G5 has an L3 cache. The L3 cache was one of those things Apple included simply because the G4 was so slow it needed an L3 cache to be useful at all. So it's not as necessary with the G5 (especially since the G5 has such a nice, fast bus!)

[kwajo.com]

Originally posted by Lori
have things still like an L3 cache (cuz, dammit, even the 12" better have that w/a g5),

take a quick look at http://www.apple.com/powermac/specs.html and then tell me that the Powerbook G5 would have a L3 cache. . .

[plinkoman]

Originally posted by Lori
I'm thinking that they'd run hotter because of the size differences. It's not based on the amount of fans. But if you put a processor that powerful (even if it is a scaled down version) and then have things still like an L3 cache (cuz, dammit, even the 12" better have that w/a g5), then it just makes sense to me that things are gonna get pretty toasty.

power has little to do with heat, they got the G4 in the powerbooks just fine with no heat problems(well, maybe a little on the 12) so they will have no problems with the G5, assuming that the G5 runs hotter because its more powerful, or because the powermac has 9 fans is a little uninformed, i'll say it again, those fans aren't there because the G5 is an oven, they are there in place of having 1 big loud fan

[Phil Of Mac]

Originally posted by plinkoman
power has little to do with heat, they got the G4 in the powerbooks just fine with no heat problems(well, maybe a little on the 12) so they will have no problems with the G5, assuming that the G5 runs hotter because its more powerful, or because the powermac has 9 fans is a little uninformed, i'll say it again, those fans aren't there because the G5 is an oven, they are there in place of having 1 big loud fan

It took them over a year to put the G4 in the PowerBooks. And at that point they used the low-power 7410, not the original 7400.

[Lori]

Originally posted by kwajo.com
take a quick look at http://www.apple.com/powermac/specs.html and then tell me that the Powerbook G5 would have a L3 cache. . .

Woops...I hadn't noticed that. But hey, I can still dream about that cuz that would indeed make them go really fast, wouldn't it? :p

[agentmouthwash]

Originally posted by Lori
Woops...I hadn't noticed that. But hey, I can still dream about that cuz that would indeed make them go really fast, wouldn't it? :p

a G5 doesn't need L3 Cache, it would actually just get in the way and probably make it go slower. The Connection is more direct then what a G4 has.

[Lori]

Originally posted by agentmouthwash
a G5 doesn't need L3 Cache, it would actually just get in the way and probably make it go slower. The Connection is more direct then what a G4 has.

Wow, the g5 in a powerbook idea just keeps seeming better and better after this lttl discussion...hehe. Though, with or without heat problems, I still don't see them coming out with it within the next month...even as a surprise.

[Parikh1234]

does anyone know what time they update the apple page if the power book were to come out tomorrow (tuesday). Its 1230 AM here and i want to know if i should stay awake to check :)

[NoPrideELF]

Originally posted by filmmaker2002
For what it's worth


http://www.powerpage.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/powerpage.woa/wa/story?newsID=11323

It's worth a whole hell of a lot to me :D
Hey, it's officially tuesday now. I don't care if Jobs wants to sleep. It's time he dragged himself out of bed and put these out, what time does an update like this typically debut? (if there is a "typically")

[robodweeb]

Originally posted by plinkoman
power has little to do with heat

So the heat just appears from nowhere? Man, that's fantastic! Who knew that Apple had found a way around the second law of thermodynamics to mass-produce perpetual motion machines?

How could Apple Marketing miss touting this feature? Did they study at the Xerox PARC School of How to Invent Great Things and Forget to Market Them (eg Ethernet, GUI, mouse input devices)?

:p

[Lori]

Well, if the California is the main Mac place, maybe updates won't be coming until at least PT?

[Zuckuss]

Originally posted by MasterMac
I'm with ya on that! This updated PB was supposed to be my graduation present (from high school), and as of now it's way overdue ;)

Hell yea! The 15" al p-book is my graduation present too. Booya!

If it is somehow a G5 p-book i will cry tears of joy.

[supercres]

Sleep sounds good. I've gotten my hopes up before, but I trust ThinkSecret. (it's my HS graduation present too!)

I still want to know what that fourth thing is on powerpage....... :confused:

see you on the flip side of the 15" TiBook. :o

[kristianm]

Nice interface notwithstanding, any bets on what Wintel machines will be doing by the time G5 PBs come out? Yeah yeah, of course they'll still look kind of clunky but when I PDF 300 page documents, I'm not looking to stroke my machine and drool at the design - I want it to wrap up as quickly as possible so I can go out and interact with human beings again...

Although I do agree that this update will not be all that, your example is not good. Panthers PDF preview is supposed to be that much faster, so even 1 year old powerbooks will run circles around a new windows machine. For most other things this is not true of course.

[joeyjojoe]

Okay assuming the 15" comes out this week, does anyone know when the 12" is coming out? I'm sure its been mentioned 8 million times, but I'm not willing to drudge through all the posts to find the answer.

Also (according to O'Gradys), why does the first revision of the new powerbooks have NVidia cards if they plan on going back to ATI? Doesn't make any sense to me.

[fpnc]

A few notes on the discussion concerning a possible G5 PowerBook (PPC970 processor).

First, the PPC970 can't use an L3 cache, it isn't designed that way. So even if you wanted one you couldn't have it (it isn't needed anyway, so the absence of an L3 cache is no big deal).

Second, a 1.2GHz PPC970 doesn't dissipate any more power than the existing 1.0GHz G4 (MPC7455). Also, the PPC970 can support dynamic clock-speed adjustments for power savings. In fact the dual 2.0GHz Power Mac G5 throttles back to just 1.3GHz when the system is under light load (this helps keep the system cool and significantly reduces power consumption).

Thus, given all of the above I believe that the current PPC970 could be used in a PowerBook G5 design (most likely at the 1.2GHz speed).

However, I don't expect that we'll see a G5-based PowerBook until first quarter of next year. Also, I don't expect PowerBook updates this week either, perhaps next week or at the Paris Apple Expo.

[Porshuh944turbo]

anyone know if the new 12" pb will have DVI finally?????? this is the only hang up on this powerbook... I can't hook it up to my 17" Studio Display!!!! (can't go from VGA to ADC)

also.. is backlit keyboard pretty much a definate??? on all 3 models???? (surely the 15 and new 17 but what about the 12???)

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by AllenPSU
Be carefull with the "your" part of that. I would hate someone reading this to think I actually bought the thing. I would never spend good money on a windows laptop!!! :-)

As for its age, they replaced my old one about a month ago with this thing so it cannot be too old. It has a 2.0 GHz P4 (Or so the sticker says). It is fast but its picky. You can upset it by looking at it wrong. Comparing the three different ones I've had in the last year, its the fastest but the most unstable. The Panasonic Toughbook was the best of the bunch.

Still I would take a 800Mhz iBook over all of them.

Yeah, I'd take the iBook as well.

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by Phil Of Mac
The L3 cache was one of those things Apple included simply because the G4 was so slow it needed an L3 cache to be useful at all.

Wow, so the pMacs after 733mhz and pBooks after the DVI are the only useful Macs? I know of alot of pros that use machines that have G4s without L3 Caches.

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by hose this!
Yeah yeah, of course they'll still look kind of clunky but when I PDF 300 page documents, I'm not looking to stroke my machine and drool at the design - I want it to wrap up as quickly as possible so I can go out and interact with human beings again...

Don't front like you have friends. (JK) Use whatever works for you.

[Don]

has apple ever brought out any important products on a day other than tuesday? i mean is it a real possibility that if they arent released today they will be in the next few days?

i really hope they come out soon so i can get one for uni..

[markajor]

I just can't handle the pressure ! Aug. 19th is come and no new pbooks. I'm new to mac, never had one. Sorry guys just leave me behind as a casualty to the idea of new 15"pb. ok dell you win, i tried to fight you off, but i'm too weak.

[Don]

bit impatient aren't we? remember its only jst gone 7am in america...they wouldn't announce it until at least after 9am.

[Sun Baked]

Hopefully it isn't a PPC7455 r3.4, the timing is awfully close to a Motorola prouduct ship date for these -- seeing they just announced production shipment in a reasonable time frame for their use in the new laptops. :rolleyes:

[CrackedButter]

How many hours are we in the UK ahead of the US?

[smartperson]

7:54 AM EST and the Apple Store is still up...

Will we even see it go down?

Am I crazy? Probably :p

[kristianm]

Originally posted by smartperson
7:54 AM EST and the Apple Store is still up...
Will we even see it go down?


I think it is usually two hours more. And it could be later this week. That is the fun part, anything can come at anytime. But usually around 0800-1000 apple time tuesdays.

[Don]

kristianm, have there ever been any big exceptions to that rule?

[Lori]

Originally posted by Don
has apple ever brought out any important products on a day other than tuesday? i mean is it a real possibility that if they arent released today they will be in the next few days?

i really hope they come out soon so i can get one for uni..

Lol, I was in the same boat for the uni thing. I just couldn't risk missing getting mine shipped to my house AFTER I've already left on the plane to London...and if I waited for updates, that could've happed...so I bought now. Which brings me to an OT, which uni are you going to?


Originally posted by CrackedButter
How many hours are we in the UK ahead of the US?

Well, you guys are 5 hours ahead of eastern time, currently 08:05

[kristianm]

Originally posted by Don
kristianm, have there ever been any big exceptions to that rule?

Not that I know, but hey, I'm just a MR newbie as well. I think Apple is trying to movie away from patterns though. So it could be anytime. Buy when you need, but have a look at macrumors buying guide.

[Don]

im going to southampton for three years but it doesnt start until october 2nd so i have a bit more time to wait...unless all the new powerbooks are out of stock from the announcement :(

i guess if they arent released soon i'll get the superdrive 12" but i really want a 15" albook :)

so which college in the uni of london do you go to?

[beloit08]

You know, as I think more about these PB threads, I begin to wonder why is this such an important topic to so many people? I'm not even in the market for a new computer (the wife would never allow it), and yet I still find myself checking the Apple store over and over...just to see if they finally did it.

[Lori]

I'll be going to LSE. We've a late start too (October 6th), but I've gotta be on the plane to get there Sept 26th.

Hehe, I wish you luck in getting your 15" Albook. It seems like it'll be pretty sweet if they can ever get their asses moving on getting it out.

[Lori]

Originally posted by beloit08
You know, as I think more about these PB threads, I begin to wonder why is this such an important topic to so many people? I'm not even in the market for a new computer (the wife would never allow it), and yet I still find myself checking the Apple store over and over...just to see if they finally did it.

Maybe the powerbooks are a measure of Apple's vitality? Lol, ok, bad joke...

It's prolly just curiousity. You know they've gotta do it soon, but when, when? And maybe, just maybe, if the computer was really sweet your wife would fall in love w/it too and you could buy it? Hehe :)

[Don]

cool, i wish u luck at uni

out of interest, which powerbook did you end up buying in the end?

[Lori]

Thanks much...I shall definitely need the luck :p

I wound up getting a superdrive pb 12" that's maxed out. I think it should suit me fine for what I need. And w/the education discount and the rebate they have here in the U.S., it wasn't too hard a decision. According to fedex, it arrives tom. by 10:30 :)

[Nitrous250]

Originally posted by Lori
Thanks much...I shall definitely need the luck :p

I wound up getting a superdrive pb 12" that's maxed out. I think it should suit me fine for what I need. And w/the education discount and the rebate they have here in the U.S., it wasn't too hard a decision. According to fedex, it arrives tom. by 10:30 :)

You will love that laptop. I just got the 17" and I am in love with this thing. Bit big but I wanted the most power in the laptop so just said "whatever" and went for the 17". Either way you will love it. I leave for Vet school in 7 days and this will be my tool.
Good luck in school if that is where you are headed.

[CrackedButter]

I've just rang Apple up right this moment and the woman i spoke to says she hasn't any news on powerbooks today or soon infact...looks like its very unlikely its going to happen!!!

I couldn't be bothered waiting so i just simply rang them...it is afterall halfway through the business day over here.

[Don]

sweet :D i may have to be doing exactly the same thing here with the uk educational discount :) from what i've heard everyone loves it :cool:

[Don]

I've just rang Apple up right this moment and the woman i spoke to says she hasn't any news on powerbooks today or soon infact...looks like its very unlikely its going to happen!!!

Noooo! :eek:

but i thought think secret had a 100% track record? :(

[Lori]

Watch as they wait until 23:59 this evening to make the announcement...

Originally posted by Nitrous250
You will love that laptop. I just got the 17" and I am in love with this thing. Bit big but I wanted the most power in the laptop so just said "whatever" and went for the 17". Either way you will love it. I leave for Vet school in 7 days and this will be my tool.
Good luck in school if that is where you are headed.

I'm very glad to hear that! :) I'm pretty sure right now I'll love it, but with my best friend being so anti-pb and pro-ibook, I sometimes start to wonder...

Good luck in school to you too! Your pb should make it great fun.

[kristianm]

Originally posted by Don
Noooo! :eek:

but i thought think secret had a 100% track record? :(

Noone is 100%, the decision can be changed after think secret publish the story. And they said this week, more than half left.

That said, I do want a new 12", my iBook is getting old.

[CrackedButter]

One thing that might annoy me however, is if they DO release them this week. Why does Apple have to lie and keep secret about a product which a customer has an interest in? What would of happened if i had decided to not bother the wait and instead buy from someone else simply because they don't inform their staff.

[Nitrous250]

Originally posted by CrackedButter
One thing that might annoy me however, is if they DO release them this week. Why does Apple have to lie and keep secret about a product which a customer has an interest in? What would of happened if i had decided to not bother the wait and instead buy from someone else simply because they don't inform their staff.

I agree, Apple has some very odd customer communication ideas in there head. I had gotten fed up and bought a sony laptop but then realized I wasnt happy so returned it and got my powerbook. Either way they still win but it def. does get annoying when they refuse to let you know any details. I also spoke to someone at apple yesterday and he was very strong in his feeling that no new powerbooks are going to be released this week but who knows if he was being honest or simply unaware? Only our day will go to show. I'm off to the gym so when I return I hope there is interesting info awaiting me.

[Don]

i agree, i've always thought that apples marketing strategy sucks...they should give details and dates before the release to get ppl hyped up and so that they wont go off and buy another product because of lack of info.

[Lori]

Originally posted by Don
i agree, i've always thought that apples marketing strategy sucks...they should give details and dates before the release to get ppl hyped up and so that they wont go off and buy another product because of lack of info.

Hehe, their marketing strategy in product releases just sucks.

As for store openings...that's a different story...hehe. The one in Chicago opened with at least 5,000 people there, I'd say. It wrapped around the building somewhere around three times and it took hours for people to get in. Some people even camped out.

I'd say that this is evidence of why they've not changed those marketing strategies yet. Mac people are so loyal. And as Nitrous250 proved, when the Mac ppl start getting fed up and disloyal they're still herded back into the Mac world :)

[DHagan4755]

No new PowerBooks today :( Maybe sometime this week :) Hopefully!

[Lori]

Omg, I want it now!! Thanks to the miracle of tracking I know that my powerbook is somewhere in my town at this moment! And yet it still says that the 20th by 10:30 am is the delivery date. Do you think I could like storm the FedEx facility and demand shipment of my package??
And my iPod...it just got put in a truck headed to my door at 08:02. Ideally it will be here in 3 hours...now if only there was a mac to attach it to...

[wakedog]

No PBs today it seems, 9:15 am on East coast and no Apple website update. Hopefully sometime this week!

[Don]

Lori, good luck storming FedEx! :D if only i could afford an iPod too...my friend jst got one and i want one!!

As for the powerbooks not coming today.... :mad:

[Lori]

Oooh, looks like I won't have to storm the FedEx facility, I refreshed the page and it has now boarded a delivery truck...guess I'll be storming that instead :)

I'm sorry about the pb's refresh not happening today...:( Apple must've been in a mean mood and decided to spoil the rumor mill...lol.

And wow, I'm proud, I've suddenly become a Macrumors Member instead of a Macrumors Newbie...whoo-hoo! I love this site :)

[kristianm]

Originally posted by Lori
Do you think I could like storm the FedEx facility and demand shipment of my package??

I did that once, they were grumpy but I got my package. If not you will have a great computer tomorrow. Best of luck with it.

[bluesuspicion]

Originally posted by wakedog
No PBs today it seems, 9:15 am on East coast and no Apple website update. Hopefully sometime this week!

Generally, doesn't apple release based on West-coast time? If it does, that would suggest that we ought to wait until noon (East-coast time) until we give up on an August 19th PB release.

I would really like to see a PB update today... I'm still using a 500mhz iBook 12", which would be fine I suppose, you know, if the USB ports weren't broken. But c'est la vie. Hopefully new PBs will be released before school starts.

Sorry for rambling. Have a nice day :)

[Lori]

Originally posted by kristianm
I did that once, they were grumpy but I got my package. If not you will have a great computer tomorrow. Best of luck with it.

You would think they'd be pretty happy about something like that...you know? The whole less work for them to do thing...lol.

Originally posted by bluesuspicion
Generally, doesn't apple release based on West-coast time? If it does, that would suggest that we ought to wait until noon (East-coast time) until we give up on an August 19th PB release.

I would really like to see a PB update today... I'm still using a 500mhz iBook 12", which would be fine I suppose, you know, if the USB ports weren't broken. But c'est la vie. Hopefully new PBs will be released before school starts.

Sorry for rambling. Have a nice day

Hey no need to apologise...if that's rambling, I hate to think what I'm doing is considered...hehe.

I was thinking that whole pacific time thing earlier, but then I got side-tracked by not knowing if it's 4 hours back or 3 hours back from eastern time...so, I said oh well and scrapped that idea...

I'm sorry to hear about the USB ports being broken on your iBook. How did they ports wind up breaking? It was a hardware issue and not a software issue, right?

[markajor]

(tue. 19th) no powerbook for you.....next

[soggywulf]

Originally posted by Puppies
Why? 25% faster clock speed isn’t bad! What were you expecting? I mean yeah, the G4 in general has been a bit of a disappointment, but this is the same kind of leap each PowerBook revision has gotten.

Exactly. The G4 has been a disappointment. It is time to move on to the G5. Now.

Originally posted by Puppies
Yes. The new PowerBooks will probably go to at least 167mhz, if not 200mhz system busses. That’s a 25-50% boost over the current 15” model’s bus.

167...old news. Very old news. If a Trabant were given a new 1.8L Honda engine, would that be enough to make it a nice car? 200 would be nicer, but there doesn't seem to be any indication that this is actually happening. In fact, I have seen reports to the contrary, right here at macrumors--reports that Moto couldn't up the bus on the 7457 higher than even the existing paltry 167.

Originally posted by Puppies
you’ll probably see a 25-300% boost in performance over the old PowerBooks. That’s nothing to sneeze at IMO.

LOL. No way. That is highly optimistic. The system bus will almost certainly remain at 167, and the boost you will see is between 0 and 25% (i.e. between 0% bus and 25% CPU). In fact, it will likely remain closer to 0% most of the time. Most of the computer's time is spent in a non-CPU-bound state, especially when multitasking. CPUs spend ~70% of their time moving data back and forth to memory.

As far as the GPU upgrade, my guess is that OSX (specifically, QE) does not make extremely heavy use of OpenGL. This guess is based on the fact that OSX needs to be able to run smoothly on machines with much lesser graphics hardware. If OSX had game-like OpenGL usage (the kind of usage that would benefit from a faster GPU), the GUI would absolutely crawl on iMacs etc.

It will be somewhat faster in games, if the GPU is even updated (there seems to be some doubt of even that happening). But games also make very heavy usage of the memory bus, so the gains in game frame rates will not be as much as the theoretical GPU upgrade alone might imply.

[Mikoyan]

Ah it's only 645 over there, give em time :)

[soggywulf]

Originally posted by Nitrous250
Speaking with a person from apple tech support about G5 chip when discussing powerbooks, he strongly felt that the g5 will not see powerbooks for a while due to the heat it gives off and some other tech.

I would not trust a comment from Apple tech support on such an issue. Now if it was an Apple hardware engineer, of course that would be another matter.

According to the PPC 970 documents released by IBM, the G5 seems to be a reasonably low power consumer at low clock frequencies (1.2 or so).

The G4e at 1 GHz is 30W, while the G5 at 1.2 GHz is only 19W.

[naz]

this is so painful :(

so not today... :(

[kristianm]

Originally posted by bluesuspicion
I would really like to see a PB update today... I'm still using a 500mhz iBook 12", which would be fine I suppose, you know, if the USB ports weren't broken. But c'est la vie. Hopefully new PBs will be released before school starts.

I am in the same situation, I have an 600MHz iBook without QE that is getting a bit old. I want to sell it off before the applecare is out and buy a new PB12". But I can wait for a while, a faster 12" with backlight would be cool.

[Don]

i dont know whether that post about apple releasing products in western time is good or bad...good because they might actually come out today (although unlikely)....bad because now i'm gonna be waiting for another two or three hours.

oh the pain :(

[bluesuspicion]

Originally posted by Lori
I'm sorry to hear about the USB ports being broken on your iBook. How did they ports wind up breaking? It was a hardware issue and not a software issue, right?


My iBook fell on its left edge, where the USB ports are. It messed them up. I think the warranty might have covered that, but it expired a while ago. No worries though, I have other computers to use when I need to work with peripherals.

It's my only Mac though, my first as well, and has been good enough for me to want to get another. :)

I want the new 15" PB to ahve built in bluetooth... my new phone (Sony Ericsson T616) uses the technology and it would be great if they could synch wirelessly.

:)

[RichardCarletta]

This is the week that the G5's are shipping . Would Apple really want to steal the limelight away from the G5S ? They could announce the new PowerBooks maybe Thursday this week , but Monday , next week , would probably make more sense as they could showcase the new powerbooks on their website the whole week .

[soggywulf]

Originally posted by Lori
I'm thinking that they'd run hotter because of the size differences. It's not based on the amount of fans.

According to the info released in IBM docs, the G5 at 1.2 GHz consumes less power than a G4e at 1.0 GHz (19W vs 30W).

Originally posted by Lori
dammit, even the 12" better have that w/a g5), then it just makes sense to me that things are gonna get pretty toasty.

With a G5 and a fast memory bus, there is no need for L3. (oops, just saw Phil's reply...sorry)

[codemother]

The time is slipping by..........

[soggywulf]

Originally posted by bluesuspicion
I want the new 15" PB to ahve built in bluetooth... my new phone (Sony Ericsson T616) uses the technology and it would be great if they could synch wirelessly.

Absolutely, they can. In fact, if you get some software called Salling Clicker (or other similar software), you can use your T616 as a remote control for your Mac. :) Look for it at www.versiontracker.com.

[agentmouthwash]

Taken from maccentral.com:
"Apple subsidiary Emagic on Tuesday announced the release of Logic Platinum 6.2, a new version of their music production software. The new version is optimized for the Power Mac G5."


The Key words here are OPTIMIZED FOR THE G5. We are going to see a lot of that in the coming months. No way in hell am I going to buy a G4 Powerbook for thousands of dollars when all the applications are going to be optimized for a G5. Apple is going to make a big mistake here. I've been an Apple user since 1983 from my Apple IIe to my current Powermac G4 400 mhz. I am not trying to put apple down, I just think they really need to release the Powerbook G5 asap. I understand that they might not be able to release them now, but if and when the new Powerbook G4 comes out- they should have ibook prices and ALL the ibooks should be discontinued or updated to G4.

Why would I spend thousands of dollars on a G4 powerbook when for the same money I can get a duel G5 powermac that is much much faster. Unfortunatey I need the mobility, so once again Apple has me waiting.

[soggywulf]

Originally posted by Phil Of Mac
And at that point they used the low-power 7410, not the original 7400.

Does anyone know what the power specs are for the 7410?

[soggywulf]

Originally posted by agentmouthwash
I understand that they might not be able to release them now, but if and when the new G4 comes out- they should have ibook prices and ALL the ibooks should be discontinued or updated to G4.

Yes, agreed.

[Dunepilot]

What is the deal with ordering a Powerbook from the Apple Store if you were to do it today and a new PBook came out tomorrow? Would they offer to allow you to pay the difference, or would they sell you the new machine at the price you had agreed to pay for the one that it replaces? Does anyone here have any experience of this situation?

The reason I ask is because my girlfriend's getting itchy to order herself a 12" before the new university year starts, and I've had my Dad holding off buying a 15" for about 2 months!

[soggywulf]

Originally posted by JSRockit
Wow, so the pMacs after 733mhz and pBooks after the DVI are the only useful Macs? I know of alot of pros that use machines that have G4s without L3 Caches.

They could use a G3 iMac as well. Why not, after all? :)

[nagromme]

Originally posted by agentmouthwash
No way in hell am I going to buy a G4 Powerbook for thousands of dollars when all the applications are going to be optimized for a G5.

Optimizing for G5 doesn't mean doing anything to harm performance on a G4. Or G3 for that matter. Each chip has capabilities that can used. Why shouldn't the G5 be used to its potential? The G4 still will be as well.

By that logic, nothing should take advantage of AltiVec, because it would hurt G3 owners. But it doesn't. An AltiVec app runs as well on a G3 as a non-AltiVec app does.

[FriarTuck]

Originally posted by Dunepilot
my girlfriend's getting itchy to order herself a 12" before the new university year starts

I could make a fortune if I developed an anti-Apple itch ointment.

Strong itches require strong medicine. It'll have to be prescription only.

[smartperson]

NEED POWERBOOK UPDATE!

;)

Sorry about that.

[Nitrous250]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Lori
[B]You would think they'd be pretty happy about something like that...you know? The whole less work for them to do thing...lol.

Enjoy your new powerbook
They are def. great computers. Im still just learning how in the world to use mine and all these apple programs

[kristianm]

Originally posted by agentmouthwash
The Key words here are OPTIMIZED FOR THE G5. We are going to see a lot of that in the coming months.

What I think we will see much more of is Panther only apps. From what I can see the App libraries are improved a lot in panther. I for one can't wait to start experimenting with them.

This is of course a discussion for another place and time, but with no powerbooks to discuss... I wouldn't worry too much about G5 optimizing, the apps will still run great on a G4.

[soggywulf]

Originally posted by nagromme
Optimizing for G5 doesn't mean doing anything to harm performance on a G4. Or G3 for that matter.

That is not entirely true. "Optimizing for the G5" involves scheduling instructions so that the G5 processes them faster. The G3 and G4 process instructions differently from the G5; so code that is optimized for the G5 may not be ideally scheduled for the G4 or G3. IOW that code might run slower on the G3/G4 than code that was optimized for G3 or G4.

To get around that problem, companies might ship products that include separate code binaries, and the program automatically detects the processor and chooses the right code to run.

[CrackedButter]

If they had come out today i would of been happy with a G4, now if its updated at the EXPO (the expo's that Apple wants to move away from) then it had better be a G5...whats a G4 weeks later or even now infact? Except i would of been happy with a G4 today.

I'm starting my college soon and i'm not buying whats available now, i want some future proofing...

I'll now wait till January if need be, the longer i wait for the update (G4 based) the more i DEMAND the G5 instead, we all know they are working on it.

However, given the pricing of the current G5's and given the distance it is from my house to college (500 feet approx) i might just buy a desktop G5 for the same price but get so much more, and bring a USB memory Keyring into college and use their computers.

[wakedog]

I was thinking that whole pacific time thing earlier, but then I got side-tracked by not knowing if it's 4 hours back or 3 hours back from eastern time...so, I said oh well and scrapped that idea...


Most of the time, over the last few months, at around 8 or 9am ET when there has been a major update (ie - G5) the apple website has gone down and come back up around 9 or 10 with new products. That's what I was basing it on.

With the G5's out this week, I wouldn't be suprised if we don't see the PB updates either on Friday or next Tuesday at this point.

[erova]

Originally posted by Dunepilot
What is the deal with ordering a Powerbook from the Apple Store if you were to do it today and a new PBook came out tomorrow? Would they offer to allow you to pay the difference, or would they sell you the new machine at the price you had agreed to pay for the one that it replaces? Does anyone here have any experience of this situation?

The reason I ask is because my girlfriend's getting itchy to order herself a 12" before the new university year starts, and I've had my Dad holding off buying a 15" for about 2 months!


in the US apple spots you 10 days...within that 10 days if you want to bring it back you're charged a 15 percent restocking fee but you can use the rest of the loot toward your new machine... but anything past that 10 day mark means you're better off with eBay...

[Nitrous250]

Originally posted by erova
in the US apple spots you 10 days...within that 10 days if you want to bring it back you're charged a 15 percent restocking fee but you can use the rest of the loot toward your new machine... but anything past that 10 day mark means you're better off with eBay...

ITs actually 10% restocking fee cause I am still on my 5th day of my 10 days and hoping new one if comes out is in next few days.

[IDTheft]

Originally posted by Nitrous250
ITs actually 10% restocking fee cause I am still on my 5th day of my 10 days and hoping new one if comes out is in next few days.

This directly from Apple:

If you are not satisfied with your Apple purchase of a pre-built product, please call 1-800-676-2775 for a Return Material Authorization (RMA) request within 10 business days of the receipt of the product. If the item is returned unopened in the original box, we will exchange it or offer you a refund based on your original method of payment. The product must be returned to the Apple warehouse within 10 business days of the issuance of the RMA.

[Mikoyan]

Re-stocking fees are great and all.

But what if your PB hasn't shipped yet? I've been waiting for my 12" PB to be shipped since I ordered it on the 7th. It's slated go get shipped today(after numerous delays), but hypothetically if they 'update' them today, what the heck are they going to send me?

[Nitrous250]

Originally posted by Mikoyan
Re-stocking fees are great and all.

But what if your PB hasn't shipped yet? I've been waiting for my 12" PB to be shipped since I ordered it on the 7th. It's slated go get shipped today(after numerous delays), but hypothetically if they 'update' them today, what the heck are they going to send me?

I would think you would still get what you ordered but then can return it. Truth is it doesnt seem likely that any new powerbooks are coming within the next 10 days so if i was you I wouldnt worry