Possible specs for new PowerBooks?

[twinsen]

This is my first post on this site, but I've read plenty of threads discussing how the next PowerBook would look like and I thought it was time for me to offer my own expectations. I've also been reading articles on Freescale, ATIs and NVidias homepages.

I think the updated PowerBook line will look like this:
12" ComboDrive
1024x768
1.6Ghz G4 (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9700 64MB512MB DDR400
80GB@5400RPM
ComboDrive (CD-R/DVD)

12" SuperDrive
1024x768
1.6Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9700 64MB
512MB DDR400
100GB@5400RPM
SuperDrive 8x

15" ComboDrive
1600x1068
1.6Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9800 64MB
512MB DDR400
100GB@7200RPM
ComboDrive (CD-R/DVD)

15" SuperDrive
1600x1068
1.8Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9800 128MB
512MB DDR400
100GB@7200RPM
SuperDrive 16x

17" SuperDrive
1920x1200
1.8Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9800 256MB
512MB DDR400
100GB@7200RPM
SuperDrive 16x

I'm most uncertain when it comes to the graphic chip. I'm not sure if it's possible to use Radeon 9800 in a small portable, the only laptop that use this at the moment is a monster from Dell. However it's the only upgrade avalible that is AGP compatible.

Screen updates is also a bit uncertain. I'm not sure how much job it is for Apple to change the LCD panel. If it's only a small upgrade it would be smart of Apple to do it, it would make the current PowerBook more attractive despite the Intel upgrade around the corner.

These are only my humble suggestions and I would really like your comments!
I think the new PowerBooks would be released in september/october.

[bodeh6]

Ding, Ding, Ding we have a winner. These should be the specs of the next PB revision this fall before the transition to Intel. This would be the best time to get a PB since you don't want a Rev A Mactel.

[beige matchbox]

All good except the screen res of the 15 and 17's, there about right as they are now, from a average distance screen text etc. are just the right size, i don't have to move my head close to read anything, just about perfect.

And before you say anything, i'm not a half blind 80yr old :p

[mad jew]

I would have thought that changing the screens would be a pretty major update. Maybe something to coincide with the processor change and perhaps a slight change in form factor also?

Otherwise, those are pretty decent and realistic IMO.

[Spanky Deluxe]

I really do think that the 17" PowerBook should have a screen res of 1920x1200. In fact the 15" one should have an option of that res too. The laptop that I'm typing on right now is a Dell 8600 15.4" screen with 1920x1200 resolution and I absolutely love all of that screen real-estate. I've always thought its a bit odd that Apple (who are reknown for having the highest res LCDs in the business) let themselves get beaten by Dell for the highest res laptop screens.

[realityisterror]

All Apple displays share similar dpi's so dual monitors works as expected...
How would you compensate having an ultra-high-res PowerBook next to a Cinema? Right now, windows line up between displays, but that would no longer be possible...

I wouldn't really expect LCD upgrades except maybe as an option on the 17".

reality

[DakotaGuy]

Don't forget to add 1MB L2 cache as well.

The 7448 should be a pretty fast processor. A 200Mhz FSB is not great, but every little bit will do wonders for overall performance. I will be very suprised if this "last" G4 won't be performing darn close to a G5 with the same Mhz rating. Who knows, if the bugs are not worked out on the first Intel powered ones, these might provide better performance during the transition period. Even with Intel coming, I could see Powerbooks with these specs selling well.

[homerjward]

sounds good but not sure about the 9800--isn't that a really powerful, high-wattage/heat card that's basically an 8-pipe x800 mobility? i read somewhere that with a pencil you can turn one into an x800? other than that sounds like a great update :) and re the res, 1920x1200 15" is fine in windows because windows is more resolution independent than os x, but i wouldn't want to use it under os x...

[eXan]

1600x1068? Whats res is that? Maybe 1680x1050, like in 20-inch widescreen displays?

I doubt they will make hi-res screens for new PBs. I like them what they are now :)

[eric67]

1600x1068? Whats res is that? Maybe 1680x1050, like in 20-inch widescreen displays?

I doubt they will make hi-res screens for new PBs. I like them what they are now :)

1068 will define a HD display...since ST has been claiming that 2005 will the year of HD at the NAB.... it could make sense.

[lexfuzo]

That's what they need. Let's just add ATI's R520 or some other decoder chip.
It's quite embarrassing that a Computer at the price point of a PowerBook is so lame at HD decoding.

[EGT]

15" SuperDrive
1600x1068
1.8Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9800 128MB
512MB DDR400
100GB@7200RPM
SuperDrive 16x


:eek:

I'd buy that in a second! I hope your expectations are right.

[Spanky Deluxe]

I don't think the fact that the board will be AGP limited would necessarily limit which graphics cards the system could have. The AGP versions of top end cards in the desktop world are now basically PCIe versions using AGP bridges - basically a few chips (if that) and some wires. Not exactly stuff that takes up a huge amount of space. It would be far easier to go this route rather than upgrade the motherboards to PCIe at such a late stage in the G4 Powerbook's lifecycle.

[mkrishnan]

1068 will define a HD display...since ST has been claiming that 2005 will the year of HD at the NAB.... it could make sense.

It would seem that if they are going to bother using that logic, they would go for 1080p instead of 1068....

[thehuncamunca]

here's my 2 cents, expect them to come out around sep/oct

BT 2.0, Backlit keyboard, AE, FW 800, 10/100/1000 network, digital audio standard across all lines

13" ComboDrive
Wide Screen
1.6Ghz G4 (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9700 64MB (BTO 128MB)
512MB DDR2 400 (Max 1.5GB)
60GB@5400RPM (BTO 100GB 7200rpm)
ComboDrive (CD-R/DVD)

13" SuperDrive
Wide Screen
1.6Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9700 64MB (BTO 128MB)
512MB DDR2 400 (Max 1.5GB)
80GB@5400RPM (BTO 100GB 7200rpm)
SuperDrive

15" ComboDrive
Wide Screen
1.6Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9800 128MB (BTO 256MB)
512MB DDR2 400
80GB@7200RPM (BTO 100GB)
ComboDrive (CD-R/DVD)

15" SuperDrive
Wide Screen
1.8Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9800 128MB (BTO 256MB)
512MB DDR2 400
100GB@7200RPM
SuperDrive

17" SuperDrive
Wide Screen
1.8Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9800 256MB
512MB DDR2 400
100GB@7200RPM
SuperDrive

[mkrishnan]

So...I'm not so motherboard savvy...isn't adding FW800 a fairly substantial mobo change? Or is it not that big a deal? Then again, if you think there are going to be 13" PPC PBs.... I guess you've already thrown fairly substantial to the wind. ;)

[Spanky Deluxe]

What makes you think they'll swap the 12"ers for 13" widescreen versions?

Also, realityisterror, if what you say is true about the DPI of Apple screens, then how come both the 12" ibook and its 14" counterpart share the same resolution? I can't believe they would simply not bring out a high res laptop screen because of that. I do loads of graphics editing stuff on my laptop at the moment and truly relish the vast number of pixels I have to play with and since OS X is so easily scalable to different resolutions and is often used by designers I would have thought they would have a 1920x1200 res powerbook available.

[tsk]

Also, realityisterror, if what you say is true about the DPI of Apple screens, then how come both the 12" ibook and its 14" counterpart share the same resolution? I can't believe they would simply not bring out a high res laptop screen because of that. I do loads of graphics editing stuff on my laptop at the moment and truly relish the vast number of pixels I have to play with and since OS X is so easily scalable to different resolutions and is often used by designers I would have thought they would have a 1920x1200 res powerbook available.

The correct statement (I think) is that all laptops except the 12" share the same dpi.

[michaelrjohnson]

1) Welcome to MacRumors!
2) I think the biggest discrepancy will be HD speeds. For some reason, perhaps their history of lagging in this departement, I don't see Apple jumping all the way to something great from the current defaults in the lineup.

[keysersoze]

Nevermind.

[mkrishnan]

The correct statement (I think) is that all laptops except the 12" share the same dpi.

I think the 14" iBook is the biggest outlier. (I found this list here (http://www.cocoabuilder.com/archive/message/cocoa/2005/1/7/125264), all regards to Andrew Zamler-Carhart, who wrote it in that post on that forum.)

12" iBook G4 -- 105.79 dpi
14" iBook G4 -- 90.78 dpi

12" PowerBook G4 -- 105.79 dpi
15" PowerBook G4 -- 101.23 dpi
17" PowerBook G4 -- 101.21 dpi

17" iMac G5 -- 101.21 dpi
20" iMac G5 -- 99.75 dpi

20" Cinema Display -- 99.75 dpi
23" Cinema Display -- 97.71 dpi
30" Cinema Display -- 101.65 dpi

[zap2]

i would be sad if the came out with 13'' powerbook in place of the 12. Teh 12 is so portable and tiny!

[michaelrjohnson]

i would be sad if the came out with 13'' powerbook in place of the 12. Teh 12 is so portable and tiny!
I agree. I owned a 12in Rev C PowerBook, and It was the perfect size for an ultraportable powerhouse!

[Spanky Deluxe]

keysersoze, I don't think higher resolutions would drain the battery that much faster at all than a lower res model since the biggest drain is the backlight of the display.

My Dell 8600 with an HD display has a manufacturer's battery life of 3 hours I think. That's for the normal basic low-res model. Mine happily does 3.5 hours of web browsing with maximum brightness. 5-6 hours with the extra slot in battery I use most of the time instead of the DVDRW.

[twinsen]

1600x1068? Whats res is that? Maybe 1680x1050, like in 20-inch widescreen displays?

I doubt they will make hi-res screens for new PBs. I like them what they are now :)

The reason that I wrote 1068 is because the PowerBook has a 15.2" screen instead of 15.4 that Dell use on their widescreen laptops. If the horizontal resolution is to be 1600 the vertical have to be 1068. If I have not completly misunserstood the ratio aspect.

Thank you for all the good replies you have provided!

I don't think the fact that the board will be AGP limited would necessarily limit which graphics cards the system could have. The AGP versions of top end cards in the desktop world are now basically PCIe versions using AGP bridges - basically a few chips (if that) and some wires. Not exactly stuff that takes up a huge amount of space. It would be far easier to go this route rather than upgrade the motherboards to PCIe at such a late stage in the G4 Powerbook's lifecycle.

If this is true than there is a many graphic chips that I think are more likely to be used in the PowerBook than 9800. As someone said, that is a very powerconsuming and therefor also hot chip. I think that Nvida has a portable version of the 6600 that would fit nice in the PowerBook. They also have an upgraded version of the chip that is now used in the 12"

[bodeh6]

I think the 14" iBook is the biggest outlier. (I found this list here (http://www.cocoabuilder.com/archive/message/cocoa/2005/1/7/125264), all regards to Andrew Zamler-Carhart, who wrote it in that post on that forum.)

So this should mean that when the iBooks are updated, the 14" should get a different resolution then the 12" hopefully.

[ozone]

Actually, I don't mind too much the current resolution of the PBs. At some point, the resolution gets so fine that it's difficult to effectively use. If they do up the resolution, fine, but what I'd really like to see is a brighter, more contrasty display. Sometimes the PB screens seem a bit washed out compared to the fancy Windows laptop screens that seem to have come out of nowhere.

A smaller, and lighter, 12" or 13.3" widescreen would be nice too.

[mkrishnan]

So this should mean that when the iBooks are updated, the 14" should get a different resolution then the 12" hopefully.

Meh, that logic doesn't necessarily work, to me. There are lots and lots of budget XGA laptops in the Windows world. As far as Apple, I'm not sure they view the target market of the 14" iBook as one that would care about having the same screen DPI as other Apple computers. Not that it's right or wrong to do so. But if you look at the 14" iBook, right now, it offers almost nothing except increased physical size over the 12" iBook (well, and a superdrive option). And the people who buy it (and there are enough of them to justify its continued existence, and even to justify the Combo Drive version) buy it for that reason. There have been a number of threads here where people point to the lower DPI and corresponding reduced eye strain as the reason to get an iBook 14" for them. I personally love the high DPI, but if Apple were to up the iBook 14" resolution before they offer a res-independent UI, then they will no longer have *any* notebook options for people who don't like high dpi screens....

[Lacero]

Possibly too fantastic to realize for Apple, but I'd like to see OLED hi-res screens and flash drives make it into the next round of PowerBooks. Re-organize the internals, and miniaturize the MB to allow room for a larger, higher capacity battery, and you got a laptop capable of over 10 hours battery life. I'd like to see Apple take the initiative to create long-lasting portables.

[twinsen]

Do you think the PowerBooks with the 7448 chip will have longer battery life and run cooler? Freescale are bragging about their 90nm technology that will make the chips consume less power. What do you think the effect in actual battery life will be?

I see that this chip is going to be in full production in october which means that a PowerBook anouncement on the Apple Expo in Paris would be very likely? This would be a nice last update before the switch to intel that I think will happen either at the MacWorld San Fransisco in January, the WWDC 2006 or somewhere between those to events. Any comments?

[bodeh6]

Do you think the PowerBooks with the 7448 chip will have longer battery life and run cooler? Freescale are bragging about their 90nm technology that will make the chips consume less power. What do you think the effect in actual battery life will be?

I see that this chip is going to be in full production in october which means that a PowerBook anouncement on the Apple Expo in Paris would be very likely? This would be a nice last update before the switch to intel that I think will happen either at the MacWorld San Fransisco in January, the WWDC 2006 or somewhere between those to events. Any comments?

I see the new PB being announed During Apple Expo Paris 2005 (Sept 20-24, 2005) and being available on the 25, the day after the Cram and Jam ends.

Now imagine Choosing between getting a free iPod Mini with the current PB or waiting a day to get a slightly better computer and no iPod. What to do, what to do.

[macSwitch]

With those specs that you listed in your first post....what the heck would be the point in marketing the PowerBook....there are very very little differences. In my opinion, they should upgrade both Ibook and Powerbook...push the limits apple!!

[bodeh6]

That would actually be awesome if they updated both the iBook and PB next week. They have done this in the past (11/2002) and the current PB is already 5 months old. The PB is at 150 days with average of 185 so it is not out of the question. If you look at 11/2002 and then at 01/2003 you will see that it was only 2 months later that the PB got updated.

[twinsen]

With those specs that you listed in your first post....what the heck would be the point in marketing the PowerBook....there are very very little differences. In my opinion, they should upgrade both Ibook and Powerbook...push the limits apple!!

I don't think they have any better cpu chips to put in the PowerBook. As far as I know Freescale has just demonstrated a 1.7 Ghz G4 but they might of course have something faster... If they make the kind of upgrade that I have have outlined and maybe offer a small pricereduction, the PowerBook would be a much more attractive computer than it is today. Don't underestimate the higher FSB (from 167 to 200 mhz) the difference between the iBook G4 and PB G4 is a higher FSB (iBook 133mhz). The 7448 chip is about 8-10% on the same clockspeed than the 7447a and should consume less power.

[KA2357]

15" SuperDrive
1600x1068
1.8Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9800 128MB
512MB DDR400
100GB@7200RPM
SuperDrive 16x

17" SuperDrive
1920x1200
1.8Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9800 256MB
512MB DDR400
100GB@7200RPM
SuperDrive 16x

My first preference would be the 17" --those specs are great-- yet I'd be happy even with this 15". It would be fine with me if they kept the current LCDs rez. The rest of the specs would more than make up for it. I'm going to buying in about 4 weeks, am hoping Apple does something before then.

[bodeh6]

I thought I would bump this seeing how we are close to the Powerbook being updated. We will see in 2 weeks. I am betting on August 2. I really believe that the OP will be correct. It is the next logical upgrade for the Powerbook before transition to Intel. Update Powerbooks in Early August and then update them in 7 months in March with Intel. Unless Apple wants to screw up the Powerbook schedule like it did with the iBook, this is the only way to go.

[banditf50]

Thanks for bumping the thread. The predictions of the OP seem pretty reasonable, and I must say that I'm crossing my fingers . . . . because I plan on buying a powerbook in mid-September . . .update or not.

[djkny]

I thought I would bump this seeing how we are close to the Powerbook being updated. We will see in 2 weeks. I am betting on August 2. I really believe that the OP will be correct. It is the next logical upgrade for the Powerbook before transition to Intel. Update Powerbooks in Early August and then update them in 7 months in March with Intel. Unless Apple wants to screw up the Powerbook schedule like it did with the iBook, this is the only way to go.


March is way too soon. More like June '06 at the earliest, which means, dual core PB's in early October, then an eight month delay to June.

[bodeh6]

March is way too soon. More like June '06 at the earliest, which means, dual core PB's in early October, then an eight month delay to June.

Steve said that we would already have Intel Macs by WWDC 2006 meaning that the should come out before by a few months. Also I don't think we will see dual cores in the upcoming revision. Most likely it will be the Power PC 7448 which has a faster bus and more cache then the current 7447.

[punkbass25]

Steve said that we would already have Intel Macs by WWDC 2006 meaning that the should come out before by a few months. Also I don't think we will see dual cores in the upcoming revision. Most likely it will be the Power PC 7448 which has a faster bus and more cache then the current 7447.

read carefully. there is a big diffrence between the words "announced" and "out"

[mkrishnan]

read carefully. there is a big diffrence between the words "announced" and "out"

Also, he promised that some portion of the line would be released for the June 06 time-frame, but was also quite clear that the line would not be completely transitioned until a year later... So no guarantee that the PB will be at the head of the class for the changeover.

[gamestriker]

This is my first post on this site, but I've read plenty of threads discussing how the next PowerBook would look like and I thought it was time for me to offer my own expectations. I've also been reading articles on Freescale, ATIs and NVidias homepages.

I think the updated PowerBook line will look like this:
12" ComboDrive
1024x768
1.6Ghz G4 (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9700 64MB512MB DDR400
80GB@5400RPM
ComboDrive (CD-R/DVD)

12" SuperDrive
1024x768
1.6Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9700 64MB
512MB DDR400
100GB@5400RPM
SuperDrive 8x

15" ComboDrive
1600x1068
1.6Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9800 64MB
512MB DDR400
100GB@7200RPM
ComboDrive (CD-R/DVD)

15" SuperDrive
1600x1068
1.8Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9800 128MB
512MB DDR400
100GB@7200RPM
SuperDrive 16x

17" SuperDrive
1920x1200
1.8Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
ATI MobilityRadeon 9800 256MB
512MB DDR400
100GB@7200RPM
SuperDrive 16x

I'm most uncertain when it comes to the graphic chip. I'm not sure if it's possible to use Radeon 9800 in a small portable, the only laptop that use this at the moment is a monster from Dell. However it's the only upgrade avalible that is AGP compatible.

Screen updates is also a bit uncertain. I'm not sure how much job it is for Apple to change the LCD panel. If it's only a small upgrade it would be smart of Apple to do it, it would make the current PowerBook more attractive despite the Intel upgrade around the corner.

These are only my humble suggestions and I would really like your comments!
I think the new PowerBooks would be released in september/october.

I think thats extremely accurate, with a few tweaks (marked by ***)


12" ComboDrive
1024x768
1.6Ghz G4 (7448) @ 200mhz
***ATI MobilityRadeon 9650 64MB
512MB DDR400
80GB@5400RPM
ComboDrive (CD-R/DVD)

12" SuperDrive
1024x768
1.6Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
***ATI MobilityRadeon 9650 64MB
512MB DDR400
***80GB@5400RPM
SuperDrive 8x

15" ComboDrive
1600x1068
1.6Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
***ATI MobilityRadeon 9700 64MB
512MB DDR400
***100GB@5400RPM
ComboDrive (CD-R/DVD)

15" SuperDrive
1600x1068
1.8Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
***ATI MobilityRadeon 9700 128MB
512MB DDR400
***100GB@5400RPM
***SuperDrive 8x

17" SuperDrive
1920x1200
1.8Ghz (7448) @ 200mhz
***ATI MobilityRadeon 9800 128MB
512MB DDR400
***100GB@5400RPM
SuperDrive 16x

I think they will hold off on 7200RPM HDs for a while since they were just put in those 5400RPM ones in the last revision, and concentrate on adding CPU and GPU power to differentiate them from the iBook, so maybe they'll even go 1.8/2.0 GHz as far as the processor goes. However, the ATi 9700 might be a bit much for the 12" in my opinion, and the same goes for the 9800 in the 15".

Thats my 2 cents.

[bodeh6]

Yeah I would really like the 12" to get either the 9650 or 9700 by ATI. Although the Geforce GO is good and supports core image, I believe that the mobile chips ATI makes are better. Hopefully we will see Powerbook updates in the next few weeks.

[powerbook911]

Yes, I'm looking forward to Powerbook updates as well, but I cant wait. I personally think it might be October until we seem them, but who knows.

I would like to see 7200 RPM hard drives, but I could wait on those until a mid-2006 revision.

In my opinion, the Powerbooks should move to dual-layer DVD burning support though. That is needed.

[gamestriker]

I'm waiting until probably Summer or Christmas 2007 for my next PowerBook. A 15" Mactel PowerBook with everything maxed out. I've started saving up already. When it comes around, I'll should be ready to drop 3k for that thing :p :D I can't wait!

[obrien234]

I read everybody's posts about the new powerbooks and not one person mentions a dual layer optical drive. If you look at Apple's competition it is bombarded by dual layer drives. And if you think about it, the notebooks are the only superdrive equipped Macs that Apple hasn't put a dual layer drive in. I don't know if people even thought about this and then decided that Apple wouldn't put these in their notebooks or what. In reality that is a major thing I am looking for. I don't want to buy a powerbook now and void the warranty by dropping a $200 dual layer drive in it.

[bodeh6]

With all the rumors that the iBook is going to widescreen, Possibly making just one model that is ~13" and widescreen to replace both the 12" and 14", Apple should do the same with the 12" Powerbook. Make it 13" Widescreen that way there will be 2" increments in the Powerbook line up. Make the Screen resolutions as follows

13" PB
1280x854

15" PB
1440x900

17"
1680x1050

These would make the Powerbook screens similar in Resolution to what is currently the mid line of PC laptops. Higher end PC laptops have 1920x1200 on 15" screens.

[twinsen]

In the thread about Steve Jobs is going to do the keynote in Paris, many people har speculating on dual core PB... But, Freescale has not yet announced any such cpu ready for delivery. Has it ever happened in the past that Apple has used a processor that the public didn`t know excisted?

[a.k.a. Melvin]

Yeah, yeah, whatever... the real question is:

How much will the new PB's cost?

[QCassidy352]

in response to the original poster: in what universe? You think it will be a freescale G4 @ 200 mhz, 7200 RPM hard drive, radeon 9800 256, 16x superdrive, and increased screen resolution?

That's a nice fantasy, but it's predictions like these that make people so horribly disappointed when the real update comes and it's nice, but not everything you dreamed of.