Powerbook and iBook update cycles

[Edamame]

hi, i am interested in buying a new laptop from Apple (converting from Wintel notebook) i am concerned about buying an Powerbook and then having a new model come out shortly after purchase (after I bought a copy of OS10.2 retail i found out that OS10.3 was due the very next week :( ). do any of you know how often new models of the powerbook/ibook come out, and when the next update is due?

thanks
Edamame

[earthtoandy]

the general consensus is that in a couple weeks(or at least by the end of october) we will see a minor update and maybe a price drop. if we dont see this update it is safe to assume a much bigger update is coming a couple months after that (dual core g4?? g5??). My guess is the small speed bump and price drop. Thats what I am waiting for as I am in the same boat as you.

[brap]

The buyer's guide (http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/) is your friend...

[Edamame]

much thanks for the info.

[MacSA]

Wow, the buyers guide says not to buy an iBook - I wonder if the next update will have hardware that will allow them to take full advantage of what OS X Tiger has to offer? Am I right in thinking the eMac and iBook in their current configuration will not be able to make the most of Tiger?

[t300]

Wow, the buyers guide says not to buy an iBook - I wonder if the next update will have hardware that will allow them to take full advantage of what OS X Tiger has to offer? Am I right in thinking the eMac and iBook in their current configuration will not be able to make the most of Tiger?

Wrong thinking...They are optimized for OS X, which Tiger is...BTW, MacRumors is not connected to Apple, so do not think that they KNOW when products are coming out. Maybe you don't, but I know that some people have/do.

[MacSA]

http://www.apple.com/macosx/tiger/core.html

System Requirements

The performance gains and features supported by Core Image ultimately depend on the graphics card. Graphics cards capable of pixel-level programming deliver the best performance. But Core Image automatically scales as appropriate for systems with older graphics cards, for compatibility with any Tiger-compatible Mac.
Supported graphics cards:

* ATI Radeon 9800 XT
* ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
* ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
* ATI Radeon 9600 XT
* ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
* ATI Mobility Radeon 9700
* ATI Mobility Radeon 9600
* NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra
* NVIDIA GeForceFX Go 5200
* NVIDIA GeForceFX 5200 Ultra

These cards are available in today’s PowerBooks, Power Mac G5s and both the 17-inch and 20-inch iMac.

[Eevee]

Wait till the end of October as PB updates (as rumored) are coming. But most likely a minor update (1.8 ghz, bigger hard drive?) and possibly a $100 price drop.

Go to the apple store and test drive all model to see which size fits you the best!