ThinkSecret predicts new Powerbooks & Specs

[MacSA]

http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0501expo5.html

Road to Expo: PowerBook speed bumps to 1.5/1.67GHz confirmed

By Ryan Katz, Senior Editor

January 10, 2005 - Armchair Apple watchers can add another item to the itinerary of Apple CEO Steve Jobs' Macworld Expo keynote tomorrow: PowerBook G4 updates. Mobile warriors will be disappointed to hear that they'll have to wait a little longer for the already long-awaited PowerBook G5--expect an announcement, possibly, at WWDC in June, sources say--but the speed bump will breathe some life into a line that has gone without an update since April of last year.

At the high-end, the new PowerBooks will top out at 1.67GHz, sources say. Other chances will be similarly minor: the 80GB/4200RPM hard drive found on the current high-end 15-inch and 17-inch models will be replaced with 100GB hard drive spinning at 5400-rpm. The video card at the high-end will remain ATI's Radeon 9700, but it will be given a boost from 64MB of memory to 128MB. The PowerBook SuperDrive will also gain official support for DVD+R media, along with the DVD-R discs that have always worked.

At the low-end, the 12-inch PowerBook will be upgraded to 1.5GHz. Hard drive size will remain at 60GB, but the drive will be upgraded from a 4200-rpm model to 5400-rpm drive, marginally improving performance. Other specifications will remain unchanged from the current 12-inch PowerBook.

All PowerBooks will also be upgraded to the new Bluetooth 2.0 specification with Enhanced Data Rate, introduced in November. Bluetooth 2.0 is about three-times faster than Bluetooth 1.1, consumes less power, and is backwards compatible with Bluetooth 1.1 devices.

[io_burn]

I can't decide if I should go jump off a bridge now, or wait until the official let-down tomorrow. I've been waiting since last year for a revision... for THIS?

[student7018]

as long as they keep the price down it'll do me fine! even though a little late!

[the future]

No way will Steverino promote such a yawn-tastic upgrade onstage in SF. This will be a typical silent tuesday speedbump in 3-4 weeks.

[io_burn]

Originally Posted by the future

No way will Steverino promote such a yawn-tastic upgrade onstage in SF. This will be a typical silent tuesday speedbump in 3-4 weeks.

Of course there is always hope that ThinkSecret is wrong... can't we...? Can't we...? How often are they wrong?

[mkrishnan]

Anyone know anything about BT 2.0? It sounds like it's a hardware change to the specification...no hope that existing BT 1.1 devices can be upgraded, is there? Hint, hint?

[Silencio]

Originally Posted by student7018

as long as they keep the price down it'll do me fine! even though a little late!

There were previously rumored price drops in store for the Powerbook line. Take the price drops in conjunction with these modest speed/feature bumps, and that should tide most people over until summer.

Surprisingly, Powerbook sales have remained pretty strong despite the aging configurations. I would imagine the 12" Powerbooks have sold poorly due to the overlap with the much cheaper 12" iBook; I don't think the rumored price cuts will be deep enough to fix that issue for now.

I'm disappointed that the next generation GPUs won't make the cut. I though the Radeon 9800 Mobility was supposed to offer a big boost over the 9700.

[io_burn]

Originally Posted by Silencio

I'm disappointed that the next generation GPUs won't make the cut. I though the Radeon 9800 Mobility was supposed to offer a big boost over the 9700.

HUGE boost, actually.

That's what I'm extremely disappointed in as well.

[aricher]

Yawn - I'm doing just fine with my PB 17' 1.33 - looks like I will be for awhile. This just gives me more time to save up for the Rev B. G5 or dual core.

[dubbz]

+170MHz and BT2.0... Impressive...

[combatcolin]

BT 2.

Hmmm

At least that standard will make wireless digital cameras more of a reality.

Unless the PB is Dual Core or G5 then Steve is going to die on stage.

Painfull

[munkle]

My 12"RevB is turning into my best buy ever! Getting maximum usage until the PB G5 gets released, which will no doubt tempt me to frivolously upgrade!

[Metatron]

OMG, I fu**ing hate apple sometimes. 9 months later for this. The G5 has been out for 2 years now. And the G4 has been out for something like 7. Don't you the hell tell me they could not put a G5 in the damn thing underclocked to at least get us away from the 133 mhz fsb.

All apple cares about now is thier damn iPod. Great, apple is turning into sony.

[blueBomber]

Originally Posted by munkle

My 12"RevB is turning into my best buy ever! Getting maximum usage until the PB G5 gets released, which will no doubt tempt me to frivolously upgrade!

Same here, haven't felt too left behind with my rev. B (even though 64megs of video ram would be nice)

[James Craner]

If this rumor is true I agree with "the future", I can't really see Steve announcing this at MacWorld.

However no one can be surprised at this news, Apple have been saying for some time no G5 anytime soon. If it is just a G4 speedbump I think it is highly unlikely we will see G5 Powerbooks until Sep / Oct this year.

I would imagine we may get some price drops though.

[zelmo]

I tortured myself before finally deciding to buy my PowerBook this past July. I was sure that, the moment I received the order, Apple would announce the PB G5. Now, I'm glad I bought when I did. Otherwise, I'd either still be (impatiently) waiting on my G5, or I would have gone with a ThinkPad or something equally horrific.

These updates don't seem like the thing Steve would announce at MacWorld...far more likely that they'll be a regular old "any Tuesday in February" announcement with little to no fanfare. OTOH, if they are accompanied by a $400-500 price drop....

[Jalexster]

Originally Posted by powermac666

SNIP or I would have gone with a ThinkPad or something equally horrific. SNIP

IBM recently sold their computer building buisness to Lenovo, or something like that. Buying a laptop that will go out of support and warrenty soon, is not a good idea.

[Koodauw]

The real downside that I see here is that the 12'' isnt getting some features. If the 12'' got FW 800, and a backlight keyboard, it would make this pathetic reversion that much better. I mean is that really to much to ask?

These reversion are just not worth the money. I hope my original 12'' can hold out untill the G5 gets here.

[io_burn]

Originally Posted by Jalexster

IBM recently sold their computer building buisness to Lenovo, or something like that. Buying a laptop that will go out of support and warrenty soon, is not a good idea.

The current T42 series laptops (The best of the IBM line.) are still IBM computers, everyone who bought an IBM warranty will have that warranty honored by Levono in the future.

[Lord Blackadder]

I had heard that the 9800 Mobility was targeted towards the DTM laptop market, i.e. they run too hot for a Powerbook-sized computer.

[Zaty]

Originally Posted by munkle

My 12"RevB is turning into my best buy ever! Getting maximum usage until the PB G5 gets released, which will no doubt tempt me to frivolously upgrade!

Same here, what I find intriguing is that Rev. Ds are still stuck with the 5200.

[ebuc]

Originally Posted by powermac666

I tortured myself before finally deciding to buy my PowerBook this past July. I was sure that, the moment I received the order, Apple would announce the PB G5. Now, I'm glad I bought when I did. Otherwise, I'd either still be (impatiently) waiting on my G5, or I would have gone with a ThinkPad or something equally horrific.

And you're not the only one. Countless MacRumors members seem to agree with these words. Back in November (or maybe September) '03 when Apple came out with the first 15" AlBooks and when I bought one, many were saying, "what if Apple comes out with G5 PowerBooks in January?"

Let's just hope we're not saying the same things at Macworld January 2006.

Predicted MacRumor 1 year from now: "Apple to upgrade 1.5/1.67 PowerBooks to 1.67/1.8 and give them BT 3 and 120GB HD. Wow."

[Earendil]

Originally Posted by Metatron

OMG, I fu**ing hate apple sometimes. 9 months later for this. The G5 has been out for 2 years now. And the G4 has been out for something like 7. Don't you the hell tell me they could not put a G5 in the damn thing underclocked to at least get us away from the 133 mhz fsb.

All apple cares about now is thier damn iPod. Great, apple is turning into sony.

And what if a 1.67G4 is faster than any clocked down G5 chip they could stick in a Powerbook? Do you really want the "G5" stamp on your computer at the cost of real speed? If I remember, the 1.5ghz G4 is about the same speed as a 1.5ghz G5 in things that don't take advantage of the 64bit chip, which is 99.9% of applications today.
I doubt they could stick a 1.67mhz G5 in a powerbook...

The iPod is in a completely separate department. They have NO relationship to the people working on the Powerbook and PowerMac.

Suck it up.

~Tyler

[andiwm2003]

Originally Posted by munkle

My 12"RevB is turning into my best buy ever! Getting maximum usage until the PB G5 gets released, which will no doubt tempt me to frivolously upgrade!

lot of people told me to wait for an update when i bought my rev. c 15" last june. glad i bought it!
this new speed bumps will be in the 5% range?! i hope the at least lower the prices!

and the ever elusive g5 PB will be a ~1.6 Gig and therefore also not that much faster. that means since the 1.25gig g4 PB's apple managed to increase the overall speed of the PB line by 20% in 3 years. great!!!!

i hope they will at least increase the imac's speed a lot more in the next revision. otherwise good bye to the market share.......

andi

[Stella]

Before you people bitch about crap PB upgrades - Apple need the processors first.. and are relying on third parties. No processors from IBM / Freescale - no significant PB updates. Its out of Apple's hands.

Dual Core G4's won't appear until later in the year, so forget about such PBs being announced tomorrow.

G5 aren't ready for PB either, so forget about them.