PowerBooks Updates?

[MacRumors]

And unconfirmed/anonymous submission claims that the Powerbook line will see speed bumps on June 24th @ 9am at North Beach (@ WWDC).

That timeslot is available and scheduled as 'To Be Announced", but would be an unusual time for such an event... as Jobs' keynote is the day before at 10am.

[akushlan]

I don't think that it can be anything major given the timeslot. Probably just bringing the 12" up to speed with the other two. I doubt we will see a 15" alBook before a major upgrade of the line. Just my crazy opinion. yeah right! I'm hoping for a revamped 15"

[ianimate3d]

This sounds unlikely unless what Jobs has to announce is so phenomenal that it will make these bumps seem like nothing. (let's hope!)

[joelc]

Well, it doesn't look like they'll be announcing a 970 PB in that time, anyway. Some people have thought that was possible...We can hope, but if they do, it won't be what that timeslot is

[shadowfax]

i believe the going rumor is speed bumps plus 15 inch albook. that's what was in the original submission. definitely not gonna see 970s in powerbooks at wwdc.

[QCassidy352]

powerbook rumor #8632... I'll file it in the pile with the rest of them.

[shadowfax]

this one seems more like a "duh" rumor to me than anything else. i mean, they really have to update those powerbooks. why not just do it with everything else--Panther, presumably 970 PMacs... it all fits.

[trebblekicked]

if we are getting the updates during WWDC, they'll be part of jobs' warm up. you know the routine, blah blah OS X has so many new users, blah blah safari blah blah 15" powerbook, and oh yeah...new dual 1.8 Ghz powermacs!...(mob rushes the stage) What?

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by trebblekicked
if we are getting the updates during WWDC, they'll be part of jobs' warm up. you know the routine, blah blah OS X has so many new users, blah blah safari blah blah 15" powerbook, and oh yeah...new dual 1.8 Ghz powermacs!...(mob rushes the stage) What?

i hope we don't get excited about that. or is that what you mean, that they will mob him in violent anger?

how long is steve's keynote? will he really have time to show us everything?

[MacBandit]

Originally posted by Shadowfax
i hope we don't get excited about that. or is that what you mean, that they will mob him in violent anger?

how long is steve's keynote? will he really have time to show us everything?

We should get excited it he announced dual/1.8GHz Powermacs. Those would be the top of the line 970s.

In any case I have said it once and I'll say it again. It goes against everything ever set down by Apple to announce Powerbooks at a developer conference. If they do announce them it will be before or after not at the conference. He may go over them again at the conference but as a side note as a bunch of developers could care less for a minor update to the Powerbooks. If they were to announce hardware at the WWDC it would be PowerMacs and I don't see that happening for a couple months yet.

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by MacBandit
We should get excited it he announced dual/1.8GHz Powermacs. Those would be the top of the line 970s.

*slaps forehead* sorry, i was thinking he meant a G4 speedbump, as he didn't say 970 at all, but i guess 1.8 is the clockrate they will be at. it's too bad it couldn't be more. i can't help but wonder how even dualies will benchmark with non-64 bit software at 1.8 GHz. we'll have to see what apple does!

[cb911]

i don't know if this rumors is all that much of a help... i mean everyone will be watching WWDC anyway for mention of the 970 and Panther.

and if Apple releases all of this new hardware at a Developers Conference, won't this be bad in the sense that the hardware (OK, maybe only the PowerBooks) could have a seperate release date, and then leave the WWDC to more "Developer" sort of content. some might start thinking that Apple doesn't have enough "Developer" content to fill the whole of WWDC.

[Panther]

Originally posted by MacBandit
In any case I have said it once and I'll say it again. It goes against everything ever set down by Apple to announce Powerbooks at a developer conference.

... except that this is "The Year of the Notebook"

[Sun Baked]

The PowerBooks seem to be leaning towards speed bumps with the intoduction of the new Powerbook 15.

The PowerBook 15 most likely a smaller version of the 17" big brother.

While the PowerBook 12 continues to take over as the G4 replacement of the iBook (as we watch the iBook slowly drifting off into oblivion.)

---

Just based on the strange marketing choices Apple has made lately.

Should be interesting to see the PowerBooks all finally boosted above 1GHz.

Remember this is all a guess, I'm waiting for MacOSRumors to post before I change my mind...

[hvfsl]

I still see no problem with a PPC970 Powerbook at WWDC. They require less power and are cheaper than the G4, they could just be clocked at something like 1.2GGhz.

But of course a PPC970 PB is only posible if the Apple adopting PPC970 rumors are true. There is some evidence to suggest that Apple may in fact not be adopting the PPC970 but continuing with the G4 or using a different chip. Remember Intel and AMD both have 64bit chips that are almost ready for release or have already been released.

Apple would have had plenty of time to get a PPC970 PB ready. Also Apple is going to update all of the powerbook product lines, this is obvious by the recent reductions in the prices around the world. Also the 17in model has not been reduced in price because Apple said it is still selling very well.

[dongmin]

Sorry to deflate the 970-in-PowerBook crowd, but it's looking more and more like the update will be minor, just bringing the 15" in features parity with the other PBs. So it's just as well that the update doesn't get much publicity.

[JBracy]

I wonder if they might expand the line even more - ie:

<12" Sub notebook (No optical, few ports, docking port like duo maybe? Or even a tablet?)
12" powerbook
14" Powerbook
15.4" Powerbook
17" Powerbook

Just a thought, but it is half way through the "Year of the Notebook" and Apple haven't really done much since January.

[JBracy]

Originally posted by dongmin
Sorry to deflate the 970-in-PowerBook crowd, but it's looking more and more like the update will be minor, just bringing the 15" in features parity with the other PBs. So it's just as well that the update doesn't get much publicity.

How can anyone say "it's looking more and more like...." No one knows anything! It's a rumor - pure simple speculation. Only a few people at Apple know who, what, where, when, how or why.

[hvfsl]

Originally posted by dongmin
Sorry to deflate the 970-in-PowerBook crowd, but it's looking more and more like the update will be minor, just bringing the 15" in features parity with the other PBs. So it's just as well that the update doesn't get much publicity.

Apple is not going to update just the 15in PB, but also the 12in and the 17in, which means the speed updates will not be minor. Apple never lowers prices accross a range (except for the 17in) unless they are bringing something new out soon. The only other time Apple lowers prices is when they release a new product or product update and sell it for less than the last model.

[-hh]

Originally posted by JBracy
I wonder if they might expand the line even more - ie:

<12" Sub notebook (No optical, few ports, docking port like duo maybe? Or even a tablet?)
...
Just a thought, but it is half way through the "Year of the Notebook" and Apple haven't really done much since January.

Personally, I don't see that much of a reason to go to anything appreciably smaller than the current 12", unless its going to be the size of a PDA.

And you're right - - for claims of "Year of the Laptop", as nice as the 12" and 17" can be considered, that was a half lightyear ago. Need something here, as well as something again before the end of the year.



-hh

[ffakr]

Apple won't expand the powerbook line to include a 14" model. It doesn't make any sense. It won't draw more buyers... it will just increase R&D and production/inventory costs. Also... the one GREAT thing that Amelio did was trim the Apple product line. Before Amelio, there were like over 20 Macs.. buyers didn't know what to get and Apples costs were too high. Amelio was a busness man (not just a Koolaid drinker), he made some important reforms that were absolutely crutial for the coming SJ golden years. ;-)

I think Apple's going to bump the Powerbook line to the 7457 processor. We'll get a bus speed increase, a power/heat decrease, and a speed bump.
We'll see 1.2ish, maybe up to 1.4 max in the powerbooks... and it will be done with a better power profile. Apple might offer a tolken increase in estimated battery life too.. just to point out 'look, this is why you still get a G4 in your notebooks'

The argument about underclocked 970s consuming less power than G4s, is only accurate for the 7455 processors. It isn't true for the 7457 processors that Motorola announced (at 1.33GHz) months ago. All around, the 7457 is a better mobile processor at this time: cooler, better bandwidth than we have now (though still not enough), and it should be pretty fast for just about everything a mobile user needs (especially with that 512K L2 cache).

....ffakr

[maradong]

well still the ppc 970 and pb rumors.
i m still praying every evening to see a pb with 970 cpu @ wwcd. but it s really improbable i guess about 20 %.

[GrizzlyHippo]

Originally posted by dongmin
Sorry to deflate the 970-in-PowerBook crowd, but it's looking more and more like the update will be minor, just bringing the 15" in features parity with the other PBs. So it's just as well that the update doesn't get much publicity.

These Powerbook rumors are getting tiresome, but if as you say the 15" will be a simple and minor update, why wasn't it launched a couple of months ago?

I think you will be proved wrong. I'm not saying the PB's will all go to 970's (although that would be nice) but if they have held off the 15 for 6 months after the 12 and 17 were launched then I think the range will be significantly updated.

Just my thoughts, but they make sense to me!!

Grizzly

[dongmin]

Originally posted by JBracy
How can anyone say "it's looking more and more like...." No one knows anything! It's a rumor - pure simple speculation. Only a few people at Apple know who, what, where, when, how or why.

Duh. Yes, it's all rumors. But we can make guesses as to which are more likely. All I'm saying is that, based on a few recent rumors, a 970 PB update is not likely at this time. Plus, given what we know about the 970, I don't think it's ready for a laptop.

Originally posted by hvfsl
Apple is not going to update just the 15in PB, but also the 12in and the 17in, which means the speed updates will not be minor. Apple never lowers prices accross a range (except for the 17in) unless they are bringing something new out soon. The only other time Apple lowers prices is when they release a new product or product update and sell it for less than the last model.

Why do you think the 17" will be updated. It's been shipping for less than 3 months. And this is a brand new spanking design. If there is a major upgrade, it's gonna be with a G4 7457 which is pin-compatible with the 7455. It won't take on a brand new motherboard and case modification to accomodate the 970.

For the record:
15.2"--introduced in Nov. 6, 2002 (7 months ago); shipped immediately (??)
12"--introduced Jan. 7, 2003 (5 months ago); shipped immediately
17"--introduced Jan. 7, but did not ship until mid March (under 3 months)

5-7 months between product updates is about the norm for Apple which makes sense for updates to the 12" and 15" line--hence, the current promotions.

I say the PBs will only see minor updates b/c I simply don't think there are any new chips ready to go into the PBs. The G4 7455 is pretty much at it's limit at 1 ghz (at the core voltage suitable for a laptop). The G4 7457 is possible in the 1.3 ghz range but I say it's too soon knowning Moto's record. The 970 is simply not suited to go into a laptop until it goes into a .09 process for reasons discussed before.

[pretentious]

Didn't Apple release the first generation of the Wallstreet PowerBooks at WWDC? Is it so hard to think that they would do it again?

The Powerbooks are their biggest sellers, and from what we have been reading, with Apple wanting to quickly move to the 970 for everything, I don't think its so hard to fathom a PB-PM 970 release, it will make the anoucement even bigger and show Apple's commitment to their next generation chip to all the developers.