G4 PowerBooks Next

[MacRumors]

This MacCentral article discusses Apple use the G5 and provides some candid information on upcoming use.

Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of Hardware Product Marketing says:

"Our partnership with Motorola is not going away, G4s are in every other part of our product line. As you can see, [the G5] is not going in a PowerBook anytime soon. Motorola remains very important to us, but IBM is the one that can take us to the next level."

MacWhispers had been the only rumor site claiming that 970-based Powerbooks were currently in production -- and likely to arrive at WWDC. These reports had been considered unreliable as MacWhispers has been consistently inaccurate with their rumors.

While the PowerBook was not refreshed at WWDC, 15" G4 PowerBook updates are still expected in the coming weeks, as reflected in our Buyer's Guide

[Tiauguinho]

Oh man... If they release a G4 again, im gonna be speechless...

[xdfgf]

The G4 is still decent on the portable side, but I worry about the heat issue with it. Moto has said that '57 wont be out till later this year, so that means some sort of 55 will be in these

The real question I think is what about the iBook? Are they gonna get lower clocked g4s than the PBs or are they sticking with the G3 for a little while longer?

[MacFan25]

I'd be surprised if they keep using the G4s in the PowerBooks. Guess we'll just have to keep waiting to see what happens.

[gbojim]

Admin---

You may want to kill the thread I started about this earlier under Hardware/Software.

[agreenster]

At least they could make it aluminum.

I would like to see the G5 in a Powerbook (wouldnt everybody?) but to be realistic, its going to be about a year. I just cant wait to get my hands on that G5 workstation.

[railthinner]

On the bright side: considering I recently shelled out a load of cash for a G4 Powerbook, at least it won't seem dated too soon.

[Foocha]

I always thought the G5 PowerBook in production rumor was a little far fetched.

I'm still intrigued to know what was in the mystery "do not open until Monday" boxes - if the even exist!

[moosecat]

G4s in "every" other part of their product line?

Where's my G4 iBook?

Anyhoo, I'm almost starting to feel bad for MacWhispers. Remember a few months ago when he got plastered by some horribly wrong rumor (iPods, I believe), and then supposedly swore off speculation entirely?

Then a few days later, he started posting speculation again, in dribs and drabs ... Then, by WWDC, he was full-on writing cosmic-level, ridiculous speculation ...

Now we'll get another MacWhispers mea culpa: "Sorry about that whole PowerBook thing guys. Back to just posting raw hardware channel data, folks."

And we'll get to see how long it lasts this time.

[BillyShears]

Originally posted by Foocha
I always thought the G5 PowerBook in production rumor was a little far fetched.

I'm still intrigued to know what was in the mystery "do not open until Monday" boxes - if the even exist!

iSight?

[D*I*S_Frontman]

I sure hope this is a smokescreen or something. I would definitely buy a single proc 1.6-2.0 ghz G5 17" w/ DDR 400 RAM for what they are asking now for a 17", perhaps a bit more.

Unless Moto gets the G4 die-shrunk to specs that allow a faster speed w/o pancake-frying heat, it seems that the "year of the laptop" might be ending a bit prematurely. Wecome "season of the tower"...

I was hoping for perhaps a G5 reworking of the PoerBook line by November, in time for the Christmas rush. Doesn't sound too likely now.

Oh well... I guess that's why they have handles on G5 towers! Maybe I'll get a nice piece of Samsonite luggage to fit the tower and a 20" Cinema display in for remote recording...

[Stella]

MacWhispers feed whatever people want to hear.

they have no creditability whatsoever, they feed us a load of horse s?it!

I'm sad that G5 won't be in powerbooks soon, I was looking forward to that. I assume its just speed bumps and using Motos faster G4s I presume...

[avus]

Our partnership with Motorola is not going away, G4s are in every other part of our product line.

Like Motorola are holding them for a ransom

I knew that they couldn't introduce the PowerBook G4 15' alongside the G5 by 11/2 hour mark at the keynote - it was one long keynote, anyway. I still hope that it would sport a new 7457 processor so it would be cooler and quieter - I had a PowerBook G4 1GHz, but the fan would be turned on almost automatically a few minutes after a boot, and while it wasn't loud, it did annoy me enough to sell it - but we are talking Motorola, anyway...

[DrGonzo]

Well this is a bummer indeed if true. Why does everyone sound like they won't update the PB later this week though? Does WWDC not run for the entire week? Well i hope the PB is worth it or else i'm WAITING, no way i want a slowass/hot g4 with a g5 on the horizon

[moosecat]

Then again, the failure to include a G5 in a PowerBook doesn't mean there won't be a G5 in any notebook.


... Introducing ... The xBook.

[Stella]

ROTFL

Optimism never dies! :-D

Originally posted by moosecat
Then again, the failure to include a G5 in a PowerBook doesn't mean there won't be a G5 in any notebook.


... Introducing ... The xBook.

[DTphonehome]

Originally posted by moosecat
G4s in "every" other part of their product line?

Where's my G4 iBook?

I think that its reasonable to see G4 iBooks in the near future. Perhaps they will bring the 17" and 15" up to speed with 1.42 Ghz models, a 12" in 1Ghz, all three with L3 cache. The iBooks could have 867-1Ghz G4s with no L3, No slot load, and in 12" and 14" varieties. They could also have lower RAM ceilings. I think there's definitly potential for the G4 in the "pro" and "consumer" laptops, just like the G4 PowerMac and G4 iMac coexisted for a long time.

--DT

[dialectro]

Nice Point.

[MacSlut]

I really want a G5 PowerBook as unrealistic as it may seem with today's 970.

Why?

Imagine...with 9 fans the thing would be a friggin hovercraft!

[O.K.]

I think it is obvious, that Motorola has to come up with something nice and way better than 1G in 17inch for that
upcoming 15.x" Powerbook.

I intrigue to think, what is the "typical 15-inch PB user" for Apple? It will also tell us, what nice things to expect ADDITIONALLY to 12/17" feat.

What do you think?

[greenstork]

This is weak, in my opinon. I was holding out for a 15" AlBook with a G5 but I would never want another G4. I have an easy bake oven at home already (MDD).

It seems like there is a great deal more engineering for a laptop simply due to space and heat considerations but I am still bummed. I guess I expected Apple really sieze this opportunity to surpass Wintel in terms of hardware technology. I should know to be more guarded in my optimism since historically Apple has failed to take this last baby step.

I feel strongly that increasing market share is essential to Apple's future success especially given the surge in inexpensive Linux boxes and the growing trend towards open source. It seems to be as much of a threat to Apple as it is to Wintel. Unfortunately, I don't see Apple that concerned about it but instead, the remain focused on fat margins. It's almost a slap in the face to some of the most loyal users in the computer world.

Sorry about the off topic rant. I do love my computer and think that Apple is great but that doens't mean I don't have my criticisms. It was indeed a great week for Apple, I just wanted to see that one extra step - G5 PB. It seemed like a natural next step.

[GrizzlyHippo]

greenstork


Yep. You've spoken my exact thoughts. Don't know whether I'll buy an updated G4 PB, stick it out with my 366 G3 iBook or plump for a stop-gap top of the range iBook for another 6 months until Apple extracts it's head fully.

Grizzly (very as there's no 970 PB)

[Flowbee]

Originally posted by Stella
MacWhispers feed whatever people want to hear.

they have no creditability whatsoever, they feed us a load of horse s?it!

I'm sad that G5 won't be in powerbooks soon, I was looking forward to that. I assume its just speed bumps and using Motos faster G4s I presume...

MacWhispers is run by the same person as MacMice and DV Forge. He is in the business of selling Mac peripherals. Numerous people have speculated in the past that he makes up his "rumors" only to increase the number of hits to his site (and views of his ads). I think we can be reasonably sure of this now.

Arn, unless you get a % of what he sells, MacWhispers doesn't even belong on Page 2.

[MhzDoesMatter]

That's a little too unlikely for me. Apple just exapanded their portable systems to five physically different models. I doubt they'd introduce another system with a new design and form factor with a radically different design after making the 17 their new pride and glory. I'm also not one to believe that just because the 15inch is their flagship laptop that their gonna intro the G5 in it and not the others.

Why the hell its taken so long to update then? I'm utterly at a loss on that one. It seems like they were holding out for the sake of OS9 but now with all the other peices in play (10.3, quark) I don't know what advantage it would pose to release another Titanium. So if it goes aluminum (also entailing the new features and mobo design,) then I'd imagine it would lose 9booting capability. But a G5? still not likely.

There's currently no real justification for having the 17inch at the same speed as the 15inch but at such a radically different price/performance point. To upgrade the 15 to a g5 leaving the others at a g4 would practically be Anti-Marketing and horrible business.

So odds are they'd have to make the move together. And apple would have to finally give the 12inch back its wooden leg so it can stop hobbling around. It would have to atleast make the move to the gig chips its brothers would be leaving around. Either that or get a bad bleach job and start calling itself the G4 ibook we've all been waiting for.

As far as the G3 ibooks? Am I the only one who thinks that it would be better for them to stay G3's rather than G4's? I mean, that would keep apple with IBM, the more reliable partner. And with the G4's out of the picture, they'll be able to use the higher clocked altivec'ed G3's they've been using to prop up lunchtables in the cafeteria with.


-Hertz

really bored today, compared to yesterday. Very succeptible to RDF, but immune system counterracts relatively quickly.

[pyrotoaster]

Oh goody! More over-heating speedbumped Powerbooks! Wow!

Here are my thoughts:
1. Greg Joswiak may not be telling the truth (there are supposed "Lower Power" 1.2 and 1.4 GHz 970s out there).

2. A new G4 Powerbook wouldn't be surprising (depressing, but not surprising). Hopefully we could break 1 GHz on the 12" (ooohh...)!

3. The iBook will probably go to an IBM processor (likely derived from the G3) instead of the G4.

I think we're in store for new 12, 15 and possibly 17 inch PBs (speedbumps on the 12 and 17, and maybe some L3 Cache for the 12).