PowerBooks, iMacs, PowerMacs

[MacRumors]

MacNews.net.tc provides a "weekend roundup", but it is unclear what is speculation/old rumors/new rumors.

The site claims that PowerMac G5s will be updated in January up to 1.8GHz, 2.0GHz, and 2.2GHz. Previous claims from this site included 1.4GHz, 1.6GHz, and 1.8GHz PowerMacs at WWDC, which were incorrect.

PowerBooks are pegged at 1GHz and 1.33GHz speeds in a week, but previous claims from the same site have included 1.1GHz and 1.3GHz PowerBooks (July 19) as well as 1.25GHz and 1.33GHz PowerBooks (July 22). Top speeds on the 7457 has been (presumably) confirmed to be 1.3GHz based on Motorola documents.

Also mentioned is the announcement of a "creative sound" iApp... a rumor that has also seen many previous incarnations

[Powerbook G5]

Here's our weekly PowerBook rumor.

[crenz]

Looks like rumor recycling to me, especially this one:

Also mentioned is the announcement of a "creative sound" iApp... a rumor that has also seen many previous incarnations.

Might well be that this one is a piece of misunderstood information that actually related to Soundtrack.

[daveL]

The G5 part doesn't work, for me. Sure, Apple has provided small speed bumps like this in the past, but that's only because Moto gave them no choice. I wouldn't even bother with a 10% speed bump. I think the Jan/Feb timing is probable, but the high-end will be 2.5 GHz or so, and the low-end will move up to 2.0 GHz. Just guessing, of course.

[Wonder Boy]

Originally posted by crenz
Looks like rumor recycling to me, especially this one:



Might well be that this one is a piece of misunderstood information that actually related to Soundtrack.

That's what I assumed too, BUT a free or less expensive music making iapp would be welcomed

[bennetsaysargh]

i think they have something going on with sound studio. that shoudln't be hard to buy for apple

[Mattski]

Originally posted by daveL
The G5 part doesn't work, for me. Sure, Apple has provided small speed bumps like this in the past, but that's only because Moto gave them no choice. I wouldn't even bother with a 10% speed bump. I think the Jan/Feb timing is probable, but the high-end will be 2.5 GHz or so, and the low-end will move up to 2.0 GHz. Just guessing, of course.

I very much agree. Given that there is usually PowerMac updates every 6 months, then in order to get to 3.0ghz next year, 2.4 - 2.6 ghz would most likely be the next update.

[bennetsaysargh]

wait a sec, where are the iMac rumors in ths? is it the new G4 chips?

[tizza]

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
Here's our weekly PowerBook rumor.

Let's hope Steve isn't sitting there going "hehehe - and they don't even realise that PB's aren't coming until this time next year ..."

[pyrotoaster]

A simple music making/mixing iApp would be cool, and it'd be a great PR opportunity for Apple. Since iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto, and iDVD all have PC incarnations, something new would really help the whole "iApp"/"iLife" thing look good.

That said, it does look like a bit of a Soundtrack-related rumor.

[Billicus]

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
Here's our weekly PowerBook rumor.

Here's hoping this one is right...

[bystem]

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
Here's our weekly PowerBook rumor.

Don't you mean daily ...

[neutrino23]

Originally posted by pyrotoaster
A simple music making/mixing iApp would be cool, and it'd be a great PR opportunity for Apple. Since iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto, and iDVD all have PC incarnations, something new would really help the whole "iApp"/"iLife" thing look good.

That said, it does look like a bit of a Soundtrack-related rumor.

I'm not much into editing my own music. How would this app differ from the free version of Pro-Tools that is readily available? If Pro-Tools dominates the market and if they already supply a free version that would seem to suffice.

[actionslacks]

Originally posted by neutrino23
I'm not much into editing my own music. How would this app differ from the free version of Pro-Tools that is readily available? If Pro-Tools dominates the market and if they already supply a free version that would seem to suffice.

1. Is there an OSX version of ProTools Free? I don't think there is yet.

2. ProTools Free is fine for playing around, but you have to at least step up to LE if you want to be able to capture live sound with any success/quality.

3. ProTools dominates the market just like Avid does. When Final Cut Pro came out everyone said there was no room for it as a professional app because Avid dominates the market. BUT... FCP has found a nice niche as a an inexpensive alternative and works very well for a lot of prosumer projects. (I will still use an Avid if every time if there is a client sitting behind me though. When they get to FCP 5 or 6 maybe it will be ready.)

4. Ask any good engineer what they think of the sound quality with ProTools and they will tell you it sucks. Why do they use it? For the same reason people use Wintell PCs - Compatability, Familiarty, and Cost.

5. There are always alternatives to the crap that dominates the market. MOTU's Digital Performer program coupled with their Hardware I/Os is much better than the comparable ProTools rig.

6. Apple is usually one step ahead of us and what is the latest feature they think we will need? Digital audio I/O built right in to the new G5s. Why wouldn't they want to give us a Pro audio app for our "Digital Hub?" They continue to make 2 programs for every task - an iApp and a Pro version.



My 2 cents.

[Sun Baked]

All depends on the bus speed, while 167 MHz is most likely there have been rumors that the 7457 can be pushed to 200 MHz.

On the Motorola chart the min/max freq for the 7457 is stated as 500 - 1333 MHz for the 1300 MHz 7457 Part (Table 8 7457EC/D Rev 1 pdf).

With the 167 MHz bus (@ 6 / 6.5 / 7 / 7.5 / 8) we get 1002, 1086, 1169, 1253, 1336 MHz

The 200 MHz bus (@ 5 / 5.5 / 6 / 6.5) yields 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300 MHz

All will come down to how they're marketed, what final G4 ships in them, and whether the bus has been bumped up a notch.

* - italics off the standard Motorola chart yet within rumor range.

[grahamtriggs]

Originally posted by pyrotoaster
A simple music making/mixing iApp would be cool, and it'd be a great PR opportunity for Apple. Since iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto, and iDVD all have PC incarnations, something new would really help the whole "iApp"/"iLife" thing look good.

That said, it does look like a bit of a Soundtrack-related rumor.

Yes, it does kind of - which is *precisely* why it makes more sense now than it did when it was first rumoured following the Emagic buyout.

Soundtrack was introduced as part of Final Cut Pro 4, and is now a standalone app that fits nicely into the Final Cut Express part of the market.

In iLife, you have iMovie, with rather limited abilities soundwise - ie. import from iTunes... a really simplified and cut down version of Soundtrack would fit in nicely alongside the existing apps.

Which would give an almost clean and consistent application line up at all levels... (the only real puzzle is the halfway house pricing on DVD Studio Pro - logic would dictate that they produce a 'DVD Studio Express' with just the Basic (/Extended?) interface and feature set around the price of FCE, and DVD Studio Pro with *everything* around the FCP price mark).

[iPC]

Originally posted by Sun Baked
All depends on the bus speed, while 167 MHz is most likely there have been rumors that the 7457 can be pushed to 200 MHz.

On the Motorola chart the min/max freq for the 7457 is stated as 500 - 1333 MHz for the 1300 MHz 7457 Part (Table 8 7457EC/D Rev 1 pdf).

With the 167 MHz bus (@ 6 / 6.5 / 7 / 7.5 / 8) we get 1002, 1086, 1169, 1253, 1336 MHz

The 200 MHz bus (@ 5 / 5.5 / 6 / 6.5) yields 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300 MHz

All will come down to how they're marketed, what final G4 ships in them, and whether the bus has been bumped up a notch.

* - italics off the standard Motorola chart yet within rumor range.

Too bad the G3 has done 200MHz FSB for some time now... stupid Motorola can't keep up so the G3 iBook has to get neutered so it's not faster than the PowerBook.

(current G3 can do 1Ghz with 200MHz FSB).

[grahamtriggs]

Originally posted by iPC
Too bad the G3 has done 200MHz FSB for some time now... stupid Motorola can't keep up so the G3 iBook has to get neutered so it's not faster than the PowerBook.

(current G3 can do 1Ghz with 200MHz FSB).

Stupid Apple / IBM can't create a system controller that isn't on the verge of meltdown, so the PowerBooks get neutered to a G4, and the iBooks neutered to a G3

[cb911]

well i guess it's good to see that another site is still claiming new PowerBook on the 18th. although they could just be repeating what other people are saying now...

[Snowy_River]

Originally posted by grahamtriggs
In iLife, you have iMovie, with rather limited abilities soundwise - ie. import from iTunes...

iMovie has more capabilities than that. You can import most sound file formats (though, unfortunately not all). I use Audacity to edit sounds and mix tracks right now, then I export to AIFF format, and import that into iMovie. It works like a charm.

(This is not to say that I wouldn't like to see a sound iApp from Apple. I love Audacity for its capabilities, but v1 really isn't that exciting, and v 1.1 and 1.2 are still rather unstable. I know that anything that came from Apple would be far more stable and reliable than these - although its feature set might leave me cold...)

[grahamtriggs]

Originally posted by Snowy_River
iMovie has more capabilities than that. You can import most sound file formats (though, unfortunately not all). I use Audacity to edit sounds and mix tracks right now, then I export to AIFF format, and import that into iMovie. It works like a charm.

(This is not to say that I wouldn't like to see a sound iApp from Apple. I love Audacity for its capabilities, but v1 really isn't that exciting, and v 1.1 and 1.2 are still rather unstable. I know that anything that came from Apple would be far more stable and reliable than these - although its feature set might leave me cold...)

Sorry, didn't quite mean it to sound that restricted...

The point is that within the iApps themselves there are limited options for putting a soundtrack to a movie, and even in the free/cheap market space, there aren't a great deal of options.

[tduality]

Originally posted by daveL
I wouldn't even bother with a 10% speed bump. I think the Jan/Feb timing is probable, but the high-end will be 2.5 GHz or so, and the low-end will move up to 2.0 GHz. Just guessing, of course.

10% doesn't sound like much. On the other hand: 10% for the dual 2GHZ would be like 400MHZ. That difference alone is all the power my good ol' PM G4 400 has.

[sparks9]

making it all up!

[mvc]

Originally posted by daveL
I think the Jan/Feb timing is probable, but the high-end will be 2.5 GHz or so, and the low-end will move up to 2.0 GHz. Just guessing, of course.

Ahh, but will they all be Dual Processor. I agree that Apple will want all it's PowerMacs over 2GHz by Jan/Feb, but I don't know if I would want a Single 2.0, and I'm pretty sure I can't afford the top end model.

But more bang for your buck is not the only reason to wait for Rev. B. There's surely gonna be a host of technical glitches lurking in the new design - as has been noted before, its probably gonna have more dust sucking power than a turbocharged streetcleaner with those 9 fans and that cheesegrater grill slurping it all up. Can it live on my floor?

Hell, looking down closely at it now, I'm not sure I can

[ffakr]

Originally posted by grahamtriggs
Stupid Apple / IBM can't create a system controller that isn't on the verge of meltdown, so the PowerBooks get neutered to a G4, and the iBooks neutered to a G3

If the FSB issues were related to Apple's inability to create a faster system controller then
a) Moto would make G4s that supported faster FSB for embedded apps (like Cisco's routers which I'm sure would appreciate extra bandwidth), and
b) Apple wouldn't be selling G5s with 1GHz FSB.

Since Moto doesn't market ANY variation of the G4 with a faster FSB, and since Apple has designed a cutting edge system controller for the G5, I think it's safe to say that the FSB issues with the G4 rest squarely on Moto's shoulders.

JMHO. Ffakr