PowerBook G5 - 'Going to be a while'

[MacRumors]

In a wide-ranging interview with ComputerWorld, David Russell director of product marketing for portables and wireless at Apple made some comments about the feasibility of a PowerBook G5.

"We certainly want to do that. But it's going to be a while. We think the G4 has a very long life in the PowerBook", according to Russell

This echoes similar statements made by Steve Jobs indicating that they would like to produce a G5 PowerBook by the end of 2004.

Cooling issues continue to be cited as the reason for the difficulty in implementing a G5 PowerBook. One subsequent rumor hinted that Apple was testing liquid cooling to overcome these obstacles.

[Freg3000]

Red herring, red herring, red herring. Please.....

Yeah this seems a little more realistic. Unfortunate, but realistic.

[rdowns]

Good, now let's get my G5 iMac ready. Cash is burning a whole in my pocket.

[Photorun]

Not a shocker to me. Despite some naive posts in these forums the feasability of sticking a 970, even clocked down, in that small a space is going to take a lot of figuring out.

[The Ancients]

I survived the wait for G5 desktop, which has taught me patience (but not too much), I will wait until 2004 for a G5 laptop. (please remind me of this in 12 months when i am still waiting)

[Booga]

I don't think water will really help. The heat still has to go somewhere. If they get really good at piping it away from the processor, that just means your lap will get that much hotter, unless they make a wind tunnel out of it.

They pretty much have to solve most of the problem at the source, and get the G5 running cooler using smaller dies, new fab techniques, etc. before it can go in a PowerBook.

[dho]

I think we may just have to wait and see

[stoid]

I personally hope that they wait until at least end of 2004 to put the G5 in the PowerBook, I just bought a new 15 inch 1.25 Ghz AluBook, and if Apple releases a G5 PowerBook within 6 months of the time I got this one, I will be a little peeved.

[ThomasJefferson]

Excuse me while it strut sitting down. This means I have been right about something Apple-related exactly -twice- this year.

This also means I have a higher accuracy record than MacWhispers!

Witness my perfection.

[sethypoo]

Just think that the longer we wait, the better the product will be.

Do you want Apple to release a overheated, flimsy, bug-ridden PowerBook G5 in less than a year or a high quality laptop in 15-16 months? I'd prefer the latter.

[mistersquid]

Originally posted by stoid
I personally hope that they wait until at least end of 2004 to put the G5 in the PowerBook, I just bought a new 15 inch 1.25 Ghz AluBook, and if Apple releases a G5 PowerBook within 6 months of the time I got this one, I will be a little peeved.

The idea that people would hope that technological progress would slow down because of their investment in current technology astonishes and angers me. Who gives a flip about your investment? You would rather the whole world sit still so you can maintain some symbolic sense that your machine is the latest and greatest.

What people like stoid don't understand is that their machines will gain symbolic power as a result of technological gains in the brand. In either case, the specs of your machine won't improve until you upgrade either to a new machine or the components of the machine you presently own.

Excuse my insensitivity, but would you please get out of the way of technological progress? It's a good thing you don't work at Apple.

([i]FWIW, I am the owner of a 15" 1.25 GHz Powerbook, replete with white spots on the display, and I cannot wait until Apple develops and ships a G5 powerbook.)

[jamesatzones]

They could run freon through it Just kidding. The current Powerbooks will surfice for now...

[Sheebahawk]

good, this should give me enough time to save for one. think they'll manage to fit 8 gigs of ram in one too? The case better not be any bigger/hotter than the current models!

seriously though, any chance ibm is making a secret portable version of the 970? I think I remember the task of putting a g4 in a powerbook seemed daunting back then. I've got faith that whatever apple does'll tur out to be the best portable in its time.

[revenuee]

Originally posted by stoid
I personally hope that they wait until at least end of 2004 to put the G5 in the PowerBook, I just bought a new 15 inch 1.25 Ghz AluBook, and if Apple releases a G5 PowerBook within 6 months of the time I got this one, I will be a little peeved.

although i can respect your opinion as this happened to a good friend of mine with his iMac, he bought the G3 one week before the G4 was installed into the iMacs

However, i HOPE YOUR WRONG

... I'm dyeing to get a G5 laptop. -

i don't upgrade very often, once every 4 - 6 years, i'll be going on 5 years with this computer in early May. i bought this when the first G4's came out, and now since time has been taking a toll on my machine, it's getting ready to move on to bigger and better things. well not really bigger, i'm hoping to switch to a laptop - and although the current powerbooks would be more then adequate, i would love to have a laptop with a G5 chip as to enjoy the future of 64 bit processing, and the advancements in software to come, something that will suite more for another 4 - 5 years.

[chickengrease16]

whoever said they would use water... they wont use water. it would be a liquid that can handle heat a lot better than water probably.

but yeah. while its fun to *speculate*, i think this whole jumping-ahead-of-the-gun thing is getting old. why don't we try and be atleast a little surprised (when we know a few days ahead of time, because we're the mac rumors community!) when the powerbook g5 comes out, rather than disappointed that it took so long? i mean, it just doesnt seem right. that'd be like us saying now "i'm going to wait for the PowerMac G6" and keep talking like its gonna happen next month and then when/if it does come out us going "hey, apple! why'd ya take so long?" come on everyone. they're working. let them work. this is called american consumerism. its normal to buy something and then a month later have it updated and nicer. get used to it. and those of you out of the US, Apple is in the US so you can deal with our consumerism too.

fyi, i bought the top of the line 15" TiBook (1GHz superdrive 60gb airport etc.) and they discontinued it. am i disappointed? heck no.

[QCassidy352]

I'm not glad, but I did call this. When G4 ibooks got released, eveyone was like, "wow, this must mean the PBs are going G5 soon!" um... no. imacs and powermacs were both G4 for a long time. G4s in ibooks was about making the ibook line competitive with PC notebooks; it says *nothing* about G5s in powerbooks.

[Manatee]

If they cool it with liquid, the heat would still have to be dispersed without roasting the rest of the components in the case. What they could do instead, is have two ports where the user connects it to a vein and an artery, and cools it with his/her own blood. The blood would be body temperature - still much cooler than the processor, and would harmlessly disperse the heat throughout the body. The only roadblock to this idea is installing the lines into the body. Maybe the Mac Geniuses at the Apple stores could be trained to do this. However, all the people who live far from Apple stores would still be out of luck. They could include a do-it-yourself kit with the PowerBooks, but there might be liability issues.

[ThomasJefferson]

How does one go about getting a name like "chickengrease16"? Must be a Tallahassee thing.

I spent a week there one day.

Panama City - much better location.

[revenuee]

Originally posted by chickengrease16
whoever said they would use water... they wont use water. it would be a liquid that can handle heat a lot better than water probably.


fyi, i bought the top of the line 15" TiBook (1GHz superdrive 60gb airport etc.) and they discontinued it. am i disappointed? heck no.

from my knowledge of the compound H2O, it is actually one of the better liquids to use

it has a very high specific heat capacity, it takes a long time for its temperature to raise when compared to other liquids

and it's readily available

in regards to the 15" TiBook - well you had to have known that a new was around the corner, because it was way behind in technology compared to the rev a ALU models. But i'm sure you bought it because you needed the computer "NOW" not a few months later when the new one's came out...

same deal in my case - i have a computer now, and it suits me fine for now, and i can afford to wait for the G5 laptops - should my computer decide that it's only good for parts in the next few days, i probably won't hesitate to purchase a current powerbook now, rather then wait an in-ornate amount of time for the G5's (well maybe till the next mac expo)

[johnnyjibbs]

I expect they will go G5 in about a year, as previously thought. At the moment, the single proc G5s aren't signigicantly faster than the current G4 offerings so they have plenty of time to get the G5 fit for a laptop. Then, expect the PowerBooks to jump to at least 2GHz G5s (single proc), probably more.

In the meantime, if you need a PowerBook, get one - they are fine machines and, if you're waiting for a G5 PB, you'll probably be waiting a long time... longer.. than.. the.. previous...PB... updates...

[mvc]

poo

[revenuee]

Originally posted by johnnyjibbs


In the meantime, if you need a PowerBook, get one - they are fine machines and, if you're waiting for a G5 PB, you'll probably be waiting a long time... longer.. than.. the.. previous...PB... updates...

well if i know my history well, and i've looked into this a few times

the G4 took 2 years before it made it into the powerbook after it's initial release in the powermac

If history will have anything to teach us, it is that we will probably be waiting till macworld 2005 before we might see a powerbook G5 - LOL ... probably see it before windows see's longhorn

[ITR 81]

The reason I think so is because IBM already has cooling technology like this in their own laptops..so it seems like Apple could just buy this technology. If not it could take longer make similar technology for the G5's.

I believe Job's will probably release another upgrade for the laptops. Anyone remember the 1.42Ghz processor in the very short lived dual G4 Power Macs? Well I have feeling all those overstock CPU's could end up in new PB's early next yr to just use up stock and push more sales right before releasing the G5 PB's.

I'm waiting for G5 PB and G5 dual 3Ghz PM to come out next yr.

[singletrack]

Originally posted by Photorun
Not a shocker to me. Despite some naive posts in these forums the feasability of sticking a 970, even clocked down, in that small a space is going to take a lot of figuring out.

Oh come on. The G5 at full tilt isn't any hotter than some Intel and AMD chips seen in laptops, it's just Apple's slavish insistence on making their laptops slim, cool and quiet that prevents them being used.

The 970 was smaller and cooler than the 7455 at the same speeds. The processor isn't the problem. As it turned out the 7447/57 was a lot cooler than the 7455 and Apple took the option to make the laptops cooler.

[the_mole1314]

I'm betting Macworld 2005 for G5 PB.