Re: PowerBook G5 Heat Issues
Originally posted by ssamani
"And if you consider the fact that the 970's power consumption at 1.2GHz is a mere 19W, it's almost certain that we'll see a future notebook from Apple based on the new chip. "
So if the chip is smaller (more room for heat sink), produces and uses less power, why on earth can't we see the 1.2 - 1.4 G5's in PowerBooks and iMacs?
Okay. The reason we know there will be no G5 PowerBook for "quite awhile" is that Greg Joswiak (who one Mac site dubbed "Greg the Hardware Bunny", for what it's worth) said so. However, I have been thinking of the reasons why, and I'll share them with you.
In order to use a completely different processor, you need to update and redesign the system architecture. While it's possible to cut corners and hack a new processor in (Apple did this with the original PowerBook G3, which was a hacked PowerBook 3400), it's a sub-optimal thing to do. The hacked PowerBook G3 didn't sell, and was made out of desparation in 1997, when Apple was dying. Now that Apple's in better shape, Steve, being the artist he is, doesn't want to throw together a hack.
That said, Apple could have had a PB G5 out by now. It would have been low frequency (but higher than the G4). However, they would have designed an entire system architecture to do that. Fair enough, right?
Okay, so they release it. Now they have to redo the whole thing AGAIN when IBM jumps to 90 nm (at which point you can put faster G5's in the laptops). Faster processor speeds mandate faster bus speeds, which mandate yet a faster chipset and such. In the meantime, there will be increasing HyperTransport integration and other such things that'll make it a pain to simply design the same computer twice.
And what does Apple gain, by releasing PowerBooks right now that are G5's but relatively slow G5's? They saturate the market with relatively crappy G5's, so when the good G5's come out later, no one buys them, and Apple has just wasted millions to design the same thing a second time.
Apple's going to design the PowerBook G5 once, and they're going to do it right, with the 90nm processor. When they do, they'll make millions. Billions! While at the same time living out their dual personality as both a business (which won't do stupid things and lose money) and a team of artists (who want their products to be pretty good.)
I suspect that when Apple found that a PowerBook G5 would run 1 GHz, 1.2 at the most, the entire PowerBook team threw their hands up and said "why bother". Especially when 90 nm is going to give them a much better chance.
In an unrelated note, never trust analysts. If they really knew what they were talking about, they'd be making their fortunes in the business, instead of being analysts.
