PB 15 inch Update Timing Prediction

[BWhaler]

For your consideration/speculation:

I am pretty confident the 15 inch PowerBook will get updated in March. The rumor boards have ranged from January--too soon--to the summer--too late.

My logic? In March, Intel rolls out the Banias chip for PC portables--which will have 80211.a and 80211.b built in, very long battery life (think 7 to ten hours) and will be very fast.

Of course, all PC manufacturers will roll out newly designed Laptops which are expected to be Apple knockoffs from a design perspective.

Apple will need to show in the trades it too is still innovating. It will need to share press cycles with the PC world--as MS did recently launching their (terrible) competitors to ILife on the day of Jobs' keynote speech. A refresh of the 15 inch will allow them to share a little of the press cycles during a time which Intel and the PC drones will be big pushing laptop upgrades very hard.

(On a side note, I think the Banias chip may be more of a threat to Apple then anything we have seen from the PC world in a long time.)

--BWhaler

 

[nighthawk]

If you are correct (and I am not saying that you are wrong), Apple would need to update at least the 17" as well at that time if the processor speed is upgraded. And if the processor is not upgraded, then there is little reason to upgrade the 15" Powerbook.

What is unknown at this point is what type of processor is in the new Powerbooks, and wheither it requires a new pin config connection to the motherboard. If that is the case, then Apple may upgrade the 15" without changing the processor speed, but that is highly unlikely in my opinion.

Also, the iBook probably will not be upgraded until the entire Powerbook line has been upgraded to at least 933mhz.

 

[Jeffx342]

when the 15in PB was announced in early 2001, Pc laptops still havn't caught up with its design. What makes you think pc laptops are goin to have a nicer look and out beat the 17 inch? Lets be realistic here, Apple isn't the only competitor its also every other pc manufacturer like Dell, hp, gateway, etc. I think the 17inch is way ahead of its time.

 

[BWhaler]

Originally posted by Jeffx342
when the 15in PB was announced in early 2001, Pc laptops still havn't caught up with its design. What makes you think pc laptops are goin to have a nicer look and out beat the 17 inch? Lets be realistic here, Apple isn't the only competitor its also every other pc manufacturer like Dell, hp, gateway, etc. I think the 17inch is way ahead of its time.

Fully agreed. I tried to use the word "knockoff" to reflect that they will be better than the days of PC ol' when they were all greyish bricks, but nowhere near the beauty created by Apple.

I do think they will be more design-forward than we have seen in the past. If you look at the VAIO's and even to a MUCH lesser extent the x200 from dell, they are trying. In fact, Intel has been pushing OEM's to make "nicer looking machines." (Yes, I see the irony in Intel pushing for that.)

Of course, very few in the PC world pays for elegant design...it's just cheaper, cheaper, cheaper, and GHz, GHz, GHz, so I am not expecting much other than incremental improvement.

 

[Sakino]

I still feel Apple will release information soon about what their plans are with the 15". I think orders will start sometime in FEB though, and hopefully recieved in March sometime.

 

[Wren]

IMHO the 15 inch Titanium Powerbook will have an upgrade around April. Well the updates in the last year were: Titanium 550 Mhz , Titanium 667 Ghz, followed by 800 Ghz then 867 Ghz and November we saw the 1Ghz Titanium Superdrive Powerbook. I know because a month after I bought my iBook, I wanted to replace it with a Titanium. I'm just glad i waited cuz I've just recently ordered my 17 inch!

 

[arn]

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?threadid=17119