13.3-inch iBook?

[Sol]

Aspect ratio

This rumoured MacIntelBook has a 1280x720 screen, which is an aspect ratio of 1.78.

A typical DVD movie is 1.85 to 2.35 aspect ratio, which will give "ugly black bars" of 15 to 87 pixels both on the top and bottom of the screen.

Please get over the myth that "wide screen" means no letterboxing for DVD movies....

Just to clarify what you said, the rumoured resolution is in the 16:9 aspect ratio; same as all wide-screen televisions. DVDs of new television shows will have no black borders because they are shot on 16:9 cameras. Films use different aspect ratios so that kind of content will still have borders.

The rumoured iBook's screen sounds perfect for 720p HD video. I hope it will not be too long before Blue Ray or HD DVD get added to the iBook.

It is too bad that the 12" screen will be used in the cheapest iBook. A widescreen iBook Mini would be more exciting.

 

[Truffy]

But it's bigger than 12 inches, which is already quite a popular iBook size.

The 13" is actually rumoured to be a replacement for the 14" iBook, not the 12", so it's smaller. Having said that, the resolution will be imporved, so the display will be superior.

Phasing out the 12" PB is not so smart though. If I hadn't needed the widescreen of the 15", the 12" would've been my choice, and I've seen plenty of people with them. They're very cool. Oh well.

 

[Super Dave]

<snip>

Also I hope the screens look nice like every Windows notebook screen.

Do you mean shiny? Because those screens only look nice to the person not using the computer. They glare up like a son of a gun at the slightest amount of light and are unreadable from almost any angle.

I don't understand why people like them, and I hope that Apple never makes a shiny screened laptop.

David

 

[Chundles]

Do you mean shiny? Because those screens only look nice to the person not using the computer. They glare up like a son of a gun at the slightest amount of light and are unreadable from almost any angle.

I don't understand why people like them, and I hope that Apple never makes a shiny screened laptop.

David

Amen to that, shiny screens suck.

 

[Super Dave]

I just thought of something. Will they go back to writing "iBook" on it instead of "iBook G4".

I'm sure they'll write "iBook (the i is for intel now, just so you know)." It will take up the entire bottom bezel of the monitor, but you know Apple.

David

 

[smasot]

i hop the new ibook will be in black

 

[Super Dave]

Amen to that, shiny screens suck.

I think they're made that way so they will look nice on store shelves. I even thought they looked nice…until I tried to use one.

We're such simple creatures. "Oooooooh shiny!" Thankfully Apple doesn't pander to us fools.

David

 

[jayscheuerle]

Perfect for mirroring

Hook one of these up via mini-VGA to your HDTV and you have a native mirror. Right now, I need to use a hack to span my 12" iBook to my HD lcd, giving up half of my VRAM. Slideshows look great at 1280 x 720 on a good sized screen.

This makes a lot of sense if you want to position new machines as some sort of media centers...

 

[w_parietti22]

Hook one of these up via mini-VGA to your HDTV and you have a native mirror. Right now, I need to use a hack to span my 12" iBook to my HD lcd, giving up half of my VRAM. Slideshows look great at 1280 x 20 on a good sized screen.

This makes a lot of sense if you want to position new machines as some sort of media centers...

really? I thought 20 pixels high would be kinda short.

 

[joecool85]

If they discontinue the 12" PB I'm going to be real tempted to pick up one of the current ones (get a refurb after they ACTUALLY discontinue it). The thing is, for right now, my 12" does fine. I just hope eventually they come out with another 12" PB or that they redesign the iBook...I dunno, I really like the PB look/feel over the iBook.

 

[w_parietti22]

i was bored...

 

[lasuther]

I don’t think Think Secret has been very reliable lately. Their PowerBook rumors always seemed to be off, not to mention they were talking about widescreen iBooks in July.

That said, I think dropping the PowerBook 12” is a good move. Apple has been consolidating all of their computer lines, and it ends up saving us cost in the end. The 12” iBook and PowerBook are so close in features; it only makes sense to consolidate them. Keeping in mind that when ever they consolidate, it usually means keep the better features at the lower price. I don’t know anyone who would be opposed to that.

A 13.3” widescreen notebook is something I’m looking forward too, but I don’t think we will see it in January. Since I will buy a Mac in January, I hope I’m wrong.

lasuther

 

[krollster]

This rumoured MacIntelBook has a 1280x720 screen, which is an aspect ratio of 1.78.

A typical DVD movie is 1.85 to 2.35 aspect ratio, which will give "ugly black bars" of 15 to 87 pixels both on the top and bottom of the screen.

Please get over the myth that "wide screen" means no letterboxing for DVD movies....

True, and if one were to make your own movie in 16:9 then there would be no letterboxing. Same goes for digital TV if you've got the right equipment to play it through your computer.

 

[maya]

But if it replaces the 14" it could hardly be called a budget notebook. The 14" iBook is £900.

I bet they have millions of 12" iBooks still around and will seel them until they run out of stock.

Lets say that the 13.3 inch Mactel iBook uses a Intel mobo, chip, etc... then you are cutting cost left, right, and center. Which would mean the iBook will not only be shipping quickly however it will also be cheaper with more goodies. With this in mind I hope Apple puts a better video card other than the Intel graphics integrated rubbish.

And remember with only one type of iBook you are cutting even more cost, with the main focus on BTO. The 12 inch G4 iBooks will run out of the supply chain rather quick if the price is reduced further.

 

[Hattig]

I've seen laptops being sold with 1280x768 widescreen displays, and 1280x800 widescreen displays. Never 1280x720 widescreen displays.

The 1280x768 widescreens were around 12" diagonal.
The 1280x800 widescreens were around 13" diagonal.

I'd guess that either the information was extrapolated from vague information, or it is completely made up.

What happened to those rumours about 15" widescreen iBooks anyway?

If vaguely true, I see next year's iBooks being £599 12", £799 13.3"WS, £899 15.2"WS. Features and clockspeed will be used to differentiate between the iBook and the Powerbooks, the latter will use discrete graphics instead of integrated, will have Firewire800, DVI/HDMI output, etc.

Still, I'm sure we can wait a month to see if Apple release anything. 40% of me thinks they won't release much, if anything, intel related.

 

[gnasher729]

Any page layout program (Indesign, Quark) would benefit from more vertical space.

Because one A4 page = 842 pixels high and 596 pixels wide. Nice to be able to display a whole page.

 

[MarcelV]

I don’t think Think Secret has been very reliable lately. Their PowerBook rumors always seemed to be off, not to mention they were talking about widescreen iBooks in July.

I second this one. The last 8 months have been pretty inaccurate on TS.

That said, I think dropping the PowerBook 12” is a good move.

Please No! I want the Powerbook case. I agree on the feature set but I need the durability of the Powerbook case. My fell several times out of my car onto the driveway (yeah, don't ask me why this is a good thing...) and besides a cracked case, it keeps running. The iBook's case would not have survived this.

Also, I think Apple will need to expand the choice. There will need to be a machine for everyone if they want to take on the Wintel platform. A 13.3 inch iBook will limit the choice, not expanding the selection. Something that is much needed.

 

[Chundles]

Because one A4 page = 842 pixels high and 596 pixels wide. Nice to be able to display a whole page.

More height would be good for many reasons. Sure a 16:9 screen makes sense for a portable DVD player but for a computer a 1280x768 or 800 screen would be far more versatile.

 

[Chundles]

Please No! I want the Powerbook case. I agree on the feature set but I need the durability of the Powerbook case. My fell several times out of my car onto the driveway (yeah, don't ask me why this is a good thing...) and besides a cracked case, it keeps running. The iBook's case would not have survived this.

The iBook case is MORE durable than the PowerBook case. It would've survived with little more than a few scratches.

 

[Stella]

Hope Apple offer a black option.

The white is being old.

 

[jayscheuerle]

I've seen laptops being sold with 1280x768 widescreen displays, and 1280x800 widescreen displays. Never 1280x720 widescreen displays.

1280 x 720 is true HD resolution, 16:9.

Many widescreen televisions ship with resolutions of 1280 x 768, 16:10, as this gives a balance and your 4:3 NTSC television shows (and old movies) end up not having as much wasted space (black bars) on the sides of your widescreen televisions.

 

[maya]

Hope Apple offer a black option.

The white is being old.

Apple has gotten a pretty good response with the iMac G5 that was designed by the makers of the iPod. So I am guessing that they just might offer both a white and black option for the iBook.

If this happens, what material will they use for the PowerBooks.

 

[Quartz Extreme]

I never was a big fan of the iBook 14" display. It always seemed blurry and dim, and it was very silly that it had no resolution improvement over the 12" model. Even if we don't see a widescreen iBook, we can be pretty sure that they will still increase the resolution.

As for the 12" PowerBook, unless they really aren't selling well, I can't see Apple discontinuing a solid laptop model when they're selling more laptops then ever...but maybe the PowerBook 12" will change completely into a tablet computer.

 

[Quartz Extreme]

This rumoured MacIntelBook has a 1280x720 screen, which is an aspect ratio of 1.78.

A typical DVD movie is 1.85 to 2.35 aspect ratio, which will give "ugly black bars" of 15 to 87 pixels both on the top and bottom of the screen.

Please get over the myth that "wide screen" means no letterboxing for DVD movies....

Remember that the DVD player in Tiger can use Core Image to either stretch the image slightly or zoom in slightly, or both, and it does it so subtly that you can't even tell, and hey, there are no black bars!

 

[otter-boy]

Pros v. "Pros"

If I'm right, the 12" PB may have seen it's last days.

I wonder how the "pro" users that like the smaller form factor would feel about that?

Why are you putting the word pro in quotation marks? Many people, from professional photographers to professional writers (like myself), prefer the portability of the 12" PB, its faster processor, and the ability to use an external display as more than just a mirror of the desktop. I also prefer the smaller form-factor of the PB to the iBook.

The iBook is nice, but its just not in the same league as the PB. Whether the differences in the computers' features are worth the difference in price is up to the consumer, but since the 12" PB still sells very well, it's hard to believe that Apple will just discontinue the small form-factor professional laptop (which still leaves open the door for a 13" wide-screen PB).

Many real professionals, not just "pros," actually prefer the 12" PB to other PBs and iBooks.

P.S. I know you can work around Apple's limit on the external display, but I do like having the assurance that Apple supports (as in services) my configuration.