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Apple PowerBook and iBook Updates - Next Week?
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The iMacs right now are pretty useless. The displays are great but the hardware is so weak!! Put a nice card and a low end G5 in there and that is a machine worth buying. Don't even try to give "it will eat into pro machine sales" because the imac is so not expandable - no slots, limited choice of displays, limited ram, etc. It's the consumers, not the pros who play games, so give us a machine that can run unreal tourn 2004 relatively well. Professionals care about options. And why is there no emac with just a cd-rw (no dvd-rw) for like $699 or $799?
buy?
Ok, so here's a question. If G4's come out at NAB, would it be smart to wait until WWDC to get a pb? Remember, the 12" and 17" came out two months after an update, so it's not impossible that something new will come out at WWDC, and that would be the place for something new to be released. How much would it suck to buy one at NAB, and then have some new form factor or something come out two months later?
Ok, so here's a question. If G4's come out at NAB, would it be smart to wait until WWDC to get a pb? Remember, the 12" and 17" came out two months after an update, so it's not impossible that something new will come out at WWDC, and that would be the place for something new to be released. How much would it suck to buy one at NAB, and then have some new form factor or something come out two months later?
64 bit future . . .
Here is my 2 cents . . .First my opinion, then some insider facts!
I believe that the PB is way way behind. It does not have a justifiable performance difference distinguishing it from the ibook. This in light of the price difference off course. Yes, you have a superdrive and larger lcds, and a couple of other things, but that is not enough to call it a pro laptop. Therefore, Apple really needs to tackle this issue, and if they need help, this is my suggestion: Use the g5, upgrade graphics cards, increase standard ram, bus speeds . . . there is definitely room for this needed improvement. As for ibook fans/users, dont be mad, ibooks are great, but PB cost a pretty penny more, besides, the sooner we see PB upgrades the sooner it will get passed down.
As for the advice do not wait to purchase because of rumors claiming an imminent update is coming . . .buy now, youll love your purchase regardless . . . I normally totally agree with this statement. However, to all those that do not NEED to purchase now, I say wait it out. These current circumstances are special. The reason why is because (particularly for PBs) G5 technology will definitely be in use by October. Thats not that far off, most can wait. And, since 64 bit computing is the future, our adored OS will reflect this technology. A g4 today will not age as gracefully as older chips in the past.
As for my insider info, it isnt too juicy but its reliable. The informer works for apple and just recently (yesterday) got this info to me. NAB will be big, significant updates. Definitely big software updates, and some hardware updates. When I asked what this meant, no further info could be extorted. However, it is clear we will at least see speedbumps, super drive updates, and maybe some other small bells and whistles.!!
I hope this guy is wrong, or he lied to me, and a PB G5 @ 1.5 is ready on tuesday morning.
Furthermore, how about a 1 2 punch, NAB followed by another tuesday update, sounds sneaky and Stevish to me!!!
Here is my 2 cents . . .First my opinion, then some insider facts!
I believe that the PB is way way behind. It does not have a justifiable performance difference distinguishing it from the ibook. This in light of the price difference off course. Yes, you have a superdrive and larger lcds, and a couple of other things, but that is not enough to call it a pro laptop. Therefore, Apple really needs to tackle this issue, and if they need help, this is my suggestion: Use the g5, upgrade graphics cards, increase standard ram, bus speeds . . . there is definitely room for this needed improvement. As for ibook fans/users, dont be mad, ibooks are great, but PB cost a pretty penny more, besides, the sooner we see PB upgrades the sooner it will get passed down.
As for the advice do not wait to purchase because of rumors claiming an imminent update is coming . . .buy now, youll love your purchase regardless . . . I normally totally agree with this statement. However, to all those that do not NEED to purchase now, I say wait it out. These current circumstances are special. The reason why is because (particularly for PBs) G5 technology will definitely be in use by October. Thats not that far off, most can wait. And, since 64 bit computing is the future, our adored OS will reflect this technology. A g4 today will not age as gracefully as older chips in the past.
As for my insider info, it isnt too juicy but its reliable. The informer works for apple and just recently (yesterday) got this info to me. NAB will be big, significant updates. Definitely big software updates, and some hardware updates. When I asked what this meant, no further info could be extorted. However, it is clear we will at least see speedbumps, super drive updates, and maybe some other small bells and whistles.!!
I hope this guy is wrong, or he lied to me, and a PB G5 @ 1.5 is ready on tuesday morning.
Furthermore, how about a 1 2 punch, NAB followed by another tuesday update, sounds sneaky and Stevish to me!!!
Patmian212 said:
I just don't think NAB will be that massive, but I hope you're right and I'm wrong!
LaMerVipere said:I just don't think NAB will be that massive, but I hope you're right and I'm wrong!
By the 20th of april, this coming tuesday, we will definately see hardware updates, perhaps small, but atleast something!!
Just look at the new eMac, its cutting edge(or almost) with respects to everything besides the g5s, harware is on they way, my fear is that it will be symbolic updates of no real significance!!
PB G5 - nope...
I want a PBG5 bad. However I just spoke to a guy in LA. We have 3 Apple stores (officially) and a bunch more just to satisfy Hollywood. They're ery high-end and Mac only. The guy in there told me that he knew that the 15" was going to be a 1.33 and then surprised me by saying that 1.5 wasn't on the cards. He had been led to believe it'd be a 1.62 or 1.63. It's odd but perhaps it's true.
The 17" is too close to the iBooks and the 15". I have a rev A 17" and it's great but the screen could use more resolution and the chips in the powerbooks shouldn't really overlap the iBooks at all. The 12" is always going to be different as it's an iBook dressed up as a PowerBook.
An overclocked 1.5 would compete speed wise with a low end G5. Frankly I don't think a sub 2GHz G5 is anything to get excited about. To compete on speed they need to run any single processor fast.
I think the screens will get better - in fact I know they will. FCP5 is going to pitch it's ability to deal with HD content. To view HD you need 1920x1080 minimum. That's the reason the 23" came along (the 22" didn't have the pixels). As a mobile platform for video (which is a key market for Apple) - they have to give the G5 PB's the ability to display HD. Not to do so would be to give the market away. They may bring the screens up before the PBG5's hit though.
That also gives people a reason to by a 17" model. If they keep the 15" below true HD resolution video editors will have to buy the 17" even if the other specs are identical.
Patmian212 said:
I want a PBG5 bad. However I just spoke to a guy in LA. We have 3 Apple stores (officially) and a bunch more just to satisfy Hollywood. They're ery high-end and Mac only. The guy in there told me that he knew that the 15" was going to be a 1.33 and then surprised me by saying that 1.5 wasn't on the cards. He had been led to believe it'd be a 1.62 or 1.63. It's odd but perhaps it's true.
The 17" is too close to the iBooks and the 15". I have a rev A 17" and it's great but the screen could use more resolution and the chips in the powerbooks shouldn't really overlap the iBooks at all. The 12" is always going to be different as it's an iBook dressed up as a PowerBook.
An overclocked 1.5 would compete speed wise with a low end G5. Frankly I don't think a sub 2GHz G5 is anything to get excited about. To compete on speed they need to run any single processor fast.
I think the screens will get better - in fact I know they will. FCP5 is going to pitch it's ability to deal with HD content. To view HD you need 1920x1080 minimum. That's the reason the 23" came along (the 22" didn't have the pixels). As a mobile platform for video (which is a key market for Apple) - they have to give the G5 PB's the ability to display HD. Not to do so would be to give the market away. They may bring the screens up before the PBG5's hit though.
That also gives people a reason to by a 17" model. If they keep the 15" below true HD resolution video editors will have to buy the 17" even if the other specs are identical.
Penman said:
So its definitely a G5?
If so G5 with good ram, excellent bus and 64 bit is still a quantum above the G4, so I don't see myself leaping on a slighlty improved G4PB...
This is excellent (if true). I hope 15 and 17 both get HDTV res. That would be a real win for Apple.
64-bit OS + G5's???
I'm slightly worried about current G5 speeds, and Apple's possible move to make the OS a 64-bit OS. On several occasions I've played with both the 1.8 and 2.0 Dual G5's at the Apple store, and they are BLAZINGLY fast, how fast would they really remain after a 64-bit OS is introduced.
Sure OS 10.3.3 is still 32-bit, and runs flawlessly on G5's and even has few problems, albeit the occasional spinning lollipop, on my 800 MHz G3 iBook. I'm wondering if the 64-bit OS will be double as much of a burden even on a dual processor G5 system. Something to think about. Sure the 64-bit OS will be able to do a sackfull of things the current OS is unable to do, even in theory, how weighed down will this future OS feel?
Anyone care to throw out some thoughts, comments? Thanks!
I'm slightly worried about current G5 speeds, and Apple's possible move to make the OS a 64-bit OS. On several occasions I've played with both the 1.8 and 2.0 Dual G5's at the Apple store, and they are BLAZINGLY fast, how fast would they really remain after a 64-bit OS is introduced.
Sure OS 10.3.3 is still 32-bit, and runs flawlessly on G5's and even has few problems, albeit the occasional spinning lollipop, on my 800 MHz G3 iBook. I'm wondering if the 64-bit OS will be double as much of a burden even on a dual processor G5 system. Something to think about. Sure the 64-bit OS will be able to do a sackfull of things the current OS is unable to do, even in theory, how weighed down will this future OS feel?
Anyone care to throw out some thoughts, comments? Thanks!
I really hope that new PB's come out. I have until monday to return my 15" SD. If the new models have a good speed increase (to me that would be at least 1.42 for the SD model), the 9700 radeon, a 4x DVD-R, 512meg standard on 1 SODIMM, much improved battery life (+1 hour at least), and for a price of say, $100 to $150 cheaper than the current PB model, I will trade my PB in. Otherwise, I think I will just take the refund in price and by goodies.
I wonder if Apple will announce on Monday though. Everybody talks about Tuesday.
Samuel L Bronkowitz
I wonder if Apple will announce on Monday though. Everybody talks about Tuesday.
Samuel L Bronkowitz
i think the problem here is simply organization, clean your desk off and problem fixedmanu chao said:
Maybe Powerbooks will be updated first and then the iBooks a week or two after, as after looking on the education page on the UK site I've found an iBook deal which ends on the 30th April. (In case you wonder, it costs £949.24, unless you get it from the National Contract store where it drops further to £875)
http://promo.euro.apple.com/promo/unwired_learning/uk/
I'm hoping for coloured iBooks as I've always found the white ones to be not to my taste, as long as its in the style of the iPod mini, a nice blue iBook for me maybe! Hopefully they'll make them feel a bit more expensive than the ones I played with in John Lewis as they seemed a bit cheap and nasty (especially with all the scratches they had picked up being fiddled with) compared to the nicer PowerBooks!
I won't be buying until the end of summer anyway, but I'm looking forward to seeing whats released.
http://promo.euro.apple.com/promo/unwired_learning/uk/
I'm hoping for coloured iBooks as I've always found the white ones to be not to my taste, as long as its in the style of the iPod mini, a nice blue iBook for me maybe! Hopefully they'll make them feel a bit more expensive than the ones I played with in John Lewis as they seemed a bit cheap and nasty (especially with all the scratches they had picked up being fiddled with) compared to the nicer PowerBooks!
I won't be buying until the end of summer anyway, but I'm looking forward to seeing whats released.
cheekyspanky said:
Hmm, that would seem to indicate that there won't be any iBook G4 updates monday, but I can still hope for PowerBooks!
I dont know if anyone has stated this or not, but dont you think that it would be odd for apple to update BOTH the powerbooks and ibooks? Wouldnt it draw attention away from the updates? It seems like they would want to update one and then update the other a couple of weeks later when the chatter has died down a little to get people talking about apple again. It seems like instead of releasing everything at once, apple should have a periodic release schedule to keep us all out of a dry spell.
Weighed down? Double burden? Ummm... 64 bit doesn't double the code or size or something, it refers to the chunks of data the chip/sys can deal with at a given time. a 64 bit native OS would make things faster in all respects, not slower. The main advantage of 64 bit is the larger mem addressing. Native OS would capitalize on this even more. Here's to hoping Apple does this in the next rev. Would make the science community, not to mention rendering houses, very, very happy.
Borg3of5 said:
I think we've just gotten out of a pretty depressing dry spell as it is.. Who knows what they'll do, but it would make it look like they were actually on the ball (chuckle) if they updated both.. Then iMacs, maybe some software, the stupid iSight, who knows.. but I think it would go a way to increasing their credibility.. make them seem more like a real company.
Parikh1234 said:
Not Low-Pow G5
Not for low-power G5s!
IBM is producing 1.4-2.0 GHz 90nm G5s (aimed at new PBooks, new iMacs and new headless Alu Macs) and those low-end G5 models are not the issue here.
G5s running at 2.4+ GHz are problem at the moment. But the production is getting much better.
Also, remember that those 90nm G5 samples were available 10 months ago, and were used to build all protoypes of upcoming machines.
And please think about this: why on Earth would Apple waste their precious time on redesigning PowerBook cases if they're going to simply update G4s ... No, that was recognized and dismissed long ago. In the beginning, only top PBook models will have G5s, and modestly higher price mark.
2004 is a year of G5, believe it or not.
aussiemac86 said:
Not for low-power G5s!
IBM is producing 1.4-2.0 GHz 90nm G5s (aimed at new PBooks, new iMacs and new headless Alu Macs) and those low-end G5 models are not the issue here.
G5s running at 2.4+ GHz are problem at the moment. But the production is getting much better.
Also, remember that those 90nm G5 samples were available 10 months ago, and were used to build all protoypes of upcoming machines.
And please think about this: why on Earth would Apple waste their precious time on redesigning PowerBook cases if they're going to simply update G4s ... No, that was recognized and dismissed long ago. In the beginning, only top PBook models will have G5s, and modestly higher price mark.
2004 is a year of G5, believe it or not.
There will be no G5 Powebooks before WWDC!!! Maybe some of you are kidding, but then I see someone that seriously thinks this is possible...
There IS NO CHANCE OF THEM! They have to totally adjust the form factor, change the mother boards, fix heating issues, etc. Not to mention the 90nm chips are already sparse, hell they can't even ship the G5 Xserves at full load yet. PLEASE START using your logic, this is insane to think they will have a g5 powerbook.
And let me tell you the key reason, THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL Apple is going to release these without a TON of press, and Steve personally speaking at a huge show. This would be like if they released the Powermac G5 on some random tuesday, or at some minor show.
Please start looking at things logically before getting so insanely carried away that you expect them to have a g5 powerbook next week.
There IS NO CHANCE OF THEM! They have to totally adjust the form factor, change the mother boards, fix heating issues, etc. Not to mention the 90nm chips are already sparse, hell they can't even ship the G5 Xserves at full load yet. PLEASE START using your logic, this is insane to think they will have a g5 powerbook.
And let me tell you the key reason, THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL Apple is going to release these without a TON of press, and Steve personally speaking at a huge show. This would be like if they released the Powermac G5 on some random tuesday, or at some minor show.
Please start looking at things logically before getting so insanely carried away that you expect them to have a g5 powerbook next week.