Apple Releases New iBooks

[Dave Marsh]

I think this is an excellent update and fully on par with the update that Apple had with the PowerBook a few months ago. Basically, they threw everything in that they could for this (likely) final version of the G4 iBook, just as they did for the G4 PowerBook earlier.

I'm quite happy that they upped the RAM to the minium 512MB needed for Tiger. I'm also VERY pleased that they replaced the video card with a Core Image capable card. The scrolling trackpad is a great feature and I love it on my PowerBook. And, with the inclusion of the kitchen sink, they kept the price on the 12" model to $999. My parents will love this iBook!

 

[macrumors12345]

450 dollars less after taxes

He may mean 200 less than production costs (in reference to an earlier post in the thread).

 

[aegisdesign]

The bus for the 1.42GHz iBook is 142MHz (133MHz for the 1.33GHz) it says on Apple's iBook pages. I wonder they have decided to do the bus as a 10th of the overall clockspeed for these models. The old MDD Powermacs and current Powerbooks use a 167MHz bus which is not linked to clockspeed, are these new G4 chips? Do they point to the mythical 2GHz G4 with 200MHz bus?

I thought that was odd too. 142Mhz bus is very odd. One for the overclockers to play with perhaps.

The biggest disappointments for me are that they didn't go for 64MB of VRAM and they didn't use the 7448 which would have given the iBook a 1MB L2 cache, ran much cooler than the 7447A and given it a longer battery life. Maybe Freescale are still some way off production 7448s or Apple are holding them back for Powerbook updates

 

[Brian0523]

Ok, so here's my take. Apple introduced the iBook 500 in May 2001. That was over 4 full years ago. Now, four years later, we're still stuck with exactly the same form-factor except for the keyboard change/slight-hue change. This is just wrong.

Yes, Apple never said they'd put widescreens in the iBook line, but it only makes sense and is what Apple should've done. The Intel news was bad news and I think what's happening right now is that people are afraid to buy anything that is G4 for the next 11 months. This is even more reason to have wowed the hell out of us now, to keep us here.

Apple's done it before , where they introduced something new just to hold people off ..... the "yikes!" g4 . They couldn't get enough AGP g4s out, so they did that. I think the new form factor should've come out now, and then put intels in there later.

Oh, and if they slap "intel inside" or put celerons in ibooks, I'm gonna puke.

Anyway, I'm very disappointed. It's a valid rant to complain that PCs get way better displays... they've been upgraded in the last four years. But for us, 1024x768 is still standard on BOTH ibooks.

The gap between Microsoft and Apple is closing. I'm started to feel shame for speaking so much Apple to anyone.

You're an idiot! I would bet my left nut - most general buying public (not fan boys like you) have no idea that Apple is going to switch to intel chips.

 

[digitalbiker]

Where does apple explain the terms of this deal?

Available in-store and on-line

I have heard about the free ipod with mac purchase but I still haven't found it on the Apple site. Does anyone have a link to this offer?

 

[aegisdesign]

Bought a 12" one month ago and ... the updates are minor. Would have liked a 40gb HD, as I only have about 13gb of space left removing all of iLife except iPhoto & iTunes, AppleWorks, and a few other items.

If you remove all the printer drivers you don't need and remove all the foreign language files with a tool like Monolingual - http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/13031 - you'll gain back up to 4GB of disk space. I've a 10GB iBook 500Mhz with Tiger, iLife, iWork, MS Office and Photoshop on it. I've about 4GB free.

 

[sw1tcher]

I have heard about the free ipod with mac purchase but I still haven't found it on the Apple site. Does anyone have a link to this offer?

It's on their Education page.

To quote the offer:

"It's simple. Visit your campus computer store, the Apple Store online or an Apple Store near you. Choose an iBook, PowerBook, iMac or Power Mac, then select your favorite 4GB iPod mini. Or you can apply your $179 savings toward the purchase of a higher priced iPod. But act now. This offer is good only through September 24, 2005."

 

[JoeKarame]

I think this is an excellent update and fully on par with the update that Apple had with the PowerBook a few months ago. Basically, they threw everything in that they could for this (likely) final version of the G4 iBook, just as they did for the G4 PowerBook earlier.

I'm quite happy that they upped the RAM to the minium 512MB needed for Tiger. I'm also VERY pleased that they replaced the video card with a Core Image capable card. The scrolling trackpad is a great feature and I love it on my PowerBook. And, with the inclusion of the kitchen sink, they kept the price on the 12" model to $999. My parents will love this iBook!

I have to say that I think the upgrade is pretty great too. Considering that my iBook is a G4-800 12", the speed difference, upgraded memory (I just use the 256 given to it originally), upgraded graphics card, and bluetooth is more than enough to justify an upgrade. I think I'm in agreement with the people who suggest that what people really want is a Powerbook, but can't afford it, so hope that the iBook is going to deliver more than would be commercially viable for Apple to produce.

The way i see it, there does have to be a clear gap between iBook and Powerbook to justify the price-hike which you see. As it stands, my iBook has pretty much done everything I've asked it to do - why the upgrade now becomes more appealing is that due to work changes, I need the use of Keynotes, and Powepoint far more than I did. Honestly, I'm seriously impressed that my machine can do everything well enough, but you can see the little bugger starting to strain. The extra umph that these upgrades are giving is great for me - as I adore the look of the iBook much more than the Powerbook look!

So, the odds are looking increasingly likely that eBay will be hosting yet another iBook on their site, with the proceeds going to fund another Apple purchase!

 

[spinko]

disqualified

I think the Powerbook line of computers has disqualified itself as beeing the high end portable computer (at least for the time beeing...) The iBook could have jumped-in temporarely to give the customers a good reason to buy an inexpensive portable that didn't have the pretention to be the best and fastest one out there but that had some features (like a wide screen and good video processor) that set it apart from the rest...

Unfortunately, Apple seems to have missed it this time. These iBooks are no "threat" even to the ageing Powerbooks...

Hope we get through this dry period as soon as possible...

 

[Detlev_73]

What's with the x86 screens?

...So the screens are the same? I know the resolution is. At CompUSA they look dull compared to some of the newer x86 laptops

Hey someone else noticed this! What kind of screen is that on the new x86 laptops? They look very cool, almost like they're HD screens. If I had to take a wild guess, Apple might introduce these to the newer Powerbooks. I'm also hoping for larger harddrives.

 

[weg]

Honestly if the widescreen part numbers rumors were true, maybe the 12" PB will be going widescreen soon?

Yeah, they really should do something about the 12" Powerbooks. The primary issue is not the processor. The 12" Powerbooks need a decent display (possibly widescreen), Firewire 800, and a PCMCIA slot. The better design alone isn't worth the price difference.

 

[spinko]

Yeah, they really should do something about the 12" Powerbooks. The primary issue is not the processor. The 12" Powerbooks need a decent display (possibly widescreen), Firewire 800, and a PCMCIA slot. The better design alone isn't worth the price difference.

and a better graphics processor without that absolutely stupid mirroring limitation... 32 Mb of VRAM is ridiculous

 

[macphoria]

I'm disappointed. Two complaints. One, why no widescreen? I know that was just a rumor, but something definitely on my wishlist. Second, why still only 32mb of VRAM?

Sure, 512mb RAM is great. So is standard AE and Bluetooth. Also the new trackpad is cool too. But still. If the change was so minor, why did they wait so long for an update?

 

[LaMerVipere]

HaHa! Now I don't feel bad for having bought a "top of the line" 14-inch iBook G4 a few months ago.

Scrolling sensor? *snore*

Bluetooth 2.0? *snore*

iLife '05? Already got it!

 

[wildmac]

Yes, clearly the iBook is in the same class as a giant, bulky 8.5 pound notebook. Not only does it beat it in the CPU speed and screen size departments, but it completely thrashes it in the weight and size departments (more is always better, right??). Try comparing similar products next time, and by all means go run off and buy your Dell.

Umm, let's see... with the right Dell coupon, I can get a loaded Dell 9300 for `$1,500. With a FASTER processor.

Compare what you get for the price.

I don't care about the weight, I want the screen real-estate. And the keyboard is really nice.

Face it. Apple is lagging way behind in mobile-computing.

 

[~Shard~]

That could be the smartest post I've read after on a new product forum for quite some time. It's actually a ridiculous cycle that some people are in - people who will never be satisfied with any upgrade to any any product.

I haven't pulled this one out of my archives for quite a while, but if anyone is interested in reading about the real Apple Product Cycle, click no further than HERE.

 

[wildmac]

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[~Shard~]

I don't care about the weight, I want the screen real-estate. And the keyboard is really nice.

Face it. Apple is lagging way behind in mobile-computing.

Keep in mind that other people do care about the weight and don't care about screen real estate (just as an example), and would disagree with you - as a result, it all comes down to personal preference, and no one is right or wrong. If a computer meets someone's needs and criteria, that's all that matters. If it doesn't, then yes, they have every right to want something better.

I agree with you that Apple needs to address it's Mobile solutions - oh wait, they already have, they're moving to Intel! Now all that is required is some patience and hopefully Apple will indeed improve the portable line by leaps and bounds within the next year.

 

[jettredmont]

Hey someone else noticed this! What kind of screen is that on the new x86 laptops? They look very cool, almost like they're HD screens. If I had to take a wild guess, Apple might introduce these to the newer Powerbooks. I'm also hoping for larger harddrives.

It's called increasing the brightness and not having to worry about battery life in a warehouse store where the demo unit spends its time tethered to the display.

Better resolution on the screen is definitely called for. I gotta agree with the other posters: 1024x768 truly sucks, and, no, Expose doesn't fix it (Expose doesn't fix my 15" PB screen's resolution, how could it possibly help a 12" iBook screen?) Unfortunately, looks like that's gonna be one of the "great new features" in the Rev A Intel iBooks come next May, or perhaps it will even wait until per-app zooming gets userland exposure in some upcoming OS X release so that the grannies buying 12" iBooks won't have to squint to see the Apple menu (it's in Tiger, but only with the installation of developer tools).

However, given the timing here, I don't see anything major happening to iBooks or Mac minis until they get hit with the Intel stick early-mid next year.

 

[macrumors12345]

I don't care about the weight, I want the screen real-estate....Apple is lagging way behind in mobile-computing.

Hmm...did you intend to use the <irony> tags there? ;-) If you don't care about weight, that is great. But then you are not talking about mobile-computing. Don't confuse the two. I actually carry my iBook around everyday (sometimes several miles), and I am not willing to carry anything over 6 pounds (honestly, even 5.5 lbs is pushing it). That is mobile computing.

 

[mashinhead]

LAME.... I Wanted widescreen..... and if anyone now buys a 12 powerbook, (apart from needing to connect it to and external screen or something cos now thats the only reason to buy it) you're insane.

 

[aegisdesign]

I think I'm in agreement with the people who suggest that what people really want is a Powerbook, but can't afford it, so hope that the iBook is going to deliver more than would be commercially viable for Apple to produce.

The way i see it, there does have to be a clear gap between iBook and Powerbook to justify the price-hike which you see.

This is just backwards thinking.

Powerbooks are overpriced and slow so to justify that the iBook is being held back in performance. Forget comparing the iBook and Powerbook - compare Apple laptops to PC laptops. When you do, you can see the iBook is a little overpriced and a little slow and Powerbooks are way overpriced and extremely slow for the money.

I'd love to think how good the iBook could be if it were trying to compete with a PC laptop instead of with the Powerbook.

 

[~Shard~]

It's called increasing the brightness and not having to worry about battery life in a warehouse store where the demo unit spends its time tethered to the display.

Good assessment, that pretty much sums it up!

 

[spinko]

....

I'd love to think how good the iBook could be if it were trying to compete with a PC laptop instead of with the Powerbook.

Exactly, it has to be compared to PC laptops in terms of performance, not to Powerbooks, which as stated before, are seriously lagging behind...

 

[afields]

meh

Meh. Not a great update, but very predictable. There was no way to go any further without undercutting the powerbook. I think any "updates" are going to suck for at least the next 6 months. Is this what they meant when they said "great power pc products in the pipeline"? wow.