Apple Releases New PowerBooks

[AidenShaw]

Apple is telling developers that it will be Dothan

Yonah is likely to be the first Intel processor used by Apple.

Apple is telling the developers in the Intel transition program to code their applications for Dothan - the current Pentium M. (see https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/1740048/)

You might see Yonah Powerbooks and Dothan iBooks/MiniMacIntel systems released at the same time. That would be a nice way to differentiate the low and high end - low end single-core, high end double-core.

Unfortunately, the use of Yonah will return Macs to 32-bit operation. When Apple uses Merom, OS X will return to 64-bit operation.

The current 64-bit support in OSX is quite limited - no GUI app can be 64-bit.

The major factor in "going backwards" would be respinning all the 64-bit hype in Apple's marketing. As a practical matter, OSX is 32-bit today, few people would notice the backtracking. (Remember that recent OSX update that disabled 64-bits, and how long it took for anyone to notice?)

AFAIK, Apple has said nothing about the second OSX Intel transition - the transition from 32-bit to 64-bit. One would hope that they do a true 64-bit implementation, so that GUI and Cocoa apps can be 64-bit.

It’s likely the Intel dual-core 800 D series will be used in Intel powered PowerMacs. The 840 D series is ideal for editing 1080i HDV.

I think that this would be a smart move, especially to get a line of PM.x86 systems for early adopters and developers. These would be sold alongside PM.ppc systems, and the PM.ppc systems wouldn't be phased out until Conroe and later low-power multi-core multi-chip systems were available.

IMO, however, the fanbois would riot if Apple used a Netburst-based chip....

 

[BGil]

IMO, however, the fanbois would riot if Apple used a Netburst-based chip....

No, they would bitch and moan until Jobs got on stage and announced it. After that, anyone who previously would have complained will start making excuses for Apple and blaming Intel.

 

[efoto]

No, they would bitch and moan until Jobs got on stage and announced it. After that, anyone who previously would have complained will start making excuses for Apple and blaming Intel.

A true fanboy, well put

 

[jaduffy108]

AMD laptop...

12.5LBS...... sweet

hey...you can cancel your gym membership...saving you money!

...it's a matter of priorities. *I* want performance first and foremost...

 

[plinden]

I like how that site adds every possible option to the Dell to get the price to exceed the Apple....

Well, apart from the software additions, most of the extra options are to bring it up to similar hardware to the PB (it has a higher resolution screen, but a Celeron M, so will have crappy battery life), so take off $400 for the software. Is the PB worth $400 more? Depends on what you want, but 20% difference between PCs and Macs seems to be common for similar hardware.

And it is a comparison of what you get for $2000. If someone feels their money is better spent on getting a PC and MS Office for the same price as a PB without MS Office, by all means they should do so.

By the way, Dell seem to have stopped offering 40% off coupons recently. I haven't seen one for several weeks.

not to mention how easy it is to find a coupon for 30-40% off dell systems. that drops u down to near $1200 and that includes microsoft office which apple doesnt and that 9 cell battery last 6-8hours not 4hours.

Not for an Inspiron 6000 with a Celeron M. According to the CNET review here: http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_Inspiron_6000_for_Home/4505-3121_7-31259392-2.html?tag=sub the Inspiron 6000 Pentium M with the 9 cell battery lasts 5.5 hours. It would be substantially less for the Celeron M.

 

[mongoos150]

I copied my iTunes 4.9 library straight from the PC right onto the new PowerBook... opened iTunes 6 on the PowerBook and crosses my fingers and GUESS WHAT - after about 30 seconds of "updating library" everything was just as I had left it. All my ratings, all my album art... It honestly should NOT have been that easy!

Can you post a step-by-step tutorial of how you specifically did this? I've been trying and CANNOT get my ratings/playcounts to save from my PC iTunes onto my PowerBook

 

[efoto]

hey...you can cancel your gym membership...saving you money!

...it's a matter of priorities. *I* want performance first and foremost...

If you are all about performance then build your own cube/shuttle system. Not only will you save money and get better hardware, you won't have all of Dell's s*** on there. For the money I'm confident you can build the system and buy yourself a flat-panel monitor. Plus, you'll get much better battery life, unless you live in an area prone to brown-outs

 

[Mr Maui]

While there is no 'buy' link on their site, there are specific part numbers for the 7448.

Search for the part number '7448', and you'll get results.

If you look at the 'status' field, it says 'available'.

As far as R&D, the 7448 is a 'drop in' replacement for the 7447/A.

You flash the bios (to bump the bus), and bingo-bango.

Since the 7448 is a drop-in replacement chip, can you buy the chip separately when it offically starts shipping and replace the chip in a current PB model?

 

[jaduffy108]

AMD laptop...

If you are all about performance then build your own cube/shuttle system. Not only will you save money and get better hardware, you won't have all of Dell's s*** on there. For the money I'm confident you can build the system and buy yourself a flat-panel monitor. Plus, you'll get much better battery life, unless you live in an area prone to brown-outs

Sorry, I'm "lost" here...
1-Dell does not offer this AMD X2 based laptop.
2-cube/shuttle system??

I may build my own pc tower...still contemplating...but it will based on Opteron 275's if i do.

peace

 

[Punani]

Midrange Speaker Removed

Quite a lot of under the hood modifications to the new PowerBook. Among other things, the most obvious being a new chipset that has been mentioned, the hard drive and SuperDrive are now on the same ATA channel in lieu of being masters on two.

Interestingly, the midrange speaker has been removed from the new PowerBook 15". Anyone know what effect this has on the system's sound quality?

EDIT: Oops. Apple simply changed the 15" sound system to that of the 17".

 

[efoto]

Sorry, I'm "lost" here...
1-Dell does not offer this AMD X2 based laptop.
2-cube/shuttle system??

I may build my own pc tower...still contemplating...but it will based on Opteron 275's if i do.

peace

completely overlooked that you mentioned another manufacturer, my mistake. That company, Sager, is the supplier for Alienware is it not? I believe I read that somewhere....

Anyway, so you won't have Dell's crap on there, but it's still a massive desktop replacement I'm confident you could save money on by building yourself a shuttle (essentially a micro case with relatively sized motherboard, then everything is standard size so normal stuff fits) and buying a flatpanel. Granted the flatpanel and the case would each be more than 12.5 pounds, but I bet you could spend less and get better performance.

 

[Greenone]

Quite a lot of under the hood modifications to the new PowerBook. Among other things, the most obvious being a new chipset that has been mentioned, the hard drive and SuperDrive are now on the same ATA channel in lieu of being masters on two.

Interestingly, the midrange speaker has been removed from the new PowerBook 15". Anyone know what effect this has on the system's sound quality?

EDIT: Oops. Apple simply changed the 15" sound system to that of the 17".

Does that mean the 15" will now sound better than the older 15"? I wasn't very happy with the sound (though I know using headphones or else adding speakers takes care of that) and I'd be happy to learn that the sound's been improved - even if slightly.

 

[mongoos150]

I really would like to see a picture of the old/new screens next to eachother. Sure it wouldn't show much, but it'd be nice. I haven't gotton a chance to go to the Apple store, I'm ordering the new PB online without having seen it IRL...

 

[igetbanned]

dunno

Since the 7448 is a drop-in replacement chip, can you buy the chip separately when it offically starts shipping and replace the chip in a current PB model?

I've got plenty of time on my hands.

Maybe I'll call and see how much their integration tech folks know.

Aren't the CPUs soldered onto the boards though?

I've got too much nicotine in my system to even think about attempting something like that.

But from what I understand, it's entirely possible.

'The e600 PowerPC core is virtually identical to the G4 core, but with enhancements to L2 cache and AltiVec implementation, and it is manufactured in 90nm technology. Software written for the MPC7447 and MPC7447A will run seamlessly on the MPC7448. MPC7448 can be a pin-for-pin compatible drop-in replacement for MPC7447A.'

But maybe they're liars.

 

[visualanté]

hd

will hd play on the new powerbook smoothly

 

[Photorun]

Stranger thing still is the refurbs (on the Apple Store, click on the red "Sale" tag) we discounted after the "new" (if you can even call them that) Powerbooks came out, which was cool, I was going to get an Apple certified Powerbook to replace my ailing iBook. Well, for some reason, last night, the jacked their priced back up to before the announcement. What in the hell is going on at Apple!?

 

[Squonk]

How long until refurbs?

Does anyone know approximately how long it takes for refurbs of new models to be available for sale? I'm hoping to see a 15" HD with the 100GB 7200rpm show up after the first of the year...

 

[mongoos150]

I just put in my order - 15" with 100GB 7200RPM drive! Has anyone ordered this configuration, and if so how long did it take to ship from order date to ship date?

 

[efoto]

will hd play on the new powerbook smoothly

I would reckon a guess that it will play exactly the same as the last PBs save for brighter and longer due to the new screens and increased batteries. I think the processors have stayed the same as well as video cards, so past that it simply become a user-installed RAM issue. The more you have, the better it will be I imagine.

 

[mongoos150]

I would reckon a guess that it will play exactly the same as the last PBs save for brighter and longer due to the new screens and increased batteries. I think the processors have stayed the same as well as video cards, so past that it simply become a user-installed RAM issue. The more you have, the better it will be I imagine.

They will be a good deal smoother due to the doubled vram.

Any info on shipping times?

 

[efoto]

They will be a good deal smoother due to the doubled vram.

Any info on shipping times?

Doubled VRAM? What are you talking about? The video cards are EXACTLY the same boasting the same amount of RAM for the 12 and 15/17 PBooks respectively. I don't see what you are getting at, nothing has changed on that front

Edit: After looking at the tech specs on Apple's site, the only performance increase I see is that the system memory was reformed to DDR2 opposed to DDR, however it is still running at the same bus so I'm not sure how much of a change this will actually make. Other than that, the video cards are the exact same as they have been for some time.

 

[mongoos150]

Doubled VRAM? What are you talking about? The video cards are EXACTLY the same boasting the same amount of RAM for the 12 and 15/17 PBooks respectively. I don't see what you are getting at, nothing has changed on that front

Edit: After looking at the tech specs on Apple's site, the only performance increase I see is that the system memory was reformed to DDR2 opposed to DDR, however it is still running at the same bus so I'm not sure how much of a change this will actually make. Other than that, the video cards are the exact same as they have been for some time.

Standard video ram on the ATI MR 9700 has been bumped from 64mb to 128mb. Doubled vram.

EDIT: In addition to the Vram, the system ram uses 533mhz DDR RAM--it's just been downclocked to 333. 533 should work fine.

 

[mongoos150]

By the way, my item is listed as "PBG4 15/1.67 CTO" - what on earth is CTO?

 

[ChrisWright]

Cto

By the way, my item is listed as "PBG4 15/1.67 CTO" - what on earth is CTO?

CTO = Configured To Order

My PowerBook 15" with 100GB 7200rpm drive took 1 day to progress to "sent to manufacturing", 3 days to build (including the weekend), spent 1 day at "preparing shipment" and is now in transit from Shanghai to me in the UK. According to TNT's web site it'll take 2 days to get here. So in total it will have taken only 7 days from placing the order to receiving a custom-configured laptop from China - not bad!

 

[Mr Maui]

I just put in my order - 15" with 100GB 7200RPM drive! Has anyone ordered this configuration, and if so how long did it take to ship from order date to ship date?

Ordered one last Thursday ... They shipped it out of Shanghai on Saturday ... cleared customs in Anchorage on Sunday ... would have been here today except that Apple put the wrong zip code on it ... will be here in Chicago tomorrow.