Apple Releases New PowerBooks

[SiliconAddict]

This update is pretty much just to push it's sales for Christmas. But it is a waist of money when you consider that a whole new PB will released soon after the holiday season. DON'T BUY INTO APPLE'S CHRISTMAS PUSH. A much better update is coming soon.

Waste for those who don't have a ton of PPC software. For those that do I would say its enough to keep them up to date until 2nd, or 3rd generation x86 PowerBooks are out. Keep in mind that all the PPC software will, at best, run at 80% of its native speed on x86. So for those who consider compatibility and speed a core importance over getting a new dual core...this could be worth the price. Personally? I wouldn't go near this release with a 10 meter electrified cattle prod.

I think you misunderstand me. I said that many people are thinking Yonah vs Merom and using rev and rev b terminology for that. IOW - first time engineering efforts are not the factor. The point had absolutely nothng to do with heat management and etc.

Ahh...my bad. Sorry.

 

[powerbook911]

Waste for those who don't have a ton of PPC software. For those that do I would say its enough to keep them up to date until 2nd, or 3rd generation x86 PowerBooks are out. Keep in mind that all the PPC software will, at best, run at 80% of its native speed on x86. So for those who consider compatibility and speed a core importance over getting a new dual core...this could be worth the price. Personally? I wouldn't go near this release with a 10 meter electrified cattle prod.

Cool indeed. I loved how you built us up thinking it was an ok release, and then you got us with the final line.

I agree with you completely.

 

[emotion]

I don't think you could go wrong with a 15" PB with 1GB of memory and 7200 rpm drive. It is a lot faster than most of the Intel enthuasists whine about here on this forum.

It is well built, great new display, HD protection, all the I/O ports you need, light weight and good battey life.

Software you might want: iLife'05 of course for iPhoto, iMovie, iDvd, and GarageBand(comes with new PB), MS Office student edition for excel, word, and PowerPoint. PhotoShop, Illustrator, Corel Painter IX. and a few games for stress relief.

I use my powerbook for Ableton live. It's literally three times slower than an equivalent Intel PC. Look here
http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24715.

 

[al3000]

This update could have been better, but I am pretty pleased, especially with the price drops! As soon as the egg card comes through, I'm a switcher

 

[kenstee]

Reference please. Intel had laptops running Yohah on display back in April and from all accounts they ran without any problems. I think someone is pulling "facts" out of thin air.

http://news.com.com/Yonah+to+suck+up+more+power/2100-1006_3-5893308.html
http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.php/archive/yonah_chips_may_run_hotter_than_expected/

 

[Chrispy]

Well, if not, then the guy totally lied to me and knew what to say - I asked "how much cache does it report" - not "512k or 1MB?" I didn't see it for myself so I can't 100% guarantee you, but it sounded pretty convincing and the Apple Store, of all retailers, usually isn't into deception.

By all means, go check it out for yourself. The Tysons Corner, VA store had the 15" in stock but not on display, Pentagon City has the new 15 on display. I wanted a 17" but neither had them in stock, so I didn't buy.

Why did they leave the bus at 167? I don't know, why did they put in DDR2 memory but still have it run at 333mHz?

I have had Apple Store employees tell me things that were completely wrong in the past. Many times they simply have no idea what they are talking about...

 

[aplmd]

82 days until MWSF.... may there be something better.... last year (the year of the powerbook per apple) and this year (year of high definition) have been pretty poor years. No front bus upgrade, no improved video card. Only 512 Mb of RAM. No L3 cache. These are all the areas that Mac could have improved on, even if they couldn't do anything with the processor.

 

[digitalbiker]

Reference please. Intel had laptops running Yohah on display back in April and from all accounts they ran without any problems. I think someone is pulling "facts" out of thin air.

There was an article released within the last month (sorry I don't have any links) about heat problems with the dual core version of the Yonah processor.

 

[DavoMrMac]

Just ordered a 15" PB! I'm so happy, even though my bank account took a punch. First time switcher - OSX here i come!

Nereus, welcome to Apple, you will never look back.

When you get it, look me up on iChatAV.

 

[jcshas]

Nice update, but sadly, they probably won't sell very many. Most everyone that I've talked to are waiting for the switch to Intel.

 

[ChrisWright]

7447A/7448 technical comparison

OK, let's try and settle this 7447A/7448 debate. For a technical comparison between the 7447A and 7448 go to this page:

http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=MPC7448&srch=1

The CPU in the new PBs sounds very like it's a 7448 because:

1. The battery life is dramatically increased due to the smaller manufacturing process and lower power consumption (7447A is 130nm and consumes 21W, 7448 is 90nm and consumes less than 15W).

2. The 7448 has 1MB cache (7447A only has 512KB).

3. The 7448 can run at a FSB speed of 133, 167 or 200MHz.

4. Freescale quote the 7448 as being a "drop-in replacement" for the 7447A, i.e. no clock speed or bus speed changes required.

That's my two-penneth anyway!

 

[aswitcher]

Does anyone know that if I can buy a spare battery from this new ran ge for my 18 month old 17"?

 

[stutz]

Damn…this was expected but still very disappointing. For some reason my expectations for these hardware revisions were raised greatly because of Apple’s recent releases. I mean, who thought Apple would seriously release and iPod with video capability THIS soon. No one saw the iMac revision coming (and a great one at that). It really got me thinking that Apple would keep it going and jack up its “pro” line with as much as was available in all aspects, no matter how minor.

The professional market is by far and away the most educated about the capabilities of the hardware it purchases. It has to be. Competition demands it. And now this is the whimper that the PPC based laptops go out with? The inability of Apple to put a 7448 and at least an ATI 9800 in the PowerBook with over a year and a half lead time confirms how badly Apple had its back up against the wall. I guess it’s still possible, but the chances are slim to none. I’ll trade up if it does happen, but I’ve held my breath long enough. It also confirms that Apple now caters to the mass consumer market first; and the professional market a distant second (and rightly so evidenced by Apple’s fattening bottom line).

The engineers at Apple must have been screaming in agony and frustration in a way we’ll probably never know. I would love to hear some first hand accounts from those guys as to this ongoing debacle in PPC based hardware.

I’m going to go ahead and get a 15” PowerBook, eBay my 4 year old 667 G4, and be satisfied that I got the best PPC based PowerBook ever. It’s just really disheartening that I could have bought it, for the most part, back in April of ’04. I’m sooooo jealous of those of you who bought a PowerBook back then, getting the longest bang for your buck. I have MANY thousands of dollars worth of OS X software that would cost me a ton to upgrade when Intel based Macs come out to make any real performance jump worth it. This PowerBook will have to last me a long time, probably until it breaks. In all honesty, I’m hoping this will be the last time I purchase a laptop. The return on purchasing a new computer seems to dwindle more and more as time goes on. I mean how fast can you run Word, Safari, and iTunes anyway? My hardware capabilities with graphic design and video editing will just be more limited than hoped. In 4-5 years, it would be great to have Apple change the whole dynamic of computers with a tablet, home media center, and the ultimate all-in-one portable device. Things are heading that way, it’s just taking a lot longer than I had hoped for (especially since I read Wired magazine too much).

One great thing about this announcement is that it will allow me to reduce my Mac rumor mongering to 2-3 times a week instead of the hourly addiction I’ve been binging on for the past month. I fear withdrawal.

On another note, with me being in the image catalog business, this Aperture could be huge! While Adobe has the dominating winner in image editing, it has ignored image file management/archival more than it should. Apple is now going to push them. Independent photographers will love it. Even Getty and Corbis could get interested as it progresses.

Stutz

 

[DavoMrMac]

Apple Store UK - errors

Apple Store UK has the new powerbooks and powermacs on the store.

BUT go to the news pages and the links go to the old models and Aperture link doesn't even work.

Come on guys.

 

[itsa]

Boo hiss Boo!
Not impressed at all!

 

[michaewh]

Good enought for me

But I need a new laptop *now*. My 667 MHz TiBook was damaged a couple of months ago, and is now barely functional.

I bought my last Powerbook on Oct 16, 2001 (667 MHz). It was time for a new one and I can't wait any longer. This powerbook has treated me well. I've thrashed is hard, and its held up. I even replace the hinge. Hinky power connection and usb ports forces a change. I'll be paying a grand less for something twice as good.

Also, I'm not interested in being the first Mactel adopter, so this new PB should be good for a couple of years...

 

[DavoMrMac]

Plus, although you can buy the new lines on the store, the details on each product selector page is still the old stuff. Come on guys... again.

 

[zap2]

17'' a 100GB hard drive does not mkae tthe price go down after downgrading your Harddrive to a 100gb from 120GB



MAN THIS is going to be the best Xmaz prestent for my Mom!(shes getting a 17'' my grandmom is paying and im picking it out!

 

[igetbanned]

http://news.com.com/Yonah+to+suck+up+more+power/2100-1006_3-5893308.html
http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.php/archive/yonah_chips_may_run_hotter_than_expected/

Dude?

Did you even read all of those articles?

Yes, the chip is capable of pulling up to 49w.

Why?

Because of the additional core.

Will the chips actually pull that much?

No.

Why?

Because the actual wattage used is based on the clock speed, and intel won't do it for the mobile space. (which is what the 'M' in Pentium M means, mobile)

The article keeps repeating 'at most', 'at most'.

That doesn't mean 'they must', 'they must'.

 

[powerbook911]

It sucks the 12 Powerbook was not updated.

However, look at this. Amazon has already updated the 12 superdrive price to $1499, plus they kept the rebate. That means the 12-inch Powerbook, for $1350 after rebate. Not a bad price: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0007KX4WY

 

[m-dogg]

I think we'll look back on this the way we look back on the 500mhz fiasco. We'll laugh nervously and change the subject.

What happened at that time?

 

[digitalbiker]

17'' a 100GB hard drive does not mkae tthe price go down after downgrading your Harddrive to a 100gb from 120GB



MAN THIS is going to be the best Xmaz prestent for my Mom!(shes getting a 17'' my grandmom is paying and im picking it out!

It should have gone up in price because the 100GB HD is 7200rpm while the 120GB is 5400 rpm. The 100 GB HD is a better drive.

 

[Lertie32]

Need a time machine

Sigh... these are nice updates, but it doesn't knock my socks off overall...
I've been waiting SO LONG for my new G5 PB and now I'm probably going to have to wait for the Mactels (maybe even the RevB release). In other words, I'll probably be retired by then if Apple keeps up this pace.


Steve, the iPods are sweet, but we need our freakin' laptops!

 

[Cali_Man]

OK, let's try and settle this 7447A/7448 debate. For a technical comparison between the 7447A and 7448 go to this page:

http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=MPC7448&srch=1

The CPU in the new PBs sounds very like it's a 7448 because:

1. The battery life is dramatically increased due to the smaller manufacturing process and lower power consumption (7447A is 130nm and consumes 21W, 7448 is 90nm and consumes less than 15W).

2. The 7448 has 1MB cache (7447A only has 512KB).

3. The 7448 can run at a FSB speed of 133, 167 or 200MHz.

4. Freescale quote the 7448 as being a "drop-in replacement" for the 7447A, i.e. no clock speed or bus speed changes required.

That's my two-penneth anyway!

If you look at the technical specifications of each powerbook individually (i.e. select the 15" or 17" from the "Choose your Powerbook" menu at the top of the page), you'll see that they state the G4 has a 512MB L2 cache running with a 167 Mhz bus. Since the rest of the specs seem to be updated, I'd say it's a safe bet these are still the 7447A processors.

 

[Spazmodius]

That's my two-penneth anyway!

Well, if true, it would be interesting to see what difference that extra 512k L2 cache makes.

I don't think upping the FSB speed would be such a big deal though. Probably just requires moving a jumper or something.