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Are Apple iBooks Next?

this is good!
same night as the rumored everything else:p

i seriously hope it's true. it seems that the last generation of most hardware is mostly just a peed bump, so the last iBook updates were just a speed bump. so were the last CRT iMacs.
 
iBook 14" price drop (in Canada)

Another indication that iBook updates maybe near.
Futureshop.ca (big Canadian retailer, now part of BestBuy) just dropped iBook 14" prices by 150 CAD (~110 USD). Yesterday price was 2149 (same as apple.ca web store). Today price is 1999 CAD.
Funny that 12" models are still listed at 1449 and 1899 CAD.

Edit: Added link

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/su...id=EN&dept=1&WLBS=fsweb10&sort=3&list=&page=0
 
Re: iBook 14" price drop (in Canada)

Originally posted by tutubibi
Another indication that iBook updates maybe near.
Futureshop.ca (big Canadian retailer, now part of BestBuy) just dropped iBook 14" prices by 150 CAD (~110 USD). Yesterday price was 2149 (same as apple.ca web store). Today price is 1999 CAD.
Funny that 12" models are still listed at 1449 and 1899 CAD.

Edit: Added link

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/su...id=EN&dept=1&WLBS=fsweb10&sort=3&list=&page=0
Click to expand...

Looks like it's dropped now to $1849 CAD for the 12" combo drive model. I wish Apple would drop the prices for the entire line overall everywhere.
 
Re: Re: iBook 14" price drop (in Canada)

Originally posted by Lancetx
Looks like it's dropped now to $1849 CAD for the 12" combo drive model. I wish Apple would drop the prices for the entire line overall everywhere.
Click to expand...

Sorry, probably my typo. I think it was $1849 CAD even at the time of my post. That's price at Apple online store in Canada as well.
However, Apple lists 12" CD-ROM model for $1429 CAD while futureshop.ca is at $1449 CAD.
 
Re: tired of altivec

Hi All;

Battery life and usability are reasonable areas for Apple to target. As far as marketing this should be the iBooks forte, that is they should offer leading edge power usage pefromance. This can not be achieved with by adding extra capacity to the chip as you point out.

At this point though I believe that the best course of action for increasing the peformance of a iBook is an on board memory controller in the PPC chip. Sure the more general processor improvements that you mentioned will help, but bandwidth is bandwith it is very hard to get around that. As far as your opjection to Alt-Vec on the grounds that it corrupts RISC concepts - that is nothing but rubish. Vector processing engines exist for specific reasons to solve specific classes of problems, just as RISC solves specific issues. The two are not incompatablle, but you do incure a significant power dissapation problem with the additional execution unit. The trick with such a unit on the G3 series of processors would be to implement it in such a way so that it does not use power when not needed.

As far as your understanding of a developers responsibility, I would say you are a bit off base here. It is the developers responsibility to pick and choice the data structures and code organization that leads to good performance. A good compiler can help with optimizing the code but that should not be consdered the same things as optimizing an application. Good application design will be the programmers / architects responsibility for some time.

Dual processors in a portable would be fantastic, unfortunately the people that need dualies the most are also are the people that benefit from Alt-Vec the most. So I suspect that you will see this first from Apple in a G4 based machine. On the other hand I think that IBM may be able to produce a dualie g3 chip real soon now. When that happens duali ibooks would be very interesting.

Thanks
Dave


Originally posted by Pedro Estarque
OK, so I'm getting tired of altivec. I've used it and it sure does speed up some things ( in my experience Photoshop and OSX GUI are much faster), but at what price?
First of all, I think it goes against the whole RISC chip design's philosophy. It adds complexity to the chip, increasing heat, making it harder to produce and therefore more expensive. If that developing effort was spent in better FPU, Integer, FSB, handling more instructions at a time, etc we could have a much better and cheaper PPC on our macs today.
Besides, you have to teach your developers to code their softwares in a specific way in order to get the speed boost, another example of mislead effort. A developer should focus on the features and productivity of their software, optimization is the compliler's job.
We all know how cool and energy efficient this G3s are. Imagine a dual G3 1.1 Ghz powerbook with 200 MHz FSB, 1MB L2cache per chip and 4.5 hours of battery life. It would toast any G4 in most tasks (except altivec instructions on non MP aware programs ) and probably most x86 laptops as well.
Click to expand...
 
People seem to forget that Apple has a few smart people running the firm. One thing that is obvious is that the current implementation of the PowerBook will not be around for long, it is a non issue to be concenred about the performance of the G3 in an iBook. The iBook, with its current feature set, simply does not encroach at all into the PowerBook market.

As long as Apple carefuly manages the feature set of the iBook it does not have to worry about the unit having an impact on their other products. Even it it did so what! Lets face it Apple had been doing very well with their older machines, so apparently have been going in the right direction for some time now. As long as the iBook meets the needs of a certain segment of users all is well, the absolute processor performance is not an issue. Those individuals that need PowerBook specific features will always buy them not matter how fast the G3 iBooks are.

Dave


Originally posted by jouster
I would go a little further: the challenge would be getting Apple to use the resulting chip, which would, of course, be better and/or faster then the G4. It would be a little embarrassing to have the consumer portable line suddenly leapfrog the pro line.

Perhaps it is as simple as waiting for the G5 PowerBooks to be released. That way Apple retains the pro/consumer disparity.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: More 14" bigotry

I couldn't agree with you more the 14 inch machie solves problems for a certian set of customers. Everyone should be glad that Apple is willing to respond to customer needs.

As for the delusional individuals that beleive that you are getting noting for the little extra money Apple is charging, I have to say you need a reality check. Heck look at television which for more than a quarter century was available in one resolution irregardless of screen size. You never saw anybody complaining about paying a little extra for a larger screen. So whats the problem with a iBook? The 14 inch is a great machine the screen is the last thing that needs improvement on this iBook.

Thanks
Dave



Originally posted by Hmm
Maybe people don't remember when the 12" iBook was introduced. Everybody loved it, but a big complaint about it was the difficulty reading the screen. Even the magazine reviews referenced it. Yes, they said, you could scale the resolution back to 800x600, but it looked lousy since it wasn't the native resolution.

The 14" model wasn't some crazy ripoff scheme dreamed up by Apple. It was designed to appeal to the exact market that was complaining about the screen readibility when the 12" model came out. I'm no marketing major, but it sounds to me like when you've got a customer base wanting a particular product, then it makes sense to try to build it if you think you'll make money off it. It looks like that's what Apple did, and many people like me who bought the 14" model are very happy they did it.

Keep in mind that portability is only one aspect of a laptop. Mine lives in the house all the time and only occasionally travels from room to room. I mostly use it on the couch. The extra lb of weight isn't that big a deal to me, but I'm looking at that screen all the time, so the size and readability are of more importance to me. If I was a college student lugging the thing around all the time, I'd definitely go with the smaller model.

Either way, even the 14" model is still lighter than my indigo clamshell, with better resolution and a bigger screen. :)
Click to expand...
 
Reversal

iBook 14" Futureshop Update:

This morning price went up to $2099 CAD from $1999 yesterday. It's still down by $50 compared to 2 days ago.
And "Clearance" tag is removed.
Either futureshop reads macrumors or it was screw up. :confused:
 
Originally posted by Tequila Grandma
I think the #1 thing the iBooks really need right now is to
GO BACK TO THE OLD CASE!

My 600mhz iBook, with the translucent plastic, looks spectacular. It's truly one of the most attracive portable computers ever made. My mother's new iBook, however, looks like cheap crap in comparison.
Click to expand...

The iBook 500/600 had the old style case while the current iBook 800 has the newer style case. Anyone know which one the iBook 700 12" (M8860LL/B) had?

Thanks,
Jay
 
My girlfriend just got a 15 inch 2 ghz dell inspiron with 256 ram. Its three days old and we are returning it for an ibook 900 mhz 12 inch with 256 and cd burner and dvd rom. Her account will not be credited for at least a month so she wont be able to buy it untill then. My first question is, will the ibooks most likey be updated by then? And second, if they are updated will she be able to get the older version for a discounted price from the apple store? Or is it anyones opinion that we should buy the bew model? She isnt looking to spend anymore than 1,400. Please let me know what you guys think. Thanks

Markjones05
 
Originally posted by macphoria
What would you rather have?

iBook with 1 GHz G3

or

iBook with 867 MHz G4
Click to expand...


We would either be getting the 900 mhz G3 now or a G4 when they come out. Wil the G4 be more or less expensive? What is worth it?
 
I have the Winter 2001 600 Mhz iBook and have been waiting to upgrade. I went to compare prices and take a closer look at the new 15" and current 12" 887.

The design of the iBook has changed so much that it doesn't even attract me the way the 600 did when I bought it. I quite like the design of the 12" powerbook though and will not have any problems buying it when the new model is finally available. It is certainly more sturdy than the 15" TiBook. The store still had an older model on display and I checked to compare and that model felt like it was going to crumble in my hands (which is why I bought the iBook, as I recall). The new powerbooks do not have this flimsy feel about them and I feel confident that they will hold up just as we ll as my iBook has...
 
whatever they do with the new iBooks, i hope it's something cool and original. i like the current ones, but the old ones too.
i really hope it's a different look to it, for the better.
 
iBook's have their place!

I'm on a pretty new 12.1" 900mhz G3 iBook right now, and i love it! It's not the best thing Apple have ever produced, but it does what i need it to - be small, v long battery life, and some good software!

The powerbook was barely a consideration when looking at Apple laptops, it's just ott for my needs!

IMHO, desktops should be powerful, and laptops should be ok! G5 Powerbook? I don't see the point, really - but i guess some people like their laptops powerfull!

hob *uber-noob!*
 
Re: Wait 'til iBook upgrades or buy a PowerBook now...

Originally posted by usersince86
With the new PowerBook line, Apple needs to revise the iBook line very soon (or lower prices).

I too think iBooks are cool and a great laptop -- but right now, bang for the buck, it would be almost silly to buy an iBook (unless you don't need a CD-RW, I guess).

12.1" ibook/PowerBook Comparison (w/combo drive):

SAME (essentially)
================
12.1-inch TFT display
1024x768 resolution
512K L2 cache
40GB Ultra ATA/100 drive
Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
10/100BASE-T Ethernet
Built-in 56K v.92 modem
FireWire 400

DIFFERENCES (iBook --- PowerBook)
==============================
900Mhz G3 --- 1Ghz G4
128MB SDRAM --- 256MB DDR266 SDRAM
ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 (32MB) --- NVIDIA GeForceFXGo 5200 (32MB)
USB 1.1 --- USB 2.0
AirPort ready --- AirPort extreme ready
(No BlueTooth) --- BlueTooth
VGA, S-Video and composite video --- Mini-DVI video out
$1299 --- $1599


DEFINITELY WORTH THE $300 DIFFERENCE (imho)


Again, the iBook has a market, but right now they need updated (or, again, prices need lowered).
Click to expand...


thats why me, and many 12"PB users bought PowerBook but not iBook.. well, as an entry level user, I would buy an ibook if their price was a 1000 dolar (which means 600 dolar difference)..

well, just an opinion if apple wont mind: I think that white backlit shinin' under the PB keyboards would look lovely with the cute white case of iBook.. what do you think???
 
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