Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

ATI holding up New PB 15"?

T

TheMightyG

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 6, 2002
103
0
Boston
Powerpage.org has an interesting story about what's holding up the long rumored 15" Aluminum PB. According to the site, Apple is waiting for ATI to volume produce the ATI Radeon Mobility 9600 as this will be the new graphics chip for the 15". They go on to further say that Apple will market the new PB as the first one to use the 9600.

While I think this is great news for future PB owners if its true, I can't help but wonder how pissed off the 17" PB owners would be if this rumor holds up. Isn't the 17" considered to be the top dog of the PB line? If so, shouldn't it get the best graphics card? I recall reading that the 9600 will trounce any mobile NVidia product currently shipping or about to ship, and that would include the GF 440 Go.
There is another possibility I suppose: the rumor is true and ALL of the PB lines get a graphics card refresh. Wait, current 17" owners would STILL be pissed ....:D
 
yea, thats what pissed me off about the 17inch! I have one. Ati 9000m (currently in 15in) is still better because it supports shaders which Geforce 4 Go 440 does not have! Shaders will be in most games using bump mapping textures.
 
Yeah, that's one of the reasons why I opted for a 15" 1Ghz TiBook instead of the 17" when I needed a new portable 2 months ago.

I suppose this could be just another example of why buying a Rev A/Version 1.0 of any new fangled Apple bling bling is iffy at best. Rev A versions of anything new will always have some hardware limitations since Apple is likely just trying to push it out the door to keep it ahead of the pack and can't wait for all of the bleeding edge stuff. Remember, the TiBook didn't really get a decent GFX card (ATI Radeon 7500) until Rev C. The first 400/500Mhz version had the same GFX card as the Pismo it was supposed to replace!

However, I imagine that the new 15" Al-Book will be more of a "Rev B", since it will likely incorporate most of the new tech already introduced in the 17" and 12" PB.
 
first to market... i doubt it

right up there with the new 15.4" screen...? 802.11g...? Apple is not usually first, but the do normally utilize it better. i find it hard to believe that ATi would waste $$$ / time, on waiting for Apple to release something new. quick turn around time Apple is not know for :(
 
Re: first to market... i doubt it

Originally posted by yzedf
right up there with the new 15.4" screen...? 802.11g...? Apple is not usually first, but the do normally utilize it better. i find it hard to believe that ATi would waste $$$ / time, on waiting for Apple to release something new. quick turn around time Apple is not know for :(
Click to expand...

How is apple wasting ATI's money and time waiting for Apple to release something new? I would think its the other way around...? :confused:
 
Re: Re: first to market... i doubt it

Originally posted by icetraxxg5
How is apple wasting ATI's money and time waiting for Apple to release something new? I would think its the other way around...? :confused:
Click to expand...
Because Apple is obscenely slow to market. ATi could be making money NOW selling them to manufacturers that matter (that would be dell or hp right now), and that could have the stuff on the market sooner.

IMO... YMMV
 
Everybody seems to be making excuse after excuse as to why this or that hasn't been upgraded yet.

Could it simply be, this is just the normal marketing plan they have for these machines?

Nah, too simple... ;)

The DDR Powerbook 15 and the speed bumps for the other machines will probably all come at the same time -- ie. sometime in the next few weeks or a June introduction which would be about the same time as the postponement of killing OS 9 booting.
 
I think Sun Baked is right on the money. ATI's not holding back the 15" AluBook. Apple's the one holding it back.

Apple wants the ability to update a model's entire line at one time. It makes it a lot easier to market a product and a lot easier to organize production, etc...

We'll get a 15" AluBook, but it'll happen at the same time the 12" and 17" AluBook's get updated.

I'd say MWNY in July is when we'll see it happen.
 
I doubt Apple jump on leading edge graphics chip

I shall be stunned (and delighted) if Apple uses the best graphics chip available, even if its pro series. They seem to ship their machines late (as suggested above) and with lean graphics horsepower --- never the best available.

If I had to guess, I'd say they start designing their machine a long time before release, and are therefore always a chip behind (instead of trying to design for the next generation which will be current upon release of machine). Perhaps, its just their way of cutting corners (to save bux).

I was hoping this would all change with the advent of Quartz Extreme (since that's the most graphics intensive GUI out there, and any application benefits), but they've continued the same MO. Even the 17" PB got a worse chip than what they'd already used from what I read. Ouch.

I'd love them to change their ways. Maybe with the advent of timely IBM chips (instead of delayed Moto chips), they'll hit the current GPU targets. That'd be great (but I'm not holding my breath until they prove that's what they're doing).
 
do these ati chips have 64mb or ram or 128, because i believe nvidia has 128mb vram for laptops.

iJon
 
If Apple puts the ATI in the 17", will it make a big difference to people who edit video on FCP, like myself?

or will it only make a difference to the gamers? ?? ?

THANKS
 
Personally, I would still choose 17 inch powerbook, because there is no graphics card that will replace this gorgeous 17" screen. and btw, ATI sucks IMO

When I first ran external CRT on my PB17, I could not believe that it could have such clear and sharp picture in 1600x1200@85. I'm stunned. My collegue which runs a PC-laptop (compaq 800w) has this ATI FIREGL 9700 chip inside, ind the analog output just sucks, you get headake instantly.

Now, I'm new to macs (17pb is my first) so I probably dont know how things work on this planet, but I have never liked ATI, every single card I've seen in PCs was a total waste.

dont shoot me, I'm just a messenger ;)
 
Originally posted by filipp
Personally, I would still choose 17 inch powerbook, because there is no graphics card that will replace this gorgeous 17" screen. and btw, ATI sucks IMO

When I first ran external CRT on my PB17, I could not believe that it could have such clear and sharp picture in 1600x1200@85. I'm stunned. My collegue which runs a PC-laptop (compaq 800w) has this ATI FIREGL 9700 chip inside, ind the analog output just sucks, you get headake instantly.

Now, I'm new to macs (17pb is my first) so I probably dont know how things work on this planet, but I have never liked ATI, every single card I've seen in PCs was a total waste.

dont shoot me, I'm just a messenger ;)
Click to expand...

I don't wanna start a graphics card war, but my Radeon 9000 pro is the best card I've ever used in a mac, and it sure beats any pc i've gamed on, although granted they didin't have the very latest nvidia graphics cards, maybe my 17" studio display helped compared to the average bog standard 17" crt. Also, with macs, drivers area big issue, and it always depends on how efficiently the mac drivers are made, almost more than the chips performance.
 
I wasn't under the impression that the 17" was top dog in the PB line, i thought it would share that line with the 15" when it gets updated, all its got different about it is the screen size (at the ) when it gets updated. SO what if it has a different Gcard, it would allow buyers to choose which one they got, they are giving a choice. If you want a Nvidia then get the 12" or the 17" if not go with the 15", unless Apple allow the option of choosing the Gcard for the 15", unlikley however but you never know.

About the ATI card and ATI in general, is this the 9600 that can be upgraded that i have heard about?

Also i got an iBook and i love my ATI card, i do prefer Nvidia but the Radeon 7500 works really good with my 17" CRT. However thats all a matter of opinion.
 
Originally posted by filipp
Personally, I would still choose 17 inch powerbook, because there is no graphics card that will replace this gorgeous 17" screen. and btw, ATI sucks IMO

When I first ran external CRT on my PB17, I could not believe that it could have such clear and sharp picture in 1600x1200@85. I'm stunned. My collegue which runs a PC-laptop (compaq 800w) has this ATI FIREGL 9700 chip inside, ind the analog output just sucks, you get headake instantly.

Now, I'm new to macs (17pb is my first) so I probably dont know how things work on this planet, but I have never liked ATI, every single card I've seen in PCs was a total waste.

dont shoot me, I'm just a messenger ;)
Click to expand...
yeah thats how i feel. im an nvidia guy. ati has usually had some bad drivers in the past but from what ive heard they are getting better. ill research more when i get a new card for my pc. too bad ati doesnt make the 9500 non pro for macs, they would sell like hot cakes. with a simple software hack it becomes a 9700 pro.

iJon
 
My opinion, you can't go wrong either or. I've owned every Nvidia based card since the TNT to the Geforce 4 Ti4600 and had no major issues.

I recently bought the ATI Radeon 9700 Pro and ATI 9000 for my PCs - I am now an ATI fan.

I don't notice any differences in terms of gaming and 2D with my Radeon 9000 Mobility on my Ti 15" 1Ghz and the Nvidia card on my PB 17". They both work fine to me.
 
ATI's the best.
and most likely Apple will use the new graphics chip with the 17" as well when they release a new 15" albook.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back