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G4 PowerBooks Next

OK here are my 2 pennys on the situation...

Even though Stevo said it is the year of the laptops i dont think apple will be coming out this year with PB G5 (probably the middle of 2004) (even though i would really like one).

I think that they are going to release PBs with speed increases up to 1.4 ghz with moto new chip so that the pb will run alot cooler and use less power. and as said in an earlier post this is comparable with Intels Centrino Chips.

I have been waiting to buy a Laptop now for a while and once the 15 inch get updated with what i have mentioned above Alumium case and airport extreem and 4X DVD-R i will probably buy why even though i know eventually they will come out with the PB G5.

With computer hardware you know when you buy the item that 6months to a year after buying it there is going to be something bigger and better on the market, its just a chance you take and something you acnoledge... technology advaces quickly.

Also when the g5 is released in the PB its going to run just as hot and the current G4 most likely seeing how there are 9 fans in the tower to keep it cool... there for I welcome a cooler running chip.

So there is my ramblings... my opions...

When the 15" PowerBook Gets updated i most likely buy one, it will be much faster then my current desktop (867 G4 QuickSliver)

-Brian
 
other wwdc rumor no-shows . . .

big boo on macwhispers, if his macmice products are as shody as the rumors, i may hold off . . .
maybe that new moto g4 with the 200mhz bus will go into the new pb? obviously won't compare with a 1Ghz fsb, but then again it is also a laptop (i forget where i read the new moto 200mhz, it is around here somewhere).
also, what happened with those mysterious june 23rd boxes? maybe apple store demoes? anyone know?
maybe that 15"pb wishlist will have to turn into a g5 tower wishlist

hero
 
Originally posted by greenstork
When I said baby step, I meant from a marketing and strategy perspective, not engineering as noted in my post.
Click to expand...

Originally posted by greenstork

It seems like there is a great deal more engineering for a laptop simply due to space and heat considerations but I am still bummed. I guess I expected Apple really sieze this opportunity to surpass Wintel in terms of hardware technology. I should know to be more guarded in my optimism since historically Apple has failed to take this last baby step.
Click to expand...

This is what I read, wasn't clear to me that you were talking about marketing.

Cheers!
 
Originally posted by mjgonz1
Ok now I'm at a truly confused I start Medical School in early August and need a new computer. My school right now has a deal for a 1GHz PowerBook (standard config) with AppleCare for $2099. They only have a few left at this point. It seems like such a good deal for the machine I would be getting. I can only afford to buy one machine and it needs to last me on the scale of 3-4 years. Does anyone have any suggestions on whether to hold out for the newer model and pay more, or take this model and get a good break on the price? What updates are you all expecting to the 15"? Would they be worth the extra $?
Click to expand...

Well, you're really only saving $200 on the price of the machine. I guess it depends on what the Apple Care is worth for you. I personally have never bought an Apple Care warranty and been just fine. I figure that nearly 99% of all computer problems are software related. And if a computer is going to have a hardware related failure, chances are it's going to happen either in your first year of use or way later down the road from normal wear and tear. (Assuming you take proper care of it.)

If you feel comfortable trouble shooting software issues, then I think the Apple Care protection plan is a waste of money.

Now, having said that...chances are the only upgrades you're going to see to the 15" powerbooks in the near further are a slight processor speed boost (around 1.2 or maybe slightly higher) and the added features of the 17 and 12" powerbooks (ie: aluminum body, backlit keyboard, etc...)

If you're looking to save some money, you need to evaluate your actual needs. Maybe an iBook will suit your needs. I personally have found them to be much more "sturdy" than the PowerBooks and an take more wear and tear. If an iBook would do it could save you a ton of money (especially if you can wait a few months to buy until potential upgrades) and it's not as huge a deal as if it gets lost.

Anyway, just my two cents, good luck with your decision!
 
Originally posted by Interiority
CNET - http://www.news.com have a video on their front page - David Coursey interviewing Greg Joswiak. Right at the end, he states that the G5 won't be going in a PowerBook any time soon...
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This reminds me of Apple's statements pre-MWNY 2001, when FP iMac rumors abounded. It would appear that Apple still has some time to go before a PB G5, and they don't want rumors dampening sales of current (and perhaps next rev) PBs.
 
I'm really surprised about how many people were holding out hope that there would be 970s in PowerBooks, and how many still seem to think that it was some evil Apple "decision" to keep the portables on G4s.

I have so far not seen a single shred of concrete evidence in IBM's released materials that made me think the 970s are anywhere near ready for a laptop. They're brand new, they're relatively power-hungry, and most of all (as said in this thread already), they don't have power management features yet. It's not marketing, it's not Apple's fault, they're just not mobile-ready yet.

I'm sure Apple's rarin' to stick G5s in laptops, and I'm sure IBM is working hard at getting them ready for that. But it just seems unreasonable to believe, expect, or demand that they're going to be ready any time soon, or that Apple can do anything they're not already doing to make them ready.

I personally wouldn't have any qualms about buying a G4 laptop at this point, and if Apple kicks the speeds up to the 1.2Ghz range, even better. A G4 is still an impressively speedly laptop chip, even when compared to "faster" (Ghz) mobile Pentium chips. I'd love a G5 PB as much as the next guy, but I'd be honestly surprised to see one any sooner that MWSF, if then.

Heck, I wouldn't even feel that bad about buying aa 1Ghz+ G3 iBook if it were cheap enough, though it'd be nice to see G4s or something similar in them.
 
Re: Re: "Every" line

Originally posted by DTphonehome
I think that its reasonable to see G4 iBooks in the near future. Perhaps they will bring the 17" and 15" up to speed with 1.42 Ghz models, a 12" in 1Ghz, all three with L3 cache. The iBooks could have 867-1Ghz G4s with no L3, No slot load, and in 12" and 14" varieties. They could also have lower RAM ceilings. I think there's definitly potential for the G4 in the "pro" and "consumer" laptops, just like the G4 PowerMac and G4 iMac coexisted for a long time.

--DT
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noooo, please don't put G4s in the ibooks!! Give us the IBM Gobi processors at 1.2 Ghz!!! (but sadly, that will not happen as long as the powerbooks have G4s... stupid powerbooks. :mad: )
 
Good Post!

I couldn't have said it any better myself, Makosuke!

I cannot believe the number of "Mac fans" that are whining about the lack of a G5 PB! IT JUST ISN'T POSSIBLE... yet.

It is rather interesting that it's taken Apple so long to update the 15", but I don't think they're waiting for the G5 to be mobile ready.

Wonder what the hold up could be...?

No, really, anybody?
 
Mokosuke is right. The ppc970 used in powermac very likely does not have powermanagement features yet. But still I tend to think that ppc970 is designed to work in laptop. Some technical facts that support my optimism.

The LATEST IBM presentation [http://amigaworld.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=592] informs us, that the planned power consumtion of the chip is more or less met in actual silicon. So ppc970 at the current manufacturing process consumes 20w@1Ghz. This is as much as Mot ppc7455 at the same clock which is currently used in the top of the line powerbooks [http://e-www.motorola.com/brdata/PDFDB/docs/MPC7455FACT.pdf]

More importantly, according to the IBM presentation the chip will be optimized to have a wide voltage/Hz operability band. So the cpu MHz is changed and consequently power consumtion also changes on demand. So once again, we have opportunity to be on bar with latest laptop cpus from INTEL (speedstep) and AMD (power-now). For example, INTEL Banias, a Centrino CPU consumes max. 24W@1,6MHz but only 1W average thanks to Speedstep and other power management tech. [http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.html?i=1800].

Interestingly, the same was rumored a while ago on Powerpage [http://www.powerpage.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/powerpage.woa/wa/story?newsID=10087]. They reported that technology called "variable bus timing" is in works in Apple labs.

Mot ppc7457 at higher than 1ghz is not more power efficient than ppc7455. At 1,3Ghz it consumes also about 20 W [http://e-www.motorola.com/brdata/PDFDB/docs/MPC7457EC.pdf].

To sum up, we saw yesterday that apple and ibm are really committed to develop the chip. So i would not be surprised to see ppc970 chip with advanced power management in apple laptop very soon. But it is very likely that next revision is mot ppc7457 based (= zero cost on R&D)
 
The 9 fans

I keep seeing it: "it needs 9 fans to keep it cool." From what I read on Apple's site, it does NOT *need* 9 fans.

They *use* 9 fans at really low speeds to keep the noise way down (think of the so-called "wind-tunnel Macs" last year) whereas 1 fan at a higher speed would work.

A lot of this has to do with the clocking of the chip (the high speeds generate lots of heat), whereas at, say, 1.2Ghz it would be a lot cooler.
 
What I think it means

If they stick with the G4 in the PB, then that means the iBook will keep the G3. I can't see them making the iBook and PB that close - e.g. both with G4s. That would blur the product line distinction.

I don't need a portable, but it would be really nice to have with AirPort Extreme to go around the house, so I will be waiting for a 15" updated with a G5...I can wait a year if I need to. It isn't a requirement, but something that would be nice.
 
Just gimme SOME new PB thats 15"

Of course I'd like a G5 PowerBook and I'm sad that we're not seeing one soon.

But I'm just holding out for an updated 15" -- any updated 15" -- I don't care if its a G4. Just give me something that's spec'd like the 17" -- aluminum, backlit kb, bluetooth(!!!!), AE(!!!!). If they can bump the G4 up a bit to 1.2 -- that's gravy.

Seriously... When're the new 15s coming?
 
Let's not forget a few things here...

1. There is still the MacWorld Creative Expo, where Apple jumped in with Phil doing a keynote at the 11th hour.

2. Anyone who belived that Apple would announce the PM and PB at the same time ever again should really stop and think abt it...first of all IF the G5 could go into a PB (I DOUBT IT CAN RIGHT NOW), release the PB and the PM at the same time would hurt PM sales big time.

3. PB's weren't so bad 2 days ago, and they are not bad now. Just as the G3 is hardly a crappy or antiquated chip. Just becasue something new comes out, doesn't make everything else obsolete.

4. Just becasuse apple announces the G5 doesn't mean every other product has to change... I personally don't see a G4 in an iBook ever, I see the GOBI being labled something else and kept in there especially with IBM Making them).

5. This has been a complaint of mine forever... APPLE HAS PRODUCT LINES GEARED TOWARD DIFFERENT CONSUMERS. This means as much as we'd like it, we don't need G5's in ever bloody model. We have too many G4's in the product line now as it is. I mean an iMac with a processor that is in a PowerMac? BOY DOES THAT BLUR THE LINES!

iBooks do not need a G4. They are cheap and durable and living happy with the G3.
iMacs do not need G5's, and truthfully rignt now neither do PB's. Again a G5 PB would REALLY HURT PM Sales...

My predictions (since they are probably based on as much information as MacWhispers (i.e., NONE) ) are as follows...

MacCentral EXPO...a 15" AlBook with most likely speed bumps.

SHORTLY the GOBI chip renamed the G4 (Apple already showed us names are not tied to chip models anymore) with higher bandwidths in iMacs, and iBooks and eventually a G5 PB.

Just my opinion and i am probably wrong... sorry for the length...had alot to get off my STEM:)

Macboyx
 
Re: FANtastic G5s

Originally posted by MacSlut
I really want a G5 PowerBook as unrealistic as it may seem with today's 970.

Why?

Imagine...with 9 fans the thing would be a friggin hovercraft!
Click to expand...

Introducing the new HoverBook.... the first 17" Powerbook to ride on a cushion of air and less than 30 minutes of battery life (if there is room left over for a battery). Maybe it will have an aluminum skirt around it. Oh wait....scratch that. That will kill the "revolutionary" 1 inch thick laptop design.

Just bring back the Pismo design back. The "thinner is better" concept is getting old.

It looks like I'll saving more of my pennies 4-5 years down the line for Apple to figure out a way to put a G5 in the PowerBook line.

Don't worry...good ol' Jonathan Ive (Design God) will find a way. :rolleyes:

CheekyGit :D
 
"Our partnership with Motorola is not going away, G4s are in every other part of our product line. As you can see, [the G5] is not going in a PowerBook anytime soon. Motorola remains very important to us, but IBM is the one that can take us to the next level."
Click to expand...

Is it just me, or did he just CONFIRM that an IBM processor will be replacing the Motorola G4 in the next PowerBook? Perhaps the "G3 with Altivec" we've heard about?

He clearly says:

The G5 won't be there soon.
IBM can take us to the next level

He doesn't say:

The next PowerBook will have a G4

I think that's a rather artfully worded statement that he won't need to retract anytime soon. :)
 
Originally posted by MacBoyX


SHORTLY the GOBI chip renamed the G4 (Apple already showed us names are not tied to chip models anymore) with higher bandwidths in iMacs, and iBooks and eventually a G5 PB.
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that's an interesting thought. maybe if they added a vector processing unit to it...
 
Re: Re: Margins....

Originally posted by greenstork
Apple is widely known to have some of the highest margins among hardware makers.
Click to expand...

Yes, and they're the only ones who are doing R&D on both hardware and software.

You're mixing metrics here and that's where you're misleading yourself on.

And to repeat...Apple's margins are NOT that high compared to other manufacturing industries (nor are they compared to the software industry). Complaining about margins completely miss the point and getting to be bogus in the extreme.
 
Wasn't IBM incorporating Altivec into the next generation G3 (GX?)? That should boost the iBook at least...

(edit: read some posts before mine and it seems like the "Gobi" G3 was already mentioned a gazillion times...oh well...)
 
so...

I believe there are a lot of people looking to upgrade to a new PB, me being one of them. Though there's really no point in my mind to buy a 1.25g/1.4g if something like the G5 or something higher speed is coming in 6-12mos (assuming it does), when i can just buy a 1g now for fairly cheap, though i won't get all the newest "features". I don't know, i hate being left out on the dark when I'm looking to spend 2000-3000$ on a laptop, i wish there was some sort of roadmap or announcement about future model(s) so i could decide what to do, rather than sit on my thumb and HOPE that apple releases something worthy. I've never been much of a mac user, though i want to get a laptop, right now everything is in major flux i want some direction or insight!
 
The next PBG4 may not be half bad

Everyone thinks Apple is stupid for not having a G5 PowerBook. It may be, though, despite our wishful thinking (mine too!), that a G5 portable is just not possible! Yet.

In that case, remember that PBG4s are still competitive--and WILL keep getting faster even without a G5.

The next PBG4 may not be a half bad deal. Especially the 15" model.
 
Take the whole line to 970 ASAP!

Of course, Apple will not comment negatively on their relationship with Motorola as long as they're still business partners.

Now, building the fastest desktop computer in the world is one thing. Selling mediocre-performance laptops is another. I think they should use the lower clocked yields of the 970 in laptops ASAP:

iBook: 1 GHz, 1.2 GHz 970
PowerBook: 1.4 GHz, 1.6 GHz 970
iMac: 1.2 GHz, 1.4 GHz 970
PowerMac: 1.6 GHz, 1.8 GHz, 2x2 GHz 970

This way everybody will benefit from the eagerly anticipated performance gains of the new chip. You'll still have a noticable gap between consumer and pro models.
And: people just love talking Megahertz. No more needing to explain why my 12" PB is faster than an iBook most of the time even though the clock speed is lower".
 
Mac World New York - New 15" PowerBook

I can't recall if Steve has a problem with MacWorld in New York - but if he doesn't, we will see a new 15" G4 PowerBook next month. I believe the G5 is TOO HOT yet for a powerbook. When the 3 ghz G5 desktop come out next year, THEN we will see the G5 PowerBook.
This is my guess...
 
Re: G5 upgrade

Originally posted by prechrchet
I recently saw an article detailing a "No Mac Left Behind" program by Apple. In this program, Apple is selling 1.6 Ghz motherboards to owners of selected older mac models.

I haven't seen anything like this anywhere else, and I am beginning to think this was either wishful thinking or a prank.

Does anyone know if this is for real or not?


Chet
Click to expand...

Not sure, but here's an article link... Tried posting a thread on this... Looks promising - whaddya think?

http://www.lowendmac.com/rumormill/03/0623.html
 
The G4 (and new G3's) are very good laptop processors, not far off from wintel... LOVE to see a 970 though!!!
 
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