You know, I'm still perfectly happy with my G3/400 Pismo. However, that may change if too many of Panther's features don't work well on it (especially given the lack of Quartz on the Pismo). I hope Panther will run reasonably well without Quartz.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
G4 PowerBooks Next
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Where art thou PB G5?
Macbidouille stated weeks ago that the G5 was in production and the tower would be announced at WWDC. Remember the flack they got from here, mostly trolls but not always??? ... Aiden Shaw sure does, which reminds me that he has been very silent recently... well, those opinions were way way off and MacBidouille was spot on AND they predicted G5 PBs were in the works but not until later this year or early next. They are VERY likely to be right on this, too.
Macbidouille stated weeks ago that the G5 was in production and the tower would be announced at WWDC. Remember the flack they got from here, mostly trolls but not always??? ... Aiden Shaw sure does, which reminds me that he has been very silent recently... well, those opinions were way way off and MacBidouille was spot on AND they predicted G5 PBs were in the works but not until later this year or early next. They are VERY likely to be right on this, too.
Sorry if someone else has posted this (I don't have time to read through the whole thread at the moment), but keep in mind that the first G4 PowerBook came 16 months after the first G4 Power Mac. On the other hand, both the G3 PowerBook and G3 Power Mac came out in the same month (same day?).
Maybe if some pro-Mac company would give the Lombard/WallStreet/Pismo users to video upgrade then we could fully utilize Quartz Extreme.
There are already processor, media drive and memory upgrades for the Lombard/WallStreet/Pismo....just no video.
I would pay good money to upgrade my Pismo without having buy an entirely new system.
In the meantime...
Maybe they should give this Japanese modder some work making his own powerbook with the new G5 Tower...
Wired article on Zero-Halliburton ibook
Maybe they should give this Japanese modder some work making his own powerbook with the new G5 Tower...
Wired article on Zero-Halliburton ibook
The thing is, Apple should look into getting the G5 into all of the computers, not just the "Power" models. Think, this is a 64bit processor and they should be looking to make the jump to 64 bits just like the jump to OS X. The sooner they are all 64 bit, the better software that could use it will get.
Now does this have to happen all at once? Of course not. Products like the iBook and the iMac are not geared toward software of that calibur. But to me, it seems that keeping the product line broken up between 32 bit and 64 bit seems like a bad idea.
P-Worm
Now does this have to happen all at once? Of course not. Products like the iBook and the iMac are not geared toward software of that calibur. But to me, it seems that keeping the product line broken up between 32 bit and 64 bit seems like a bad idea.
P-Worm
Re: Re: Re: G5 upgrade
Yeah, seems like a LOT of R & D for legacy stuff.... Real limited market prolly...
Yeah, seems like a LOT of R & D for legacy stuff.... Real limited market prolly...
I've said all this before, but apparently no one listened:
1. The Gobi G3 has vector processing already. It's a great chip and perfect for the iBook.
2. The G5 PowerBook is a year away at an absolute minimum. The (portable) chip is not ready, and Apple will have to design a completely new motherboard when it is ready. This is just about the most difficult design work Apple does, because of the space and heat issues.
3. If you didn't notice, far more than the G5 chip distinguishes the new tower from its predecessor. Were Apple to release a PowerBook with a new chip, but no other internal improvements to accommodate it (even if this were possible), the speed improvement would be negligable. Like the tower, the G5 PowerBook must be an entirely different machine.
4. Apple would never make a move this major without a complete redesign of the external case. The G5 PowerBooks won't look like the G4 PowerBooks. (Expect grating!)
5. While we were lagging hugely behind Intel-based desktops, we are arguably ahead of Intel-based notebooks, even in speed. Given the other strengths of the G4 PowerBook, there simply isn't a need to have something brand new right now.
6. In marketing, it is essential to keep people focused on the news you want them to remember. That explains the "year of the notebook" quote (it kept people talking until the G5 tower was ready), and it explains why Apple *cannot* release G5 PowerBook in the near future. For the moment, the tower must own the stage.
elo
1. The Gobi G3 has vector processing already. It's a great chip and perfect for the iBook.
2. The G5 PowerBook is a year away at an absolute minimum. The (portable) chip is not ready, and Apple will have to design a completely new motherboard when it is ready. This is just about the most difficult design work Apple does, because of the space and heat issues.
3. If you didn't notice, far more than the G5 chip distinguishes the new tower from its predecessor. Were Apple to release a PowerBook with a new chip, but no other internal improvements to accommodate it (even if this were possible), the speed improvement would be negligable. Like the tower, the G5 PowerBook must be an entirely different machine.
4. Apple would never make a move this major without a complete redesign of the external case. The G5 PowerBooks won't look like the G4 PowerBooks. (Expect grating!)
5. While we were lagging hugely behind Intel-based desktops, we are arguably ahead of Intel-based notebooks, even in speed. Given the other strengths of the G4 PowerBook, there simply isn't a need to have something brand new right now.
6. In marketing, it is essential to keep people focused on the news you want them to remember. That explains the "year of the notebook" quote (it kept people talking until the G5 tower was ready), and it explains why Apple *cannot* release G5 PowerBook in the near future. For the moment, the tower must own the stage.
elo
Originally posted by MacBoyX
The GOBI does have AltiVec.
That's what makes it a GOBI
erp. i read "gobi" and thought "sahara."
anyway, i think it would be a clever (if not dodgy) marketing move to label the gobi "g4," thus freeing themselves of the problem of having g3s w/ higher clockspeeds than g4s.
The GOBI doesn't have an AltiVec unit. The processor is a G3 derivative, not G4.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.
Also posted by MacBoyX
The GOBI does have AltiVec.
That's what makes it a GOBI
MacBoyX
You're probably thinking of the "Mojave" G3, which may or may not be a member of the GOBI family. The Mojave is supposed to have an AltiVec unit, thus being the G3 + AltiVec IBM processor.
ok, the PowerBooks need a new proc very soon. the PowerBooks and PowerMacs are Apple's Pro line.
from the MacCentral article:
it does say that Apple will keep one G4 based configuration, as long as the market demands, and links this to the G4 PowerMac that Apple are still selling. Also, at the Apple Store they say about the PowerMac G4 "supports both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X." i guess this means that there is still a very small market for a G4 that will boot OS 9.
i guess that the iMacs and iBooks will have to stay 32-bit for a while, so this must mean that there will be a 32 & 64-bit versions of Panther, right? that will also mean that all software will have to come with an update so that they are all optimized for the G5 PM's.
the PB's need a new proc, but isn't the 7455 maxed out now at 1GHz? isn't this the highest clock speed it can go? and if the 7457 will only be available later this year, then what will they do with the PB's? i reckon that a 970 PowerBook will be here sooner than we think.
and after all that ranting, i still don't know what to think!
from the MacCentral article:
it does say that Apple will keep one G4 based configuration, as long as the market demands, and links this to the G4 PowerMac that Apple are still selling. Also, at the Apple Store they say about the PowerMac G4 "supports both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X." i guess this means that there is still a very small market for a G4 that will boot OS 9.
i guess that the iMacs and iBooks will have to stay 32-bit for a while, so this must mean that there will be a 32 & 64-bit versions of Panther, right? that will also mean that all software will have to come with an update so that they are all optimized for the G5 PM's.
the PB's need a new proc, but isn't the 7455 maxed out now at 1GHz? isn't this the highest clock speed it can go? and if the 7457 will only be available later this year, then what will they do with the PB's? i reckon that a 970 PowerBook will be here sooner than we think.
and after all that ranting, i still don't know what to think!
I guess I'm one of the few who isn't really surprised or upset by this. I am disappointed that they didn't give the PowerBooks a speed bump-- I'm looking at the 12" and I would love to see it bumped to 1 GHz, given some L3 cache, and maybe given a little more onboard RAM to kick the ceiling up a little.
But G5 PowerBooks are a long way away. I want a 12" G4 that I know will work well for a long while (especially if Panther offers a performance increase like the rumors say it will), and then start saving for a Rev B G5 desktop.
But G5 PowerBooks are a long way away. I want a 12" G4 that I know will work well for a long while (especially if Panther offers a performance increase like the rumors say it will), and then start saving for a Rev B G5 desktop.
buying a notebook in a couple of weeks
Well... here's where I'm sitting.
I'm writing this from a Dell Latitude c800, which was their first series of P4 notebooks. It clocks at 1.6GHz. While it's probably only just as fast as a 1GHz G4, your average consumer isn't aware of that... 1.6 is 60% "more" than 1.0, right?
This is my work machine, and we upgrade pretty often (once every 18 months or so)... I've got 3 choices now...
a) The Pentium4-M is clocking up to 2.6GHz with a 533MHz Front Side bus and other associated faciness (DDR, etc).
b) The Pentium M (centrino/banias/whatever) is clocking at 1.7GHz with a 400MHz FSB and other associated faciness (DDR, very low power).
c) The PowerBook is clocking at 1.0GHz with a 133MHz FSB and little associated fanciness (SDR, P4 levels of heat).
Intel has created an interesting situation for themselves, they've busted their own MHz myth! The Pentium M (centrino) is a lot *faster* CLOCK FOR CLOCK than a similarly clocked P4-M. The benchmarks I've read say that a 1.6GHz centrino performs like a 2.4GHz P4-M!!!
So... given this... and the time frame of our purchase... We'd be *fools* to buy Powerbooks. And really, unless you were a "Final Cut Pro on the Airplane" kind of guy, no one should buy the things.
I can't see Apple pulling off another Generation of G4s in Powerbooks and keep users happy. If they "overclock" them (I don't wanna start the eternal debate about overclocked g4s with 166MHz FSB, though) it'll create unreasonable amounts of heat, so they can't do that. they *can't* really wait until the 7457 comes out... the 15" needs an update *now*!
I think low clock G5s are there only solution realistically! It would reduce heat, enhance performance, and keep *me* happy.
As for my purchase? It looks as if I'm going to be getting a Centrino book for my new system in a few weeks. But as soon as Apple comes out with a G5 book... I'll buy one for myself.
Until then... guess I'll be a Maclovin' boy in a wintel world.
Dharvabinky
Well... here's where I'm sitting.
I'm writing this from a Dell Latitude c800, which was their first series of P4 notebooks. It clocks at 1.6GHz. While it's probably only just as fast as a 1GHz G4, your average consumer isn't aware of that... 1.6 is 60% "more" than 1.0, right?
This is my work machine, and we upgrade pretty often (once every 18 months or so)... I've got 3 choices now...
a) The Pentium4-M is clocking up to 2.6GHz with a 533MHz Front Side bus and other associated faciness (DDR, etc).
b) The Pentium M (centrino/banias/whatever) is clocking at 1.7GHz with a 400MHz FSB and other associated faciness (DDR, very low power).
c) The PowerBook is clocking at 1.0GHz with a 133MHz FSB and little associated fanciness (SDR, P4 levels of heat).
Intel has created an interesting situation for themselves, they've busted their own MHz myth! The Pentium M (centrino) is a lot *faster* CLOCK FOR CLOCK than a similarly clocked P4-M. The benchmarks I've read say that a 1.6GHz centrino performs like a 2.4GHz P4-M!!!
So... given this... and the time frame of our purchase... We'd be *fools* to buy Powerbooks. And really, unless you were a "Final Cut Pro on the Airplane" kind of guy, no one should buy the things.
I can't see Apple pulling off another Generation of G4s in Powerbooks and keep users happy. If they "overclock" them (I don't wanna start the eternal debate about overclocked g4s with 166MHz FSB, though) it'll create unreasonable amounts of heat, so they can't do that. they *can't* really wait until the 7457 comes out... the 15" needs an update *now*!
I think low clock G5s are there only solution realistically! It would reduce heat, enhance performance, and keep *me* happy.
As for my purchase? It looks as if I'm going to be getting a Centrino book for my new system in a few weeks. But as soon as Apple comes out with a G5 book... I'll buy one for myself.
Until then... guess I'll be a Maclovin' boy in a wintel world.
Dharvabinky
I don't normally run bleeding edge hardware. Heck, my home machine is a Pentium 200 I started college with in 1997 (running Linux).
At work I have a 1.8 GHz P4 desktop running XP Pro. Multiple times each day I find myself wishing I was on my 200 MHz Linux box because it's more responsive.
The higher clock speed just doesn't justify running yet another slow, unstable Microsoft OS, in my opinion.
Give me a portable G4 any day!
At work I have a 1.8 GHz P4 desktop running XP Pro. Multiple times each day I find myself wishing I was on my 200 MHz Linux box because it's more responsive.
The higher clock speed just doesn't justify running yet another slow, unstable Microsoft OS, in my opinion.
Give me a portable G4 any day!
i'm in the same boat as you Dharvabinky .. but i have to pay for mine! the advantage for me going with a PB vs. wintel is that X11 is 'directly' available for me (vs. restarting into a flavor of linux under wintel).
i need unix for work ... period. so OS X is my new best friend!
in the process of converting from pc to apple,
d
i need unix for work ... period. so OS X is my new best friend!
in the process of converting from pc to apple,
d
DharvaBinky, I, too am going to pick up a Centrino notebook this time around, for some of the reasons you stated. It would indeed be great for Apple to come out with a G5 PowerBook, and quite possibly necessary to keep many people happy. Nevertheless, it is not currently possible (see my earlier post) and won't be in the near future.
Like you, I'll be more than happy to return to Apple when the G5 PowerBook is ready.
elo
Like you, I'll be more than happy to return to Apple when the G5 PowerBook is ready.
elo
The hell? Is this thing on??
Does anyone listen to anyone else here?
It's funny. It's not that I'm so adamant about my views on the issue, which is about as negative as they come, but why does it seem that no one who proclaims that 970 pb are set to go at the next expo or conference actually takes into consideration the comments of those who think its highly unlikely, those who think it's highly impossible notwithstanding.
Personally, even if I was possessed with a sense optimism far larger than my diaphragm, I would have to give some pause to the general thoughts about heat production, power consumption, product engineering, supply availability, manufacturing ability, and other TECHNICAL obstacles that may stand in the way of a 970 powerbook for the time being.
Heavens forbid we look at any of that stuff rather than what some exec didn't say exactly and what he could have meant by that.
-Hertz
Quite cranky after realizing I would be returning to school with a G5 according to my shipping time.
Does anyone listen to anyone else here?
It's funny. It's not that I'm so adamant about my views on the issue, which is about as negative as they come, but why does it seem that no one who proclaims that 970 pb are set to go at the next expo or conference actually takes into consideration the comments of those who think its highly unlikely, those who think it's highly impossible notwithstanding.
Personally, even if I was possessed with a sense optimism far larger than my diaphragm, I would have to give some pause to the general thoughts about heat production, power consumption, product engineering, supply availability, manufacturing ability, and other TECHNICAL obstacles that may stand in the way of a 970 powerbook for the time being.
Heavens forbid we look at any of that stuff rather than what some exec didn't say exactly and what he could have meant by that.
-Hertz
Quite cranky after realizing I would be returning to school with a G5 according to my shipping time.
Re: Re: Margins....
They also have the highest cost of all the computer manufacturers. Dell just has to throw up a website, hire some monkeys for support and to put the boxes together and that's it. It can take the rest of it's profit margin to the bank. Apple has to use that profit margin for actual innovation and maintaining a retail presence which is the most expensive of all.
They also have the highest cost of all the computer manufacturers. Dell just has to throw up a website, hire some monkeys for support and to put the boxes together and that's it. It can take the rest of it's profit margin to the bank. Apple has to use that profit margin for actual innovation and maintaining a retail presence which is the most expensive of all.
MacB was only half right...
I went back and read what MacB predicted. Contrary to what some have said, MacB only got about half of what they predicted correct. They missed the shipping dates and the processor speeds. The only things they got right were the actual announcement being at WWDC and the specs for using DDR 400, USB 2.0, AGP 8x and Hypertransport.
That is not all that impressive to me. I have absolutely zero inside information and I predicted that when Apple released a PowerMac with a PPC 970 in it, it would use dual channel DDR 400, USB 2.0, AGP 8x and Hypertransport. Why? Because if you are going to design a motherboard around the PPC 970 in the spring of 2003, those are the technologies you need to have on the board.
I went back and read what MacB predicted. Contrary to what some have said, MacB only got about half of what they predicted correct. They missed the shipping dates and the processor speeds. The only things they got right were the actual announcement being at WWDC and the specs for using DDR 400, USB 2.0, AGP 8x and Hypertransport.
That is not all that impressive to me. I have absolutely zero inside information and I predicted that when Apple released a PowerMac with a PPC 970 in it, it would use dual channel DDR 400, USB 2.0, AGP 8x and Hypertransport. Why? Because if you are going to design a motherboard around the PPC 970 in the spring of 2003, those are the technologies you need to have on the board.