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iBook, Powerbook Specs?
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Diatribe said:
a) the 12" may not be able to have a backlit keyboard because of space issues. If you wan a tiny notebook, you have to make sacrifices.
b) it's quite likely that a 1.3-1.5 Ghz G4 could not feed a 128 MB graphics card anyway. You'd be paying for a card that you couldn't really use, just so you could say you had it.
c) 200-250 mhz per notebook is pretty good. 25% for the ibooks, 33% for the low end PBs, 20% for the high end powerbooks? That's a problem?
I don't want to go to sleep now, I wanna see if they ever update and show the new iBooks. I'm so excited I can't wait to save up all this money! n e 1 wanna loan me the money? lol jk. Once I do get my iBook, I'm giving my mom this computer - AMD Duron 1.10 GHz, 384MB PC133 RAM, 30GB and 20GB HDD, ATI Radeon 9000 AGP 2x 64MB Video Card FSB of 100 MHz Windows XP Pro... yeah not very exciting huh.
I want an iBook 1GHz 512KB L2 Cache 133MHz FSB, 256MB PC2100 (DDR266) RAM, 30GB HDD. Later on I'll upgrade to Max RAM, and Airport. What about hard drives? How easy are those to upgrade? Those specs I found from the AppleInsider link page.
n e 1 wanna loan me the money? lol jk. Once I do get my iBook, I'm giving my mom this computer - AMD Duron 1.10 GHz, 384MB PC133 RAM, 30GB and 20GB HDD, ATI Radeon 9000 AGP 2x 64MB Video Card FSB of 100 MHz Windows XP Pro... yeah not very exciting huh.I want an iBook
1GHz 512KB L2 Cache 133MHz FSB, 256MB PC2100 (DDR266) RAM, 30GB HDD. Later on I'll upgrade to Max RAM, and Airport. What about hard drives? How easy are those to upgrade? Those specs I found from the AppleInsider link page.
Swap 12" PB for new 1GHz 12" iBook?
Hmmm...I'm a bit short of cash since I went back to being a full-time PhD student...I wonder if I could sell my November 2003 1GHz 12" PowerBook (combo drive), pick up one of these new 1GHz 12" iBooks and make a bit of spare cash as well. I notice that from the reported specs in AppleInsider that the G4 chips in the iBooks are now also the ones with the full 512K of L2 cache. I think the current iBook G4s use only 256K, so the CPU speed of the new 1GHz iBook should be the same as the 1GHz one in the 12" PowerBook I'm currently typing this message on.
We'll have to see what the Australian eBay market does after the announcement tomorrow. I might be putting a 'For Sale' notice on my 12" PowerBook...
Hmmm...I'm a bit short of cash since I went back to being a full-time PhD student...I wonder if I could sell my November 2003 1GHz 12" PowerBook (combo drive), pick up one of these new 1GHz 12" iBooks and make a bit of spare cash as well. I notice that from the reported specs in AppleInsider that the G4 chips in the iBooks are now also the ones with the full 512K of L2 cache. I think the current iBook G4s use only 256K, so the CPU speed of the new 1GHz iBook should be the same as the 1GHz one in the 12" PowerBook I'm currently typing this message on.
We'll have to see what the Australian eBay market does after the announcement tomorrow. I might be putting a 'For Sale' notice on my 12" PowerBook...
DPazdanISU said:
Just curious - why in the world would you need a 64-bit PowerBook?! What heavy-duty tasks are you using your PowerBook for?! Do you realize OS X itself isn't even 64-bit yet? Yeesh...
In order:
The difference between 32 and 64 bit won't be felt by consumers for some time. The major difference is for professional applications and scientific usage, where huge chunks of RAM and certain kinds of math are more prevalent. Also, it doesn't so much speed things up as allow a greater efficiency in those kinds of calculations.
Please stop feeding the 'bigger numbers = better' myth.
Not if you explain the differences to them. If they're only concerned with numbers, send them to buy a Celeron. You can get a really high-clock one for pretty cheap, and it even costs less than your neighbor's P4. Didn't the consumer pull one over on them?
It is if they actually use the machines, instead of listening to marketing hype and the "bigger is better" myth on megahertz. Even Intel is getting bitten on the ass by this one, because their Celeron and P4-M laptops are outselling the vastly superior P-M Centrino systems.
Have a little patience. It's four months into the year, and not even to the one-year mark for the 3.0 G5s, so there's no reason to be griping yet. Yes, the bumps could come a little faster (assuming that there isn't some serious issue in the way, which is a bad asumption to make), but that doesn't mean a damn thing if it would hurt Apple to do it right now.
I'd rather have a well-designed system than one that was rushed to get it out as quickly as possible.
DPazdanISU said:
The difference between 32 and 64 bit won't be felt by consumers for some time. The major difference is for professional applications and scientific usage, where huge chunks of RAM and certain kinds of math are more prevalent. Also, it doesn't so much speed things up as allow a greater efficiency in those kinds of calculations.
Please stop feeding the 'bigger numbers = better' myth.
Not if you explain the differences to them. If they're only concerned with numbers, send them to buy a Celeron. You can get a really high-clock one for pretty cheap, and it even costs less than your neighbor's P4. Didn't the consumer pull one over on them?
It is if they actually use the machines, instead of listening to marketing hype and the "bigger is better" myth on megahertz. Even Intel is getting bitten on the ass by this one, because their Celeron and P4-M laptops are outselling the vastly superior P-M Centrino systems.
If we want to get a bigger market we need to orient to them- Come on Steve give us a mac that is truly the 25th aniversay mac!
Have a little patience. It's four months into the year, and not even to the one-year mark for the 3.0 G5s, so there's no reason to be griping yet. Yes, the bumps could come a little faster (assuming that there isn't some serious issue in the way, which is a bad asumption to make), but that doesn't mean a damn thing if it would hurt Apple to do it right now.
I'd rather have a well-designed system than one that was rushed to get it out as quickly as possible.
ok, when "macrumors" (i.e. arn) says that he has received independent confirmation... it's a done deal. If arn says these are the specs, then these are the specs. No mention of graphics cards yet. That's a big point.
Re: the high end ibook - is that 1.2 Ghz, or 1.25? Just curious, since there are already 1.25 Ghz chips (current PB 15"). and anyone else see that the high end ibook seems to ship with airport built in? That would be a first for an ibook.
It's not a huge update, but very nice. 33% speed bump on the 12" is totally sweet. (must... resist... urge... to trade in... rev. B 12" PB... )
Re: the high end ibook - is that 1.2 Ghz, or 1.25? Just curious, since there are already 1.25 Ghz chips (current PB 15"). and anyone else see that the high end ibook seems to ship with airport built in? That would be a first for an ibook.
It's not a huge update, but very nice. 33% speed bump on the 12" is totally sweet. (must... resist... urge... to trade in... rev. B 12" PB...
)
DPazdanISU said:
Even some of us PC users aren't too hung up on clock speed. I've been thinking about switching to Apple and if these upgrades are true, they just make it more tempting to me.
I've been doing a lot of research recently, and as far as I'm concerned, you can only compare PowerBooks to "premium" centrino-based thin-and-light PC laptops. Sure, you can get a PC laptop for $850, but if you look at performance and weight, you have to compare to something like the IBM T40 (14' screen, 1024x768, no Firewire) which costs about $2400 for a Pentium M 1.6 GHz with otherwise equivalent specs. The Dell equivalent (600m) is $2000 for something that looks and feels like it was made by Fisher-Price (check the Dell website for the "refurbished", ie. returned, 600ms)
To me, an extra couple hundred dollars for the style, construction, and usability is worth every cent.
The only thing preventing me from ordering a PowerBook tomorrow is that my employers have just provided me with an IBM T40, so I have no need for another computer.
howard said:
It's likely a heat and power issue, Howard, not a chip size one. As far as I know, all PowerBooks use the same process size for their CPUs.
sooooo....
anyone want to buy a 15" PB 1250 mhz 512 ram AE AppleCare (unless transferable) minor scratch 2 mm long on edge of screen some software for >> price of new PB?
anyone want to buy a 15" PB 1250 mhz 512 ram AE AppleCare (unless transferable) minor scratch 2 mm long on edge of screen some software for >> price of new PB?
Check it out...Airport is Standerd on all powerbooks
One thing that is cool ( Assuming Arn's specs are right) is that Airport is now standard on All powerbooks. It is one more thing to separate them from the ibooks...
One thing that is cool ( Assuming Arn's specs are right) is that Airport is now standard on All powerbooks. It is one more thing to separate them from the ibooks...
howard said:
Apple 'needs' to do this to stratify their market, and to make sure there is a reason for people to buy their higher-margin high-end pieces of equipment (like the 17" PowerBook). Often I think market segmentation is the true cause of distinctions like this, rather than true technical reasons like a lot of people suggest. Why wasn't the Rev B 12" offered with a 1.33GHz CPU originally? Why was that CPU only available in the 17" PowerBook? Many people would answer "That's impossible, it has to do with cooling". Yet in this update we see the 12" PowerBook go straight from 1GHz to 1.33GHz. No problems. The new 1.5GHz G4 is available from Motorola, so there is room for the top of the line to expand into.
It's irritating a lot of the time...I'd like to make a PowerBook purchasing choice based purely on form factor...do I want ultra-compact, all-rounder, or desktop replacement? I'd prefer to not also have to trade off CPU speed for the sake of artificial product line-up segmentation.
So that's why I think you won't see 1.5GHz in the 12". I'll bet not because of cooling or power problems, but because Apple wants to have something in their top-of-the-line machine to differentiate it from the low end in something other than screen size. I suppose they have to do it this way, but it's somewhat annoying at the same time.
Agreed
If they can put the 1.33 GHz in the 12-inch PB, why can't they put a 1.25 in the 12-inch iBook?
howard said:
If they can put the 1.33 GHz in the 12-inch PB, why can't they put a 1.25 in the 12-inch iBook?
thatwendigo:
i've very interested in the differences in architecture between Intel x86 chips and the G4 chips. I understand the general ghist (more calculation per second but way less efficient), but would like some more details. Could you expln or point me in the right direction?
Thanks.
i've very interested in the differences in architecture between Intel x86 chips and the G4 chips. I understand the general ghist (more calculation per second but way less efficient), but would like some more details. Could you expln or point me in the right direction?
Thanks.
plinden said:
I think I love you, but what am I so afraid of...
Er, sorry. I'm just glad to see someone else pointing out the quality-of-build issues that you face in a lot of the other side of the fence. I also like that at least one of your manufacturers turns a profit on their sales, which is something that a lot of people leave out of their comparisons. In order to fairly price with Apple, you have to take into account just how much of their own R&D they have to do, along with the extra costs of the PowerPC architecture, and the other market concerns that face them (like short-run manufacturing).
I actually was looking around at Centrino systems not too long ago, to get an idea of just what the current lineup is looking like for PC users. Some of them are halfway decent, but they don't have my most important qualification - OS X.
thatwendigo said:
Im Pro Apple all the way but if I were in the market for a Centrino notebook this would be my current pick...
http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/notebooks/product.cfm?ProductType=3760
Don't make us get a bigger ibook for a faster processer...
This is my biggest problem. I hate the 12" ibooks. They are lame. Perhaps, if you got some extra screen real-estate for the added size, they would be worth it. But you don't. So for people like me who love the 12" form factor, why can't I get a 1.25 gigahertz processor. It is not like the powerbooks where bigger means more powerful (Like, who else is going to want a 17" powerbooks except someone doing video editing in the filed or something...the only people who are going to want a 14" ibook are people with strained eyes..)
My two cents..
brhmac said:
This is my biggest problem. I hate the 12" ibooks. They are lame. Perhaps, if you got some extra screen real-estate for the added size, they would be worth it. But you don't. So for people like me who love the 12" form factor, why can't I get a 1.25 gigahertz processor. It is not like the powerbooks where bigger means more powerful (Like, who else is going to want a 17" powerbooks except someone doing video editing in the filed or something...the only people who are going to want a 14" ibook are people with strained eyes..)
My two cents..
This update looks fairly normal given that we are still dealing with Motorolla and the G4 chips. Sales for existing portables were much stronger that I would have thought given a lack of updates. With these new machines we should see an uptick in sales of PowerBooks and especially iBooks.
I just want a new G5 desktop to keep my Dual 1.8 G5 company. Waiting until June is killing me.
I just want a new G5 desktop to keep my Dual 1.8 G5 company. Waiting until June is killing me.
I, for one, am not going to buy another powerbook until a new cooling solution is used. I felt like I had a hot pizza right from the oven on my lap when I was using my ti400. And that was only 400mhz! Now we are talking 1.3 to 1.5Ghz!?? I'm hoping that the rumors regarding Apple's research into new and innovative cooling techniques are true. If they are, they will most likely be utilized when the powerbook form factor is revised for the G5 PBs.
I can't believe Apple would make such minor upgrades to the iBook at this stage. I'm still hoping for more than this rumor... like a SuperDrive, 512MB RAM.. and one day... 15" screen
The only information you need on Apple pricing
Consider the $4.5 billion CASH Apple has sitting in the bank.
Good for Apple. But where do you think that money came from?
Apple customers.
Doesn't matter how much Apple spends on R&D vs. what you think Dell or any other company spends on R&D. The bottom line is simple: Even with Apple's R&D investment, the company has managed to pile away $4.5 billion -- all the while being more expensive $ to $ than any computer on the market.
Does anyone who makes this argument even know what Dell, for example, pays on R&D?
Consider the $4.5 billion CASH Apple has sitting in the bank.
Good for Apple. But where do you think that money came from?
Apple customers.
Doesn't matter how much Apple spends on R&D vs. what you think Dell or any other company spends on R&D. The bottom line is simple: Even with Apple's R&D investment, the company has managed to pile away $4.5 billion -- all the while being more expensive $ to $ than any computer on the market.
Does anyone who makes this argument even know what Dell, for example, pays on R&D?
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