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iBook, Powerbook Specs?
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This time, it feels like a lot of people are actually expecting updated iBooks and PowerBooks tomorrow/later today, as the recent other updates have been nice. I just hope Apple surprises us with something better than expected, or else there'll be a long thread of replies along the lines of, "A modest speed bump? APPLE SUCKS!"
I've got my fingers crossed.
I've got my fingers crossed.
QCassidy352 said:
The graphics bus has nothing to do with cpu speed. My alBook ends up starved for memory on the 64meg card quite often when using dual displays. In addition exposé chews through video memory like crazy.
In other words any recent mac could benefit from a video card with lots of memory.
Apple could address this problem very easily
Exactly. There is no real differentiation between the 12-inch iBook and the 14-inch iBook other than the processor. Why force someone to buy a 14-inch model just to get the faster processor?
Isn't the answer to charge a premium for the processor? Pricing differentiation would be simple: Make the 12-inch iBook with the 1.25 Ghz the same price as the 14-inch iBook with the 1.25 Ghz. Offer the 1 Ghz iBook at a lower price.
D'uh!
nsb3000 said:
Exactly. There is no real differentiation between the 12-inch iBook and the 14-inch iBook other than the processor. Why force someone to buy a 14-inch model just to get the faster processor?
Isn't the answer to charge a premium for the processor? Pricing differentiation would be simple: Make the 12-inch iBook with the 1.25 Ghz the same price as the 14-inch iBook with the 1.25 Ghz. Offer the 1 Ghz iBook at a lower price.
D'uh!
oingoboingo said:
Perhaps, and perhaps not. Maybe the newer machines take advantage of better features that weren't available, like firmware/ROM revisions that would run the system cooler. It's pretty openly accepted at this point that the eMacs were chipped with a PowerPC that could reach 1.3 ghz, but the heat issues with the enclosed space and the addition of a Superdrive eroded system performance. In the case of the 12" powerbook, they had to make it thicker than the other laptops just to fit everything in and keep it cool.
Is cooling and tech really not a factor? Almost certainly not. Is stratification a factor? Probably so. We won't likely know how much of either, though, unless one of us not only works for the Apple hardware department, but also doesn't mind going to jail for talking about it.
Apple's not set up to do this, though, unlike the really big OEMs, because they don't have the volume to do complete pick-and-choose without taking serious hits on components that languish. That's also assuming that you're right about the motivation, incidentally, which I don't readily concede.
Bet away.
|_wise_| said:
Ars Technica compares the P4 to the MPC 7450 (G4+) and continues here. You might want to read about the 970, which they talk about more than once.
What?
How? It looks almost like a PB clone.
I know this is a Mac board, but at least be honest.
AndrewMT said:
How? It looks almost like a PB clone.
I know this is a Mac board, but at least be honest.
The width of the 15" screen is slightly less than the width of a 4:3 17" monitor. I do not know of any 17" LCDs that do more than 1280x1024, so I'm not sure why you expect a wide-screen LCD that's the same width to have a higher horizontal resolution. Meanwhile, the 17" Powerbook already supports a higher resolution; 1440x900. I have seen 1600x1200 on 17" CRT monitors, and I can't imagine running that all the time. It's too small. You need a 19" monitor at least to run that high. All I can guess is that you're referring to the 12", but why would you do graphic design on a screen that small?
psylance said:
let's be honest
We'd all like a PB with quad 3GHz G5s, a large, hi res screen, and a full size keyboard. Naturally it would all fold up to the size of a PalmPilot.
I think that if Apple could put a more powerful processor in the 12" they would and just like iPod mini, it would become the high margin machine.
It's late and I may not be expressing myself very well. What I'm trying to say is that just like the iPod mini is priced at a premium because of its smaller size, a 12" PB that is similar in power and features to a 17" PB would command a higher price simply because of its smaller size.
And I think customers would pay for it. So the lesser features of the 12" are not due to marketing considerations but technical ones.
I really should write these things when I'm awake. I'm sure everyone will let me know if I'm not making any sense.
~iGuy
We'd all like a PB with quad 3GHz G5s, a large, hi res screen, and a full size keyboard. Naturally it would all fold up to the size of a PalmPilot.
I think that if Apple could put a more powerful processor in the 12" they would and just like iPod mini, it would become the high margin machine.
It's late and I may not be expressing myself very well. What I'm trying to say is that just like the iPod mini is priced at a premium because of its smaller size, a 12" PB that is similar in power and features to a 17" PB would command a higher price simply because of its smaller size.
And I think customers would pay for it. So the lesser features of the 12" are not due to marketing considerations but technical ones.
I really should write these things when I'm awake. I'm sure everyone will let me know if I'm not making any sense.
~iGuy
i've got only this much to say:
no G5 in PB, no buy.
still, my dead line of must-buy is september.
so i'll wait for WWDC and see if a PB will pop up.
otherwise iBook will do just fine.
no G5 in PB, no buy.
still, my dead line of must-buy is september.
so i'll wait for WWDC and see if a PB will pop up.
otherwise iBook will do just fine.
If Apple is having problems with getting the G5s (technically or supply) into powerbooks, I don't think anyone should be surprised by the minor speed increases.
I think these will be very good updates if all the models get improved screens. If not, kinda disappointing considering how long it has been since the last update. These would have been ok if they had been release 3 or 4 months ago.
I think these will be very good updates if all the models get improved screens. If not, kinda disappointing considering how long it has been since the last update. These would have been ok if they had been release 3 or 4 months ago.
256mb soldered onto motherboard?
I sure hope they solder all 256 onto the motherboard this time. Considering that they now have 512k cache G4s, the extra RAM being soldered on looks likely.
-Kevin
I sure hope they solder all 256 onto the motherboard this time. Considering that they now have 512k cache G4s, the extra RAM being soldered on looks likely.
-Kevin
the more similar the basic specs of the different versions in each line are, the better. moving in the direction of differentiation more by add-ons (superdrive) and special features (backlit keyboards) than by raw power (processor) should allow consumers to get the machine they want more than being forced into unnecessarily karge upgrades for one small reason or another. especially if they can keep increasing the speeds of machines as faster processors become available/workable.
brhmac said:
That was my thought as well, I actually like the look of it, and it does seem very thin and liteweight. Im not to hip on that Sony portable, looks very fat, hehe. But it also looks small overall which is nice. It really is too bad M$ does not have a better operating system out now, those Pentium-M based notebooks really are pretty good, for a Wintendo!
But I could never leave Apple or my Mac
aahhh!! my new PowerBook soon to be out-done by the low-end PowerBooks!
oh well, it'll be good to see 1.5GHz PowerBooks out there, and a $100 price drop would be even better!!
well this just makes waiting for the G5 PowerBooks too much. if the high-end G4 PowerBooks are going to be 1.5GHz... the G5 PowerBooks will have to be smokin! oh yeah!!
oh well, it'll be good to see 1.5GHz PowerBooks out there, and a $100 price drop would be even better!!
well this just makes waiting for the G5 PowerBooks too much. if the high-end G4 PowerBooks are going to be 1.5GHz... the G5 PowerBooks will have to be smokin!
oh yeah!! 
this update leaves apple completely uncompetetive with the pc market... for example:
apple 15" powerbook
1.33GHz /256MB DDR/60GB/DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo drive/Gig Enet/56K/Bluetooth/AirPort Extreme
price AUS$3499 (assuming prices stay the same - which it seems they will)
lg ls50-1 15" laptop
1.4ghz centrino/256MB DDR/40GB/DVD-ROM/CD-RW/Enet/56k/(11b standard)
price AUS$1999 (http://cworld.com.au/)
im sorry but theres now way to justify AUS$1500 price difference... and dont talk to me about "build quality" because ive owned 3 mac and 3 pcs and i had to replace 3cd drives, 2 keyboards and a mouse on the macs and never had anything break on the pcs... (except windows which was just broken to start with ;p)
ive been holding off on buying a laptop till apple updated but now ill just go pc (unless they do lower prices)...
i mean whyd they increase the clock speed anyway? considering the g4 fsb i doubt it offers any real performance boost... offers plenty of extra heat and reduced battery life though...
what apple should have done was update PRICES not useless specs...
(i dont think the situation in the us is as bad but apple prices here in aus are a joke)
apple 15" powerbook
1.33GHz /256MB DDR/60GB/DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo drive/Gig Enet/56K/Bluetooth/AirPort Extreme
price AUS$3499 (assuming prices stay the same - which it seems they will)
lg ls50-1 15" laptop
1.4ghz centrino/256MB DDR/40GB/DVD-ROM/CD-RW/Enet/56k/(11b standard)
price AUS$1999 (http://cworld.com.au/)
im sorry but theres now way to justify AUS$1500 price difference... and dont talk to me about "build quality" because ive owned 3 mac and 3 pcs and i had to replace 3cd drives, 2 keyboards and a mouse on the macs and never had anything break on the pcs... (except windows which was just broken to start with ;p)
ive been holding off on buying a laptop till apple updated but now ill just go pc (unless they do lower prices)...
i mean whyd they increase the clock speed anyway? considering the g4 fsb i doubt it offers any real performance boost... offers plenty of extra heat and reduced battery life though...
what apple should have done was update PRICES not useless specs...
(i dont think the situation in the us is as bad but apple prices here in aus are a joke)
brhmac said:
Quite a bit of which is interest on investments, actually. Regardless, we don't know what purpose that money is being saved against, what use it might be put to, or anything else, other than what Apple says and releases. Do you think that things like Xsan and Motion come from nowhere?
For Fiscal year 2004, Dell had $19 billion in current assets, almost $11 billion in current liability, which comes out to around $8 billion in the bank, with a total long term debt of $508 million. They don't break down their operating costs to specific sections, but the overall amount allocated to their entire operation was $3.4 billion.
Make of that what you will.
Honestly for someone like me I would still be rather happy with a G4 500Mhz book with a 14" screen, but then again I dont do heavy CPU intensive things, just iLife and web stuff. I dont game on my Mac, that's what my GC, XBOX, and PS2 are for. But a 1Ghz 12" iBook sounds sweet, and should last a very long time for the average person / student that uses it.
Excited
I actually just ordered a new 15" Superdrive PB on Saturday. I am calling first thing in the morning (if the updates take effect then) to upgrade. At least I had semi good timing and didn't order earlier. (I custom configured the order with 1 memory module so if they shipped it and then upgraded I'd be screwed, at least according to their policies). I am completely new to macs and have never used one. I was playing with a friends tibook and I loved it. It's going to be my new baby. Should I upgrade to a 128MB graphics card if it's available? I mean the laptop is going down $100 so it should be about equal to what I am already spending. I am just really excited to get this thing!
I actually just ordered a new 15" Superdrive PB on Saturday. I am calling first thing in the morning (if the updates take effect then) to upgrade. At least I had semi good timing and didn't order earlier. (I custom configured the order with 1 memory module so if they shipped it and then upgraded I'd be screwed, at least according to their policies). I am completely new to macs and have never used one. I was playing with a friends tibook and I loved it. It's going to be my new baby. Should I upgrade to a 128MB graphics card if it's available? I mean the laptop is going down $100 so it should be about equal to what I am already spending. I am just really excited to get this thing!
Website down for updates
I just wanted to let everyone know that when checking my current G4 PB order I noticed Apple's online store has been down for updates since about 10 o'clock central time. Could this be them updating the laptops on their online store?
I just wanted to let everyone know that when checking my current G4 PB order I noticed Apple's online store has been down for updates since about 10 o'clock central time. Could this be them updating the laptops on their online store?
brhmac said:
It looks like a PB clone experiment gone wrong that is kept in the attic on a diet of fish heads. The keyboard and speaker layout is the same, and yes the laptop is a rectangle, but that is where the similarities end.
Sorry I'm off topic guys but this guy said I wasn't being honest. To be honest, you need your vision checked.
mattster16 said:
im not sure youre really ever getting value for money buying a graphics card for a mac considering theres probably one decent game released a year... (ignore this if you were planning on using it for something other than games)
mateybob said:
Well, I probably wouldn't do any gaming, but I am one of those people who has to have the highest model of anything I am buying (cars, computers, etc.) so I will probably end up getting it anyways. haha
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