iBook - when to buy?

[iCrispy]

I am a student preparing to go to uni in the autumn, and require a laptop. I have worked with a PC all my life, but since my brother bought a Powerbook G4 last September, i have been looking into Apple products.

I am looking to spend under £1000, so the 12" iBook is ideal coming in at £900 (with 60GB hard drive, and bluetooth module). The extra money would allow me to get a decent speaker system for my 20GB iPod + iBook.

I did look at PC laptops but hardly any low-price range laptops come with a firewire port (which i want for my iPod) and none match the performance of the iBook.

Obviously i would not be buying yet, as i am not due to go to uni for 9 months, but I was wondering what sort of updates we would see from Apple to the 12" iBook. I expect speed bump from the current 800MHz, but how much more do you think it will be? One of my friends (a Mac lover) doesn't expect them to reach 1GHz by October, yet my brother says otherwise. Could you clear this up for me? Thankyou

 

[ThomasJefferson]

OK. Just for you, iCrispy, I pulled my Magic 8-Ball down from the bookshelf and got the following, completely inaccurate information, for your benefit.

Early/Mid 2004
Powerbook G4 updates in late Jan. (This one is not rocket science)
iBook updates late March. (12in at 933)

Mid 04
A long, hot, angry, global-warming-like summer - of whining and gnashing of teeth - while people complain that they want a G5 Powerbook. I plan to go shoot pictures in Yellowstone National Park to avoid the "deplorable cultus". Alaska might not even be far enough away.

Late 04
Powerbook G5's by late Sept/early Oct
Apple will then release an iBook with a new form factor in lateOct/early Nov. (12in at 1GHz)

Thats my best guess.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

Ok, so far everything has gone to pot. No Apple updates on the hardware front whatsoever since the Xserve at MacWorld SF more than a month ago despite several vague rumours to the contrary. There are some whispers of PowerBook updates on the 9th of Feb but they've probably just surfaced because the 2nd Feb rumours did not bear fruit.

iBooks won't get updated until after the PowerBooks. We may well see a 933MHz iBook 12" but the 14" doesn't really have anywhere to go, unless they just make it one model, coming in at 1GHz. The 12" PB would most likely move to 1.25GHz.

Unfortunately, the next iBook updates are likely to occur towards the end of the year, probably after uni has started. In fact, the start of the academic year is a good opportunity for Apple to run down on its old stock before new products are introduced. Still, Apple tends to prove us all wrong time and time again.

The last week or so has brought a flurry of software updates so expect the next round of hardware upgrades to happen soon.

Oh, and by September, expect the iBook line to be even more competitievly priced...

 

[James_C]

I agree the iBook range got a big boost last year going to the G4. I suspect that iBook range will not get a speed bump until the PowerBooks go G5, and I am not expecting that to happen to Sept / Oct at the earliest in my opinion. Trouble is not one really knows what Apple is going to do.