Intel iBook at MWSF (January) 2006?

[macrumors12345]

"like" the only, or THE only?

"Like" the only, because I'm from California. But if I had to guess, I'd say it's THE only iApp (where iApps include other Apple consumer apps too, like Safari and Mail) that isn't Universal now (in fact, for all I know, iTunes might even be universal by now...the ZDNet ppl were testing with 10.4.1). But I won't guarantee that.

 

[generik]

Not gonna happen. The Pentium M is a fairly expensive cpu and you want the most expensive version of it in a consumer laptop. Not that I wouldn't want this, but wanting doesn't make it so.

That CPU alone will probably set Apple back by $250-$300.

 

[agentgraves]

judging from this article, a top-of-the-line Yonah proc will set Apple back $640.

 

[generik]

judging from this article, a top-of-the-line Yonah proc will set Apple back $640.

Even assuming Apple gets it at 50% off from retail pricing it is still a lot of coin 🙄

I doubt we will see any high end chips used in the iBook though.

 

[dongmin]

Even assuming Apple gets it at 50% off from retail pricing it is still a lot of coin 🙄

I doubt we will see any high end chips used in the iBook though.

I don't think those are 'retail.' The article is talking about what Intel will provide to its 'customers' which I take to me manufracturers.

If this report is indeed accurate, I don't see how Apple can get a Yonah into the iBooks. $210 seems prohibitively expensive, especially if you consider that the total manufacturing cost is probably in the $500-600 range.

So, if we say the iBooks will debut with Dothans, then I don't see why Apple can't bring them out in January, a few months ahead of the PowerBooks. Of course I'm assuming that Apple will hold off on the PBs until the Yonahs are ready and shipping. Lets say a few months lag from when Yonahs ships, then we're looking at March-April for Yonah PBs.

I'm leaning towards iBooks and Minis at MWSF 06.

 

[Alasta]

So, if we say the iBooks will debut with Dothans, then I don't see why Apple can't bring them out in January, a few months ahead of the PowerBooks. Of course I'm assuming that Apple will hold off on the PBs until the Yonahs are ready and shipping. Lets say a few months lag from when Yonahs ships, then we're looking at March-April for Yonah PBs.

I'm leaning towards iBooks and Minis at MWSF 06.

I agree with your logic. I also feel that the iBook is well overdue for a cosmetic overhaul, and the Intel switch would be a perfect opportunity to do it.

 

[generik]

I agree with your logic. I also feel that the iBook is well overdue for a cosmetic overhaul, and the Intel switch would be a perfect opportunity to do it.

New CPU = good, but I certainly hope the new iBooks are more resillent unlike the new iPods.

 

[iEdd]

I doubt the prices are going down, so some moderately priced cpus could be used.
Does anyone else think it's nearing the time where consumer computers (as well as the 12/13" PB) gets Firewire 800?

 

[generik]

I doubt the prices are going down, so some moderately priced cpus could be used.
Does anyone else think it's nearing the time where consumer computers (as well as the 12/13" PB) gets Firewire 800?

Nope, consumers do not need FW 800.

 

[ezekielrage_99]

Nope, consumers do not need FW 800.

Doesn't Hunter S Thompson have some sort of a theory that things can never be fast enough? I say faster faster need more speed😀

 

[generik]

Doesn't Hunter S Thompson have some sort of a theory that things can never be fast enough? I say faster faster need more speed😀

Sure, show Steve the money and you will get faster and faster.

Until a Firewire 1000 or 1600 comes out I doubt Apple will remove yet another perk from their "Power" line.

Remember guys, Apple is telling YOU what you want, and not the other way round. Since there are no competitors to Apple you can either suck it up or just take the high road and go the Microsoft route.

 

[MacSA]

When will we see superdrives standard on all Apple laptops? (Or, indeed on all Apple computers) It's nearly 2006, and £700 for a laptop with just CDRW? I think thats a bit pricey now - even for Apple.

 

[Multimedia]

All DL Superdrives All The Time

When will we see superdrives standard on all Apple laptops? (Or, indeed on all Apple computers) It's nearly 2006, and £700 for a laptop with just CDRW? I think thats a bit pricey now - even for Apple.

Can only guess when BlueRay ships Apple can put Superdrives in everything and make BlueRay the premium drive. Just guessing though. It's a good idea you've thought of. I alwyas thought Combo Drives would be the minimum. But you may be right. 🙂

 

[in2themystik2]

Predicament!!

I was wondering if anyone with more knowledge than I have (which is not much) could give me any advice. I have been planning to get a lap top very soon and decided that I would switch to Mac and try an ibook. My original plan was to get the current 12" ibook, but now with all the talk of a possible update, I don't know if I should get one now, or wait and see if they update next month.

I guess my concerns are that if I wait, and get one next month if they change them, then there might be some kinks to iron out and I could have problems with it. If I get the current one, I am afraid it will be outdated quickly if they release the new ones next month, although the current has been tried and worked.

I just use the computer for basic use as a consumer, and not for special purposes, like graphic design or anything.

I have talked to a friend who is a mac user and he has given me some of his thoughts, but I was just wondering if anyone else had any opinions, as I have been agonizing over this decision recently! Thank you so much! 😕 🙂

 

[AvSRoCkCO1067]

I was wondering if anyone with more knowledge than I have (which is not much) could give me any advice. I have been planning to get a lap top very soon and decided that I would switch to Mac and try an ibook. My original plan was to get the current 12" ibook, but now with all the talk of a possible update, I don't know if I should get one now, or wait and see if they update next month.

I guess my concerns are that if I wait, and get one next month if they change them, then there might be some kinks to iron out and I could have problems with it. If I get the current one, I am afraid it will be outdated quickly if they release the new ones next month, although the current has been tried and worked.

I just use the computer for basic use as a consumer, and not for special purposes, like graphic design or anything.

I have talked to a friend who is a mac user and he has given me some of his thoughts, but I was just wondering if anyone else had any opinions, as I have been agonizing over this decision recently! Thank you so much! 😕 🙂

I love my iBook - buy it now, as there will be NO advantages to an Intel iBook if you're solely running consumer-type programs (i.e. iLife, Office, iWork, web surfing, etc.). Plus, you'll get to avoid the problems with the Intel transition (which are, I believe, somewhat inevitable).

Lastly, if you're still hesitant, consider picking up a refurb. for about 799 (or 200 bucks less than the 12" iBook). They are, of course, the same computer....

 

[Morn]

Ok.
1.Apple is not going to use a CPU without SSE3 I think, rosetta alraedy makes heavy use of it, dothan is unlikely I think.
2. There will be a single core yonah, maybe they'll use some "celeron yonah" Another reason why i think a powerbook is more likely at macworld, will make full usage of dual core yonah, and having the first dual core laptop will be a major way to announce x86, sounds like Jobs style to me.
3. It'll be hard to make a laptop with an intel processor that's slower than a powerbook, why would you have an ibook that's in some ways better than a powerbook for about 3 months? Why only poeple who are scared of x86 will buy it.
4. powerbook needs a CPU upgrade more than any mac, the ibook and mac mini are consumer products, performance is less important. The powerbook is currently a poor offering for pro users, slow, therefore I don't think it'll be a major issue to move it to x86 first, as many consumers who want a higher end system also buy the powerbook and they'll be happy with x86.

I don't have much faith in this ibook rumor, I think having a powerbook first is both more practical and wiser.

 

[zap2]

Ok.
1.Apple is not going to use a CPU without SSE3 I think, rosetta alraedy makes heavy use of it, dothan is unlikely I think.
2. There will be a single core yonah, maybe they'll use some "celeron yonah" Another reason why i think a powerbook is more likely at macworld, will make full usage of dual core yonah, and having the first dual core laptop will be a major way to announce x86, sounds like Jobs style to me.
3. It'll be hard to make a laptop with an intel processor that's slower than a powerbook, why would you have an ibook that's in some ways better than a powerbook for about 3 months? Why only poeple who are scared of x86 will buy it.
4. powerbook needs a CPU upgrade more than any mac, the ibook and mac mini are consumer products, performance is less important. The powerbook is currently a poor offering for pro users, slow, therefore I don't think it'll be a major issue to move it to x86 first, as many consumers who want a higher end system also buy the powerbook and they'll be happy with x86.

I don't have much faith in this ibook rumor, I think having a powerbook first is both more practical and wiser.

While those are all great points, if Apple was to release a PRO-laptop many 3rd party Apps will not be readyy for intel Mac OSX and Pro users us more 3rd party App normal

 

[maverick808]

While those are all great points, if Apple was to release a PRO-laptop many 3rd party Apps will not be readyy for intel Mac OSX and Pro users us more 3rd party App normal

I don't think this is true. The latest Intel Tiger seeds have a version of Rosetta that can convert altivec code. I've heard that on current Intel chips (which are obviously slower than Yonah will be) Photoshop and other pro apps run quite a bit faster under Rosetta than they do natively on a 1.67GHz PowerBook.

So given that any Yonah PowerBook will run all the current versions of the pro apps perfectly and faster in Rosetta than what we currently experience on PPC why would Apple need to wait around for Intel-specific versions if they can get a performance boost right now? Sure it will be even better when they come along but there's certainly no need to hold off the switch since there won't be any loss of apps or performance at all.

 

[Morn]

Yeah, but well the powerbook is slow and currently as it is is a poor offering to pro users I think. I suspect that a dual core yonah 2ghz or something like that would be quite good at emulating a powerpc, I mean a single g4 1.67ghz would be a hell of a lot slower, even if rosetta is 40% of the speed of native x86 code. You could still emulate performacec level with the current ibook with all the CPU power in a dual core yonah at the worst.

 

[madmaxmedia]

The 'pro' distinction isn't nearly as relevant when it comes to notebooks. It's not like the PowerBook has 5 RAM slots and 4 PCI slots, the only difference between PB and iB is that the iBook is crippled, and the PowerBook has an aluminum case.

The current PowerBooks are poor anyways, and as another poster mentioned, are in greatest need of an upgrade.

If a fast Intel CPU gives pretty good performance for most apps, they will likely intro an Intel PB first.

What they can then also do is bump the iBooks to near current PB speeds, with a 167MHz bus. That will essentially make the iBooks same as prior-gen PowerBooks.

I don't necessarily think an Intel PB is coming in January, but I do think it makes as much or more sense than an Intel iBook in January.

 

[mikesjo]

I was wondering if anyone with more knowledge than I have (which is not much) could give me any advice. I have been planning to get a lap top very soon and decided that I would switch to Mac and try an ibook. My original plan was to get the current 12" ibook, but now with all the talk of a possible update, I don't know if I should get one now, or wait and see if they update next month.

I guess my concerns are that if I wait, and get one next month if they change them, then there might be some kinks to iron out and I could have problems with it. If I get the current one, I am afraid it will be outdated quickly if they release the new ones next month, although the current has been tried and worked.

I just use the computer for basic use as a consumer, and not for special purposes, like graphic design or anything.

I have talked to a friend who is a mac user and he has given me some of his thoughts, but I was just wondering if anyone else had any opinions, as I have been agonizing over this decision recently! Thank you so much! 😕 🙂

I just ordered my first mac last friday 🙂. The 12" iBook! I was going to wait for the same reasons you mentioned but then the first ones out are usually bugged, it's not till a few months later that they'll become more stable. The nice thing about the current iBook is it's been around for some time! I say get it.

I'll be asking a lot of questions on here in a few weeks ><.

 

[Morn]

As I see it, you can get serious bugs in any revision regardless of how matured it is. Don't be paranoid about Rev.A, just read macrumors forums for the latest whinges on the products. 🙂 As I say, whinges are what keep products quality.

 

[steve_hill4]

When people talk about buggy Rev. A products, it's because they have just switched over to comething new. Take the iMac switching to G5. Since then we have had two more revisions, each with minor to mildly significant chages, but the main switch was to G5 which was a bigger step. There was potential for heat issues, screen problems, and much more. Once any bugs get fixed in Rev. B, however many changes they make to what is essentially the same machine, the computer should be better built and more stable.

Take the example of the casing on the Rev. A Alu PowerBooks having problems. This has only been really reported with Rev. A, so people are wary of buying one second hand, or a new Rev. A item. Not me, I will almost certainly go for a Rev. A Intel PB when it is available. MWSF better bring one for me, or I will be very anxious.

 

[Sunrunner]

As I see it, you can get serious bugs in any revision regardless of how matured it is. Don't be paranoid about Rev.A, just read macrumors forums for the latest whinges on the products. 🙂 As I say, whinges are what keep products quality.

I think that is an oversimplification. The more changes you make to something, the more untested technologies and integrations you have in one box, the more likely you are to have problems and issues. The key then is to have a very robust testing cycle to iron out all of the bugs BEFORE they hit the streets. Honestly Apple has done a pretty good job of doing this IMHO.

 

[TJOLSON19]

Hmm, it could happen. I definitely expect iBooks to be the first to come with Intel. Although still, January seems a bit too early. I know that Tiger can run on Intel, but what about the other programs available? How is that gonna work, especially for switchers who will be needing to buy new versions of their favorite programs.

I'm sure Apple has something up their sleeve if they intend to release an intel mac as early as January.....Knowing Apple's track record (as well as being a former employee) I wouldn't imagine Steve Job's releasing a poor product simply to get it out ahead of schedule......I am curious however, to see how well Rosetta actually works! From what I've read.....x86 build 10.4.3 solved many compatability issues with Rosetta.....I guess we'll find out in a month!