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Intel iBook at MWSF (January) 2006?

dr_lha said:
Yeah, but Mac OS X doesn't exactly cost them "nothing", R&D costs for OS X will be high, and I'll bet that boxed sales of Tiger et al doesn't cover the cost of development, so they have to put part of the Mac hardware sales towards that. I'd be surprised if the necessary "cut" of the Mac profit that goes back to pay for OS X development isn't the same or more as what Dell pays for Windows ($50 a machine or something?).
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Quite right. Apple is both a hardware vendor and a software developer. The economics of a software business is totally different from a hardware business. Software has huge fixed costs and relatively small variable costs. Market share matters in software; margins don't.
 
NickFalk said:
Not quite. I believe Photoshop uses Altived when present but can still run on G3 processors. Final Cut Studio would have to be recompiled I guess, and I believe this actually fits perfectly with my theory of a later Powerbook update...
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Photoshop is Altivec-enhanced, but there are apps (namely in audio and video) that are Altivec-only, which won't run on G3 or Rosetta.
 
revisionA said:
Split the trackpad's clicker into two, please! Make the right click like 65% of the space and 35% for the left, less confusion for the K.I.S.S. crowd.
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I don't like the idea of a split button. And an uneven split is worse... what about people who are left-handed? Keep the one button and make a trackpad tap a right-click.
 
NickFalk said:
Yes, but I think it would just make sense for Apple not too. If they premiere the new version at NAB they can release it as the same time as the new Powerbooks at the DC.
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Given that "new Powerbooks at the DC" is in Apple's product schedule, something we don't know. 🙂

NickFalk said:
OK, fair point. I'm mostly into video-stuff which in my case means Final Cut Studio + a bunch of Adobe apps.
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As I said, video professionals like you should be "worried" about the Adobe products you're using. Most of Adobe's code is awkwardly portable, proprietary, messy, and Carbon. I don't doubt they'll need some time to make all that universal. And if the Intel processors in future Macs are not at least 30% faster than PPCs in current ones, so you can run, say, Photoshop under Rosetta without performance penalty, Apple will have hard time persuading professionals, or even prosumers, to switch to x86.

Actually, I'm not sure what impact will all this have on Apple's laptops. Probably this is not representative of anything, but most people I know don't use their Powerbooks as main/sole production machines. Quick fix on the go - yes, but for serious work - meh, there are G5 based computers for that.

BTW, out of curiosity, are you running FCP on a Powerbook. I wouldn't have the guts to do that. 😛 😱 😛
 
JFreak said:
Photoshop is Altivec-enhanced, but there are apps (namely in audio and video) that are Altivec-only, which won't run on G3 or Rosetta.
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Yup, I did actually mention Final Cut Studio. My point is actually that the new Intel iBooks won't compete with the current Powerbooks because of this...
 
JFreak said:
Photoshop is Altivec-enhanced, but there are apps (namely in audio and video) that are Altivec-only, which won't run on G3 or Rosetta.
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Which exactly are those audio/video apps again? 😕 😕 😕
 
Lurch_Mojoff said:
BTW, out of curiosity, are you running FCP on a Powerbook. I wouldn't have the guts to do that. 😛 😱 😛
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Nah, my editing-suite still consists of an old, but update QS running dual 1,6Ghz G4 at the moment. Working in SD works brilliantly but it might have to bite the bullet when HD becomes a necessity...
 
These rumors are pure BS. The dual-core Yonahs are NOT gonna be ready by January, and NEVER has an iBook been updated to another generation before the mighty PowerBooks.

Again, AI and TS have NO clue. Seriously, it's easier to see PB G5s than that...
 
When do you think the best time to sell my current powerbook would be to get the most? Now when it isn't much worse than a new one you can buy or after they come out with new ones because this will be more optimised (presumably) for ppc apps than newer generation powerbooks?
 
I gave this a negative because the iBooks and the Powerbooks are so close in power that one would expect the iBooks to have the weaker chip. If the iBooks are getting the new Intel chips, then that doesn't bode well for their overall strength..
 
BRLawyer said:
These rumors are pure BS. The dual-core Yonahs are NOT gonna be ready by January, and NEVER has an iBook been updated to another generation before the mighty PowerBooks.
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Well, things might change. I'm not quite sure what kind of intel-processors Apple have lined up, but it could be that we're talking a real differentiation between the Powerbooks and iBooks for the first time in a while.

As long as the iBooks won't able to run the most popular pro-apps faster than the current Powerbooks I believe this makes perfect sense.
 
bit density said:
200 bucks cheaper. This is going to be fantastic for those that the Ibook is most targeted.
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I don't believe the price drop for a minute. I'm supposed to believe that the Intel chips are $200 cheaper apiece? Everything else is the basically the same.

The Apple premium is for design..
 
bit density said:
Probably not. But you shouldn't need to worry all that much, I suspect that you would see a joint Adobe/Apple release party, and that all of the pro apps both Adobe and Apple apps will be "released" at essentially the same time as the "pro" machines.
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HA! Don't you remember how long it took Adobe to write native OSX versions of their programs? (Albeit not as long as Quark)
 
NickFalk said:
Nah, my editing-suite still consists of an old, but update QS running dual 1,6Ghz G4 at the moment. Working in SD works brilliantly but it might have to bite the bullet when HD becomes a necessity...
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Dual 1,6GHz G4 QS is still much better for video and/or image manipulation than single 1,67GHz Powerbook. 😉
 
Hrm, this is a great rumor! I love idle Apple speculation. OK, I'm guessing we will see all the laptops go Intel at MWSF, and the mini just a little bit later (they will roll it out with some kind of media/video capabilities, and have an event focused on that as well as the new mini). iBooks will ship immediately, PowerBooks will be available in 4-6 weeks.

Specs? I'm guessing/hoping for:

iBook 12" (maybe a 13" Widescreen?) $899
~1.6ghz P-M
512mb RAM standard, up to 2gbs (1 slot)
40gb HDD (60/80/100gb offerd and I'm really hoping they move to all 5400rpm drives)
Mobility 9550/9600, AGP, 64mb VRAM (I'm guessing no Intel integrated simply for Core Video reasons)
Combo drive (will they offer an SD upgrade finally?! Hope so!)
AE and BT Standard

iBook 14" (WS 15"?) $1299
~1.75ghz P-M
512mb RAM standard (up to 4gb with 2 slots)
60gb HDD (80/100 offered)
Rest the same as 12"

Powerbook 12" $1499-1599
Dual Core 1.5ghz Yonah
512mb Standard RAM (2 Slots - 4gb Max)
60gb HDD (80/100 offered)
ATI x600 64mb VRAM, PCIe
Combo/AE/BT2

Powerbook 15" $1999
Dual 1.8ghz
1gb RAM standard (up to 4)
80gb HDD (100+ offered)
x700 128mb VRAM PCIe
Combo/AE/BT2

Powerbook 17" $2499-2699
Dual 2-2.2ghz
1gb RAM
100gb HDD
x800 256mb
SD/AE/BT2

*Note, I used ATI card through the lines, but who knows what Apple will pick, so substitute an equivalent NVIDIA card if that's the flavor of the day when I Apple makes the contracts.
 
Lurch_Mojoff said:
Dual 1,6GHz G4 QS is still much better for video and/or image manipulation than single 1,67GHz Powerbook. 😉
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Yeah I have no complaints really. Heck, "Cold Mountain" was edited with lesser processors. 🙂
 
Daveway said:
Maybe its just me but doesn't it seem like the rumor sites are "covering all bases" like they did earlier this year?
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I was thinking the same thing when I read this. With all the rumors out there now one of them has to be right.
 
well crap. . . And the waiting for a new PowerBook continues. Damn it at this rate I'm going to be able to get two PowerBooks. . .I already have three and a half grand saved up. 🙁
 
maverick808 said:
I don't like the idea of a split button. And an uneven split is worse... what about people who are left-handed? Keep the one button and make a trackpad tap a right-click.
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As a lefty, three comments. One, the tap won't work because the trackpad on iBooks is extremely sensitive to taps and the predictable result will be all kinds of unintential secondary-button clicks.

Two, even though I have recently arrived in Apple land from the windows PC world, I find control-click quite adequate for my right-click needs (on a laptop), and of course, you can just use a two-button mouse on the Apple desktops.

Three, the best ergonomic solution for both right and left handers, IMHO, would be click-and-hold = right click, as it essentially is for the dock (i.e., click and hold pulls up the contextual menu).
 
mrgreen4242 said:
Powerbook 17" $2499-2699
Dual 2-2.2ghz
1gb RAM
100gb HDD
x800 256mb
SD/AE/BT2

*Note, I used ATI card through the lines, but who knows what Apple will pick, so substitute an equivalent NVIDIA card if that's the flavor of the day when I Apple makes the contracts.
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I would get down on my hands and knees and lick Steve Jobs's sneakers for that laptop. . .And I'm not kidding. 😱
 
the iBook line may see a price drop by as much as $200 in some cases.
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I hope that doesn't mean that the specs will drop in turn as well (slower processor, low-end vid. card, etc.) I also hope they revamp their looks, but I think I'm in the minority of those who don't really care for the 'white plastic' look of the iBooks.
 
What a pathetic joke.

Gotta love the dimwitted clowns who are begging to get their hands on a piece of crap Pentium M laptop so they can run almost all of their apps emulated at SLOWER speeds than current G4 laptops - of course ignoring all of the apps that won't work at all.

Start saving for your 'dream' laptop losers!
 
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