Intel iBook (MacBook) Arriving in May? and 17'' MacBook Pro?

[boncellis]

I think Apple might want to get rid of G4s as soon as possible so I'd doubt they'd stay.

$949? - 13.3" MacBook Solo 1.5Ghz
$1249? - 13.3" MacBook Duo 1.66Ghz

I see your point, especially when you consider all the excitement and attention Apple is receiving over the Boot Camp functionality--maybe keeping the G4s around would cause confusion (or even a backlash) among consumers who want to switch but are unfamiliar with the PPC architecture.

As far as that pricing scheme goes, I think it's a little bit too low as the current G4 offerings are at $999 and $1299. Also, one has to take into account the added iSight, MagSafe, remote, etc. Probably not much when the cost is spread out, but it has to add up somewhere. And those Core Duo processors still ain't cheap!

 

[Photorun]

... and 20" ACD (or Dell display if your really tight )

Or a soulless moron.

 

[gauchogolfer]

I'd just like to express my happiness at seeing a 'real' Mac rumor at the top of page 1. Just like old times!

but, an intel iBook would be great for my wife, even if she doesn't realize it yet

 

[bill4588]

yeah with all the features that are expected to be included, i wouldnt be surprised if the price started at $1199 My price limit is 1000.....so i hope apple does the right thing....

 

[Brundlefly]

I know....but

"said to share internal components"

Integrated graphics? Ugh.

I was playing on a single core mac mini, and I noticed zero lag, so although you wont be able to do any high rez gaming (like you could on the old ibook..snarf) it worked really well...even supporting core image.

 

[BlizzardBomb]

In bold, how much I think the items you listed cost

As far as that pricing scheme goes, I think it's a little bit too low as the current G4 offerings are at $999 and $1299. Also, one has to take into account the added iSight (About $10, think of camera phones ), MagSafe ($25?), remote ($15), etc. Probably not much when the cost is spread out, but it has to add up somewhere. And those Core Duo processors (Well probably about $150 - $200 each for Apple.) still ain't cheap!

True, but Boot Camp means that people from the PC world will be looking into buying a MacBook. It needs to be priced competitively. And the $1299 offering includes a larger screen, TS and AppleInsider say there will only be one 13.3" model.

 

[Eidorian]

I was playing on a single core mac mini, and I noticed zero lag, so although you wont be able to do any high rez gaming (like you could on the old ibook..snarf) it worked really well...even supporting core image.

What game(s) were you playing?

 

[cwedl]

I agree, they've still got the Imac so I dont see why they couldn't keep iBook.

steve said they want the mac name in their products, imac macbook but not iBook

 

[deadturtle]

Pricing and the End of the World

As someone who worked in Apple Education, the $$ is very important. We sold far more 12 inch iBook's because the price point was only three digits. If Apple wants to keep their laptops in the educational sector the bottom of the barrel has to be under a grand. As it is the price bump from 500 to 600 has had a significant shift in attitude here at work. My boss had no troubles slamming down $1000 for two mini's last year this time. Now he looks at it and says $600? Eeeek! Its all in the mind, but a 5 looks alot smaller than a 6, just as $999 looks much less that $1199.

As far as this whole onboard video thing goes, Apple may not have much to say in the matter. Intel may have said we'll supply chips, but you have to use this graphics card. Secondly because is Apple designing their own motherboards anymore? If they are it wouldnt be too hard to solder on a dedicated graphics option, but if they are using pre-fab boards (you know those ITX boards, which come with SATA and IDE and 1gb DDR, VIA makes one somewheres) they may only have to option to firmware the bits out, like the EFI firmware and the PCI bridge to the blue tooth and airport. The video/RAM/North-South Bridge, PCI BUS and (S)ATA interface may all be part of the package and apple is just going to have work around those limitations. I hope that is not the case, but the rumors say ASUSTEK is making the new iBook. If that is the case it is far more cost effective to use an ASUSTEK mb, with whatever pressed components exist (GMA950) whatever and slap an Apple Firmware on it and slot it into a 'Designed by Apple in California (Cuerpotino. which I cant spell) case that was made in Taiwan by Timmy the Slave Child and call it done. Saves Apple some price overhead, but doesnt leave much room for out-board graphics. Apple will then assume if its good enough for core graphics its good enough for us. Apple reputation takes a bit of a hit from the die-hard mac users but the general market share goes up, which is where Apple is really trying to get in all this, no?

 

[boncellis]

True, but Boot Camp means that people from the PC world will be looking into buying a MacBook. It needs to be priced competitively.

Not to hijack the thread, but I sure hope you're right!

 

[lmalave]

no sub-$1000 Mac laptop?

Hmm...it sounds as if this MacBook is going to run at least $1300. I'm sure it will still be a great value at that price, but the point is that they would be abandoning that magic $1000 price point. In the long run, I hope the price comes down and they are able to offer a stripped-down MacBook for $999.

 

[Chrispy]

Integrated esp Intel ones are a little tricky ... on paper GM900/950 have better (twice the pipelines etc) than x200 (IGP) or heck even x300 (lowend, almost the same as x200 just not IGP). But you can play all games with x300 and x200 but most of the new games will not be playable on intel IGPs. So you might want to watch out! I think the IGP/Dedicated graphics is going to be the way to up-sell more 'pro' stuff.

Agreed! I have an x300 and while it is not great it is much better than integrated. If these new MacBooks have integrated graphics it will push me away from buying one. I hope they don't go that route but I have a feeling they will

 

[BlizzardBomb]

Not to hijack the thread, but I sure hope you're right!

I wouldn't be surprized if I was wrong after all

 

[Bubbasteve]

For the sake of my money, I hope the macbooks dont come with core duo standard

 

[Rod Rod]

FWIW, AppleInsider today doesn't expect a Core Solo laptop, only Duos. (I'm skeptical--having an offering on the low-end makes sense to me.)

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1659

Dell sells a Core Duo laptop for $899. An Apple laptop with a Core Duo for $999 next month is just within reason.

Dell Latitude D620 ($899 Dell Business catalog price, claimed regular price $1179): Core Duo T2300 (1.66GHz, 2MB cache, 667MHz FSB), 512MB shared DDR2 SDRAM, 40GB HDD, 14.1" widescreen XGA, Intel 950 integrated graphics, CD-ROM, 802.11b/g built in).

The Mac would add an Apple Remote, integrated iSight, Bluetooth 2.0 and a Combo drive as far as basic specs go, and the screen would be distinct as well.

 

[amac4me]

Bring on the 17" MacBook Pro

I would expect the 17" model to be very popular as it it would finally let Mac users have a laptop that is closer in computing power to a desktop than the previous PowerBooks.

My view is that over the past few years, many Mac users have opted to purhase iMacs over PowerBooks becauese of the difficulty in getting a G5 into a portable. Having said that, Those who need laptop that can also perform like a desktop (size and power) will not hesitate to purchase a 17" MacBook Pro

 

[dongmin]

I see your point, especially when you consider all the excitement and attention Apple is receiving over the Boot Camp functionality--maybe keeping the G4s around would cause confusion (or even a backlash) among consumers who want to switch but are unfamiliar with the PPC architecture.

As far as that pricing scheme goes, I think it's a little bit too low as the current G4 offerings are at $999 and $1299. Also, one has to take into account the added iSight, MagSafe, remote, etc. Probably not much when the cost is spread out, but it has to add up somewhere. And those Core Duo processors still ain't cheap!

The one thing we have going for us, in getting a $999 Apple laptop, is that PC Core Duo laptops can be had for $799. Yes, they don't come with any of the extra hardware and software as you've noted, but Apple will feel some pressure to compete in this price range, especially in the education market.

G4s are, for sure, EOLed. The new MacBooks will require a new mobo to accomodate the new features (IR, iSight, etc.); Apple is not gonna cook up a separate motherboard with the new features AND G4. New MacBooks WILL be 100% Intel, you can bet on it. Apple might sell a few iBooks to blow through the existing stock, but that's about it.

 

[macgeek2005]

Please Jobs PLEASE Let it not have integrated graphics!!!!! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEEEAAAASSSSEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, but otherwise they sound like something I would run to get immedietaly.

I would easily pay $1399 for:

1.67GHz Intel Core Duo
512mb of ram (expandable to 1.5GB)
80GB Hard drive
ATI Radeon X1300/64mb

or something like that. Please JOBS!!! Don't let me down!! Give the high end macbook a video card!!!

 

[Demon Hunter]

jus when i had made up my mind to stop waiting for the rumored macbook and go get a 12" pb....this is gonna drive me crazy again... dont know how long it'll continue..

The 12-inch, surprisingly, still holds advantages. Firstly, the MacBook won't have the "pro" look. If it gets GMA 950, that's really sad because then it's inferior to old PowerBooks. If you don't like widescreen, you're out of luck. If it retains the iBook keyboard, that's also a miss.

You better hope for a striking design and a thin enclosure.

 

[nsjoker]

sdf3wT DRGHFG

i don't like all this change . the whole "mac" renaming of the products stinks. even steve prefers the name powerbook as demonstrated in that special event. boot camp dual booting windows is a bad idea IMO... i really think it'll take the other route, the one where developers decide to not port to OS X. the intel chips are a welcome change, but the integrated graphics have to go. one of the reasons i love apple is because they always used to have a dedicated chip for graphics in each of their computers . it's also really annoying seeing them focus like 70% of their attention to the stupid iPod. i dunno, it seems that apple is now the 800 lb gorilla and it blows.

 

[macgeek2005]

Do we know for sure that all the MacBook's will have integrated graphics?

 

[Demon Hunter]

i don't like all this change . the whole "mac" renaming of the products stinks. even steve prefers the name powerbook as demonstrated in that special event. boot camp dual booting windows is a bad idea IMO... i really think it'll take the other route, the one where developers decide to not port to OS X. the intel chips are a welcome change, but the integrated graphics have to go. one of the reasons i love apple is because they always used to have a dedicated chip for graphics in each of their computers . it's also really annoying seeing them focus like 70% of their attention to the stupid iPod. i dunno, it seems that apple is now the 800 lb gorilla and it blows.

The problem is, consumers aren't attributing the Macintosh brand with hits like the iPod. They're idiots.

It would be much worse if they dropped "Mac" in its entirety. Oh, that's too horrible to even think about.

 

[MacRumorsReader]

Okay.. So I'm-a-gonna wait to buy. But, if this thing has integrated graphics and/or less than 128mb VRAM, I'm getting a MBP.

 

[mrichmon]

I use a 12" Powerbook as my sole computer for Photoshop and significant design work - integrated graphics would be a no-go for me. I want a small but very powerful laptop. At the office I am always using an external monitor and my laptop screen for menus or other applications, not having this option would be a deal killer.

For what you describe (photoshop and design work -- I assume illustrator, indesign, quark, etc) then you are not doing anything that would benefit from a dedicated graphics card?

Current generation integrated graphics chips do accelerated 2D graphics very well and light to moderate 3D acceleration very well. Photoshop, inDesign, Illustrator, Quark, etc are use 2D graphics from the perspective of the graphics chip.

 

[g.x]

One more thing, I would have named it the iBook HD. >_>

In a very refreshing way, Apple has high standards for HD. Unlike many manufacturers, they don't call something HD just because it can play some HD resolution out there (720p or 1080i).

Apple only calls something HD if it can play ALL HD resolutions out there. In other words, according to Apple, if it doesn't do 1080p, then it's not HD.

That's why the 20" display and iMac are not called HD by Apple...even though they will certainly do 720p.