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Intel iBooks, iLife '06, New Remote?

Merging the Books

rdas7 said:
Makes sense to consolidate the iBook and PowerBook lines into one (with possibly 4 configurations? 12", 13", 15", 17"?)

and to shift the branding towards "Mac" (Power + Mac, i + Book?)

Sounds good! Thanks Kevin!
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I would think that both the iBook crowd & the PowerBook crowd would loose if Apple merged the two lines. The iBook has featured taken away or not added to keep the it's price point lower for all of those Mac user's that do not need more power or do not have the money for a PowerBook. The PowerBook is for those that need a more complete portable. The PC Card slot allows the PowerBook to be attached to a PCI buss expansion box. Thus allowing you to attach many pci cards & expanding the capabilities of your PowerBook. Say a couple of extra displays, SCSI, SATA or many, many other boards. This is not something for the entry level or for those that lack funds.

To merge would either raise the price point for an Apple portable too high, or it would eliminate features that are needed for the user's that need more power. What would this do to the Mac education market where price competition can be very great in some school districts. There already is too many compromises made when a computer is made. This merging could only hurt the Mac portable user.

Bill the TaxMan
 
Frobozz said:
I'm pretty sure that this will be accurate. Kevin Rose was the *only* person to call the iPod Nano not only correctly, but by name. Plus, he's an industry insider and generally privvy to things like this.

If you haven't, you MUST listen to the digg.com podcasts (you can get them on iTunes.) Kevin just bought a PowerBook after having an IBM thinkpad.
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Actually, there was a newbie member here, PodFuture, I think, who nailed the nano pretty much right on. Had the size, colors, capacity, most of the features all pegged. Didn't have the name, though. He was right about weeks before it was announced, too.
 
mrgreen4242 said:
I don't like it much either. Yesterday or the day before when there was some talk about combining the lines in another thread, I though that 'Book would be a great name. Maybe this will be the Mac 'Book, not MacBook.

Either way, I hope they do combine them and offer 3 base models; a 13", 15", and 17" widscreen. Then let people customize the hell out of them. Choose your CPU speed, your case color/material, RAM, GPU, VRAM, HDD size/speed, EVERYTHING.

"Introducing the Mac 'Book: portable power, your way."
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This guys got the idea of a lifetime!
 
Odd thing just popped up on the Guardian's website: a new ad for Apple education products. But look at the laptop featured. It's not an iBook nor a Powerbook: the ports and so on are on the opposite side; and it's thinner, I think, than any previous model; plus there appears to be a little rubber strip towards the front lip of the lid. Has the ad gone up too early? (It is after all in the UK, a full 8hrs ahead of the U.S).

http://education.guardian.co.uk/appleeducation
 
Remember When...

The thing is you never know with Steve - Remember how everyone was so shocked when they killed the most popular iPod ever the "mini". Everyone screamed but now we have the "nano" much better in most regards albiet it has its own unique set of flaws.

Who is to say what will happen with the laptop line - the 15inch PB is the most popular Apple laptop and for all we know, today could just be its death-cry leading us to something new/different/better and not called a PowerBook or even be 15 in widescreen for that matter.

Know the waiting game.
 
Tuppy said:
Odd thing just popped up on the Guardian's website: a new ad for Apple education products. But look at the laptop featured. It's not an iBook nor a Powerbook: the ports and so on are on the opposite side; and it's thinner, I think, than any previous model; plus there appears to be a little rubber strip towards the front lip of the lid. Has the ad gone up too early? (It is after all in the UK, a full 8hrs ahead of the U.S).

http://education.guardian.co.uk/appleeducation
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Its a standard Powerbook. The ports are on the correct side for a Powerbook.
 
Alright, stop it already. MacBook is such a horrible name :(

Let's try and stick with the "i" and "Power" for consumer and pro shall we?
 
mustard said:
The thing is you never know with Steve - Remember how everyone was so shocked when they killed the most popular iPod ever the "mini". Everyone screamed but now we have the "nano" much better in most regards albiet it has its own unique set of flaws.

Who is to say what will happen with the laptop line - the 15inch PB is the most popular Apple laptop and for all we know, today could just be its death-cry leading us to something new/different/better and not called a PowerBook or even be 15 in widescreen for that matter.

Know the waiting game.
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It's just hard to imagine... PowerBooks have been in existence since Oct 21, 1991: http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powerbook/stats/mac_powerbook100.html

Dropping the PowerBook name would be like switching to intel processors.... oh wait....
 
Tuppy said:
Odd thing just popped up on the Guardian's website: a new ad for Apple education products. But look at the laptop featured. It's not an iBook nor a Powerbook: the ports and so on are on the opposite side; and it's thinner, I think, than any previous model; plus there appears to be a little rubber strip towards the front lip of the lid. Has the ad gone up too early? (It is after all in the UK, a full 8hrs ahead of the U.S).

http://education.guardian.co.uk/appleeducation
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That looks to me like a standard PowerBook... there's a reflection of it in the surface it's sitting on which makes it look thicker depthwise and therefore thinner in the other dimensions. And the ports ARE on the correct side.
 
Looking at the way notebook computers have been marketed the last 5 years or so I can't see them getting ride of the 'value', 'price-performer', and 'monster' type lines as almost all laptop vendors do this.

However most of them keep some basic things the same, such as Lenovo's Thinkpad line. They are all Thinkpads, however there are 'families' like T, X, R and I think a Z line now.

I'm going to hold out hoping MacBook isn't the new brand name, but at the same time Intel isn't going to let them name their name brand processor the Apple G6 or anything like that so maybe they will change brand names. PowerBook sounds so much better, but again, Power was the processor for a long time in there (even though there were 680x0 models before that) so maybe they wanted to mix things up.

Can't wait to see what they do. I've been looking at a beach ball more and more as I try and do photo related things. Here's hoping that I can afford to update my 18 month old iMac G5 to something more powerful. Would prefer a desktop like the Mini so I could get a monster screen though and not feel I 'wasted' money on the laptop display.
 
All of the complaints regarding merging the two laptop lines are nonsense. Differentiation is accomoplished with technical specs, plain and simple. Want an iBook replacement? Buy the single core "MacBook" which would also have a low VRAM video card, less standard ram and harddrive. Want a top of the line powerbook replacement? Buy the dual core MacBook with all the bells and whistles.
 
uv23 said:
All of the complaints regarding merging the two laptop lines are nonsense. Differentiation is accomoplished with technical specs, plain and simple. Want an iBook replacement? Buy the single core "MacBook" which would also have a low VRAM video card, less standard ram and harddrive. Want a top of the line powerbook replacement? Buy the dual core MacBook with all the bells and whistles.
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I just dont think Apple would go that way. They have always differentianted their consumer and pro lines and I dont see why they would stop now.
 
johnk said:
Ok I’ve finally have to say something, why does everyone think its going to be the laptops (ibook, or pb) or even the mini. Why replace a 32bit chip with another 32bit chip? Ok it’s faster. Why not wait until summer for Intels 64bit Merom chips for laptops after all isn’t the G5 a 64bit chip, and doesn’t his fit remarkably well with what Apple say about the first Intel Macs some time in the summer.

Ok I've said it now; I’ll go back in my box.
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'cause Steve wants to sell me a laptop today, and then *another* one in six months! (Unfortunately, that's not what my wife wants, but that's for another thread.)

Anyway, at any point in computing history you could have waited six more months for a better chip. But if everyone did we wouldn't have any computers!

Now, get back in your box and think about that! :D :D :D (kidding, kidding, just kidding)
 
Okay I have to admit I skipped most of the thread for times sake. But my two cents...

Has anyone considered the receiver to also perhaps be for satellite radio?
Also, Podcasting via iPhoto could allow chaptering with your own pictures like you see on Podcasts now.
 
I would like to see the 15" PowerBook be the one to get updated to Intel first. I would also hope they change the display to something that actually has a good picture quality to it. The current 15" PowerBook has had a terrible run with the lines in the screen so let us hope that we see a fix for that today along with a much desired update (like an Intel Duo Processor) for the good ol' 15" as well. Apple products have become stale for me and I had many many products with major flaws over the years. I hope this Intel switch will bring a fresh new line of products that are reliable, well built and free of manufacturing defects. I will be using my Thinkpad T43 for at least another year or two, but when I go to trade in I hope there is a mac with my name on it :)
 
brepublican said:
I just dont think Apple would go that way. They have always differentianted their consumer and pro lines and I dont see why they would stop now.
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But if the only difference your money bought was better specs, that would entice some people.

I know people (aka snobs) that won't touch an iBook just because it's the "cheapie" Apple laptop.

Alternatively, if you wanted an Apple laptop but couldn't afford a Powerbook and didn't need all it's features, you only have the iBook as an option. Not everyone likes white plastic.

It's not impossible for Apple to upset the apple cart in such a way so I wouldn't be overly surprised if they combined the product lines.
 
Consolidated laptop lines

I don't buy the argument that consolidating the two lines will leave people losing out. It's a marketing/branding shift. They can preserve the price-point differentials and the range of technical specs but just name them all MacBooks or whatever. The upside is that the midrange models aren't duplicated, nor is the consumer mid/upper-range any longer handicapped by having to hold back features that bring it too close to the lower-end pro.
 
Powerbook update...

I think the Powerbook update is the one sure bet today. It's easy to forget that the Titanium was introduced also at MWSF. I'm all for consolidating the lines. It's been rather silly the past couple of years seeing the iBook as basically a stripped down but better value Apple laptop. Also I don't think consumers as a whole care about the nomenclature.

The big question is will we see the big Mac media center rumor come true. If so then how do they fit it in without stealing some of the Intel Powerbook's thunder?

Here's my guess on how the show will play out:

Steve talks about the success of the iPod (units moved, songs and videos sold). He goes on about how wrong he was saying that nobody would watch video on a 2.5" screen (crowd gets a kick out of this). He introduces the new networks and shows who are jumping aboard the video d/l bandwagon. Pixar introduces feature length movie library available for d/l at $3.99 a movie (In my best Steve-o impersonation "same price as renting but you get to keep the movie!")

What comes next is speculation but probably some software updates to iLife including the new packed in iWeb. Demo of all new features of the new app.

Then the last third will focus on the switch to Intel. Current Intel head will come out and talk about the new Yonah chip and all the advantages of it. Steve will then bring out his staff to discuss why Apple is again switching and the advantages of Intel over the older architecture. Then it comes...
Maybe it won't be introduced as the "one last thing...." but it will be the new Intel based Powerbook. I'm sure in the same vein of the Titanium it will be thinner, lighter, sexier than it's previous incarnations.

The question I have is will new Intel based apps be introduced as well. For power users Final Cut Pro updates are not coming until NAB which is still 2 1/2 months away! Will Rosetta be able to run a program like Final Cut to appease the power users? That's the big question....
 
Has any one noticed that the itunes music store is acting up/being changed. I just check the videos section and selected Pixar after someone said that there possibly be a full length Pixar movie available, it apears that the Pixar section has changed and only allows you to view a website not to purchase anything.

Maybe new video content.
 
nomad01 said:
I know people (aka snobs) that won't touch an iBook just because it's the "cheapie" Apple laptop.
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Many people can't stand the iBook keyboard.

Whatever Apple does, please, please, please... Keep using the Powerbook keyboard, I beg of you!

-- stats for Palad1 - Geekiness : 10/10 - Self esteem : 0/10 --
 
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