Intel PowerBooks: What more could Apple add?

[Epicurus]

With rumors flying all over the place as Apple's dedicated fans dig into Intel's roadmaps, I'm starting to look at my own PowerBook with a more critical eye. What more could Apple do with this design when they make the inevitable form factor change with the first wave of Intel PowerBooks?

--Could they (should they) be thinner? 1" accross the line (instead of fattening as the screens get smaller) would be nice. Getting to claim that every PowerBook comes in under an inch would also be a cool marketing point (although if they could extend the claim to cover iBooks too, that would be best for Apple overall). The smallest PowerBook should definitely squeeze under the 1" line and into the ultra-portable arena if at all possible (this means without losing the optical drive).
--HD displays might be in the cards for the G4 PowerBooks, so how might this be improved upon with the Intels?
--Lineup changes to kill off the 12" in favor of a 13" PowerBook might happen, if the 13" model is just as portable as the current 12". Having a 12" PowerBook in the first place is to appease the travelling professional so portability is key. There's no real sense in going down below 12" and the only way to stay in that region and go widescreen is to step up to 13".
--Secondary NAND drives might show up to boost system performance (boot time, application load times) and battery life. Samsung seems intend on taking the notebook hard drive market away from magnetic drives:

from The Register

"Samsung's plan is initially to incorporate Flash alongside an HDD, to hold OS boot code, Hwang Chang-gyu, head of Samsung's chips division, told reporters in Seoul today. He said that Samsung would unveil a new laptop late this month that will use 16 8Gb Flash chips.
Still, Samsung has high hopes. "In the near future, Flash memory will completely replace all portable storage devices - film, tapes, disk drives and CDs," said Hwang."

From this article

--What about an integrated iPod dock? Possibly a slot on the side for an iPod nano to physicially slide into the laptop (like a PC card). As long as this doesn't scratch the surface of the iPod, I think it'd be pretty cool.
--New color options? Might the PowerBook go the way of the iPod and come in two colors: aluminum and black anodized aluminum? Maybe not black black, but a nice, dark graphite. It would keep the metal look, but be a little more like the black G3 PowerBooks of old.
--A two-button mouse (with one button looks) is rumored for the last wave of G4 PowerBooks, so this looks like a likely addition to the Intel line (if not an Intel-only feature).
--A built-in iSight most likely won't debut on the G4 PowerBook, so if its coming at all, it will show up on the Intel PowerBooks (probably the iBooks first, but I'm not getting in to that). Would Apple play nice and let the camera swivel or have a physical lens cover (like the original iSight has and the new iMacs do not)?
--BluRay will be just getting its feet wet (thanks to the PS3 launch in March '06) so the PowerBooks might be getting the first mobile SuperDrives with BluRay.


But what else could Apple offer?

 

[WillMak]

I'd like to see apple release a laptop that can have 24 hours of battery life. That would be flippin sweet.

 

[liketom]

i would expect a Powerbook to have the best battery life around and a modest CPU that can get the job done.

screen size is important - from ultra portable 12" to 17" desktop replacement size, resolution has to be the winning key here! ie more res please.

GPU has to be a little on the meaty side ie 128+
ram needs sorting too - 2slots is fine but what if they can add 1 more ? 3 slots 1gb each ? that would be nice

but the major thing i want is build quality - needs to be able to take knocks and scratches should be a thing of the past.


thats what i would want.

 

[ReanimationLP]

I believe the reason they get fatter as they go along is density. Like the heatsinks and stuffs.

 

[Chaszmyr]

I'd like to see apple release a laptop that can have 24 hours of battery life. That would be flippin sweet.

And while we're at it, they can release a laptop with a 6 terabyte hard drive.

 

[liketom]

And while we're at it, they can release a laptop with a 6 terabyte hard drive.

maybe sooner then we think lol

 

[aafuss1]

With rumors flying all over the place as Apple's dedicated fans dig into Intel's roadmaps, I'm starting to look at my own PowerBook with a more critical eye. What more could Apple do with this design when they make the inevitable form factor change with the first wave of Intel PowerBooks?

--Could they (should they) be thinner? 1" accross the line (instead of fattening as the screens get smaller) would be nice. Getting to claim that every PowerBook comes in under an inch would also be a cool marketing point (although if they could extend the claim to cover iBooks too, that would be best for Apple overall). The smallest PowerBook should definitely squeeze under the 1" line and into the ultra-portable arena if at all possible (this means without losing the optical drive).
--HD displays might be in the cards for the G4 PowerBooks, so how might this be improved upon with the Intels?
--Lineup changes to kill off the 12" in favor of a 13" PowerBook might happen, if the 13" model is just as portable as the current 12". Having a 12" PowerBook in the first place is to appease the travelling professional so portability is key. There's no real sense in going down below 12" and the only way to stay in that region and go widescreen is to step up to 13".
--Secondary NAND drives might show up to boost system performance (boot time, application load times) and battery life. Samsung seems intend on taking the notebook hard drive market away from magnetic drives:



--What about an integrated iPod dock? Possibly a slot on the side for an iPod nano to physicially slide into the laptop (like a PC card). As long as this doesn't scratch the surface of the iPod, I think it'd be pretty cool.
--New color options? Might the PowerBook go the way of the iPod and come in two colors: aluminum and black anodized aluminum? Maybe not black black, but a nice, dark graphite. It would keep the metal look, but be a little more like the black G3 PowerBooks of old.
--A two-button mouse (with one button looks) is rumored for the last wave of G4 PowerBooks, so this looks like a likely addition to the Intel line (if not an Intel-only feature).
--A built-in iSight most likely won't debut on the G4 PowerBook, so if its coming at all, it will show up on the Intel PowerBooks (probably the iBooks first, but I'm not getting in to that). Would Apple play nice and let the camera swivel or have a physical lens cover (like the original iSight has and the new iMacs do not)?
--BluRay will be just getting its feet wet (thanks to the PS3 launch in March '06) so the PowerBooks might be getting the first mobile SuperDrives with BluRay.


But what else could Apple offer?

Intel Mac support compatible for a user-installable WiMax card (not from Apple, 3RD Party)
802.11n
HD Audio or improved HD quality audio system -Intel notebooks have this

 

[wide]

DDR2 memory, 7200(+) RPM hard drives, HD screens, thinner, better battery life, camera built in, graphics card w/ 256 megabytes of VRAM, better keyboard (i know the current one is awesome, but there's always room for improvement), metal on the palmrests that does not wear in color with use, double-click mouse, something innovative with the trackpad, better speakers, some cool bluetooth remote thingy, oh, and one more thing: support with all native Windows applications.

Did I forget WiFirewire?

 

[Epicurus]

DDR2 memory, 7200(+) RPM hard drives, HD screens, thinner, better battery life, camera built in, graphics card w/ 256 megabytes of VRAM, better keyboard (i know the current one is awesome, but there's always room for improvement), metal on the palmrests that does not wear in color with use, double-click mouse, something innovative with the trackpad, better speakers, some cool bluetooth remote thingy, oh, and one more thing: support with all native Windows applications.

Did I forget WiFirewire?

As for the keyboard, at the very least the illuminated keys should trickle down to the 12" (or 13") model.

Wireless Firewire/USB or the latest flavor of Bluetooth seems likely (depending on which one is well enough developed). Apple has been pretty good about staying on top of the wireless scene. AirPort needs a boost too, so hopefully the 802.11n spec will get moving. Adding an EDGE modem might help out in the short run, but its hard to say if Apple would go for that. WiMax is interesting too.

As for the "supporting all native windows applications", I hope you mean that Apple has convinced all the major players to provide their products for Mac OS. If you're saying that OS X should be able to run Windows software out of the box, that's just dangerous. If a developer can get away with only programming for one platform specifically (probably Windows) and still being able to sell the product to Mac users, then he'll probably do so. This would effectively kill off need for Mac specific programming and the well might run dry. It's a dangerous game to play.

Boosting the speed of VirtualPC integration, however, isn't as bad since users still have to pay out for the new copy of Windows/VPC before they can use a Windows app. VPC+Windows-only software should only be used as a last resort; Apple should not encourage this.