Limited PowerMac Availability? No PowerBooks?

[trog]

The year of the notebook?

Just a couple things on my mind...

1. The rating for this article is almost negative. That's crazy, if Apple releases ANY 970 based hardware it would be fantastic and would boost them right back into the hardware race. In some ways it would put them ahead.

2. Steve made a huge deal about this being the "YEAR of the Notebook" at MWSF. As nice as the 17 and 12 inch Powerbooks are, the release of a redesigned Powermac with a whole new processor line would easily eclipse them as the biggest release of the year. So...

3. Isn't it amazing how little information/leaks there has been of Panther?? What's the reason for this heightened security, I wonder?

 

[arn]

Re: The year of the notebook?

Originally posted by trog
Just a couple things on my mind...

3. Isn't it amazing how little information/leaks there has been of Panther?? What's the reason for this heightened security, I wonder?

Well... software - especially software which hasn't gone into production is much easier to keep tabs on. Only people in Apple have access to it.

Even developers don't have access to it yet... as WWDC marks the launch of the developer's release.

Hardware, on the other hand, has to pass through many hands to get produced... much of which is not in Apple.

arn

 

[weezer160]

The good ol' days...will history repeat itself?

August 31, 1999: "The G4 chip incorporates a new execution unit named the Velocity Engine??the heart of a supercomputer miniaturized onto a sliver of silicon. In a set of Intel?s own tests published on their web site, the 500MHz G4 chip was 2.94 times as fast as the 600MHz Pentium III processor.

'The Power Mac G4 is not only the fastest Mac ever, it?s the fastest personal computer ever,? said Apple?s interim CEO Steve Jobs. ?The revolutionary G4 processor with its remarkable Velocity Engine is the first ?supercomputer on a chip,? delivering over one gigaflop of sustained performance.'"

-Apple's Media Archive

Come on Steve! Bring back the good old days when we did rule the world! Your decision...Rally or Riot!

 

[mariner77]

probably no 15'' yet!

If you know Steve, he'll want everyone to totally FOCUS on the PowerMac 970 for now. No other hardware distractions. That way he'll make the most of the media exposure when he introduced world's first 64 bit notebook (don't pick me on this, you know what I mean!) ONLY a month later. 😀 Patience people, 15'' is coming, just not here, not now.

 

[MacFan25]

It'll be interesting to see what they will call 970 powermacs, and when people actually receive them. Hopefully it wont be like the 17" PowerBooks where people won't get them for a while.

But, I trust Apple. Hopefully they learned from there mistakes. 🙂

 

[daveL]

Confused

I'm new to these forums, so maybe I'm missing something or maybe nobody has managed to read the info I posted, but there really is no doubt about 970 PMs next week. Maybe I blew the url in the last two threads I posted this on, but here goes:

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/yho...o&guid={786058C6-9E65-4E84-AD0D-9506B7C5E7C6}

Mr Wolf, who's being quoted in the above article, is a Needham securities analyst that spends his life following everything Apple does, in minute detail. He upgraded Apple's stock today, and the article quotes his reasons. One of his reasons is the forthcoming 970-based PM upgrades, that will beannounced on 6/23.

 

[fpnc]

Re: Confused

Originally posted by daveL
Mr Wolf, who's being quoted in the above article, is a Needham securities analyst that spends his life following everything Apple does, in minute detail. He upgraded Apple's stock today, and the article quotes his reasons. One of his reasons is the forthcoming 970-based PM upgrades, that will beannounced on 6/23.

Actually, the quote is that the introduction is __expected__ to be at the WWDC. It doesn't say that it __will__ be announced.

 

[nagromme]

In the end, what's the difference if something is announced at WWDC, or a week later? We'll live if the PowerBooks are later than WWDC.

 

[solvs]

There does seem to be a lower stock of PowerMacs and 'Books, so I would hope it's in the cards for Monday.

The PowerBook delay makes me think they'll get a low end 970. 1 - 1.2 GHz. But it could just be an updated G4. Or the 15" and 17" get the 970, 12" gets the 1 GHz G4. Maybe Apple released the 17" expecting an update with the next gen-G4, and not expecting the 970 for awhile. But IBM delivers, Moto doesn't (big surprise). They'd have to redesign the Motherboards, but a 970 PowerBook would be nice. Can't imagine anyone wanting a G4 PowerBook if they release a 970 Desktop.

I wonder if the 970s will be more expensive because of the R&D, or cheaper because the chips are cheaper and IBM did most of the leg work?

 

[markiv810]

Guys, I have a question what could the pricing be like, if we go by the last years trend each time Apple released newer models, they lowered down the prices on the powermacs. I am saving to buy PowerMac 970, I need advice regarding that. I am expecting the starting price (price of the lowest end model of 970) to be around 1200-1400 dollars, and from there onwards, do you guys think that's it a reasonable expectation. Your advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[jthrasher]

new powerbooks doubtful

I don't think that there will be new powerbooks. They just came out with the 12 and 17 models not that long ago. There have been longer spans of time between updates than this with powerbooks. I wouldn't be suprised if its Powermacs though. Also I wouldn't be suprised if upgrade the ibooks. i mean they are still running G3's for crying out loud. I can't even remember the last time they were upgraded.

If they upgrade the Powermacs it will be a while before we see the same specs in powerbooks. They might upgrade the PB's once before they even give them the same specs as new PM's

I know its fun to get your hopes up but maybe thats why so many people always are so let down when it's not what they want. Of course there are always someone who doesn't get what they want. Bt try and be realistic

 

[arn]

Re: Confused

Originally posted by daveL

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/yho...o&guid={786058C6-9E65-4E84-AD0D-9506B7C5E7C6}

Mr Wolf, who's being quoted in the above article, is a Needham securities analyst that spends his life following everything Apple does, in minute detail. He upgraded Apple's stock today, and the article quotes his reasons. One of his reasons is the forthcoming 970-based PM upgrades, that will beannounced on 6/23.

I'd bet they got their rumors from mac rumor sites.

arn

 

[Freg3000]

Re: Re: Confused

Originally posted by arn
I'd bet they got their rumors from mac rumor sites.

arn

Yeah I agree. I think there is some regulation call Full Disclosure which no longer allows companies to give specific information to individuals like analysts, without providing the same information to the general public at the same time. I doubt this guy is getting this info from an executive at apple, he problems just reads MacRumors.

 

[h'biki]

Originally posted by DoJo

BTW - does anyone remember any recent (last 4 years or so) defects in new Apple products with the first version?

Plenty.

My version 1 G3 doesn't officially support two harddrivfes on the ATA chain. I had touse FWB Harddrive toolkit to change the speed of the ATA drivers.

There seem to be problems with the original batch of iPod 3Gers. (Non blue backlight, crashing, etc.).

I'm sure others can give examples.

But there is somethign to be said in not trusting point ohh anything.

Thats why we decided to go for a dual 1.4ghz G4. Yeah, we knew the 970s were coming but for mission critical stuff the new G4s are actually rock solid. We'd rather wait for a generation or two of 970s before jumping in. [shrug]

 

[fpnc]

Time magazine has the details on the PPC970

I can't believe it! Time magazine has let the cat out of the bag again (remember the flat panel iMac cover issue?). The June 23 issue of Time has all of the details (sort of, you have to read between the lines). Here's the scoop.

The cover of next Monday's Time has a picture covering the release of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." On page 2 and 3 of this same issue of Time is a two page spread by Apple on their new music store. If you add together these page numbers (2+3) you get 5 -- as in G5. Then on page 5 is the index to that issue of Time. The "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" story begins on page 70. If you count the number of words in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" you get 8. So with 8 and 70 you can construct 870 which is pretty close to 970 as in PPC970 (okay, so it's only close, but you can't expect them to be too obvious).

Now you're saying, "What does Harry Potter have to do with Apple and the PPC970?" Well, it seems very clear to me. The PPC970 is going to allow Apple to rise like a "Phoenix" from the ashes of the Motorola G4.

So that's it. The first clear and incontrovertible evidence that Apple will release new PPC970-based systems next Monday.

 

[the_wallcrawler]

Re: Time magazine has the details on the PPC970

Originally posted by fpnc
I can't believe it! Time magazine has let the cat out of the bag again (remember the flat panel iMac cover issue?). The June 23 issue of Time has all of the details (sort of, you have to read between the lines). Here's the scoop.

The cover of next Monday's Time has a picture covering the release of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." On page 2 and 3 of this same issue of Time is a two page spread by Apple on their new music store. If you add together these page numbers (2+3) you get 5 -- as in G5. Then on page 5 is the index to that issue of Time. The "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" story begins on page 70. If you count the number of words in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" you get 8. So with 8 and 70 you can construct 870 which is pretty close to 970 as in PPC970 (okay, so it's only close, but you can't expect them to be too obvious).

Now you're saying, "What does Harry Potter have to do with Apple and the PPC970?" Well, it seems very clear to me. The PPC970 is going to allow Apple to rise like a "Phoenix" from the ashes of the Motorola G4.

So that's it. The first clear and incontrovertible evidence that Apple will release new PPC970-based systems next Monday.

brilliant detective work. how come nobody else caught this?!?

 

[solvs]

Re: new powerbooks doubtful

Originally posted by jthrasher
I don't think that there will be new powerbooks. They just came out with the 12 and 17 models not that long ago. There have been longer spans of time between updates than this with powerbooks. Also I wouldn't be suprised if upgrade the ibooks. i mean they are still running G3's for crying out loud.

No offense, but they just upgraded the iBooks. They announced the 12" and 17" a few months after the new 15", and the 17" shipped a few months later. Plus look at the recent price drops. They must be waiting for something better for the 15", otherwise they would have just waited for FW800 and Al in the first Superdrive 15". Or released an Al 15" sooner.

I think (hope) the iBooks get the Gobi chip. And/or the G3 with Altivec. But that may be awhile.

Originally posted by markiv810
what could the pricing be like

As far as the pricing is concerned, see my earlier post (right above yours). I hope they keep lowering prices. And even release a budget machine offering more expandibility than the eMac, or just a cheaper Tower. But we don't know yet. I guess (hope) we'll find out on Monday. 🙂

 

[iLilana]

macmall X-Serve blowout

macmall X-Serve BLOWOUT

Got it in the email minutes ago as others will have. I think wwdc is going to be big people. VERY big.

Lil😱 😕 😎

 

[trog]

Re: Re: The year of the notebook?

Originally posted by arn
Well... software - especially software which hasn't gone into production is much easier to keep tabs on. Only people in Apple have access to it.arn

Ahh, right, that makes sense. Even though I'm like a lot of people here (can't wait to buy a 970 machine) now that it is getting close, I'm pretty excited to see Panther too!

 

[bertagert]

Re: Time magazine has the details on the PPC970

Originally posted by fpnc
I can't believe it! Time magazine has let the cat out of the bag again (remember the flat panel iMac cover issue?). The June 23 issue of Time has all of the details (sort of, you have to read between the lines). Here's the scoop.

The cover of next Monday's Time has a picture covering the release of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." On page 2 and 3 of this same issue of Time is a two page spread by Apple on their new music store. If you add together these page numbers (2+3) you get 5 -- as in G5. Then on page 5 is the index to that issue of Time. The "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" story begins on page 70. If you count the number of words in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" you get 8. So with 8 and 70 you can construct 870 which is pretty close to 970 as in PPC970 (okay, so it's only close, but you can't expect them to be too obvious)....

So that's it. The first clear and incontrovertible evidence that Apple will release new PPC970-based systems next Monday.

100% Classic! I haven't laughed so hard in weeks.

 

[liven2]

Apple web site still down!

Still down.... anyone seen any other web problems? Or is this just an Apple issue

[Offtopic Warning:

To everyone: please stop posting offtopic posts in news threads.

See: https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?threadid=29823 if you think Apple's site is "down".]

 

[MGnards]

same problem with the apple store...

The Apple web site still has problems loading for me too... It'll load after a couple of clicks, but the web store won't load at all. Anyone else getting this?

by the way, I'm yet another new member who's been lurking for over 2 years...


<edit>
oops... sorry arn... missed it by a second
</edit>

 

[MacCoaster]

Translation of MacBidouille's post:

The PPC 970 Power Macs should be available as soon as their announcement at the WWDC except for the High end model which needs two more weeks. They should arrive to the distributors in the weekend. To finish, it seems that the information on the contents of FNAC's boxes is the work of a joker. There are a lot of these times that we send information packets. We all particularly think that the person that claimed to be an Apple employee so that the mail has been sent from a high school of 92*. She will recognize/show herself.

*Not quite sure what this means. Maybe a district?

 

[Lyle]

Apple Store now lists no refurbished desktops or notebooks...

Originally posted by solvs
There does seem to be a lower stock of PowerMacs and 'Books, so I would hope it's in the cards for Monday.

I remember that after the most recent price drops on the PowerBooks, all of the refurbished PowerBooks disappeared from the Apple Store. Just checked back a minute ago and now there are no desktops or notebooks of any kind listed. Does anyone know how long this has been the case? Or should we just assume that this is further, incontrovertible evidence that new models are on the way? 😉

 

[ZildjianKX]

NM...