Major iBook Upgrades?

[latergator116]

I think the new iBook could go over 1ghz. When the original whote iBook came out remember the low end powerbook was only at 400mhz and the high end at 500

 

[Bunzi2k4]

Originally posted by johnnyjibbs
I think most people's expectations are a little on the high side.

First off, the iBook will always be cheaper and "not quite as good" in terms of power and features as the PowerBook line so anyone (me included) who has just ordered the 12" PB should not worry... I think the update will see USB 2.0, AirPort Extreme and maybe BlueTooth but I don't think there will be any major revision to the form factor apart from maybe a change in material, as someone else mentioned.

What I've never understood is why the iBook has to be less powerful (i.e. deliberately crippled) than the PowerBook (I know PB12" 867 vs iBook 900 is debatable for non-altivec). I paid the extra £200-300 for the PowerBook 12" because I much prefer the slot-loading drive, much better keyboard and other such features, not to mention the Aluminium case. In my opinion, the iBook should be as powerful (but not more) than the PowerBook but have less of the unnecessary, "luxury" features to make it a cheaper choice for consumers.

I could easily buy a PC laptop for £600 with Combo drive (compared to £799 for base iBook model or £1050 for combo) that has a 2.4-2.8 GHz P4 or £999 for a 1.5 Centrino (with DVD-R). They don't have as many bells and whistles as even the iBook, but they are certainly more powerful (even than PBs unfortunately). The point I'm making is that you can get cheap consumer PC laptops that are just as powerful as their pro counterparts. People still buy the more expensive pro ones for their better feature set.

All I'm saying is that if the iBook was as powerful as the PB, people would still get the PB for more money if it had more cool extras, such as backlit keyboard (which should have been on the 12"!), maybe bluetooth, dual display support, slot-loading optical drive, etc. People who didn't want or need that could save a couple of hundred bucks and go for the iBook.

Realistically though, the iBook will probably get a more sturdy keyboard akin to the PowerBooks in an imminent update - this maybe the "form factor revision" that they are talking about.

This guy is right!!if the ibooks got as fast as the powerbooks, i'd get an ibook as my next comp, but that would mess up the power books (i think at least, but not by a lot), i don't think anything interesting will happen to the ibooks untill the powerbooks get g5ed

 

[QuiteSure]

Originally posted by Bunzi2k4
This guy is right!!if the ibooks got as fast as the powerbooks, i'd get an ibook as my next comp, but that would mess up the power books (i think at least, but not by a lot), i don't think anything interesting will happen to the ibooks untill the powerbooks get g5ed

I think part of the reason why Apple built FCP 4 for G4s only was so that DV editors could not even consider buying an iBook. I expect this will remain so even after PBs go to G5, if ever

 

[Plutoniq]

Sure Apple has to make a clear distinction between the Pro and Consumer portables, but they are also competing against many PC manufactures.....therfore they can't completley skimp on the Ibook or they'll lose market share, Ibook has to be Apples biggest seller, right?.

Whatever Centrino is throwin' out, Apple have to at least match it ,where it can, with the Ibook. They are two laptops competing for the same market area.

I'd be suprised if Apple didn't release ,at least in the high end, Ibooks with 1.1ghz 750GX's.....at least on a 133mhz system bus. Are all the new Powerbooks utilizing a 166mhz bus? If so, I guess it's finally safe to up the bus speed to 133mhz.

 

[Si]

Apple have got to :
a) get the iBooks out and in the shops a month before christmas or else they'll lose out
b) have to make them as competitive as a PC laptop, i.e. price and spec. New potential Mac buyers aren't going to buy an iBook for £799 (UK) with only a 12" screen, 128MB ram, CD-ROM, 900MHz, when they can get a PC laptop with 14-15" screen 256-512MB ram, CDRW (or even DVDRW), 2GHz for the same price, in some cases cheaper. Yes, they won't be as pleasing as a Mac and in some cases not as robust(see below) but kids that the parents buy these for change there computers more times than they change there socks!!
c) have the lowest spec be able to boot in OS 9. Many Education users here in the UK still use OS 9 because the majority, if not all, of the education software in the UK is not OSX compatible, and also they want to keep the same OS as the rest of there Macs (i.e. old ones not suitable for OS X)
d) have a sensible price structure i.e. in the UK there is a £200 differece between the 2 12" iBooks and the only tech difference is a CDRW and +100Mhz speed. How can apple justify the price hike on this when if you bought a computer from some place else the price diff between CD and CDRW would be at tops £30, and the speed increase of 100-200Mhz would be similar.


Robustness : I have seen many iBooks with loose keyboards, missing keys, broken hinge clips and damaged CD drives, so don't say that the iBook is very robust otherwise these things wouldn't happen.

 

[macphoria]

With Panther just around the corner, I imagine iBook update will follow soon after. Maybe next Tuesday?

 

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by Si
Apple have got to :
a) get the iBooks out and in the shops a month before christmas or else they'll lose out
b) have to make them as competitive as a PC laptop, i.e. price and spec. New potential Mac buyers aren't going to buy an iBook for £799 (UK) with only a 12" screen, 128MB ram, CD-ROM, 900MHz, when they can get a PC laptop with 14-15" screen 256-512MB ram, CDRW (or even DVDRW), 2GHz for the same price, in some cases cheaper. Yes, they won't be as pleasing as a Mac and in some cases not as robust(see below) but kids that the parents buy these for change there computers more times than they change there socks!!
c) have the lowest spec be able to boot in OS 9. Many Education users here in the UK still use OS 9 because the majority, if not all, of the education software in the UK is not OSX compatible, and also they want to keep the same OS as the rest of there Macs (i.e. old ones not suitable for OS X)
d) have a sensible price structure i.e. in the UK there is a £200 differece between the 2 12" iBooks and the only tech difference is a CDRW and +100Mhz speed. How can apple justify the price hike on this when if you bought a computer from some place else the price diff between CD and CDRW would be at tops £30, and the speed increase of 100-200Mhz would be similar.


Robustness : I have seen many iBooks with loose keyboards, missing keys, broken hinge clips and damaged CD drives, so don't say that the iBook is very robust otherwise these things wouldn't happen.

excellent points

the only option apple has at this junction right before the christmas rush is to lower prices and make the combo drive the minimum optical drive

keeping the ram minimum at 256 would also make a lot of sense

a hundred dollar price drop will greatly increase sales and keep us happy with an outdated G3 chip in a mac for now...but at a certain point the ibook will need a G4 and if the powerbook still has a G4, then apple better put a lot more bells and whistles in it to make the two lines be different

when i bought my ibook in 99, the powerbook had the same G3 processor

if ibook goes G4 sometime early to mid next year i can see something like this:

ibook, 1 ghz G4, 256 ram, 32 mb video, combo drive...999 usd
ibook, 1 ghz G4, 512 ram, 32 mb video, superdrive...1149 usd
ibook, 1 ghz G4, 512 ram, 32 mb video, superdrive, 14 inch screen...1299 usd

12 inch powerbook, 1.33 ghz G4, 1024 ram, 64 mb video, fw 800, superdrive...1499 usd
15 inch powerbook, faster G4, 1024 ram, 64 mb video, fw 800, superdrive...1799 usd
17 inch powerbook, faster G4, 1024 ram, 64 mb video, fw 800, superdrive...2199 usd
17 inch powerbook, maxed out with appleworks...2499 usd

and by year's end near christmas 2004, have the 14 inch ibook be no more than 999 usd and the powerbook 17 inch maxed out be no more than 1999 usd...basically, to make an all out assault on the PC laptop market

realize the PC world will have no laptop under 3 ghz at that point, and no laptop under a gig of ram, and PC laptop prices will start at 599 usd...right now, PC laptops enter the market at 799 usd and they are the more attractive option for first time computer buyers who don't really know the greatness of os x over windows xp

 

[Omek]

If that's the case, I really wonder what they'll announce in January. Probably 2.5GHz G5's. Wholey cow!!! Do you know how fast those things are going to be? Maybe We'll also see some new software. A Keynote upgrade would be cool and maybe a brand new Appleworks.

 

[Si]

Should learn to wish better.
Most of my wishes for the new iBook have been fulfilled but should have said increase the base memory to 256MB ram BUT DO THIS WITH ONE CHIP SO WE CAN ADD EXTRA OURSELVES WITHOUT HAVING TO LOSE 128MB - COME ON APPLE GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!