New iBook and Mac mini Part Numbers?

[Rootman]

I agree. We at least need the option of a 5400RPM drive.

No internal drive at all (except optical), just an 8 gig flash. And the CPU is a 2+GHz Pentium M. 12 hours battery life.

 

[Val-kyrie]

Too Early for Intel Chips?

This is not a time for levity. They are putting INTELS IN MACS, for Godsake! Soon cats will be lying down with dogs. The endtimes are upon us.

The only problem I can see with this is that the Napa platform is not yet ready and by all public accounts will not be ready until early 2006. This means that early Mac adopters would be stuck with Sonoma platform features. Since you seem to know so much about the new chips for the Mini, do you know if the iBook would receive an Intel, and if so, if it would be a Banias or a Yonah?

 

[Rootman]

The only problem I can see with this is that the Napa platform is not yet ready and by all public accounts will not be ready until early 2006. This means that early Mac adopters would be stuck with Sonoma platform features. Since you seem to know so much about the new chips for the Mini, do you know if the iBook would receive an Intel, and if so, if it would be a Banias or a Yonah?

We won't see Napa in Macs until the pro models go dual-core Intel next year. Mini and iBook go Sonoma this week.

 

[TaKashMoney]

What do u guys think the shipping times will be if the new ibooks are released tuesday? How bout on BTO ones? Do u think a few days or couple weeks with the high demand?

 

[Some_Big_Spoon]

And it'd be $5k

No internal drive at all (except optical), just an 8 gig flash. And the CPU is a 2+GHz Pentium M. 12 hours battery life.

 

[Val-kyrie]

Why

Why can't the PBks and iBks be updated at the same time? This has happened in the past (November 6, 2002; April 19, 2004) and if the pattern had held, would have (or still might?) happened in September of this year.

Nah. I say the PB will go Intel first (WWDC 2006) because if the iBook goes to Intel before the PB, the iBook would kill the PB performance wise.

I think the PB will go to Intel first and the iBook will get another G4 update before going Intel. The iBook could get a faster G4 with a 167MHz bus or the Freescale 7448 with the 200MHz bus. Then, when dual-core Pentium M's are available later in 2006, those will go into the PBs and the single-core Pentium M's will go in the iBooks.

 

[CoMpX]

What do u guys think the shipping times will be if the new ibooks are released tuesday? How bout on BTO ones? Do u think a few days or couple weeks with the high demand?

Hopefully, Apple will be well prepared for the rush of buyers and there SHOULDN'T be too much of a delay, if any at all. Apple is prepared for this I'm sure. Or at least they think they're prepared.

 

[Val-kyrie]

Intel chip pricing

has already been made public for the Yonah chips:

1.66 GHz = $241
1.83 GHz = $294
2.00 GHz = $423
2.16 GHz = $637

This is why I could see the first two chips going into iBooks (12"/14" models) and the latter two going into PBs.

Flash players had long ago reached 512 as the average size. Take for example iRiver: There 512 and 1GB players had been selling for 2-3 years before the shuffle showed up.

IMO, PPC is kinda like Yao Ming. More bark than bite. AMD produces processors with better IPC, better overall performance, and cooler temps than IBM has done. They went 64-bit first, HT first, dual core first, integrated memory controller first, DDR first and they didn't hit the "90nm wall" that Intel and IBM hit (despite Jobs comments to the contrary). AMD's 90nm procs run cooler than their 130 nm parts.
Their dual core parts are faster than two single core Opterons. Single core AMD64's often beat dual processor PowerMacs.
Even Intel P4's were looking good before the Prescott showed up. Northwoods ran very cool and even made good notebook processors. Hyperthreading is quite nice and can make a big difference in multitaksing abilities.

So far PPC procs have only proven that they are cheaper to make (G4 and G5).

The Athlon XP has a 9 or 10 stage pipeline, right? IIRC it goes up to about 2.4ghz.


The Northwood is still a great processor. It goes up to 3.2ghz IIRC.



Good luck finding on ein the next 3 years. The Yonah is only 32-bit and it's very very expensive to make, like all Pentium M's are. I don't buy the theory that Mac Mini's are going to ship with Yonah's. If a rather average 1.6ghz Pentium M currently costs over $200US then I expect the dual core Yonah to cost almost twice that. If the processor costs $350 minimum then the chances of getting one in a Mac Mini for less than $900 is very slim. Likewise, Yonahs won't be as cool as Dothan's or Alviso's-based Pentium M's. I doubt they'll even make it into Powerbooks or iBooks for a longtime. I bet Apple ships Mini's PB's, and iBooks with Celeron M's, Dothan's, and Alviso's much to the dissapointment of Mac users everywehere. Even all of those procs are much more expensive than the current G4's they use so expect a price hike (or less features for the same price) too.

 

[wide]

The upcoming iBook will be a Rev. D iBook G4.

FYI:
Rev. A: 800-1 GHz
Rev. B: 1-1.2 GHz
Rev. C: 1.2-1.33 GHz
Rev. D: 1.33-1.42 GHz (my speculation)

I disagree with your speculation. I think we will see 1.33 GHz on the low end of the ibooks and 1.5 GHz on the high end.

look at all of the other ibook G4 updates (rev. B and rev. C). The speed increases are 200 MHz and 133 MHz, respectively. If the next high end iBook only had a 1.42 GHz processor...that would be a 90 MHz increase. hardly anything--i'm sure a lot of people on this forum would just buy the older ibooks in the Special Deals section of this forum. unless Apple does something really cool with these notebooks (e.g.: lots of new ports, widescreen....), I think we'll be seeing at least 1.5 GHz in the high end model.

 

[Val-kyrie]

Memory Controller

Any idea if the memory controller is 400 MHz or 533 MHz? Dell uses 400 MHz memory controllers in the Inspiron 6000 models and probably every other Inspiron model except the 9300 (this is why I just sent my 6000 back). The problem (with Dell and possibly Apple) is that even if the CPU is 533 MHz and the DIMMs accept 533 MHz RAM modules, if the memory controller is 400 MHz, then the memory will never operate at a frequency above 400 MHz. This limitation has been acknowledged by Dell tech support only after I had it escalated to engineering. If you want any more details, check out the archives of Dell's forums (they are now closed by the company) or wait until I post my blog on spymac.com after I receive my refund (in about another week).

We won't see Napa in Macs until the pro models go dual-core Intel next year. Mini and iBook go Sonoma this week.

 

[Rootman]

Any idea if the memory controller is 400 MHz or 533 MHz? Dell uses 400 MHz memory controllers in the Inspiron 6000 models and probably every other Inspiron model except the 9300 (this is why I just sent my 6000 back). The problem (with Dell and possibly Apple) is that even if the CPU is 533 MHz and the DIMMs accept 533 MHz RAM modules, if the memory controller is 400 MHz, then the memory will never operate at a frequency above 400 MHz. This limitation has been acknowledged by Dell tech support only after I had it escalated to engineering. If you want any more details, check out the archives of Dell's forums (they are now closed by the company) or wait until I post my blog on spymac.com after I receive my refund (in about another week).

You're getting your money back on the Inspiron? Great, you can buy a new iBook this week!

 

[fredwards]

http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/22/technology/personaltech/apple_mac/index.htm

if CNN is reporting a RUMOR like this in their MONEY section, maybe it is a bit bigger than just a speed bump and ram...

 

[~Shard~]

I agree. We at least need the option of a 5400RPM drive.

Exactly, at least make it an option if nothing else. I wouldn't argue if they came standard though as well and remained at the same price point.

 

[Squire]

I, too, am looking forward to Tuesday. New updates in general, specifically a new iBook for my fiance, and no more "iBooks Next Tuesday?" threads!

A new book for the fiancee, eh ~Shard~? Congrats you ol' dog. Wait...is it fiance or fiancee? Ah, who cares? (Could be either with the new laws coming in and all I suppose.)

Sorry, let me specify - no more "PowerPC iBooks Next Tuesday?" threads. Yes, come MW, the "Intel iBooks Next Tuesday?" threads will surface, but that's completely different, now isn't it?

There's the ambiguity again. You don't learn, do you?

Squire

 

[Rootman]

if CNN is reporting a RUMOR like this in their MONEY section, maybe it is a bit bigger than just a speed bump and ram...

CNN has a worse track record than MacOSrumors.com.

 

[dongmin]

I agree that 2 major redesigns in a short period of time is unlikely, but who says we're talking about a "short period of time"? The first Intel Macs will not be actually released for another 10-12 months give or take, which isn't exactly just around the corner. And furthermore, who says the iBook will even be one of the first Macs to receive an Intel chip? Perhaps the PowerMac will receive some new, leading edge Intel Pentium D variant, and the PowerBooks will be the first portable to receive an Intel chip, and that's all we'll see for starters. That would then mean it could be 12-16 months before an Intel (widescreen) iBook is released, and if this is the case, I see it unlikely that Apple would release a very minor update to the iBook line Tuesday, then hold off for over a year until the next update.

1. No way Apple is gonna change the form factor only to redesign it 12 months later. Apple product cycles last MUCH longer than that. (The current iBook design is at least 4 years old).

2. Apple will not roll out a new design without a special event. So whatever updates come this Tuesday will be minor. No form factor changes. No architectural changes.

Moral: You're all setting yourselves up for a major disappointment if you're expecting anything more than a 133 mhz speedbump and modest upgrades to the HD, RAM, and graphics card. Apple's waited this long to update because they know they may not be able to update again until next Spring. Gotta space things out.

 

[CoMpX]

1. No way Apple is gonna change the form factor only to redesign it 12 months later. Apple product cycles last MUCH longer than that. (The current iBook design is at least 4 years old).

2. Apple will not roll out a new design without a special event. So whatever updates come this Tuesday will be minor. No form factor changes. No architectural changes.

Moral: You're all setting yourselves up for a major disappointment if you're expecting anything more than a 133 mhz speedbump and modest upgrades to the HD, RAM, and graphics card. Apple's waited this long to update because they know they may not be able to update again until next Spring. Gotta space things out.

I wholeheartedly agree.

 

[berkleeboy210]

What do u guys think the shipping times will be if the new ibooks are released tuesday? How bout on BTO ones? Do u think a few days or couple weeks with the high demand?

When they are hopefully announced on Tuesday, I bet shipping times will go to 1-3 business days, then eventually back to Same Business Day.

 

[Squire]

1. No way Apple is gonna change the form factor only to redesign it 12 months later. Apple product cycles last MUCH longer than that. (The current iBook design is at least 4 years old).

2. Apple will not roll out a new design without a special event. So whatever updates come this Tuesday will be minor. No form factor changes. No architectural changes.

Moral: You're all setting yourselves up for a major disappointment if you're expecting anything more than a 133 mhz speedbump and modest upgrades to the HD, RAM, and graphics card. Apple's waited this long to update because they know they may not be able to update again until next Spring. Gotta space things out.

(Just to fan the fires of optimism...)

Unless the work on a redesigned iBook began well before the intel switch.

Squire

 

[SiliconAddict]

has already been made public for the Yonah chips:

1.66 GHz = $241
1.83 GHz = $294
2.00 GHz = $423
2.16 GHz = $637

This is why I could see the first two chips going into iBooks (12"/14" models) and the latter two going into PBs.

The top of the end is doubtlessly going to be in the 17" and 15" PowerBook but I seriously doubt Apple is going to put a dual core Pentium M in an iBook. They are at best going to stick to the single core's possible at 1.5Ghz. Maybe even less. Intel has an ultra low voltage of the Pentium M that is in 1.4Ghz range right now. I think that is to be pushed up to 1.5 this fall. The 1.4Ghz is at 1.11 V / 10W The iBook has never been about uber power. Hence my thinking they will use the ULV so the differences between the two lines will once again be pretty broad.
PowerBooks = Best performance possible with solid battery life.
iBooks = Solid performance with outstanding battery life. (Great for students might I add.)

Heck Apple may even thin down the iBook so its smaller then the PowerBook while beefing up the battery to increase the run time. How does 8 hours sound? Who knows. Its going to be interesting nontheless.

 

[~Shard~]

A new book for the fiancee, eh ~Shard~? Congrats you ol' dog. Wait...is it fiance or fiancee? Ah, who cares? (Could be either with the new laws coming in and all I suppose.)

Thanks Squire! Yah, I guess it's fiancee, isn't it? Ah, whatever... If you hadn't seen it already, you can check out post #1616 in Doctor Q's for some pics of the two of us. (I believe a recent one of yours truly is around post 1500 or so...) (OT, how do you link to specific posts?)

Yes, she's been wanting a new computer, specifically a laptop for quite a while now, and ever since I started getting her to use my iMac, she loves Macs! So, she really wants an iBook, but I've had to keep telling her that they'll be updated soon - something I've been saying for the past 3 months...

There's the ambiguity again. You don't learn, do you?

Well, sometimes I just do it to get a reaction out of ya...

 

[DHagan4755]

1. No way Apple is gonna change the form factor only to redesign it 12 months later. Apple product cycles last MUCH longer than that. (The current iBook design is at least 4 years old).

Apple does what it wants. You're right, Apple has used this design for 4 years. But they have also gone from a G3 processor to the G4 processor in the same form factor. So just because they are coming out with Intel hardware in the future, doesn't mean it requires an entirely new form factor because it's Intel. Apple might want to blur the transition by releasing a new form factor notebook with PowerPC hardware to later use it for Intel hardware. This is done all of the time on the PC side of the fence with notebooks sold having Centrino and some having AMD. The HP 6000 series on the business notebooks comes immediately to mind.

2. Apple will not roll out a new design without a special event. So whatever updates come this Tuesday will be minor. No form factor changes. No architectural changes.

Yeah, that is usually the case (no punn intended). But the iBook hasn't been much of an Apple fanfare product. In the past, they have modded the iBook or changed its design without much of a flinch spare a PR statement. The iPod on the other hand has always been a big media splash.

Moral: You're all setting yourselves up for a major disappointment if you're expecting anything more than a 133 mhz speedbump and modest upgrades to the HD, RAM, and graphics card. Apple's waited this long to update because they know they may not be able to update again until next Spring. Gotta space things out.

Well something has to be done to improve the iBook. The displays on both models need a major overhaul. Just take a look at the competition for that matter. Brighter displays with widescreens.

The white plastics used on the iBooks get dirty over time, and the keyboard letters chip off with use. This also needs to change/improve.

I don't know what Apple has up their sleeve. Let's just pray these things are addressed.

 

[nsjoker]

my god these forumers are mightly slow... these new macs will not have intel processors. do you guys remember the "great powerpc products in the pipeline??" well.. these are it. no intel macs until at least the holiday season.

 

[dazj]

Apple store is down again in the UK...

Ok, it's not but I'm off to bed and thought I'd induce some hysteria before I go...

Only 36 hours and I shall be buying my first mac (the most suped-up mini on the store)... Apple - don't fail me with an update this time or I'll burn down your nice new shiny Bluewater store!

 

[berkleeboy210]

Apple store is down again in the UK...

Ok, it's not but I'm off to bed and thought I'd induce some hysteria before I go...

Only 36 hours and I shall be buying my first mac (the most suped-up mini on the store)... Apple - don't fail me with an update this time or I'll burn down your nice new shiny Bluewater store!

I just checked the UK Store and it is up and running again .