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New iBook and Mac mini Part Numbers?

Did the old iBook have 5.1 channel digital optical out?

"Plug in a USB subwoofer, or connect a 5.1 surround sound system via optical digital out."
 
tjwett said:
the thing that continually bugs me with this is Apple's push of iLife when the iBook doesn't have the juice to comfortably do hardly anything useful in GarageBand, iPhoto, iMovie or iDVD. the whole "i" lineup is pretty useless for iLife, with the exception of the iMac G5.
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Agreed:
Garageband is pretty useless given that the iBook's don't have any way of getting audio in unless you buy a external soundcard.
 
These might very well represent the last and greatest PPC Mac mini and iBook. Hopefully the other forthcoming PPC products will prove more stellar. I like the new iBooks and minis - I just have higher hopes for the final round of PPC PowerBooks. It's probably safe to say the last PPC 12" PowerBook will have 512MB RAM soldered in, with a 1.5GB capacity.
 
the resolution dissapoints, though

The 14 inch would have been a done deal had it a better resolution. The 1024x768 leaves much to be desired. I have a 2 year old toshiba with that resolution, and its just not enough. I'vve looked at the imacs and pbs in the store, and they all have that annoying font artifacts that look like not enough pixels at the edge of the fonts.

Why do all the PC kids get to play with the nice DPIs? :(
 
han_solo94 said:
Could just be a reaction to the huge uptake in Broadband connections everywhere. What hardcore user uses Dialup these days?
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40% of US homes dont have access to broadband. My parents live in the country and they have no hope of broadband for the foreseeable future, outside of outrageously expensive satellite-- no cable available; no DSL b/c they are too far from the phone hardware. Plenty of hardcore users in the US dont have it.
 
han_solo94 said:
Could just be a reaction to the huge uptake in Broadband connections everywhere. What hardcore user uses Dialup these days?
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i hear ya, i could never survive on dial-up. but think about this more...the Mac Mini is geared specifically toward the very UN-hardcore user. strange to leave out a simple 56k modem while dial-up is still the #1 connection method in the world. again, i have no use for it, but the majority of "middle America" and much of Europe is still surfing over the phone line.
 
garybUK said:
Agreed:
Garageband is pretty useless given that the iBook's don't have any way of getting audio in unless you buy a external soundcard.
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i was mostly referring to the fact that an iBook will typically choke on anymore than a small handful of simultaneous tracks. but yeah, that too. hey...whatever happened to the "Asteroid" Apple branded soundcard?
 
unknownfairy said:
Um, sorry, did Steve say 'the next ibook update will be amazing'? No, he didn't. For all you know there could be a new and amazing product just around the corner. Stop your whining.
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No he didn't you are quite right.. but then why don't they just lower the price and make everything else a BTO option?

By their own admission their laptop range is desperately failing and yet they start at $999... my God a top of the range under performing powerbook costs close to $3000.. how on earth can that price be justified?
 
Jarmo said:
No it cant.
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Yes it can. Read the Coreimage FAQ on this site. Coreimage needs a programmable card, not a mimimum amount of ram. The 9550 is a programmable (albeit low-end) card, introduced in April of this year; closely related to the 9600.
 
availability

does anyone know how quickly the new models tend to hit the stores?

specifically the London Regent St store? :)
 
sundog73 said:
The 14 inch would have been a done deal had it a better resolution. The 1024x768 leaves much to be desired. I have a 2 year old toshiba with that resolution, and its just not enough. I'vve looked at the imacs and pbs in the store, and they all have that annoying font artifacts that look like not enough pixels at the edge of the fonts.

Why do all the PC kids get to play with the nice DPIs? :(
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I'm going for a 12" iBook. If the 14" had been 1280x960 then I'd have gone for that, and $300 more would have hit SJ's pockets.
 
Jarmo said:
animefan_1 said:
At least the iBook can now do Core Image/Video.
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No it cant.
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Yes it frigging well can. All hardware can do Core Image.

What you are perhaps talking about is whether the CPU or the GPU will be used to render those effects. And as far as I'm aware, the answer is "we don't know". (Anyone know if the Radeon 9550 is 'ARB-capable'?).
 
Jarmo said:
No it cant.
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And why not? Granted, it's not listed in the Core Image compatibility list, but that's just because it hasn't been used in a Mac before.

The Mobility Radeon 9550 is just a lower clocked M9600 part, exactly the same functionality. And 32 MB video RAM should be plenty for just 1024x768. It *is* Core Image capable.
 
tjwett said:
i hear ya, i could never survive on dial-up. but think about this more...the Mac Mini is geared specifically toward the very UN-hardcore user. strange to leave out a simple 56k modem while dial-up is still the #1 connection method in the world. again, i have no use for it, but the majority of "middle America" and much of Europe is still surfing over the phone line.
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Errrmmm http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/Internet/broadband.2005-06-01
 
Fredstar said:
What a pathetic update, along with every update this year (perhaps bar iMac). Where are these 'great' ppc products SJ keeps promising.
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He called the updoming PPC products "great" in the same talk that he called a few random Dashboard widgets "great". In Jobsian, a vaguely interesting advancement will be called "amazing" and anything less is going to be just sort of nice or a snore.
 
elook said:
+Scrolling Trackpad - already there via iscroll2
+Sudden Motion Sensor - useful? maybe
+Bluetooth 2.0EDR - BTO option before
>Radeon 9550 32MB - anyone know if this is "ripple-able"
Speed: 12" +133MHz, 14" +86MHz - nothing big
HD: 12" +10GB, 14" +0GB - BTO option already
Drive: 12" nothing, 14" +SuperDrive - BTO option, no change for 12"
Bus: 12" +0MHz, 14" +8.6MHz - you'll really notice that!

So it's about $100 in BTO upgrades thrown in. They could have left it alone and dropped the price instead.
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Technically, they DID drop the price. The old SuperDrive iBook was $1499, now it's $1299.

Not to mention the fact that it's got BT standard, faster chip and bus, Core-Image capable graphics, a faster superdrive, scrolling trackpad (w/o a hack) and SMS (for the person on the go).

It would have made for a great update if we had 64MB VRam (32 is inexcusable IMO) and widescreen displays. Maybe they'll do all that when they switch to Intel.
 
rosalindavenue said:
40% of US homes dont have access to broadband. My parents live in the country and they have no hope of broadband for the foreseeable future, outside of outrageously expensive satellite-- no cable available; no DSL b/c they are too far from the phone hardware. Plenty of hardcore users in the US dont have it.
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OK stand corrected. I think it is avalible to most of the UK now, apart from very remote areas. However, they have kept the modem on the lowest model. the one most likely to be bought by the UN-hardcore peeps. I think Apple are seeing the higher spec ones for what they are. Second computers for everyday users.
 
core image?

The 9550 is not listed in the supported video cards section on the apple "core image" page. Neither is there a mention of "core image" on the ibook page.

I don't imagine apple would omit something like that.
Also, its not just programmability, but horsepower that is needed for this feature, no?
 
And for those of you wondering 'what the box will look like'...

ib_ibook_box_050510.jpg
 
ph0rce said:
lol i'm lisning to Joss Stone lol
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Me, i'm just listening to Soft Machine Third, which i haven't heard for 20 odd years. Just listening to Robert Wyatt's dulcet tones again after all this time brings a lump to my throat.
 
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