New iBooks out now

[stompy]

Originally posted by Snowy_River
Now, now, unless you know something that you're not telling us, then you don't really know how long it will be until the PowerBook line goes to the 970. Right?

(Note: Neither do I. It could be in June, or it could be next year. My only point is that we just don't know.)

Apple PB releases are all messed up with the delay of the 17". I just can't see all 3 PBs getting the 970 in one fell swoop, here's why.

The PB 15" is due for a revision, I'd say within the next few weeks. The 17" has been shipping for less than a month.

Q: Will Apple put a 970 in the upcoming 15" if the 17" has a G4?
A: Doubtful

Q: Will Apple simultaneously update the 17" so soon?
A: Doubtful

If you believe any of this, it seems likely that the leaves will fall (or snow will fly) before the 15" is due for another update. (The 17" may get the 970 before the 15", or Apple could surprise me and release a 970 15" and 17" simultaneously.)

Next PB schedule under scrutiny, the 12", which was released Jan. 7. We should be close to Rev. B, say, middle of May to the first part of June. Conclusion? The 12" may get a few tweaks, but I wouldn't bet on major changes, and especially not a 970. I'd say a 1Ghz G4, more HD space, and hopefully, a better graphics chip. Based on all these assumptions , the 12" could get the 970 late 2003 or early 2004, which would definately pave the way for a significant update to the iBook.

So, am I guessing? Sure, what else are these forums for.

Cheers

 

[DakotaGuy]

Personally I feel the update doesn't do ****. It doesn't make me want to go out and buy my first apple. I expected alittle more out of apple on the Apple II line. This is the year of the Color Display and apple has yet to prove it. The Lisa is too big, and the IIc is to small for most people. I don't want to buy a(n) Atari that is considered out of date when I pick it up.
I really hope apple gets it ass in gear this hunting season, because if thats not the case I will just find a win 3.1 on a 286 that is probably identical to what Apple and Commodore are putting out for a lot cheaper.


nice work. for everyone who is never happy, please use this excellent template for future line update complaints.

 

[zimv20]

Originally posted by uberman42
I expected alittle more out of apple on the MCCHICKEN SANDWICH line. This is the year of the LAPDANCE and apple has yet to prove it. The ST. BERNARD is too big, and the CHIHUAHUA is to small for most people.

Originally posted by AbercrombieBoy
I expected alittle more out of apple on the Apple II line. This is the year of the Color Display and apple has yet to prove it. The Lisa is too big, and the IIc is to small for most people. I don't want to buy a(n) Atari that is considered out of date when I pick it up.

wheee!!!!!

 

[Sakino]

Originally posted by Abercrombieboy
Personally I feel the update doesn't do ****. It doesn't make me want to go out and buy my first apple. I expected alittle more out of apple on the Apple II line. This is the year of the Color Display and apple has yet to prove it. The Lisa is too big, and the IIc is to small for most people. I don't want to buy a(n) Atari that is considered out of date when I pick it up.
I really hope apple gets it ass in gear this hunting season, because if thats not the case I will just find a win 3.1 on a 286 that is probably identical to what Apple and Commodore are putting out for a lot cheaper.


nice work. for everyone who is never happy, please use this excellent template for future line update complaints.

lol

 

[Pipian]

The 1000$ ibook.. It doesn't comw with a CD-R, does it?

 

[Kwyjibo]

Originally posted by Pipian
The 1000$ ibook.. It doesn't comw with a CD-R, does it?

no it comes with a cdrom.

 

[herr_neumann]

Originally posted by zimv20

Personally I feel the update doesn't do ****. It doesn't make me want to go out and buy my first apple. I expected alittle more out of apple on the ______ line. This is the year of the _____ and apple has yet to prove it. The _____ is too big, and the ______ is to small for most people. I don't want to buy a(n) _____ that is considered out of date when I pick it up.
I really hope apple gets it ass in gear this _______, because if thats not the case I will just find a win _____ that is probably identical to what the _______ and ______ are putting out for a lot cheaper.


nice work. for everyone who is never happy, please use this excellent template for future line update complaints.

LOL!!!!

 

[Foxer]

Originally posted by stompy


Next PB schedule under scrutiny, the 12", which was released Jan. 7. We should be close to Rev. B, say, middle of May to the first part of June. Conclusion? The 12" may get a few tweaks, but I wouldn't bet on major changes, and especially not a 970. I'd say a 1Ghz G4, more HD space, and hopefully, a better graphics chip. Based on all these assumptions , the 12" could get the 970 late 2003 or early 2004, which would definately pave the way for a significant update to the iBook.

We forget so soon that "announce" and "ship" are too very different things in the Apple world. Apple could announce the 970 version of all three (or at least the 15 and 17) in June, with delivery sometime around the start of September (just in time for school).

Even though the 17 has only been shipping for a month, it's been on sale for almost four months. WWDC is another two months from now. Any loss in new sales of the existing 17 after the announcement would be made up in added sales generated by the new chip. Think about it, everyone expects the powermac line to get the step-up, but no one is fretting about how the 1.4 dp just started shipping last month. I've got one sitting on my desk and I'll be one of the first to order a new one, and Apple knows there are a lot of "me" out there. new chips will sell many more computers than milking the 17-inch for a couple more months.

What to look out for: A new G4 based 15 inch. If that comes out, there's no chance that we'll see a 970 in a notebook until (at best) the end of the year. With luck, that's why the 15 inch is still in limbo, they're just "skipping" a generation and the whole line will get stepped up in a few months.

 

[bentmywookie]

Did anyone else notice . . .

that the Mobility 7500s now say they use DDR VRAM, whereas before I believe the VRAM was not DDR on the iBooks. Not that that really does anything for this update.

This update would be cool if Apple speedbumped their machines more often than every 6 months. Ah well. The $1000 iBook does seem like a really good deal except it really should have a DVD or combo drive standard. I also feel they should up the minimum included ram to at least 256.

 

[bentmywookie]

Also . . . I must say that DAMN ThinkSecret is on point (along with MacRumors of course!). I know they have an excellent track record with rumors but I seriously could not believe that this was all that would be updated. Alas, ThinkSecret proved me wrong!

 

[iJon]

well im sure somebody already posted this but the front page is wrong. 14 inch ibooks are 1499 stil not 1399.

iJon

 

[macrumors12345]

Originally posted by abdul
Does anyone know how much of difference a 100mHz speed bump actually affects the speed of the computer in real terms?

when it was upgraded from 700 to 800 Apple said it was 30% increase in performace (i think). so does that mean another 30%?

No. I think you are referring to the bump from the 600 mhz to 700 mhz iBook. The reason that scaled more than linearly is that the chip actually changed from the 750CXe to the 750FX, IIRC. The FX is a substantially better chip at a given clock speed - it has double the L2 cache (512k vs. 256k...it actually has double the L2 cache of the 7450/7455 too) and wider internal datapaths. Plus it scales higher too.

So from 800 to 900 you will only see a 10-15% jump for CPU intensive tasks. Even less if the tasks are memory bound (which they might be, since that 100 mhz bus is starting to look pretty anemic there...they really need to switch stuff to the 970 so that they don't have to artificially hold back the bus speeds on the consumer Macs).

 

[Snowy_River]

Originally posted by Foxer

What to look out for: A new G4 based 15 inch. If that comes out, there's no chance that we'll see a 970 in a notebook until (at best) the end of the year. With luck, that's why the 15 inch is still in limbo, they're just "skipping" a generation and the whole line will get stepped up in a few months.

Yup, yup, yup!

Well put, Foxer. I agree with everything you had to say. Thanks for backing me up!

 

[Fall]

Well, this seals it. It's nothing big, but it's the latest so I might have to go and get one now.

and, apple, booo, now new Aussie store!

 

[stompy]

Originally posted by Foxer
We forget so soon that "announce" and "ship" are too very different things in the Apple world. Apple could announce the 970 version of all three (or at least the 15 and 17) in June, with delivery sometime around the start of September (just in time for school).

Nothing to stop Apple from announcing a 15" and 17" PB 970 at the end of June, and then shipping in September, except killing all PB sales until then. Yes, I read what you wrote about the lag between announce and ship of the dual 1.4 PM, I simply think the PM line so desperately needs speed improvements, many who order can't wait for the 970 (whenever it arrives), or who say, "this is good enough."

Announcing a 970 PB 3! months before shipping it is a far different matter.

After Apple quarterly earnings were released last week, Jobs said, "This quarter over 40 percent of the Macs we shipped were notebooks -- our highest percentage ever and well ahead of the industry average." This alone is reason enough for Apple not to pre-announce a PB 970. I wouldn't be too surprised to see a PowerMac 970 announcement one or two months before it's ready, but PM sales are disappointing, at best. Here's what Fred Anderson said, as summarized by Macintouch:

"Overall computer shipments dropped 13 percent, with continuing weakness in Power Mac sales, which accounted for just 156,000 computers, including server sales. (This was a 26% decline from the year-ago quarter.)"

Seriously, how much would Apple's bottom line suffer if a 970 PM was pre-announced? Not as much as it would if a 970 PB were.

I'd agree with your comment about a 15" G4. If / when it arrives, I'll be wishing for the next rev.

 

[QCassidy352]

I went out and bought a 14" at my local apple store. **** is it sweet!!! Wow. All of you who complain about this update... whatever - Some people will never be happy. This is one nice little laptop.

 

[iJon]

Originally posted by QCassidy352
I went out and bought a 14" at my local apple store. **** is it sweet!!! Wow. All of you who complain about this update... whatever - Some people will never be happy. This is one nice little laptop.

did the applestore have the new ones in stock?

iJon

 

[Jeffx342]

Why is everyone bitch'n about the new ibook's? What... there goin to make it equivalent to the Powerbooks give me a break! I think its a good update

 

[macdong]

I've been using this old friend of mine, PB G3 400, for 3 years. Now it's finally time to retire it. I can't wait anymore for a 970 PB. These new iBooks have good prices. This is it. I am getting one.

 

[zimv20]

Originally posted by macdong
I've been using this old friend of mine, PB G3 400, for 3 years. Now it's finally time to retire it. I can't wait anymore for a 970 PB. These new iBooks have good prices. This is it. I am getting one.

in december, i replaced my lombard w/ an 800 MHz 12" ibook. HUGE improvement. you'll be very happy.

 

[KingArthur]

The only thing I wanna say here is that I am feeling happy that I was partially right. Now that we have the iBook revisions out of the way, we can expect to see revisions elsewhere.

Also, does anyone else find it interesting that the low-end laptop is actually cheaper than the low end desktop?! I think this is about the first time I have seen this in a company. Well, I guess since Apple's sales are more in the laptops, they have to really push them hard. lol.

 

[Hawthorne]

Originally posted by zimv20
in december, i replaced my lombard w/ an 800 MHz 12" ibook. HUGE improvement. you'll be very happy.

Yep. I replaced my old Lombard with a 700mhz iBook las year, and I love it. I can only image how much better these new ones will be. Good luck.

 

[stompy]

Originally posted by macdong
I've been using this old friend of mine, PB G3 400, for 3 years. Now it's finally time to retire it. I can't wait anymore for a 970 PB. These new iBooks have good prices. This is it. I am getting one.

If I were buying a home computer today, I'd probably go for this over the PB 12". Airport Extreme and internal bluetooth are fine, but probably not too important for home users; it's a great machine. I love mine!

 

[macdong]

Originally posted by stompy
If I were buying a home computer today, I'd probably go for this over the PB 12". Airport Extreme and internal bluetooth are fine, but probably not too important for home users; it's a great machine. I love mine!

I already have a dual 867 PM as my home computer. All I need is a faster mobile computer. the new iBook 14" looks sweet, and it even leaves some space in my pocket to get a new PM with 970

 

[yzedf]

chill out guys

There will be no 970 in a PowerBook this year. We have no firm proof that there will be a 970 in anything Apple at all, much less this year. Not to mention the lag time from a new CPU being announced in a desktop to being shipped in a notebook. My guess is 1.2 or 1.25GHz G4 is the fastest we will see in a PowerBook this year. My guess is the Al body and the additiion of "new technology" such as Firewire 800 and BlueTooth are the big news for the "year of the..."

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