New iBooks - Unlikely

[digitalrampage]

With 24,000 units or so to be deployed in education in the State of Maine in the US is August, it would be uneconmical for apple to change their line up considering they have agreed to pay $37.1 million for the product they saw in December...

Look for a High end iBook upgrade, but I doubt we will completely shake the 600mhz factor for a while yet.

Also wouldn't surprise me hugely if the 14inch iBook vanished...

All in all, there just bulky and, yes, the 14" is nice, but the package isn't suited for that large a machine.

Maybe we could see another portable between the iBook and the titanium featuring slower G4 or higher speed g3's at the $4000AU price tag, 14" and a different design the better accomodate the screen, and keeping the 500 and 600mhz cheap ibooks around for the kiddies.

 

[iGav]

I'd like to see Apple release a cut down TiBook at subnote book size..... I'm not a fan of the iBook design, so this would be my solution, I don't there is a need for a consumer laptop other than price, they should just make a smaller TiBook with a G4, smaller maybe 13.2" wide screen and the TiBooks looks, just in a smaller scale.....

The only thing with the TiBook is that it seems alittle fragile to me, I'm so careful with mine with scratches etc. that it makes me seem incredibly anal to other computer owners, if I was a student I'd probably want the Tonka toy build of the iBook aswell......

 

[britboy]

Originally posted by iGAV
...if I was a student I'd probably want the Tonka toy build of the iBook aswell......

Well, i'm a student and i've got a tibook. I just made sure i got a very well-padded bag to carry it around it! The only scratches it's picked so far have been due to travelling on a train with it. I don't think it's quite as fragile as it looks, although i'm not going to start dropping it to check

 

[Macmaniac]

Upgrades

Apple should keep the 14in iBook becasue lets face it, a 14in screen is less a strain on the eyes then a 12in. Also the 14in allows for more memory, and most laptops have 14in screens. I don't the 12in will disapear anytime soon. I would like to see a re-designed Ti-Book.

 

[cb911]

digitalrampage, why do you want the 14" iBook to vanish? i know heaps of people with the 14" and it is a heap better than looking at a small 12" screen all day! it would be good if they released a portable that was between the iBook and the TiBook.
although there won't be a low end G4 in the iBooks for a while. if there was a g4 in the iBook it would have to be at least a 600MHz. it would not look good if a G4 was released at slower speeds than the current iBook, even if it is a G4.
there might be a slight possibility of this happening if a 800MHz TiBook is released anytime soon.....

 

[ftaok]

Re: Upgrades

Originally posted by Macmaniac
Apple should keep the 14in iBook becasue lets face it, a 14in screen is less a strain on the eyes then a 12in. Also the 14in allows for more memory, and most laptops have 14in screens. I don't the 12in will disapear anytime soon. I would like to see a re-designed Ti-Book.

Personally, I think the 14" iBook is a mistake. Most people that I've talked too picked the iBook because of it's light weight and small size. The 14" is too big and heavy (and it just looks odd). I wouldn't be opposed to a 13" screen in the same sized case as the 12".

BTW, how does the 14" size allow for more memory than the 12"?

 

[ftaok]

Originally posted by cb911
digitalrampage, why do you want the 14" iBook to vanish? i know heaps of people with the 14" and it is a heap better than looking at a small 12" screen all day! it would be good if they released a portable that was between the iBook and the TiBook.
although there won't be a low end G4 in the iBooks for a while. if there was a g4 in the iBook it would have to be at least a 600MHz. it would not look good if a G4 was released at slower speeds than the current iBook, even if it is a G4.
there might be a slight possibility of this happening if a 800MHz TiBook is released anytime soon.....

My new prediction for the next major revision Apple notebooks are as follows.

TiBook -----

800mhz Apollo G4 - hi-end
667mhz G4 - low-end

iBook ----
600mhz Apollo G4 (14")- hi-end
-- new case design (or color) to differentiate between G4 and G3
600mhz G3 (14")- mid-range
600mhz G3 (12") - low-end

 

[cb911]

i guess the physical size of a 14" would allow more memory. but the 12" and 14" iBooks both have the the same maximum RAM and hard drive.

ftaok, you really think they will release a 600MHz G4 iBook? when were you thinking Apple will do this? if they do it anytime soon there won't be enough of a gap between the lo-end TiBook and the hi-end iBook. although if this happened i would still go for the TiBook!

 

[iGav]

britboy

if you drop ur's it'll save me dropping mine for the test!! Just need someone with an iBook to make a proper comparison!!

I think the structual element of the TiBook is sound, although I know someone who put a cracking dent on the underneath of their TiBook, how it didn't completely mash up the insides I'll never know!!

The finish on the TiBook is really fragile and very easily scratched, which is a shame, and this is where I prefer my old company G3 Powerbook...... a true Tonka truck (build wise, not size wise) of the laptop world...

I have a padded bag for my TiBook, I also use a red bubble wrap bag that Apple send out with the boxes when you have to send it in for repair, this really protects the finish from scratches..... and hence why my TiBook that is 13 Months old still looks brand new..... alittle care goes along way....

 

[Hmm]

Don't forget the ClamShell

Not everyone who likes the iBook needed it to be as small and light as the 12" model. Don't forget all of us who bought clamshell iBooks, which have the SAME size screen and less resolution than the 12" model, yet are larger and heavier than the 14" model. For me, a 14" would be ideal as I would prefer a larger screen and would still end up with a lighter machine than what I have now.

 

[ftaok]

Originally posted by cb911
ftaok, you really think they will release a 600MHz G4 iBook? when were you thinking Apple will do this? if they do it anytime soon there won't be enough of a gap between the lo-end TiBook and the hi-end iBook. although if this happened i would still go for the TiBook!

I'm looking at a September time frame for an iBook rev of that magnitude.

I think the differentiator that will make a G4 TiBook more attractive over the G4 iBook would be the system bus. I suspect that the iBook will continue with a 100mhz bus (a la iMac) and the TiBook will continue to have the 133. Also, I expect the TiBook to have bigger cache memory for better performance. Add that to a larger HD and a better video card, and you have your $800-$1200 price difference.

 

[ftaok]

Re: Don't forget the ClamShell

Originally posted by Hmm
Not everyone who likes the iBook needed it to be as small and light as the 12" model. Don't forget all of us who bought clamshell iBooks, which have the SAME size screen and less resolution than the 12" model, yet are larger and heavier than the 14" model. For me, a 14" would be ideal as I would prefer a larger screen and would still end up with a lighter machine than what I have now.

Yes, very true. But to me, the iBook is the ultimate in portability, while still being able to be an all-in-one notebook. The 14" iBook's size kinda defeats that purpose.

If Apple is (and I expect it will) to continue the 14" iBook, they'll probably update the case a bit. Right now, it looks like a 12" iBook wearing it's older brother's clothing.

 

[sparkleytone]

the 14" iBook sells. Like crazy. Thats all that matters.

 

[mcrain]

The 14" iBook makes sense for Apple because, let's face it, most consumers see one computer with a 12" screen and one with a 14" screen, and think to themselves, well, 14" is bigger than 12", so, it must be better.

Watch people in the portable isle at Best Buy or CompUSA. They read the tags, and look for the maximum features in their price range. Max speed, screen size, memory and features.

 

[jefhatfield]

Re: New iBooks - Unlikely

Originally posted by digitalrampage
With 24,000 units or so to be deployed in education in the State of Maine in the US is August, it would be uneconmical for apple to change their line up considering they have agreed to pay $37.1 million for the product they saw in December...

Look for a High end iBook upgrade, but I doubt we will completely shake the 600mhz factor for a while yet.

Also wouldn't surprise me hugely if the 14inch iBook vanished...

All in all, there just bulky and, yes, the 14" is nice, but the package isn't suited for that large a machine.

Maybe we could see another portable between the iBook and the titanium featuring slower G4 or higher speed g3's at the $4000AU price tag, 14" and a different design the better accomodate the screen, and keeping the 500 and 600mhz cheap ibooks around for the kiddies.

have you seen the new 14" inch ibook? that thing is really cool and still under six pounds

the eighteen hundred dollar price tag is a bit high, but if the price came down to fifteen hundred, then it would certainly challenge the current popularity of the smaller ibook (which i see everywhere these days)