New iPods and Pro Machines?

[DickArmAndHarT]

And maybe, just maybe, I'll finally call Apple about the warping around the power jack on my PowerBook so they can replace it with a similar (newer) model [/QUOTE]

I tried that, and i cant ever get mine replaced,. 5 trips to apple care

 

[pizzach]

Yeah, I liked Apple more when it was a computer company . . .

Boo-yah! I remember those days. That was when people used to talk about Macs on the Macworld forums. That was when there were Mac articles on Macworld. Man, the olden days. I feel so nostalgic now.

 

[AidenShaw]

ROTFLOL

X86 has a nasty glitche: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Murphy/index.php?p=431

What a laugh riot!

This guy says "Microsoft is having a very difficult time with Windows/XP on the X360 Xenon (a triple core, 3.2Ghz, 6 thread PowerG5 successor)"!

Holy smokes - "PowerG5" At least 4 errors in just the 20 words that I quoted.

The rest of the article is a mixture of similarly twisted mis-facts and opinions based on those mistakes.

 

[steve_hill4]

ok this is my response to all the redundant and terrible guess at what the updates might be and when. BARF, CHOKE, BAH HUMBUG, EH, SCRATCH, WINK WINK, SIGH, CRY, TEARS OUT HAIR, SCREAMS, SINGS OPERA, BELCH, SCREAMS OUT SOMETHING VULGAR, KICKS SOMETHING, BITES SOMETHING, TAKES PC AND THROWS IT AGAINST A WALL, sry didnt need the caps on, wants to take new powerbook and throw it at sombudy, takes g4 imac then goes to next person to post something like its a g5 powerbook no its a widescreen ibook and throws the imac at them by the neck (wait thats a mac lets make it a dell comp), random typing...alkdfjldjf;lkdjf;orhj43oirjodsjfw2h3r0dfopiofuaoherfoiwejrndef;l;sadjf asf, stop all this nonsense people. what will come will come

Couldn't you have got your point across in a slightly less annoying way?

 

[mklos]

Is there much of a possibility of a Powerbook G5? That's sort of what I've been hoping for since the iBook G4s came out.
Oh, btw, if you're looking at my prior post I get the Intel thing now (mostly, lol). I had a stupid moment.

There is about as much of a chance of a PowerBook G5 as there is for a 10 GHz PowerMac G6. In other words, it ain't happening!!!! I think Apple is putting all of its efforts on the Intel switch, so why spend millions of dollars on something that you're going to totally replace in 12 months time? Doesn't make any sense to me to even try to make a G5 PowerBook anymore that the Intel switch is in progress. I don't understand why people keep asking/whining about this.... Get over it people...G5 PowerBooks aren't ever going to happen!

 

[Yvan256]

that will never happen... Why would they call it a mini? A mini what? How can it be a mini iPod if there is no iPod?

I said "iPod mini" because they could simply re-use the same casing and simply add a color screen with a high-density (perpendicular recording) hard drive.

I never said they'd call it "mini" and/or drop the "iPod" name. I'm talking about what the next rev. of iPod could be, not trying to find the name for it.

 

[Yvan256]

Finest piece of computer hardware ever built, IMO . I still have mine, and I use it to play Speedball 2 (and some other games as well) now and then.

Best system to play the classic Defender of the Crown, too.

 

[abhishake]

Boo-yah! I remember those days. That was when people used to talk about Macs on the Macworld forums. That was when there were Mac articles on Macworld. Man, the olden days. I feel so nostalgic now.

But is it not for the besT? I mean, i know that I had no idea that the Mac OS had become so amazingly designed until the first iPod came out. Since then, I am an avid Mac fan.. I even bought A LOT of stocks in the company...

This little iPod craze is ruling the world right now.. but in the long run, people will and have been purchasing Macintosh COMPUTERS..


My little spurt on things.

 

[hyperpasta]

Only the top of the line

Remember that only the Dual 2.7 is slated for updates. The rest of the line will stay where it is, possibly with modified BTO prices. The line will prbably look like Dual 2.0, Dual 2.3, Dual Dual 2.3

 

[mashinhead]

I've put together a page of mockups and predictions for anyone who's interested.

as for your mockup, why not rotate the click wheel so the whole thing is horizontal. I think this is much better. I think they should have done this with the nano, to get a larger screen. It has so much wasted space. Granted it is easier to control with one hand in portrait mode but the nano is so light it could have been landscape.

 

[powerbook911]

Remember that only the Dual 2.7 is slated for updates. The rest of the line will stay where it is, possibly with modified BTO prices. The line will prbably look like Dual 2.0, Dual 2.3, Dual Dual 2.3

I disagree. I think all three will be updated.

 

[rjc]

BTW, what exactly is Intel (it is times like this when I feel unbearably ignorant) and what would it mean if their were like Intel Power Macs or Powerbooks or whatever, and are there any Macs that are currently Intel? Oh, I think I might get it, like an Intel Processor, like Mac having them make it instead of making it themselves (which they do now, right?). Sorry I'm being so stupid, but some clarification would be greatly appreciated.

You get it exactly. Sometime in 2006, Apple will start releasing computers that use Intel "X86" chips rather than what they currently use. Currently all Macs use "PowerPC" chips, made by Freescale (formerly known as Motorola) and IBM. Switching is a pretty big deal, as it requires all the programs on the Mac to be rewritten (or else run unbearably slow). But Apple is going to go ahead with the switch, because Freescale and IBM cannot or will not provide/invent PowerPC chips than run as fast and cool as X86 chips. That's why there's no Powerbook G5-- The G5 uses too much power and is too hot to be used portably, and IBM can't figure out how to make a low-power version. IBM also can't figure out how to make a G5 chip that runs at 3 GHz, another barrier that is important at least for Apple's marketing.

Intel and [edit: AMD, not Freescale] make chips in the x86 series, while Freescale and IBM make chips in the PowerPC series.

 

[mklos]

Remember that only the Dual 2.7 is slated for updates. The rest of the line will stay where it is, possibly with modified BTO prices. The line will prbably look like Dual 2.0, Dual 2.3, Dual Dual 2.3

That makes no sense at all. Why would Apple leave the two lower end models with old specs and just update the high end? Then you'll have an updated high end PowerMac G5 with 2 outdated low end PowerMacs. You take that, and not be able to possibly update them again before the Intel switch and you have some very outdated PowerMacs. Apple will update ALL models, guaranteed! A Dual Dual 2.3 GHz may be faster than a Dual 2.7 GHz, but its not good marketing at all.

 

[mklos]

Switching is a pretty big deal, as it requires all the programs on the Mac to be rewritten (or else run unbearably slow).

Actually, not all apps need to be rewritten. Some just have to be recompiled with the new version of xCode (2.1). Others just have to modify part of their apps. It all depends on how lazy the developer was when they made the OS X app. Some apps are already to go before the switch was even made. Java apps are platform independent. The current version of iLife is already dual-binary, same goes for every version of Mac OS X.

Don't mean to nit pick, but just trying to straighten out the facts.

 

[UMHurricanes34]

as for your mockup, why not rotate the click wheel so the whole thing is horizontal. I think this is much better. I think they should have done this with the nano, to get a larger screen. It has so much wasted space. Granted it is easier to control with one hand in portrait mode but the nano is so light it could have been landscape.

"so much wasted space"? Have you seen the inside of the nano? The nano would have to be lengthened in order to achieve larger screen real estate. Every single nook and cranny in the nano is filled to the gills, that's why it was such a big design achievement for the boys and girls at Apple.

 

[tekmoe]

ok this is my response to all the redundant and terrible guess at what the updates might be and when. BARF, CHOKE, BAH HUMBUG, EH, SCRATCH, WINK WINK, SIGH, CRY, TEARS OUT HAIR, SCREAMS, SINGS OPERA, BELCH, SCREAMS OUT SOMETHING VULGAR, KICKS SOMETHING, BITES SOMETHING, TAKES PC AND THROWS IT AGAINST A WALL, sry didnt need the caps on, wants to take new powerbook and throw it at sombudy, takes g4 imac then goes to next person to post something like its a g5 powerbook no its a widescreen ibook and throws the imac at them by the neck (wait thats a mac lets make it a dell comp), random typing...alkdfjldjf;lkdjf;orhj43oirjodsjfw2h3r0dfopiofuaoherfoiwejrndef;l;sadjf asf, stop all this nonsense people. what will come will come

i feel the same way except i don't have the talent to use my fingers as a direct link from the "rant" section of my brain.

cool post.

 

[aegisdesign]

Remember that only the Dual 2.7 is slated for updates. The rest of the line will stay where it is, possibly with modified BTO prices. The line will prbably look like Dual 2.0, Dual 2.3, Dual Dual 2.3

Wouldn't bet on that.

The 970MP announcement listed speeds up to 2.5Ghz. I'm not sure on what Apple will do there. Will we see 2.7Ghz liquid cooled 970MPs, 2.5Ghz lower down or something else. Whatever, it'll top out higher than 2.3Ghz.

 

[aegisdesign]

Actually, not all apps need to be rewritten. Some just have to be recompiled with the new version of xCode (2.1). Others just have to modify part of their apps. It all depends on how lazy the developer was when they made the OS X app. Some apps are already to go before the switch was even made. Java apps are platform independent. The current version of iLife is already dual-binary, same goes for every version of Mac OS X.

Don't mean to nit pick, but just trying to straighten out the facts.

Not strictly true. Cocoaa apps generally just recompile and go. Carbon apps are more of a problem. Many of the bigger apps are still written in Codewarrior such as Adobe's Creative Suite. iLife isn't totally universal binary - iTunes isn't AFAIK.

It's not really a matter of developers being lazy as for years it was perfectly ok to use tools other than XCode and Cocoa and many developers have a lot of investment in legacy code to update to XCode first.

 

[aegisdesign]

IBM can't figure out how to make a low-power version.

Well, they have but only up to 1.6Ghz so far which isn't really fast enough to move forward.

IBM also can't figure out how to make a G5 chip that runs at 3 GHz, another barrier that is important at least for Apple's marketing.

Neither can Intel really. They've got the old Pentium4 and Xeons past 3Ghz but they're hotter and slower than the G5. The new Intel chips coming in to replace the G5 actually run slower than the G5 in Ghz coming in at 2.26Ghz according to Intel.

Intel and Freescale make chips in the x86 series, while Freescale and IBM make chips in the PowerPC series.

Frescale don't make X86 compatible chips at all. I presume you meant AMD.

 

[technocoy]

wow...

Don't know if someone has already pointed this out, but i was configuring a 15 inch powerbook and put in the 128MB graphics and it shot to 2-3 WEEKS shipping date! is that normal?

again, sorry if this has been covered, i just noticed it.

technocoy

 

[aegisdesign]

That's not true. PowerMacs aren't faster than Opteron's running XP 64-bit. With the exception of Nightflight, Opterons are faster in Photoshop, Lightwave, AE, Maya, every game, Cinebench and most real-world benchmarks. Dual Core A64's are even faster than dual opteron's. Even the Athlon X2 3800+ (2ghz) can tie or beat a 2.7ghz Powermac in Cinebench.

To quote myself again...

"The current PowerMacs are generally faster than any Intel/AMD machine bar some of the latest Dual Opterons. 970MPs will toast those."

It does depend on what you're doing and how well the application is written. Maya seems to be incredibly badly written as it's benchmarks are way out of line with comparable programs cross platform.

 

[BGil]

To quote myself again...

"The current PowerMacs are generally faster than any Intel/AMD machine bar some of the latest Dual Opterons. 970MPs will toast those."

It does depend on what you're doing and how well the application is written. Maya seems to be incredibly badly written as it's benchmarks are way out of line with comparable programs cross platform.

To rephase:

Dual core Athlon's are faster than PowerMacs. Dual Core Pentium's are faster in many things as well.

 

[aegisdesign]

(I still remember the sorry-ass mouse and disk drive of the Amigas...bah!).

Hey, it had two buttons. ;-)

Personally I quite liked the shape too.

And the disk drives were cool. It knew when you'd inserted a disk and when you'd ejected it. If it wasn't in, it'd ask for the disk it needed to be inserted and autodetect the disk insert. No draging to trash to eject, no waiting for the motor to spit it out. 880K on a disk that PC's only got 720K on.

The Workbench was indeed a crap for the end user, as both Mac OS and GS/OS were far ahead in deployment of user interface guidelines;

Certainly it was less restrictive but IMHO it was still a better GUI, at least by the time we hit v2.0. Also at the time the Mac still had modal dialogs that you HAD to click on before you could do anything and the Amiga had multiple screens too which nobody since has done as well.

programming is a difficult point to argue about, but it's hard to say that tools weren't better in Apple Macs and the Apple IIGS (anyone who has seen the gigantic Toolbox collection for BOTH lines may attest this).

I wouldn't be so sure there. SAS C was pretty cool at the time and there were certainly enough interface libraries like MUI. ARexx was much better than Applescript and AmigaVision and CanDo make Automator look primitive even now.

As for sheer performance, Amigas were pretty good but failed miserably in terms of market segmentation...apart from games, early video overlay and some crazy DJs with samplers, NO ONE took them seriously...productivity software was close to ZERO in Amigas (no need to mention those poor Paintbrush implementations), and business offers for Macs and Apples were infinitely better at that time.

How dare you dis Deluxe Paint. That ruled at the time. The authors went on to write 3d Studio Max, which you may have heard of. And where do you think Lightwave and Cinema4D came from? There was also the truely wonderful HAM painting programs and high end stuff like TVPaint. Painter got sort of close on the Mac but really wasn't as good or as fast.

Business software was a little odd. We had some good ones like Pagestream, SuperBase and a couple of decent word processors including an exact clone of Write Now! and a bad port of Wordperfect but you don't go anywhere without Word and Quark.

3rd parties tried but ultimately Commodore killed it.

 

[Xtremehkr]

I wonder if we'll get a shade option on the new ones, a choice between white or black. I am so tempted to say color.

 

[ijimk]

what kind of price range will these new ipods with video expect to fall within?