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Of PowerBooks and PowerMacs

Oh my F'in god...

I think we should all just expect that there will never be another Apple laptop produced again.

Or, since we've all been driven mad enough to agree that the next release is a G5 portable... we should expect the next iPod to also be the next portable Mac.

PC users will buy it, unsuspecting, thinking they are getting an MP3 player. But when they get home and read the operations manual (an OSX manual) and plug their USB keyboard, mouse, and DVI display into the thing, because it'll say you should "for best results on first run," they'll realize only too late that they are using a full-fledged Mac.

It'll run on a 1.2 Ghz G3, booting the system off a static RAM drive for super fast startup, come with 512 MB non-upgradable RAM, integrated ATI or nVidia video chip, and a 60GB 5400 rpm hard drive.

Soon, they'll realize they are hooked and have no desire to reconnect their PC. The Trojan horse iPod will come with a simple Airport Extreme dongle that plugs into the in jack in the back of your stereo for wireless entertainment and doubles as a base station. Apple will sell external Superdrives for the new iPod owners (iDrive anyone?). Price will be a cool $599.

BAM.
 
Or how about a bluetooth equipped iPod that automatically detects bt enabled PC's and installs the 'lost-rumoured' PC version of OS X automatically over Windows, and Steve saves the world again (again!!)!!
 
why would Steve use his keynote to release a minor speed-bumped powerbook? wouldn't they just post an update on their site? If he was to announce at the apple expo, wouldn't it have to be something a little better then a 15incher with a slightly faster g4 with the same form factor as the other two powerbooks which where announced going on like 9 months ago? Why would releasing a g5 powerbook be any more rushing it to the market then the g5 powermac was? I would think they could easily have been developing both at the same time. Realsing the powermac first was a no brainer, since they were selling much worse then the powerbooks were. right? what the hell am I missing here?
 
You're not missing anythin excapt that it's been almost a year since the 15" was updated, so any update will be major. Or rather, it won't be minor. It won't be just a speedbump, more likely a architecture transformation, and I'm not just talking aluminium.
 
im sorry but there is just no way there are going to be G5 powerbooks this soon. Look at the history: We were well into the G4 line before we saw the first titanium laptops. Dunno about the first G3 laptops but i think there was a moderate delay on those vs. desktops as well. The 12" and 17" powerbooks have been out less than a year with no major revisions made to them. I HIGHLY doubt apple is going to make any drastic changes at this point; it would be too costly because a G5 powerbook would require significant redesigns for logic board and power supply, not to mention the obvious cooling issue which will not get serious attention until the 980s come out next spring. (the 970s at current are simply far too hot, power-hungry, and big... wanna have a G5 powerbook with 45 minutes of battery life? I dont think so...) Apple would not waste the money of designing the 12 and 17 just to throw them away eight months later. We'll see a speed bump on the G4 powerbooks now, probably 1ghz for the 12, 1 and 1.33 for the 15, and 1.33 for the 17 (maybe a 1.2 or 1 as well) as well as better graphics processors... that's been one of the most consistently complained about aspects of the 17s and 12s is the awful GeForce Go chips apple chose to use. If apple was smart (like they were on the last 15 revision with rad 9000 mob) they will put Radeon 9600 mobility in at least the 17 and higher-end 15 (which will be in aluminum case to match others, duh) Built-in bluetooth across the line, too. on a long shot i will bet they might include some sort of digital-audio output like on the G5s but utilizing a different, smaller connector (probably 1/8" optical toslink) IMHO normal toslink optical connections are too likely to get screwed up on something like a powerbook.

so this is what's gonna happen: powerbook upgrades (at Paris) along with iMac upgrades (and maybe iBook too, but thats a longer shot) They will see faster arcitechture, processors and video.
There is NO WAY Jobs is going to waste something so significant as a G5 powerbook on the Paris expo. (and mark my words, it will be a big deal because they will be just as different from the current G4s as they were from the Pismo)

and just on a lark, who wants to play Hot Potato with the idea we might see a dual-processor 17"???? remember those rumors from a few months back??? im sure the 17 has enough space to handle the cooling with enough ingenuity....

and for the people saying "he can't waste a keynote, he's gonna do something big!" you're wrong. last year in paris he gave the keynote and it was only software announcements..... we will see moderate powerbook updates on the 16th.

So it is written, so shall it be done.
 
This is the year of the notebook, right? I know he has a lot of front, but surely Steve Jobs has something tangible up his sleeve to say something as bold as that.

ie Even though the Powerbooks are still selling well, he knows that with the speed PC land spews out ever faster and ever better equipped laptops, the G4 Macs cant remain the ultimate laptop in their current form.

So, seeing that the PB is the flagship of Apple notebooks, and notebooks, we have been told, are the format of the future in computing, the next PB is going to have to be something spectacular - especially as it is going to have to eclipse the amazing Dual G5, a mere "declining in importance" desktop solution brought out to shut up those who foolishly doubt Apple´s ability to produce a competitive desktop.

Im not saying the next incarnation is going to be a dual G5 notebook, but I bet it will work like sh*i off a shovel and have some features to make the extended wait worth while.

Have faith in Lord Jobs and be patient while his minions cobble together something good. The tension and the opposition will be vaporised by the next PB.
 
I like ThinkSecret, but they're just covering themselves, repeating the old 'we said the PowerBooks had an uncertain release date'.

The fact that everything has been hush hush about the new PowerBooks should tell people that this won't be an ordinary update. ThinkSecret even posted detailed specs of the next iMacs, video card, number of different ports, everything. and what have we heard about the new PowerBooks? nothing. just about everything we think will be in the new PowerBooks has been from speculation amongst people on forums like MacRumors.

whatever the new PowerBooks bring, they'll have to be released by around 16 September at the latest, right? any later than that's just absurd, and they damn well better be shipping immediately.

oh, and to the people that say they're sick of waiting for the updated PowerBooks and that they'll just get a G5 PowerMac - how do you figure that will work? they aren't even shipping until late September, and it's likely that the PowerBooks will at least be announced then anyway. :rolleyes:
 
pulling teeth...

this is getting more absurd by the day....there are serious problems if they are waiting another 2-3 weeks

i still don't believe in a g5 PB, but where can apple go from here....it's the last drink in powerbook canteen partner......
 
Back to a PC

Well that's it I guess I'll have to wait until December to buy my next Mac since im waiting on a PB update. Well time to take my bro's old pc and delete Windows so I can install Linux. Man this sucks, this is what I get for selling my iBook to damn soon. :rolleyes:
 
Re: Re: Today's rumor??

Originally posted by hobbes3113
I couldn't agree more. I don't know what is more frustrating, waiting for the update, or reading these so called rumors. It is obvoius that Apple is keeping a tight lid on this update.
Click to expand...

Actually, the only thing more frustrating that waiting for a powerbook update is reading posts like this one. So called rumors? Many sites have been guessing about possible powerbook updates, but not all rumor sites are as reliable as others. Please post a list of all ThinkSecret laptop rumors, from the end of MWSF 2003 - August 17. Maybe I missed something, but this is the only laptop rumor during that time frame that I remember:

http://www.thinksecret.com/news/aprilibooks.html
 
I think it's rediculous

Regular consumers who placed their orders FIRST should get their orders FIRST.
 
Anticipation is intoxicating

You know when you wait so long for some anticipated product, the money is in hand, the need, well, lets not go there. But you wait and wait to the point where you drain completely of anticipation and then suddenly - bang - you are over it.

That's the way many of us may feel about the coming powerbooks. Maybe, I'll just go on a holiday instead, spend the money somewhere else.

But, lurking there, in the back of our geeky minds, we want to drool, we want to covet a new Apple toy (I mean tool) .... Just hope its worth alll the frustrated anticipation....

My bet it will be the 16th in Paris, close enough now, but don't wish the days away! :D
 
Originally posted by kwikdeth
im sorry but there is just no way there are going to be G5 powerbooks this soon. Look at the history...
Click to expand...

Forget the history, folks.

Things are different now. Laptops are a lot more important than they were 3 or 5 or 7 years ago.

It's crucial that laptops be updated very quickly, since that is where the whole industry is moving.

The new PowerBooks will be G5s.

And if they're ready before Paris, they'll be shipped before Paris. I mean, what is Jobs supposed to do: magically create a Mac event/show whenever a product is ready? He said they're getting away from announcements at shows. The industry changes too fast to only make announcements twice a year.
 
People need to relax... and use a discriminating eye when reading rumors.

There have been exactly two of what I would call "reliable" PowerBook rumor reports since January 2003....

The problem is that too many people read any rumor (no matter which site it comes from) and take is as fact and then get angry when it doesn't come true.

I try to hint at these things in the context of the artucles, but some people ignore my hints and hear what they want to.

The two reliable PowerBook rumor reports to date :

1) https://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/08/20030818022136.shtml

"no definite date is provided"

2) https://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/08/20030822013250.shtml

15.2" and illuminated keyboards.


Which rumors have disappointed you?

Where you expecting G5 Powerbooks at WWDC? I wasn't...
PowerBooks on the 19th? uncertain reliability
 
Is it too late to go back to Tech?

Maybe when I go up for the Miami game in November, I'll look for the G5 cluster farm.
 
Think of it this way... whenever Apple releases the next PB revision (assuming January 2004 will be the latest they will be released) prepare yourself for the next update to be in May/June 2004. So if you don't purchase a PB when these next models come out it will be 6+ months before the next major update.

IF Apple's next PB release is with a G4 do not, repeat do not expect 3 months down the line that a G5 will come out. That is just absurd.

I truly as a switcher would LOVE a G5 in the next PB but I will sink my teeth into whatever they have to offer, period.

There are dreams and then there is marketing.


edit: Speaking of dreaming I am still leaning toward the "thought" that Apple would want to have the 1st 64-bit laptop to match the 1st 64-bit desktop. I haven't followed up on it but I've read where people have talked about AMD delivering the 1st 64-bit processor for laptops near the end of September. The Paris Expo would be perfect grounds for delivering the 1st 64-bit laptop, thus beating out the Windows market, again.
 
12 inch powerbooks are very very hot.
I have never used a laptop/notebook that is this hot. (One reason why i didn't buy the 12 inch)
I can't even rest my wrist on the keyboard.
(though i don't own one, i've tried it out many times)

If steve jobs did say it's the year of laptops,
it doesn't necessarily mean apple laptops right?

I know PC laptops are selling like hotcakes at the moment.

Anyways, I wouldn't think having a G5 in the 15inch powerbook
would be a rush to the market. They would've been planning this
much earlier. The fact that the new powerbooks would use the 7457 (or whatever the new number is) from motorola was a rumor itself wasn't it? the rumor sites were just speculating from the motorola site that the next powerbooks would use a 7457, meaning that the speed would be roughly around 1.25ghz-1.33ghz.

Considering these rumors sites have been wrong all along since way back early this year, I think their trustability is less than 1% meaning they don't know anything about the new powerbook updates.

The latest date that apple will announce the new powerbooks should be the paris expo whether or not it means it will take 4 months for them to ship the new powerbooks. But if they did take 4 months, I would assume that apple would still be manufacturing the old 15 inch powerbooks since I know plenty of people wanting the old ti powerbook and still not being able to get one.

This comes to one conclusion, they are either ready or almost ready to ship them, and they will announce it during the paris expo.

Steve jobs will not just announce a speed bump for the powerbooks. I have heard that apple once announced a powerbook with minimal speed upgrades a while ago but that's during the 90s. The 21st century customers are much different than the 90s customers and apple should know that (or i hope they do).

Maybe when Steve jobs said it was the year of laptops he meant that apple would be introducing the first consumer level 64bit processor laptop in the year 2003.

Oh well, we'll know for sure by this month.
 
My take on the situation: The powerbooks that will probably be announced at Paris will NOT be G5's they will be pretty much what the rumors have stated; 1.25 ghz G4, etc etc...i don't believe it will be anything spectacular. Why not G5's? The desktops haven't had time to sink into the market. I believe this is their typical marketing strategy, the coolness of desktop G5's would be eclipsed by a G5 laptop and they would sell far less of them(the desktops). They seemed to have done this with the aluminum laptops, by not releasing a 15" Al PB(which most people would have bought instead of the 12 or 17). The heat issue(which i really don't know about anymore judging by the comments about wattage and what-not going around on the boards, perhaps it is viable at this point). I think we need to get over the whole "year of the laptop" phrase, it was a cool exciting phrase they decided to throw out there to increase the buzz about the aluminums, nothing more, no hidden agenda, no surpsises. Personally, i'll be happy with my G4 15" Aluminum, i've never owned an apple and that will do quite nicely as a first machine. My only worry is after they've announced mid-september, how long until they actually ship(to Canada)? I hope i don't have to wait months! :mad:
 
Re: Possible?

Originally posted by bikertwin
Maybe here's what happened behind the scenes:

The new 15" PowerBooks were ready to go last week or this week. They were being held off because Jobs wanted the Dual 2 GHz PowerMacs to ship first.

OK, at the last minute, Virginia Tech soaks up all the available 2GHz machines. So now Apple is stuck releasing the G5 PowerBooks before the 2GHz dualies. Not gonna happen.

So they push back the G5 PowerBooks until after the 2GHz dualies ship. But now that makes it mid-to-late September.

:confused:
Click to expand...

I wish I could believe this but I cannot.

Okay maybe an ed customer soaked up all early 2x2 G5's and that part makes sense as ed stations sell multiple student macs per station. Kinda a retail display of sorts.

But the PBG5 rumor is just NOT going to happen.

I could see an AlPB15G4 with perhaps even USB2 and FW800.

But if you ask me the one and only thing Apple needs to release immediately above all else is Windows iTunes, as that is a growth market and early market share they are losing to alternate music services, and being a service fee and not a hardware sale, it is ezmoney.

Apple said all along that the G5 would be released mid August to mid September and frankly they actually met that schedule by delivering the G5 1.6's and a couple of G5 1.8's to stores already. How far begind can G5 2x2's be anyway? A month would be reasonable so don't even BEGIN whining till 9-15-03.

That's my position and I am sticking to it. The fact Apple stock has been ticking up is kinda scary as that almost never happens.

Rocketman
 
Rumours

Actually, the biggest problem we on this forum, is our own rumour mongering, which is driving some people into unbelievable mentally contorted postures. Time, some, to get a glass of milk, a Yo-Yo biscuit and shut up! The noise some people are making here is ecologically unacceptable. Concorde be damned!
The new G5s will come when they come... it could be next Christmas and I don't mean 2003... so what? It will be when it will be! And the PBs... don't wait! get a G4 and be happy... it just works.
 
Re: Rumours

Originally posted by rjwill246
Actually, the biggest problem we on this forum, is our own rumour mongering,
Click to expand...
and in that spirit ---
-- new G5 2.0DP orders are supposed to ship in 10-15 business days.
-- pre-orders of same shipping in 10-15 business days

-- Stevenote Paris - 11 business days (or is it 12).

They've got to have some inventory of those machines now, I don't know what kind of volume they can produce, but they have to be holding them for 1 part that can be produced quick and in volume...
Panther anyone?
As far as PB - I stay out of that one, but Steve will want to say more than ''We're shipping Panther with the G5 duals''
 
Re: Re: Resellers?

Originally posted by TEG
So in other words, there will never be Duals in Canada.

*Canadian Liberal Party Sucks*
Long live the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

TEG
Click to expand...


Two points. Duals, no duals, Powerbooks, whatever, so far I'm underimpressed with the whole delivery game, Apple is losing $ on this one. However, Apple has incredible security. They've got the whole Apple word guessing and checking rumour sites hourly, me included, and nobody actually knows anything--the same thing happened with the G5, nobody really knew anything until about four days before the release. Incredible.

Second, and warning, Canadian content ahead, how can a party with an oxymoronic (progressive conservative!??) name even exist? Do they still exist? Or did the Western Aliens take 'em over? I'm from Alberta so don't start the "east coast" conspiracy theory smack.

Time to check some more rumour sites now...
 
Re: Re: Rumours

Panther and iTunes for Windows would more than make up for the hush of silence when a new G4-based 15" PB is announced.

Interesting to see what really happens!

Originally posted by strangelogic
They've got to have some inventory of those machines now, I don't know what kind of volume they can produce, but they have to be holding them for 1 part that can be produced quick and in volume...
Panther anyone?
Click to expand...
 
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