PowerBook and iBook Confirmation?

[elo]

One clarification to my above post, since I re-read aswitcher's comment. There are no "problems" whatsoever with the G5. The chips exceed expectations in every way. But putting a new chip in a notebook is more than a matter of just swiching it out. To give only one example, if Apple were to release a much faster PowerBook that took a noticeable battery life hit, people would complain. People expect progress on every front at once, or at the very least, they expect that *no aspect* of a new product will be inferior to an old one. To a company, that usually means that the speed of adoption (say, of new chips) is sometimes slower than what people would want, but it's well worth it in terms of keeping actual customers satisfied with what they buy.

elo

 

[marmotte]

Price drop as well?

"Croquer la pomme" just posted some tentative prices for the new laptops in Europe/France. The prices seem to be lower as well (probably to offset the demand for Powerbook G5, which they won't meet). If the price drops in Europe are indicative of the prices in the US, the new prices would be as follows ( I rounded off to more common price points for Apple, for example $1499 instead of $1490):

M9426LL/A iBook 12, 1 Ghz $1,099
M9418LL/A iBook 14, Combo, 1.25 Ghz $1,250
M9419LL/A iBook 14, Superdrive, 1.33Ghz Unknown

M9183LL/A Powerbook 12 Combo 1.33 Ghz Unknown
M9184LL/A Powerbook 12 Superdrive 1.33 Ghz Unknown
M9421LL/A Powerbook 15 Combo 1.42 Ghz $1,799
M9422LL/A Powerbook 15 Superdrive 1.42 Ghz $2,399
M9462LL/A Powerbook 17, 1.5 Ghz $2,499

That would put the new 17" Powerbook at $100 cheaper than the current 15" Superdrive...

See http://croquer.free.fr/

MM

 

[Zaty]

One clarification to my above post, since I re-read aswitcher's comment. There are no "problems" whatsoever with the G5. The chips exceed expectations in every way. But putting a new chip in a notebook is more than a matter of just swiching it out. To give only one example, if Apple were to release a much faster PowerBook that took a noticeable battery life hit, people would complain. People expect progress on every front at once, or at the very least, they expect that *no aspect* of a new product will be inferior to an old one. To a company, that usually means that the speed of adoption (say, of new chips) is sometimes slower than what people would want, but it's well worth it in terms of keeping actual customers satisfied with what they buy.

elo

Thanks elo for your comments on the "G5 issue". I can only hope those out there who still believe we'll see a G5 PB anytime soon finally start to realise that it's not going to happen. People, why can't you believe that this is not some sort of marketing ploys of Apple's. I'm pretty sure if Apple could release a decent PB G5, they would do so. If you are in the market for a new PB, buy one once the new revisions are out. I'm sure you won't regret your purchase. If you want a G5 PB, accept that you will have to wait another eight months or so.

 

[irmongoose]

marmotte: The high-end iBook more expensive than the low-end PowerBook? That's absurd!



irmongoose

 

[James L]

aSwitcher:

How's things? I found that quote from Jobs in an old MacRumors post:

https://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/09/20030921161035.shtml

I think it was September 2003.

Cheers!

 

[eazyc10]

Some words of wisdom! I could not agree more.

I am pleased that I waited for the current PB range to come out , so what If there's no G5 its not likely as if there's going to be a 64 bit OS to support a G5 for a very long while yet.

For my general day to day needs im sure the new PB range will be more then enough to handle basic tasks that I require .

And as mentioned before just wait till you do install a 64 bit OS how fast will your G5's be then ah ? a lot slower then now I can guarantee! perhaps 30-40% slower then using a 32 bit OS would you agree ?

Have you not heard of the AMD64, ultraSPARC, itaniums.....? Having a 64bit processor running on a true 64-bit OS will not reduce performance since the operating system will utilize all 64-bits! if anything I would say a 64-bit processor running on a 32-bit os would be slower but a very minor difference.

 

[synthetickittie]

aSwitcher:

How's things? I found that quote from Jobs in an old MacRumors post:

https://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/09/20030921161035.shtml

I think it was September 2003.

Cheers!

umm he said that they would "like" to have it by the end of the year... and I would "like" to have money to buy a dual g5 but not gonna happen any time soon

 

[skinEman23]

Celeron's are really Pentium 4 chips with 400MHz bus (3 times faster than the PB, right?) and a 128 KiB L2 cache.

They're also available retail, quantity one (1), for $77. That's why you see the low prices. Not everyone wants to pay for a speed demon....


The image is probably from a different part of the Dell site - I've seen it on the pages with Centrino laptops.

What exactly does the system bus do? I would think that would be a serious bottleneck on the G4 to have such a low bus. Is there a possibility of a system bus upgrade with a G4 or are all G4's the same in that respect?

 

[seelab]

I can only hope those out there who still believe we'll see a G5 PB anytime soon finally start to realise that it's not going to happen.

Spending my money on a pathetic G4 upgrade is not going to happen.
I'm sure Powerbook G5 will be announced in september in Paris. And i'm sure it's worth the wait.

 

[form]

I would suggest to mklos - Entirely on the assumption that his current model is a Desktop system - that he should either get a new pc or update his current one, rather than going mac. Win2k and XP are considered more reliable than 98, for instance, so an OS upgrade is a thought. Second, since he has the freedom, in a pc, to change out critical internal parts, he could buy a new motherboard, processor, ram, and low end graphics card, which would serve him well for a long period of time, for a few hundred dollars. Mac laptops are probably the least impressive of all the macs, to me (next to the modern iMac).

If you're using a pc laptop, then I have no suggestions, but don't assume that loaded words like "efficient os" mean that a mac laptop will run or feel faster than an equivalent pc. Most mac users are quite accustomed to a certain speed range which is sub-par, so you just can't go by them.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

I still think there is some credit to this. And I think the eMacs last week were the biggest confirmation yet that updates were about to occur. They just got the eMacs out of the way first. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw updated Power Macs and iMacs this week or next either.

Also, as I keep saying, the 8x Superdrive in the eMac is key. This certifies that the eMac is on its 'next generation' so all the other product lines need to get to that 'next generation' now too.

 

[James L]

umm he said that they would "like" to have it by the end of the year... and I would "like" to have money to buy a dual g5 but not gonna happen any time soon

ummmm, exactly, which was the point of the conversation between aSwitcher, who asked about the date of this quote, and I. You might want to read back for the entire conversation.

In essence, I was saying that Apple has never said there would be G5 PB at this time, that they had in fact said the opposite with the above Jobs quote and with another quote saying the G4 still had a long life in the PB.

I DO have the money for a dual G5 tower, but hate being tied to a desk so a new PB will work just fine for me!

 

[wordmunger]

"Croquer la pomme" just posted some tentative prices for the new laptops in Europe/France. The prices seem to be lower as well (probably to offset the demand for Powerbook G5, which they won't meet). If the price drops in Europe are indicative of the prices in the US, the new prices would be as follows ( I rounded off to more common price points for Apple, for example $1499 instead of $1490):

M9426LL/A iBook 12, 1 Ghz $1,099
M9418LL/A iBook 14, Combo, 1.25 Ghz $1,250
M9419LL/A iBook 14, Superdrive, 1.33Ghz Unknown

M9183LL/A Powerbook 12 Combo 1.33 Ghz Unknown
M9184LL/A Powerbook 12 Superdrive 1.33 Ghz Unknown
M9421LL/A Powerbook 15 Combo 1.42 Ghz $1,799
M9422LL/A Powerbook 15 Superdrive 1.42 Ghz $2,399
M9462LL/A Powerbook 17, 1.5 Ghz $2,499

That would put the new 17" Powerbook at $100 cheaper than the current 15" Superdrive...

See http://croquer.free.fr/

MM

I hate to burst your bubble, people, but I think those are euros, not dollars. Current conversion rate is 1 euro=1.19 dollars.

 

[seelab]

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw updated Power Macs and iMacs this week or next either.

PowerMacs (and displays ?) updates are for WWDC. I received an Apple newsletter with promo on PowerMacs + Display ending June 26 ...
http://email.euro.apple.com/store/asnews/april2004/seg4/befr/index_befr.html

 

[Krevnik]

Have you not heard of the AMD64, ultraSPARC, itaniums.....? Having a 64bit processor running on a true 64-bit OS will not reduce performance since the operating system will utilize all 64-bits! if anything I would say a 64-bit processor running on a 32-bit os would be slower but a very minor difference.

Uh.... The PPC 64-bit spec is a lot different from previous specs. Remember, the PPC was a 64-bit specification, with a 32-bit sub-spec. The whole design was based around 32-bit and 64-bit co-existing without any performance loss. The fixed size of PPC instructions, how registers are used in the PPC, and other things means that for the most part... 32-bit and 64-bit code will run at the same speed on a G5.

Any difference between 32-bit code and 64-bit code on a G5 will not be noticable... less than 1% (estimating). IBM/Apple/Motorola knew what they were doing when they wrote up the first specs for the PPC.

 

[iAtom]

I hate to burst your bubble, people, but I think those are euros, not dollars. Current conversion rate is 1 euro=1.19 dollars.

No I think he converted the prices that appear on the website using the current exchange rate. You can see the original here: Croquer dans la (Google Translation).

Edit: grammer.

 

[iAtom]

I cant see too many Apple fans buying a new powerbook with a G4 in it.

Only a G5 will persuade me to buy a new powerbook.

The more I think about it, the more I feel like I would rather have a updated G4 Powerbook at this point. A rev. a G5PB would likely have a lot more problems than a rev. whatever G4PB (I haven't been following Macs for very long). And a G5 won't be able to do anything that I need it to that the G4 can't. I will do basic computing tasks such as word processing and internet, I plan on doing a lot with iLife, and some games. I am not an avid gamer though and don't need the best frames per second and everything. So as long as my computer meets the requirements I'll be fine. A updated G4PB will more than meet the requirements for all the games I plan on playing (Unreal Tournament 2004, Call of Duty, Worms 3D )

 

[Cochrane]

What I'd like to see would be a G5 iBook at the current price. Anyway, if really new iBooks come out I'm gonna buy one instantly.

 

[iAtom]

What I'd like to see would be a G5 iBook at the current price. Anyway, if really new iBooks come out I'm gonna buy one instantly.

G5 iBooks are a looong way off. Apple is still selling off some G3 iBooks in the referbished section.

 

[Cochrane]

G5 iBooks are a looong way off. Apple is still selling off some G3 iBooks in the referbished section.

Yes, I know, but you have to admit that it would be cool. I personally do not expect G5 iBooks within the next 2 or 3 years.

Something different: There has been unclear information about "updated graphic capabilities". Does anybody have a clue what that might mean, concerning the iBooks?

 

[Grokgod]

There is alot of talk about the new G4's being a great version of the powerbook and that the G5 powerbook if and when it comes out would be a REV A, obviously very dangerous!

But does anyone know if the problems with the current G4 powerbooks have been resolved?

I had one of those versions and IT was a NIGHTMARE!
All apple would say was that it was operating within specs.LOL

Whitespots!
Bad video respose!
Overheated Palm Rest!
Poor case assembly!

Overall just plain irritating.
If that was operation within specs then this upcoming upgrade means nothing. I am just curious if anyone has heard about these issues being resolved, especially the LCD problems they had at they new manufactoring plant or whatever the excuse was!

 

[marmotte]

Prices are in US$

I hate to burst your bubble, people, but I think those are euros, not dollars. Current conversion rate is 1 euro=1.19 dollars.

No that's incorrect. The prices in Euros are on the "Croquer la pomme" web site. The prices I gave above are a projection in US $ based on the full price drop in Euros between the old and the new prices that "Croquer la Pomm" published. If the same equivalent price drop %-wise is applied to the current US prices., this is what you get.

These prices are in US $.

MM

 

[Snowy_River]

Well, thinksecret also confirms updates are coming on Monday..

So, the wait is over, rumors can begin about G5 powerbooks and powermacs again

Keep it up Apple!

For all those who said, 'I won't believe it until ThinkSecret says they're coming...'

 

[Awimoway]

I would suggest to mklos - Entirely on the assumption that his current model is a Desktop system - that he should either get a new pc or update his current one, rather than going mac. Win2k and XP are considered more reliable than 98, for instance, so an OS upgrade is a thought. Second, since he has the freedom, in a pc, to change out critical internal parts, he could buy a new motherboard, processor, ram, and low end graphics card, which would serve him well for a long period of time, for a few hundred dollars. Mac laptops are probably the least impressive of all the macs, to me (next to the modern iMac).

If you're using a pc laptop, then I have no suggestions, but don't assume that loaded words like "efficient os" mean that a mac laptop will run or feel faster than an equivalent pc. Most mac users are quite accustomed to a certain speed range which is sub-par, so you just can't go by them.

XP isn't any more secure from viruses, worms, etc. And it's not as reliable/crash-proof as many claim. Nor is it as fast as many claim. Trust me, any G4 with speeds above 800 is plenty of processing power for current OS X apps. I am a recent switcher and my DP 867 PowerMac has been plenty fast. I don't think Mac users have reduced speed expectations. I don't even know what you mean by that. Are you referring to raw numbers or actual performance? Maybe a Maya/Lightwave3D user like you cares only for top speed, but most of us care only about speed that's fast enough—regardless of whether it's the highest speed number available.

It's nice of you to steer this guy toward the cheapest solution, but it's not the quality-based solution. I strenuously disagree that there are any PC-based solutions that are superior to the Mac, excepting of course gaming needs or Windows-only app needs.

 

[Snowy_River]

...Look at the heat sinks on the PowerMac G5, they're as tall as the G5 is wide. So in other words its about 8 inches wide, so the heat sinks are 8 inches high. That kinda tells me that its not easy cooling these puppies...

Well, actually, it should tell you that you need a bigger cooling surface if you want to cool these puppies quietly. They don't produce that much heat, in comparison with some of what's out there. Apple just likes their computers quiet, with slow fans (which I really appreciate!).

The 90nm G5 CPU's draw half the power of the G4 (I am quoting that figure without looking it up so maybe it's off a bit).

Whoops! Wrong processor comparison. The 970FX (90nm G5) draws half the power of the 970 (130nm G5), not the G4. The G4 is still a cooler chip, though the 970FX narrows the gap considerably. Then, considering the reduction in heat from the 970FX's power conservation features, it may well be on a par with the current G4s. But the CPU isn't the only heat producer that could be delaying the G5 PB for heat reasons. The system controller in the G5 PMs is a very hot puppy, too.