PowerBook & eMac EOL'd?

[mim]

Maybe the French have got it wrong like usual....

You've been taking Slashdot too seriously, where they love to bash the French. MacBidouille had a lot of informative and correct predictions for the original G5's.

Now they have said the Powerbooks are EOL'd, and I'll believe them on that. However EOL may mean a number of things - the old G3 iMacs were EOL'd to be replaced by new G3 iMacs (2000 Summer - 2001 models, for example).

The EOL will mean a significant update - but this might be better screen resolution, digital audio, dual-layer DVD burning, case update....you get the idea.

Just from memory, when we hear rumors of EOL'd products, it could be 4-6 weeks before we see updates (eg, the 2001 iMacs were released about 5 weeks after confirmation of EOL).

 

[billyboy]

We have to remember that even now in its supposedly olde worlde spec state, the Powerbook is one of Apple's biggest sellers. They would be daft to think they cant sell every single current Powerbook out there at a decent margin even when it is superceded by a new fangled version. The Titanium price didnt drop by very much if at all when the Aluminium versions came out.

I dont agree that Apple need to coincide the launch of a new PB with a major show. If Apple were to release some wizzy new Powerbook what would be more headline grabbing than the announcement of an extraordinary press conference (next Tuesday or whatever.) about an important hardware announcement. No cameras would be rolling, but imagine Enter stage right Steve Jobs with his latest PB under his arm, "Oh by the way, just this one thing...." The press coverage either side of that presentation would be massive enough to get the new PB show on the road.

 

[0098386]

i was in Selfridges in the Trafford Centre a few weeks back, just so you know what that means; they are probably the primary shop in the UK that sell apple products, barring Regency Street of course.

i asked the manager who was walking around the powerbooks "hey do you know when the new Powerbooks are coming out?" he replied "i do not know what Apple are doing but we are not recieving any more apple Powerbooks yet, thier current range has been terminated." and to "Wait a little bit".

they only have a handful of the current range left now. if these guys are running out then something is going to happen...
and all this was a week ago. im heading there again tonight to ask him again (and to order/purchase a mac mini )


...but you didnt need me to tell you that

oh and has anyone noticed that the iBooks are shipping perfectly? dispatch time of 3 days and thats with an upgraded HD! this is affecting the PB line only. it HAS to be. and im not bothered if its just a slight GFX/CPU/HD boost! *although G5 would be nice

 

[Eastend]

PowerBook availabilty

i was in Selfridges in the Trafford Centre a few weeks back, just so you know what that means; they are probably the primary shop in the UK that sell apple products, barring Regency Street of course.

i asked the manager who was walking around the powerbooks "hey do you know when the new Powerbooks are coming out?" he replied "i do not know what Apple are doing but we are not recieving any more apple Powerbooks yet, thier current range has been terminated." and to "Wait a little bit".

they only have a handful of the current range left now. if these guys are running out then something is going to happen...


...but you didnt need me to tell you that

oh and has anyone noticed that the iBooks are shipping perfectly? dispatch time of 3 days and thats with an upgraded HD! this is affecting the PB line only. it HAS to be. and im not bothered if its just a slight GFX/CPU/HD boost! *although G5 would be nice

If you order a stock PowerBook in Japan at the Apple store, waiting is 3 to 4 days. If you order online at the US Apple store it ships right away (Base PowerBook). Of course this also tells us nothing. Still waiting and waiting.

Brian

 

[bigandy]

i'm suspecting a Tiger/PBG5 dual announcement at the WWDC.

although i'd love to see a G5 powerbook ASAP, it'll just mean i'll be drooling over something else that costs a shedload of cash. i'm a poor student and can't afford to update my current powerbook within a year of purchase. it's not clever in any way.

yeah, i got my 15" SuperDrive Aluminum PBG4 (because of a rare form of dyslexia), for free when i started at university, but i won't get another. which puts a PBG5 out of the picture for me until i graduate in 2007.

which means i'm not bothered about there being one quickly - i think they should take their time to GET IT RIGHT, something most of you seem to regard as something for later revisions.

apple pride themselves in their products, and that's why they're waiting until it's as good as they can possibly get it. yeah there'll be problems, like the white dot LCD problems on the AlBooks, but they'll be sorted - mine had the problem, UPS came and picked it up and it was returned with a brand new LCD in two days. i was without my mac for a whole 41 HOURS! that's good service when something goes wrong.

i rekon it'll take a few months more, but it will be more than worth the wait. just sit on your hands or something.

 

[Platform]

What's even more disappointing if this is just a G4 speedbump is that Apple is getting even FARTHER behind the PC laptop world.

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000170028098/

THAT is one sweet laptop.

This is what apple needs to compete with and not what they are doing today with some PB that work like old pc laptops

 

[lord_flash]

If stores aren't recieveing any more PBs though the Update has to be relatively soon. Apple wouldn't suspend the PB line

Apple haven't, FNAC have - the French store (and, in my experience, the coolest shops in the world if you'vegot money to burn and - less likely - are in France for some reason). Perhaps it's jsut that, as a high-street retailer, FNAC are selling these things so slowly that - when they read of possible new PBs in "Q2" (i.e. June) they stopped stocking up on new ones.

After all, I nearly waited for the G5 when I got m 15" Allu the day they came out - over a year ago. Presumably not jsut the rumours are having an impact on sales, but the fact G5 desktops have now been out ages.

 

[Tthx3]

If you order a stock PowerBook in Japan at the Apple store, waiting is 3 to 4 days. If you order online at the US Apple store it ships right away (Base PowerBook). Of course this also tells us nothing. Still waiting and waiting.

Brian

I just checked and now the Apple Store Finland says of ALL PowerBooks "Usually dispatched: 9 - 11 days." I'm not sure if they changed it today but at least a few days ago it was still "Within 24 hrs". I've got a print of the specs, the prices, the terms and the conditions right next to me so that I don't have to rely on my memory if something changes. ALL iBooks, iMacs and eMacs + some PowerMacs are still shipping within 24 hrs.

 

[starbot]

I'm a mac newbie, and want to switch bad in time for college (which is actually not until next summer). When the G5PB comes out will it have a case redesign?
I love the current al case, and would only like to see a new case if it's improved while keeping the beautiful aluminum. Anyone have a guess on this one?

 

[lord_flash]

I'm a mac newbie, and want to switch bad in time for college (which is actually not until next summer). When the G5PB comes out will it have a case redesign?

Good question. The innards will certainly need re-organizing for a G5 and Apple are pretty quick to trumpet their cooling features in the PowerMacG5. So I'd have thought the case will change, yes.

Will it change a lot? I don't know, but the metalic 'power'/white consumer thing seems fairly firmly established branding at the moment so I'd be surprised if they abandon that.

Then again, didn't Apple patent some technology for surfaces that change colour not so long ago? How cool would a powerbook be with iMac-esque plastic that changed colour from a control panel on OS X? Or at the very least the glowing Apple...

Adam

 

[AidenShaw]

I'm just an evil californian who will be in Portland during that time speaking of which do I need a patsy err 'cousin' there to get something without tax or do they only kill you if you try and buy a car when you're out of state?

You can go into any store and buy tax free, and then bring it back to California. Of course, you're supposed to voluntarily send the equivalent tax to CA (and there's even a line on the CA state tax form for declaring it) - but not many people do for small purchases.

(I'm not sure if you're kidding about buying a car in OR and bringing it back to CA. Be very careful about that - only new residents of CA get to bring their cars into the state without tax implications.

When you go to get your CA license plates you could be nailed for the tax at that point if you're already a CA resident. You also don't want to try to register the car in OR - if you're ever stopped while driving with a CA driver's license in a car registered in your name in OR....)

 

[SiliconAddict]

Last I heard, Apple was testing the G5 in a G4 enclosure. It overheated after 150 hours. That was not too long ago so the G5 is still a ways off.

Source please. I call BS on stuff like this without a cred source.

 

[SiliconAddict]

We have to remember that even now in its supposedly olde worlde spec state, the Powerbook is one of Apple's biggest sellers.

LOL. Try again
Quarterly Earnings

Apple's PowerBook laptop sales were the biggest disappointment, falling 23 percent to $307 million. That category is most in need of an upgrade. Considering those notebook PCs currently use IBM's G4 microprocessors, a G5 chip, similar to those used in Apple's current desktop computers, would be a logical move.

Now I don't have spec numbers but this is 2nd quarter of '04's numbers:

* iBook: 201,000
* PowerBook: 157,000
* Power Macintosh: 174,000
* iMac/eMac: 217,000

and even then the PowerBook was getting thrashed by...well everything else. Looks go along way but somewhere along the way people are going to call BS on a underperforming peice of hardware. Now don’t get me wrong. I think the PowerBook is capable of doing everyday tasks. But its hardly a proconsumer category anymore esp when you consider that the Mac Mini is probably going to be in the same league as the 17” PowerBook when it comes to specs.

 

[Diatribe]

Wooohooo, my very first news post

Apple Europe has set the availability up from 24 hours to 6-8 days for the Powerbooks. This most likely means new Powerbooks next tuesday.

Think Secret is still pretty sure to have gotten the specs right so I guess this sums it up.

 

[SiliconAddict]

Think Secret is still pretty sure to have gotten the specs right so I guess this sums it up.

Yah I'm sure TS is spot on with their specs. Apple is releasing a tide me over until WWDC where we will see a spectacle, which will either be:

A. Jobs announcing the all new 15" and 17" G5 PowerBook.

B. The head of Apple's mobile product development line committing seppuku onstage.

 

[Platform]

Wooohooo, my very first news post

Apple Europe has set the availability up from 24 hours to 6-8 days for the Powerbooks. This most likely means new Powerbooks next tuesday.

Think Secret is still pretty sure to have gotten the specs right so I guess this sums it up.

Congratulations

think that the PB will come soon lets hope that it can hadle the new centrionos thatnjust came out

 

[WorldMage]

Two processors are better than one

Well, I don't know.
Freescale has been doing a good job of scaling down processor power use. The dual core processor only uses 25w max at dual 1.5 GHz. Even if they used TWO processors (since dual core isn't ready yet), it could be made up for by a higher capacity battery. The only problem I'd see is that with two processors, the heat generated would get bad (I was afraid of starting a fire when I encoded/burned a DVD with iDVD on my 12" PB).

I think a two processor solution in a notebook would be _very_ interesting.
The easy solution to battery life is shut one CPU down, sure performance
drops but you can make it a user option - I know I'm only going to be
on the train for 1 hr I can leave the speed cranked up, or I'm flying
cross country I'd better drop processor speed (and screen brightness).

Heck you could even put two different CPU's in, one a very low power
embedded PPC and one higher end PPC then the system could load balance
(I'm just waiting for him to scroll down, I'll run on the 'cheap' processor,
ohh he just fired up <game of choice> let's use the faster processor).

Heat might still be an issue but even that could be managed in this way.

 

[GonzoRob]

A. Jobs announcing the all new 15" and 17" G5 PowerBook.

So the 12" G5 PB (if it ever happens) wouldn't be released at the same time ?

If not, what is the usual wait until the 12" come out?

.. as you can tell, im in the market for a 12"

 

[AmigoMac]

So the 12" G5 PB (if it ever happens) wouldn't be released at the same time ?

If not, what is the usual wait until the 12" come out?

.. as you can tell, im in the market for a 12"

get ready for the all new 13" widescreen PB... (No source, call it BS). , but there is hope.

a G5 in that baby may be a portable fryer but a fryer with OS X is still awesome . Dual-core? It's a hope.

 

[SiliconAddict]

So the 12" G5 PB (if it ever happens) wouldn't be released at the same time ?

If not, what is the usual wait until the 12" come out?

.. as you can tell, im in the market for a 12"

Well keep in mind I'm not an expert in the ways of Apple's R&D; nor is anyone else on this thread might I add. I just play one on the internet.
That being said. I have serious reservations whether or not a G5 can be shoehorned into a 12" without heat issues. Even the current G4 PowerBook gets pretty dang toasty as is. I'm confidant there is enough space in a 15" and 17" to allow Apple to apply some innovative cooling designs but a 12"?? We will see.

 

[dongmin]

Wooohooo, my very first news post

Apple Europe has set the availability up from 24 hours to 6-8 days for the Powerbooks. This most likely means new Powerbooks next tuesday.

Don't get your hopes up just yet. All PowerBook models are showing same day delivery in the US as of today. I think you all are clutching too much at these scraps of info.

As for dual-core G4s making into PowerBooks, if you look closely at the specs of the 8641D, you'll notice that it has FOUR gigabit ethernet controllers built into the chip. This is NOT for a laptop PC. It's for the embedded market, for network equipment. So unless Freescale has another dual-core CPU tailored for laptops, there will be no dual-core G4s from Freescale.

 

[Dalriada]

So unless Freescale has another daul-core CPU tailored for laptops, there will be no dual-core G4s from Freescale.

That can only make sense as if the PB G5 will go public in June and we get G4 speed bumps next week, then where would any PB dual G4 fit it ??

 

[chaos86]

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000170028098/

THAT is one sweet laptop.

i always thought those ibm thinkpads were the ugliest pieces of crap i had ever seen.

 

[rob_osx]

Don't get your hopes up

Have to agree that Apple will not release a new G5 PowerBook this year. This EOL is because Apple is changing the display, increasing memory to 512 MB on all models, and possibly changing the video card.
I done some research and I don't think we will ever see a G5, a 970 or derivative, in the PowerBook. It is just too hot. I think the answer to what is going to replace the G4 in the PowerBook is to look at what chip Apple will use in the next generation Power Mac.

 

[shamino]

These systems are quoting ship dates of two weeks (Feb).

Was the MiniMac "hypothetical" because it was announced a couple of weeks before shipping?

In both cases, until the product ships, it's nothing more than a rumor.

The fact that Intel announces stuff in advance (sometimes way in advance, and sometimes the product never ships) doesn't change this.