PowerBook & eMac EOL'd?

[SiliconAddict]

I know it'd be quick before I read something stupid like this... see me after your disappointment that you're wrong and no whining. Sorry. G5 in that space... ain't happening, not now, not soon, maybe never... deal with it you whiners. G4 dual core yes maybe, speedbumps probably more likely, see this incredibly more astute and correct poster below for what THINKING can get you...

Indeed my good man, indeed, well and accurately played!

Wow someone got up on the wrong side of the bed. WTF man? One of these days Apple is going to release a G5. You any some of your fellow nay sayers are going to splatter all over the rumor. And I and many others will be there to pick up your “not happening soon” and shove it back in your face. Simple fact....You don't know squat as to what is going on inside the bowels of Cupertino. Period. We can give lenience to those speculating on a G5 PowerBoook but for those who are saying BAH! Its never going to happen or its a year out or its 6 months out I would suggest you append that with IMHO or its going to make you look like a complete idiot one of these days.

 

[Pringolian]

It's all going crazy!

The G5 PowerBook is going to be released/announced at WWDC, it is the only logical choice. It will be 2 years after the PowerMac G5. It would be the same as the G4 proc going mobile and it gives Steve the space to hype it to the heavens!

I don't think the PowerMac G5 3Ghz will be too hyped though, I have a feeling that Steve may play that one down due to it's major delay. Faster PowerMacs (maybe dual core) are expected later on in the year so the 3Ghz may only get 6/8 months on the front line.

Dual Core Freescale processors are not sampling until the 2nd half of the year so can we throw that rumor out of the window (in terms of an immediate PowerBook update anyway).

It was reported a few months ago that the eMac would be going back to it's education only status and this rumor seems to back that up to a certain extent. There is no real need for an eMac anymore.

That leaves us with the PowerBooks going to 1.7Ghz, 512Mb RAM, Same graphics but with 128mb standard on the higher ends, 100Gb 5400rpm drive on 15" SD and 17" plus DVD+R support. There will be no screen revisions until the major updates.

I ALSO HAVE A HUNCH ABOUT STEVES LITTLE REFERENCES TO SPORT AND THEN 'LOVE' IN HIS MWSF KEYNOTE. IS HE HINTING AT A RELEASE ON THE 14TH FEB (PowerMac?)

 

[gco212]

It's going to be bad if no one can buy a Powerbook for the next 3 months even if they have to have A powerbook right now.

They could have lied about the progress of a G5 PB just to get surplus gone, perhaps they will offer cash back to customers who just bought because Apple said there would be no g5PB for a while.

I still think eMac has a future because it is "education" and it is "very heavy", ideal for security and much better than an unplug-able and easy to conceal Mini.

While I tend to agree that a big mac is a better sell for most schools, Apple seems to disagree. On their website, they even advertise it for schools with their "security slot." From apple.com:

Upgrade Your School Lab
Replace your PCs with Mac minis and spend your time teaching advanced topics instead of basic computer maintenance. You already have the keyboards, mice and monitors you need. A Kensington lock in the security slot keeps the machines from walking away by themselves.

 

[dontmatter]

well, this clearly means a g5 update of some kind level, at some time, but nobody knows how much of an update or when it will happen.

The question is the emac. it doesn't necessarily make sense any more, relative to the mac mini and the imac. Up the power, and you bump into apple's signature desktop. leave as is, and it's a mini with a screen that is not worth the 300 buck price difference, not to mention it's big and ugly, as opposed to small and cool.

So, I'll go out on a limb a bit here, and bet that-it's moving to flat panel. A 17 inch LCD would make that computer look far more modern, not cost too much more to apple, and give it just enough distance from a mini.

Of course, they can't update without updating the other specs a bit, but they don't have to do nearly so much b/c the news will be the monitor, and so they can legitimately do an update that won't compete with the imac and makes the product line make a bit more sense.


But again, are we going to have a month without an emac or a powerbook? I hope not, but I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[shamino]

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

THAT is one sweet laptop.

An interesting feature set, but the article says nothing about how the battery can be expected to last. I've a few friends with 15" and 17" PowerBooks that routinely get over 5 hours on a charge.

And the article says little about pricing. It says that prices start at £1600 (about $3000). A maxed-out configuration will cost even more.

Powerful, yes, but also very overpriced. I doubt IBM is going to sell a heck of a lot of these.

 

[SiliconAddict]

Not to mention, the PowerBook is one of Apple's lowest selling lines of computers (perhaps second to the PowerMac and XServe), a superbowl ad for a G5 PowerBook just wouldn't make sense.

A Superbowl ad for a Mac Mini on the other hand...too bad someone already reported that Apple wasn't in the lists for advertisers.

 

[Porchland]

"Some may have already mentioned this. An ad during the Super Bowl to introduce the PB G5; wouldn't it be something?"

----- I would love to see that - but it would be a big stretch for Apple to pay for that ad, especially considering that their target audience is probably not going to be watching ---- WWDC just makes a lot more sense, as EVERYONE who wants one of these will be watching

The big difference is time. WWDC is four months after the Super Bowl, so it just depends on when Apple would want to drop a new PowerBook onto the market. If it's the G5, I seriously doubt it's ready to go right now.

 

[jdawg4324]

money in the bank

My money is just sitting in the bank waiting to go into apples hands. I dont care what it is I am buying it. I dont care if it is a small update. I just need something to make me feel good about buying. spring terms starts soon.

 

[shamino]

Oh and in other news....

Intel pre-announces Centrino Sonoma *insert irked emocicon here*

Note that keyword "pre-announces". While Apple keeps their future development secret (and files lawsuits against those who tell), Intel and Microsoft make sweeping press releases months (and sometimes years) before any product will ship.

So we're comparing today's Mac laptops against a hypothetical future PC laptop. Which is completely unfair.

 

[geoffism]

Its all good

I love the conspiracy theories. I've convinced myself of a couple of the Mac Rumors. Last Sept I was "advised" to wait, that a new PB Rev was coming out. In October, the rumors floated about the Dual Core chips, and the excitement started to grow.

Now here we are, and the same old convo is stoked again... G5's and the holdover (let's call it a diet pill so you aren't as hungry) speed bump to teh G4's.

Doesn't anyone have a friend working in Cupertino that they can shake down, or take them out and get them blasted to get some information?

 

[zelmo]

I didn't read the whole thread, so sorry if this has already been said:

Minor update to the PowerBook G4 coming weithin two weeks, probably to 1.7GHz, also hopefully the 5400 80GB drive will be standard, along with the 128MB GPU.

The eMac? You can't bump it to a G5 now without killing the Mac Mini completely and biting into iMac sales. Keep it a G4 at the same price point and it makes no sense. $300 more than a mini just to get a CRT and keyboard/mouse?
I say they are going to give it the same 1.42GHz G4 that's in the mini, and drop the price to $699. Take that, Dell!

WWDC sees the glorious unveiling of the PowerBook G5 (shipping in July, but not REALLY shipping until August)

Then at the Paris expo we see the iBook G5, delivering immediately.

MWSF 2006 sees the eMac and mini go G5.

Hey, it could happen

 

[spercharged69]

An interesting feature set, but the article says nothing about how the battery can be expected to last. I've a few friends with 15" and 17" PowerBooks that routinely get over 5 hours on a charge.

And the article says little about pricing. It says that prices start at £1600 (about $3000). A maxed-out configuration will cost even more.

Powerful, yes, but also very overpriced. I doubt IBM is going to sell a heck of a lot of these.

My T42P which is loaded with every option never gets under 5 hours of battery time, EVER. My PowerBook, lucky to get 4.

Very overpriced? Coming from a Mac forum? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Doubt they're going to sell a lot of them? Even funnier. You need to step out of the Apple bubble and in to reality. IBM has corporate clients that make Apple selling 100k Mac Minis look like a drop in the bucket. If you ever get a job in the professional business world you'll see that E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E with a company laptop has a T series IBM. Every employee that works at BP corporate has an IBM T40 (and I mean EVERY employee, even college accounting interns), every sales representitive for Allergan has an IBM T41.

Hahaha, yeah, I doubt they're going to sell many either.

Who would buy a Thinkpad.

Gahahahahaha

Edit:

Note that keyword "pre-announces". While Apple keeps their future development secret (and files lawsuits against those who tell), Intel and Microsoft make sweeping press releases months (and sometimes years) before any product will ship.

So we're comparing today's Mac laptops against a hypothetical future PC laptop. Which is completely unfair.

HAHAHAHAHA

In the PC world, chipset technologies are passed from the original manufacturer, in this case, Intel, to the actual manufacturers. The 'hypothetical future' is slowed only by the time it takes for IBM, Dell, and all the other PC manufacturers to BUILD the computers based off motherboard reference designs provided by Intel.

Apple, on the other hand, handles everything in-house, and feels the need to keep everything top secret to scare away as many corporate buyers as possible.

 

[noelister]

My money is just sitting in the bank waiting to go into apples hands. I dont care what it is I am buying it. I dont care if it is a small update. I just need something to make me feel good about buying. spring terms starts soon.

I second that...

 

[brian4610]

I'm a Mac Newbie, and actually waiting to see what happens with the PB line before i purchase, so take this for what it's worth....

I agree that a G5 PB would be one of, if not, the most anticipated product releases that apple has had (outside of ipods)....Could it be the Steve-a-rino wants to have a day completely dedicated to JUST the PB? which was why he didn't say anything at MWSF? They could have a day like they did for the U2 ipod, introduce it...then in March (or when ever tiger comes out) they start to ship?

I wouldn't put any money on that being the case, but is it possible? again, i'm a newbie to the apple computer world.

to me, it just seems that the MWSF was really catering to non-apple users or non-diehards....originally, the ipod was for music freaks ($300-400 for a 5/10gig MP3 player), then to the 20's, 40's, and 60's....now it's an ipod that holds 250 songs, it's a low end mac (mac mini), etc. see what i'm saying? Maybe he will have a day to the apple faithful, to introduce the SUPER PB!!!

again, i'm not betting on it.....

 

[wordmunger]

Not to mention, the PowerBook is one of Apple's lowest selling lines of computers (perhaps second to the PowerMac and XServe), a superbowl ad for a G5 PowerBook just wouldn't make sense.

Actually, the powerbook is now last! But it used to be first (see Apple's data summary). It will be first again once the PowerBook comes out in a G5 model.

 

[eric67]

minor update in January

PB will be updated within 3 weeks from now on... let's day one of the next 3 tuesday.
it will be a minor update, something similar to what thinksecret was reported before the MWSF keynote.
and then... at the WWDC, the PBG5.

now that you have thee schedule make your decision for buying or not buying

 

[slu]

Why are most convinced that there will be a new PB form factor? Is this based on any rumors or just a hunch? Because I like the PB form factor and would have no problem if they keep it the same.

 

[bcharm]

New Powerbooks Feb. 1?

New Powerbooks Feb. 1? What a surprise it would be if they included a G5. Maybe Mr. Jobs wants to get them out now. Think about the additional revenue Apple would gain from buyers of these Powerbooks who would then have to pay for the upgrade to Tiger when it's released at WWDC with the announcement of new dual-core Power Macs. Plus it gives developers time to test Tiger on the new hardware.

 

[ph0rk]

Who would buy a Thinkpad.

Gahahahahaha

Add to that the T series (and the thinkpad line, really) reputation for durability. I tend to prefer the x series, but I've used both (as well as the 600e and 600x, which presaged the T series, while I was at IBM).

The thinkpads are some of the best built laptops out there, by any brand.

I'm pretty hot for an OSX laptop too, but if I needed/wanted power, I wouldn't be replacing my x22 with a powerbook anytime soon. Hell, I'm not e even convinced the current powerbooks (or speed bumps) would be an appreciable speed boost over my dual sawtooth g4/500 w 1.3 GB of ram; which ain't exactly a spring chicken.

knowing all this, I am prepared to sacrifice speed, portability (x series at 2.71 lbs bests the 12" PB), and power (were I to go x22 -> x40) for OSX. Though in large part the change from xp pro to OSX for a laptop is purely aesthetic for me; both web browse and word process and run GIS software. Both have an available powerful command line (linux, posix compliancy for xp).

Were this laptop to be my only machine, I would not be so willing to sacrifice these things, however.

Besides, Thinkpads are black.

--ph0rk

 

[yeoldwizard1]

Tiger and PB G5

Looking at your threads, I could say that Apple will probably release Tiger on the Powerbook G5 at WWDC. Remember how Jobs said that Tiger would (fortunately) be released this year?

 

[SiliconAddict]

Note that keyword "pre-announces". While Apple keeps their future development secret (and files lawsuits against those who tell), Intel and Microsoft make sweeping press releases months (and sometimes years) before any product will ship.

So we're comparing today's Mac laptops against a hypothetical future PC laptop. Which is completely unfair.

Ummm no. Wishful thinking. That pre-announce is prob weeks before the release. There are multiple OEMs who already have the chipsets in their hot little hands. Expect actual systems to ship sometime in Feb/March.

 

[iJWC]

Note that keyword "pre-announces". While Apple keeps their future development secret (and files lawsuits against those who tell), Intel and Microsoft make sweeping press releases months (and sometimes years) before any product will ship.

So we're comparing today's Mac laptops against a hypothetical future PC laptop. Which is completely unfair.

"The chips, which had been delayed for a few months because of a technical glitch, are expected to appear in 80 notebook models immediately, and 150 by year-end, Intel said."


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6843359/

 

[JonMaker]

Terminological inexactitude.

When the article says that the PowerBook will be EOL'd, do they mean that the PowerBook will be EOL'd, or that the PowerBook *G4* will be discontinued?

EOL of PBG4 (meaning new G5s) = a Good Thing™

EOL of whole PowerBook series = a Bad Thing™

I never did like the eMac though. The CRT gumdrop formfactor is dead.

 

[SiliconAddict]

My T42P which is loaded with every option never gets under 5 hours of battery time, EVER. My PowerBook, lucky to get 4.

Very overpriced? Coming from a Mac forum? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Doubt they're going to sell a lot of them? Even funnier. You need to step out of the Apple bubble and in to reality. IBM has corporate clients that make Apple selling 100k Mac Minis look like a drop in the bucket. If you ever get a job in the professional business world you'll see that E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E with a company laptop has a T series IBM. Every employee that works at BP corporate has an IBM T40 (and I mean EVERY employee, even college accounting interns), every sales representitive for Allergan has an IBM T41.

Hahaha, yeah, I doubt they're going to sell many either.

Who would buy a Thinkpad.

Gahahahahaha

To be fair since IBM has sold off their PC line, which includes the ThinkPads, to a Chinese company I think you are going to see a serious dip in the number of corp accounts that pick up this system. I'm not allowed to tell you what company I work for but we are totally migrating away from IBM for this one reason alone. We are moving to...*chokes on the word* I can't say it. Lets just say. Dude! You are going to Hell!

 

[Steamboatwillie]

Not to be a party pooper but...

If I was in the market for a new PowerBook I, of course, would want a G5 based one however, I already own a 1.25gHz 15" AL that I love and I just couldn't really see myself buying the next best thing for a few years. I'm very happy with the performance of my current PowerBook. I use Photoshop, iLife apps, Dreamweaver, play games, etc and I am totally happy with the speed. Faster is always better but for now I am so very content. I am waiting anxiously for Tiger though.