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PowerBook & eMac EOL'd?

Has there been any confirmation with any US stores receiving the EOL notification or is it just this one French store?

I think Apple needs to release something and/or provide extreme price cuts for the powerbook line. Now with Intel announcing the update to Centrino, the immediate availability of 80 notebooks using this, and the announcement from AMD to release their new 64 mobile chip/chip set, Apple needs to release or do something about this. PC notebooks also have had their super bright screens for ~6 months now, and with the new Centrino set using PCI Express, the technology in the Powerbooks just look so antiquated (and over-priced).

As for the eMac, I think they still need this around for at least the schools. It would be great to see an update to the G5 and still keep the costs the same.
 
All I want to know is WHEN are we going to see ATI’s Mobility FireGL in a PowerBook.


I mean come on now, why not make the Power line as workstations and the rest as is. When a person requires the power that the PMG5 top ends have you are looking at workstation desktops.

Convert the PowerBook to a mobile workstations and the top end PowerMac to a desktop workstation offering.

The PowerBook line is seriously lacking in the GPU arena, and to set it apart from the iBook line Apple limits the GPU and keeps it in for YEARS. :rolleyes:

This is a company that prides itself of staying on top of the rest, yet we have cards in they computer line that sits in those computers for YEAR. Not what one would expect. :p

Better yet maybe a BTO option for the ATI’s Mobility FireGL for the present future and then phase it in as standards. :)

eMac G5, not really interested in it. It seems out of place since Apple is hanging on to CRT technology for how many years now, I mean if you can put in an LCD and place acetate on top of the screen the argument of having children poking at it will not stand anymore. Sure a 15" LCD cost to a consumer around ~200 USD, however remember that Apple buys in bulk. You can see this put to play with the 1.8" HDD from Toshiba, Apple pays less and since they have been buying the drives for years they get an even lower price when compared to any other computer seller. :)

Apple is already using the 15" LCD in the PowerBook line anyhow, so why hang on to CRT technology and ship less products per skid with the larger packaging, along with weight. Having the eMac G5 flat would make more sense as far as cost goes. :)
 
SiliconAddict said:
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! :(
Click to expand...

So your company has decided to go to Hell in a handbasket then? :D
 
maya said:
All I want to know is WHEN are we going to see ATI’s Mobility FireGL in a PowerBook.
Click to expand...

Hahaha, don't say that too loud, Apple might throw in the ATi FireGL T2 in there... which has been in high-end ThinkPads for over a year now. :D
 
dodonutter said:
I would have thought that apple would upgrade the PB to G5 at a big event like Macworld or WWDC not on a Tuesday. As iGAV said, a G5 powerbook has been rumored about for 2 years. Basically since the Powermac G5 came out.

Then again i would have thought WWDC was way to far away (5 months) to EOL the PB now for a G5 release then, but 5 months is also too short for a minor CPU upgrade of which apple would have to buy a relatively small number of the new CPUs if they release the PBG5 at the WWDC
Click to expand...

Could this whole thing maybe mean an end of life for current build and not the model itself. I mean could we see the end of the 1.33/1.5 and see the beginning of 1.5/1.67 builds and then have the powerbooks hit the market at wwdc?
 
dodonutter said:
Then again i would have thought WWDC was way to far away (5 months) to EOL the PB now for a G5 release then, but 5 months is also too short for a minor CPU upgrade of which apple would have to buy a relatively small number of the new CPUs if they release the PBG5 at the WWDC
Click to expand...

That's because the coming update is only a speedbump, and as you can guess from what you said yourself, there won't be a G5 PB at WWDC (only 5 months away). I never really expected to see one before Paris, and that was a bit of a stretch. I'm guessing MWSF 2006.

The G4 speedbump to the PB is welcome to people who have been keeping it real(istic).
 
Hoping we'll see a new processor in the PB before MWSF '06 but the soon to come updates have a 99.9% probability of being minor bumps in my (and seemingly a lot of others) opinions.

When PBs are updated it'll be at a MacWorld or WWDC almost certainly
 
I agree with CrazyEddie on this one. The G5 Powerbook is going to get a lot of hype. At the same time, that could begin anytime with enough advertising.

The sooner the PB gets a G5 the better I think. It has to maintain its reputation as being the premiere laptop. And it would be a great upgrade right before Tiger comes out.

Yeah, you would have to buy Tiger when it does come out, but there is a tradeoff to wanting it right now I guess.
 
how do we know speed bumped g4's aren't comin out soon and these guys are just clearing stock
 
Updates next Tuesday then? ;)

I seriously doubt they'll be any more than slight updates. They only just reaffirmed that G5 PowerBooks were still way off, plus Steve would have showcased them in Macworld SF had there been anything exciting about them.
 
Is it possible that the update is not towards G5, but maybe dual-core G4? (Wasn't freescale doing something like that?)

Less heat, better performance, lower power consumption?
 
Doesn't necessarily mean G5 Powerbooks, just that the current 1.5's are at the end of the line. This could mean they're just getting ready for the 1.67Ghz models.
 
Chip NoVaMac said:
Good point.

Though has Apple ever gone this long between updates? Other than the issue with the iMac G5?
Click to expand...

Remember how long it was between the last 15" Ti Powerbook model, and the 1st 15" Alu Powerbook release? On the order of 1 year, if I remember correctly --- and I remember people at MR saying the same thing back then: "Apple MUST be readying an update as we speak! It has been 9/10/11 months since an update!!" :p
 
stockscalper said:
Doesn't necessarily mean G5 Powerbooks, just that the current 1.5's are at the end of the line. This could mean they're just getting ready for the 1.67Ghz models.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what it means. G5 PBs two weeks after MWSF? Yeah, sure :)
 
maya said:
eMac G5, not really interested in it. It seems out of place since Apple is hanging on to CRT technology for how many years now, I mean if you can put in an LCD and place acetate on top of the screen the argument of having children poking at it will not stand anymore. Sure a 15" LCD cost to a consumer around ~200 USD, however remember that Apple buys in bulk. You can see this put to play with the 1.8" HDD from Toshiba, Apple pays less and since they have been buying the drives for years they get an even lower price when compared to any other computer seller. :)

Apple is already using the 15" LCD in the PowerBook line anyhow, so why hang on to CRT technology and ship less products per skid with the larger packaging, along with weight. Having the eMac G5 flat would make more sense as far as cost goes. :)
Click to expand...

I guess color quality on a CRT is still better than on most cheap LCD's

If they decide to go LCD on the eMac I hope they choose the old iMac look. It would be the same as giving the eMac we have now the look of the old iMac, so it could happen right? (or not, packaging space is a real issue here probably and the LAMP design needs a really big box compared to the machine :rolleyes: )
Anyway, I hope they do, cause I really hate the new iMAc-look :mad:
 
Wait a second...

An EOL? For a minor speed bump?

Aren't EOLs usually model/design changes? Like iMac G4->iMac G5? Or TiBook->AlBook?

Why would Apple EOL the Powerbook for just a speed bump? Wouldn't they just start selling the high end model as the low end and make a new high end with a processor that's a little faster? Anyone ever seen an EOL for just a speed bump?

It seems to me that EOL means: "We're about to release something that changes the whole PB line-up." Is that a G5? I dunno. But I think it's more than a G4 clocked 10% higher.
 
tristan said:
Wait a second...

An EOL? For a minor speed bump?
Click to expand...
Yes, the model # is different. We all want to get excited, but I'm expecting a G4. Dual core or no (quiet speed bump).

I'm hoping for a G5 eMac, but maybe not that either.
 
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