Powerbook G5 Hints?

[jmurray]

I wonder if Apple does these things on purpose to create hype. Though it wouldn't make much business sense, it would still be pretty funny.

Not only do I think there is someone behind such "typo's," but Apple is not the only one. Gates has been doing it for years. You really think the "blue screen of death" at this year's Electronics show was an accident? Gates is the master of self-deprecation, putting beta versions of everything out there so developers work out the details. Makes for a really crappy OS and app software, but billions in the bank. Perhaps Apple is finally reaching across the aisle for a few marketing tricks.

Seriously, the hype over what turned out to be the Mini and the Shuffle is pure financial genius, but hardly original.

 

[DHagan4755]

one thing's for sure, if the PB G5 isn't announced at an expo (MWSF, WWDC, Apple Expo Paris), they will announce them at a special event. As long as we don't hear anything about such an event (they have to send out invitations at least a few days in advance), there is no reason to believe the advent of the PB G5 is imminent.

I strongly agree with you on this point. If we go beyond, say, Feburary 15th, I think this will be an indication that PowerBook G5s and the announcement of a special event to announce them are imminent.

As far as Apple's hints of a forthcoming PowerBook G5 on its website, it is possible. Apple gaffed before with "premature specification," otherwise you would be right about pages being "exchanged." There are too many signs that point to a PowerBook G5....

• References were made to new PowerBook models with G5s in Mac OS X 10.3.5.
  
• The PowerBook line has not been updated since April 19, 2004. For further emphasis, the iBook was updated alongside PowerBooks on April 14, 2004, and then again on October 19, 2004. The PowerBook is almost into the territory where it will compete with the "Pismo" (PowerBook G3) in modern times as the longest model between refreshes, and we all know what happened to the PowerBook G3 following the Pismo.
  
• Think Secret's fall report on the forthcoming low-powered PowerPC 970GX processor, which would be PowerBook friendly and estimated to ship in early 2005.
  
• Digitimes reporting Asian contractors as buildilng PowerBook G5s in the 2nd quarter. There was debate on whether or not this was referencing Apple's 2nd quarter (in its fiscal year), but it is clearly pointing to 2nd quarter calendar year. By the by, some readers received a response to emails they had written to Digitimes promising a follow-up article, but none has yet to appear on their site.
  
• "Supply Delays," or the installation of iLife '05 are the explanations by some as the reasons there's a 7-10 day wait on PowerBooks at the online Apple Store. If this were the case, why don't the delays similarly affect the iBook, which do not have these wait times?
  
• HTML code on the website pointing to a PowerBook G5.
  

What more evidence do you want?

 

[propropro]

Have you read Macosrumors lately?
http://macosrumors.com/20050129A.php

 

[Rootman]

Not only do I think there is someone behind such "typo's," but Apple is not the only one. Gates has been doing it for years. You really think the "blue screen of death" at this year's Electronics show was an accident? Gates is the master of self-deprecation, putting beta versions of everything out there so developers work out the details.

Uh, you don't have to be an evil genius to get a blue screen of death. I get them almost daily at work. It's common enough to be more of a FEATURE of Windows than a BUG. I don't agree that Gates planned it.

 

[oskar]

What more evidence do you want?

Great points. I totally agree. I think that if we were to see something in February, they would not be just spedbumps. The consumer-level iMac G5 has had a faster processor than the pro Books for almost six months now. They couldn't be waiting this long to release speedbumped G4's on their pro Books.
I see there are two possibilities:
They release new PowerBook G5's now (February), or they make us wait more than a year between updates to finally see the PowerBook G5 in WWDC '05. The point is, it HAS to be a G5. They just can't say that they failed in putting a G5 into a laptop. They're Apple, it has to be done.
What I don't like is that the second possibilty is more likely, but once again as everyone of us says: who knows?

Something else that I was wondering is, when is Tiger supposed to come out? Could it be that they release it before the end of the years first (calendar) quarter, along with our long awaited PowerBook? Is Jobs really going to take a full year since he anounced Tiger to release it? It wouldn't be yearS ahead of Longhorn then, would it? As far as i know, Longhorn will be ready by 2006. Well maybe "years ahead" was only a metaphor.....

 

[Photorun]

reaching, reaching, reaching

Wow, these G5 Powerbook tinfoil hat rumormongering is reaching a fever pitch, well, like almost two years of it, seems like 15 years. All this "OMG G5 Rulez" breathless hooey manure is, well, just plain tiring. Typos happening inflated as facts, people latching onto it, next thing you know there'll be Mac zanies reporting seeing "G5" in muffins and highway street signs or backwards masking on Ozzi Osborn records ("I swear if you play 'Crazy Train' backwards you can hear him say "G5 coming soon, G5 coming soon, next Tuesday next Tuesay...") all to prove... well, how big a sucker the G5 PB contingent is. At first it was funny, now it's pathetic, so I repeat as I have four over a year, people, get a grip, move along here, nothing to see!!!

 

[oskar]

Wow, these G5 Powerbook tinfoil hat rumormongering is reaching a fever pitch, well, like almost two years of it, seems like 15 years. All this "OMG G5 Rulez" breathless hooey manure is, well, just plain tiring. Typos happening inflated as facts, people latching onto it, next thing you know there'll be Mac zanies reporting seeing "G5" in muffins and highway street signs or backwards masking on Ozzi Osborn records ("I swear if you play 'Crazy Train' backwards you can hear him say "G5 coming soon, G5 coming soon, next Tuesday next Tuesay...") all to prove... well, how big a sucker the G5 PB contingent is. At first it was funny, now it's pathetic, so I repeat as I have four over a year, people, get a grip, move along here, nothing to see!!!

Okay, besides just saying that it isnt' going to happen, what do you think is going to happen?

Once again, it wasn't just a typo. I'm not saying the PowerBook G5 is ready to be released either, just that it was put there because of a reason, and it was changed because it wasn't supposed to be there "yet", not because it was a just a typo.

Everything points to PowerBook G5, either next week or next year. It doesn't matter. It has been made clear that Apple is working on a PBG5, or else they would have said that they would be working on something different. But you seem to insist that there won't be a PBG5. Why is that so?

 

[PB_deprived]

Speak it Brotha!!!

Yeah, I do understand and actually agree with some parts.
But Apple have made it known that they have been working on the PBG5 since day one even though a difficult task.

2006 is too late, the G6 will be under way (late development) and the G5 marketing franchise will be slowing down. PowerBook has to arrive in 2005 otherwise it will be missing out the G5 and I cant see that one happening. It's not rocket science getting a G5 variation into portable form, no more than G4 was a head scratcher for Apple a few years back. Each new chip presents problems, this one is no different and these problems will be (or are) ironed out. They have the money and the expertise to have this machine on the market in June, which is the 'realistic' release date.

Well put, well put. Thanks for actually laying some common sense on the table to combat the "G5's will never happen" naysayers that are starting to really get on my nerves.

 

[DHagan4755]

Typos happening inflated as facts, people latching onto it

I don't think there would have been as much attention paid to this HTML code if it weren't for the body of other evidence mounting out there that support the potential of a PowerBook G5 coming as opposed to just another G4 speed bump.

—> Code was put into 10.3.5 for G5 powerbooks. That is a fact!

—> PowerBooks have not been updated since last April.

—> IBM has long been working on lower power G5s, believed to be called the PowerPC 970GX, and believed to be shipping in early 2005.

Anything else is just icing on the cake. And that's where this HTML code thing falls.

 

[Caiwyn]

Great points. I totally agree. I think that if we were to see something in February, they would not be just spedbumps. The consumer-level iMac G5 has had a faster processor than the pro Books for almost six months now. They couldn't be waiting this long to release speedbumped G4's on their pro Books.
I see there are two possibilities:
They release new PowerBook G5's now (February), or they make us wait more than a year between updates to finally see the PowerBook G5 in WWDC '05. The point is, it HAS to be a G5. They just can't say that they failed in putting a G5 into a laptop. They're Apple, it has to be done.
What I don't like is that the second possibilty is more likely, but once again as everyone of us says: who knows?

Right on, oskar. The G5 isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be, but from a marketing standpoing, the G5 brand is what will sell product, and they really need to get SOME semblance of a 64-bit G5 into the PowerBook this year, just to satisfy demand.

That said, a G4 speedbump wouldn't be so bad. If the choice is between a G4 1.67 and a G5 1.6, then I would take the G4, especially if it meant improved disk speed. I've had several folks in my organization move from Pentium 4 desktops to high-end centrino laptops that, according to the benchmarks, have better-performing processors... but the users always notice a reduction in overall performance due to the slower hard drives.

Something else that I was wondering is, when is Tiger supposed to come out? Could it be that they release it before the end of the years first (calendar) quarter, along with our long awaited PowerBook? Is Jobs really going to take a full year since he anounced Tiger to release it? It wouldn't be yearS ahead of Longhorn then, would it? As far as i know, Longhorn will be ready by 2006. Well maybe "years ahead" was only a metaphor.....

Well, Longhorn is due in MID-2006, so as it stands, Tiger already isn't going to be yearS ahead. If it's released at WWDC, then it'll be 1 year ahead. But I suspect we'll see it sooner, because Steve already hit the highlights of Tiger during MWSF.

Which brings us to another theory: The new Powerbooks are being held up by the release of Tiger.

This wouldn't affect the current lines of PowerMacs, iMacs, or iBooks... but if the February 14 date is when Tiger will be released, and it will be preloaded on new machines after that date... well, then the new powerbooks will wait for that. We could just see a new speedbumped G4 powerbook with Tiger preloaded, and not a G5 at all.

Of course... considering all the 64-bit hoo-hah surrounding Tiger, a G5 powerbook would make just as much sense in that scenario.

So, as you say, who knows?

 

[Caiwyn]

—> Code was put into 10.3.5 for G5 powerbooks. That is a fact!

Maybe I haven't been paying attention, but where did you hear this? Can I get a link?

Your other points are right on, too. There's another point to be made... Digitimes reported Powerbook G5s coming in Q2 from Quanta computer. Except Asustek manufactures the current line. Digitimes only mentions iBook G5s in Q2 from them. Why the change? Perhaps Asus is delivering G5 powerbooks even sooner than Quanta. But I'm reaching for that one, with no evidence or backup.

A G4 speedbump is still more likely, and maybe even more desireable, than a G5. TS is saying G4 speedbump, as is Apple Insider, and in order for a G5 powerbook to exist, we'd have to have new G5 chips. There's been no news on that recently.

 

[wdlove]

Maybe I haven't been paying attention, but where did you hear this? Can I get a link?

A G4 speedbump is still more likely, and maybe even more desirable, than a G5. TS is saying G4 speedbump, as is Apple Insider, and in order for a G5 powerbook to exist, we'd have to have new G5 chips. There's been no news on that recently.

Apple seems to be running a very tight ship. We really aren't getting any good leaks to know what's going on for sure. It's definitely that we will know something for sure in a matter of months.

 

[JesterJJZ]

Have you read Macosrumors lately?
http://macosrumors.com/20050129A.php

44" display...DAMN!!!

 

[digitalbiker]

No Blue Screen of Death

You really think the "blue screen of death" at this year's Electronics show was an accident? Gates is the master of self-deprecation, \

There was no Blue Screen of death. Gates was doing a late night with Conan O'Brian skit demonstrating the Windows home media system. Gates wanted to show a few photos but nothing came up on the remote screen.

For all we know there were no batteries in Gates remote, the system was not plugged in, the infared port was broken, the monitor was set to TV rather than video 1, who knows? There was nothing on the monitor, nothing blue, no error messages, the monitor just stayed black. I don't know how many times I have heard this exagerated on Mac Rumor sites.

It was even funny and Conan made wisecracks about the situation. Gates seemed unpeturbed.

 

[jrpvt]

Which brings us to another theory: The new Powerbooks are being held up by the release of Tiger.

I think you're on to something...back in 2001 the new 667 mhz titanium PowerBook was updated near the time that OS 10.1 came out.

But whether this will be true this time we won't know for sure!

 

[Eastend]

Apple seems to be running a very tight ship. We really aren't getting any good leaks to know what's going on for sure. It's definitely that we will know something for sure in a matter of months.

How true, if I may add, even if it's true and on the Rumor sites, nobody really knows for sure until it is actually out (Even if Apple sues), until it is announced it is all just rumors. Love the Rumors, keep them coming.

Brian

 

[Eastend]

Interesting

Forgot to mention in earlier post. There is an interesting thread over on Appleinsider. Threads in "New PowerMac or G5 PowerBook @WWDC '05?" right now it is a short thread. The part about the Retail comment halfway down is interesting.

Brian

 

[atlantic]

There was no Blue Screen of death. Gates was doing a late night with Conan O'Brian skit demonstrating the Windows home media system. Gates wanted to show a few photos but nothing came up on the remote screen.

For all we know there were no batteries in Gates remote, the system was not plugged in, the infared port was broken, the monitor was set to TV rather than video 1, who knows? There was nothing on the monitor, nothing blue, no error messages, the monitor just stayed black. I don't know how many times I have heard this exagerated on Mac Rumor sites.

It was even funny and Conan made wisecracks about the situation. Gates seemed unpeturbed.

The remote failed because the stage lights were on full blast and interfered with the remote... They never rehearsed the show with full lights, or so they say. MS should have went for a radio-frequency remote like Bose has on their new sound systems... That's what Apple would do!

And yes, there was a BSOD. Some guy was giving a demo of a new car game for the XBOX when BSOD came up and said "OUT OF MEMORY..."

 

[ßlack]

Well, if Apple is going to put a new faster G4 into their Powerbooks (not dual core) then dont expect to see G5's at WWDC. It would be absolutely madness to upgrade after just 4 months. Any release date after the WWDC would screw the whole PB line for the next generation, as posted above. We have the facts about the code in 10.3.5, the GX processor, the typos, etc. Something is coming, I'll put my bets on the Tuesday following the Super Bowl, since Apple will be launching an ad campaign with Pepsi, and maybe some other ads for the Mac mini. Just my 2¢

 

[AidenShaw]

it's not that common

Uh, you don't have to be an evil genius to get a blue screen of death. I get them almost daily at work.

If you're running an NT-based system, BSODs should be extremely rare. Even many posters on this forum will agree that NT is normally quite stable.

If you're getting them frequently, something is very wrong. Daily is quite absurd. I have literally several hundred XP systems in my lab that have been up since they were rebooted to install SP2 several months ago. The last BSOD that I got on my dual Xeon workstation at work happened because I removed a NIC while the machine was running (those Dell's are *so* quiet you need to double-check that they've been shut down).

Some suggestions:

- You might have bad memory. Download the memtest86 program from http://www.memtest86.com/ . It's a free ISO image of a bootable CD that you can run to do very thorough memory testing of just about any x86 system. An indispensible tool....

- You might have a buggy device driver. Check that you have the latest WHQL driver for your video card, and perhaps any other devices. Check the manufacturer's website for upgrades to the NIC and other embedded devices. Make sure that firmware is up-to-date, sometimes new drivers haven't been well tested against old versions of firmware.

- You might have defective devices - keeping track of what you were doing right before the BSOD might help narrow down the possibilities here.

- You might have a bad CPU or motherboard. Truly random crashes can be due to a bad or poorly seated CPU or card. Many times I've fixed a "possesed" machine by reseating the CPU, memory, cards and all other cables and connections.

Daily blue screens are not a feature of Windows, your system is sick.

 

[beatle888]

Wow, these G5 Powerbook tinfoil hat rumormongering is reaching a fever pitch, well, like almost two years of it, seems like 15 years. All this "OMG G5 Rulez" breathless hooey manure is, well, just plain tiring. Typos happening inflated as facts, people latching onto it, next thing you know there'll be Mac zanies reporting seeing "G5" in muffins and highway street signs or backwards masking on Ozzi Osborn records ("I swear if you play 'Crazy Train' backwards you can hear him say "G5 coming soon, G5 coming soon, next Tuesday next Tuesay...") all to prove... well, how big a sucker the G5 PB contingent is. At first it was funny, now it's pathetic, so I repeat as I have four over a year, people, get a grip, move along here, nothing to see!!!

thanks for the input photorun but some come here because, well, its a rumor site and thats what we do here. talk about rumors. you can move along though. feel free to do what you want. this is part of what i do when im on the internet...talk about what ifs. its fun.

 

[noelister]

thanks for the input photorun but some come here because, well, its a rumor site and thats what we do here. talk about rumors. you can move along though. feel free to do what you want. this is part of what i do when im on the internet...talk about what ifs. its fun.

I agree beatle888, I enjoy hearing everyones input on the matter. Guess we think different

 

[Zaty]

I strongly agree with you on this point. If we go beyond, say, Feburary 15th, I think this will be an indication that PowerBook G5s and the announcement of a special event to announce them are imminent.

As far as Apple's hints of a forthcoming PowerBook G5 on its website, it is possible. Apple gaffed before with "premature specification," otherwise you would be right about pages being "exchanged." There are too many signs that point to a PowerBook G5....


What more evidence do you want?

Okay, let's see. First, it's a fact Apple has been working on a PowerBook G5 for some time. So, it makes perfectly sense you'll find some evidence.

• References were made to new PowerBook models with G5s in Mac OS X 10.3.5.

• 
  
  Apple needs that code for testing, and like you said it was added in 10.3.5 which was released on August 9. Back then many people believed new PB G5s were just around the corner.
  
  

  [*] The PowerBook line has not been updated since April 19, 2004. For further emphasis, the iBook was updated alongside PowerBooks on April 14, 2004, and then again on October 19, 2004. The PowerBook is almost into the territory where it will compete with the "Pismo" (PowerBook G3) in modern times as the longest model between refreshes, and we all know what happened to the PowerBook G3 following the Pismo.

  
  A PowerBook update is imminent, no doubt about that.
  
  

  [*] Think Secret's fall report on the forthcoming low-powered PowerPC 970GX processor, which would be PowerBook friendly and estimated to ship in early 2005.

  
  Think Secret also believed that an other AlBook revision would be announced at MWSF. Although it didn't happen they still strongly believe their information is correct. As for the PPC 970GX, what about a delay à la 3GHz G5?
  
  
  
  

  [*] Digitimes reporting Asian contractors as buildilng PowerBook G5s in the 2nd quarter. There was debate on whether or not this was referencing Apple's 2nd quarter (in its fiscal year), but it is clearly pointing to 2nd quarter calendar year. By the by, some readers received a response to emails they had written to Digitimes promising a follow-up article, but none has yet to appear on their site.

  
  Yes, second quarter! That means they start building them sometime after March 31. Even if it's true, don't expect them before June. What do they do with PBs in the meantime?
  
  

  [*] "Supply Delays," or the installation of iLife '05 are the explanations by some as the reasons there's a 7-10 day wait on PowerBooks at the online Apple Store. If this were the case, why don't the delays similarly affect the iBook, which do not have these wait times?

  
  You're right, this has nothing to with iLife 05. The reason for the delay is that new PB G4 will be announced next Tuesday. BTW estimated ship for the 12" is only 3-5 business days.
  

  [*] HTML code on the website pointing to a PowerBook G5.

  
  Again, that's only a proof of existence of a PowerBook G5 but it doesn't mean they will materialise in the next few days or weeks.
  
  When all is said and done, we'll have to wait until say February 15. If Apple doesn't release new PBs by mid February, we know that TS (and me too) was wrong. Unless Apple ran into a major supply problem, there's no reason why they would wait any longer given that the channel will be cleared by then.
  
  My guess has always been and still is new AlBooks on February 1 which happens to be next Tuesday.

 

[Pringolian]

Well, if Apple is going to put a new faster G4 into their Powerbooks (not dual core) then dont expect to see G5's at WWDC. It would be absolutely madness to upgrade after just 4 months. Any release date after the WWDC would screw the whole PB line for the next generation, as posted above. We have the facts about the code in 10.3.5, the GX processor, the typos, etc. Something is coming, I'll put my bets on the Tuesday following the Super Bowl, since Apple will be launching an ad campaign with Pepsi, and maybe some other ads for the Mac mini. Just my 2¢

It's happened before, I cant remember the details but they revised one product line within the space of something ridiculous like 10 weeks!!! I'll have a look around and see what I can find.

 

[Eastend]

It's happened before, I cant remember the details but they revised one product line within the space of something ridiculous like 10 weeks!!! I'll have a look around and see what I can find.

Some is from what I've written down off the net over time and others from memory.
1. G3 250 Mhz Kanga, Nov 97, Rev 1
2. G3 233, 266, 292 Main Street or WallStreet, May 98
3. G3 233,266, 300 PDQ, Aug 98, Rev2
standardized the bus speed (to 66 Mhz) and the screen size (to 14.1"), Streamlined the production process, and shiped PowerBooks faster. The first 233 Mhz machine had no L2 cache the second one did. That's 4 months. If you search a little more I think they did it in 4 months before that, the 2400 maybe, not sure?

Brian