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Powerbooks are definatley going to be a G5 now

Re: Re: Powerbooks are definatley going to be a G5 now

Originally posted by hvfsl
512MB DDR333 RAM min
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I agree. I don't know where all these other people are getting DDR400 (PC3200) SDRAM from, but that would be too fast for even a 600/700 Mhz bus to handle. Why do you think the 1.6 tower only has PC2700?
 
Though G5 powerbook would be ideal,
I won't complain if they actually have the Radeon 9600 (64meg, I doubt it's 128) in the new 15 inch powerbooks.
 
Originally posted by LimeLite
Didn't Apple already say the G5 wouldn't be int he PowerBook for a while?
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They did, but that was back in June. For all we know awhile to Apple could be 3 or 4 months. Plus, with the issues that have been occurring with their production, as long as they aren't too deep into production, Apple could just wait a plop G5 into the suckers. Not likely, but possible.
 
Re: Re: Re: Powerbooks are definatley going to be a G5 now

Originally posted by job
I agree. I don't know where all these other people are getting DDR400 (PC3200) SDRAM from, but that would be too fast for even a 600/700 Mhz bus to handle. Why do you think the 1.6 tower only has PC2700?
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EDIT: A quote for the killjoys: "And if you consider the fact that the 970's power consumption at 1.2GHz is a mere 19W, it's almost certain that we'll see a future notebook from Apple based on the new chip." From http://arstechnica.com/cpu/02q2/ppc970/ppc970-1.html


Original post:
Unfortunately, there is no DDR support in the G4, not even in the 7457. So we're only going to get the SDR bus speed anyway, maybe moto can get it up to 167Mhz but who cares?

As far as fast bus/heat killing a G5 powerbook: Everyone must read the damn ars technica article, PLEASE. The G5 at 1.8Ghz eats 42W. The G4e at 1.0Ghz uses 30W. That ain't that much difference. A P4 @ 2.8Ghz uses 68W!! Now the Pentium-M is much better, but the speeds there are more like 1.6. The ASIC may generate the majority of the heat in the G5's case, BUT, the FSB doesn't HAVE to run at 1/2 proc speed. It can run at 1/4 and we still have a slammin fast bus. Or go down to 1/6, it's possible. 1/8 as well. Whatever they need to get the heat down, the 970 supports all these steps. So a 1.4 G5 w/350Mhz FSB (a double-pumped 175, odd as that sounds) should perform pretty well for a notebook.

And maybe the 700Mhz FSB isn't impossible after all: All the bitching about the 12" PB heat problems I've heard miss the point. The heat isn't due to the proc OR the ASIC. That thing burning your left wrist in the 12" is the HARD DRIVE. Hell, the 14" ibook isn't cool to the touch around the HD, when I've felt them after a workout, the iBook 14 felt just as hot to me as the 12"PB. I didn't bust out the precision thermometer though.
 
Re: Re: Powerbooks are definatley going to be a G5 now

Originally posted by hvfsl
Well we know this much about the upcoming PBs;
-the top end will be at least 1.25Ghz G4 (or they will be slower than the iMacs).
-Radeon 9600M 128MB (the Geforce 5200Go uses more power and is slower), but I expect the 12in will have a Radeon 9000M 64MB.
-512MB DDR333 RAM min
-USB2, Airport Extreme, Firewire800, Bluetooth
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I think specs like this would make for a nice upgrade. Right now the iMac is faster than the PowerBook G4 (at least in raw GHz).
 
I don't see why Apple would want to rain on their own parade. Right now, with the G5 finally hitting people's desktops, it's the center of attention and will likely turn a lot of skeptical heads. If Apple goes ahead and drops a G5 PB out there, it will not only draw most of the attention, but possibly cut into PowerMac sales.
 
I think that the G5 PowerBook might not be that bad heat-wise. I thought that G4 TiBooks generated a bit of heat (they do), but the other day a friend plopped down next to me with his 1.4 GHz Pentium laptop, and within 5 minutes the hot air belching out the side exhaust fan made me start to sweat. I thought my hand might have gotten sunburned.
 
Originally posted by patrick0brien
-AHDuke99

As much as I want them to come out next week, that's just not to be. We will see G5's in PB's but not until next year. There are two reasons for this: Heat and power consumption.
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There's one more reason...keep G5 tower sales up as long as possible.
 
If Apple goes ahead and drops a G5 PB out there, it will not only draw most of the attention, but possibly cut into PowerMac sales. [/B]
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That logic is around the wrong way. I want to buy a new powebook. period. A lot of others out there are interested in a notebook only, we're not even in the market for a desktop!

Sorry beefcake but it really gets my goat when I hear a statement like "X can't be released because it will cut into Y sales".

Points:
1. It's the same company - a sale is a sale
2. If you want a desktop you'll get a desktop - conversely if you want a lappy you'll get a lappy.

Push the out the door and let the product stand on it's own feet - if it can't, then drop it and build something else (if it eats into sales then obviously the market has spoken - sell more of the product they WANT) - you don't deliberatley cripple a product.

Also, the G5 stands on its own feet as a product - heck 100k in preorders!

Nah, let's get the powerbooks out there...

-- Dan :D
 
Personally I think that Apple has something pretty nice to show to us in Paris.

As people have mentioned before they made iPod & iMac public a week before Paris & Paris is too big to say just "HELLO !"

They probably introduce new Powerbooks in Paris. Is it G4 or G5 I do not know. If you think realistically it is probably G4 speeded up to something like 1.25-1.5Ghz.

On the other hand. IBM mentioned earlier in this summer that G5 start's at 1.6 Ghz but if you slow down the processor a bit you can put it in the Powerbook as people have been writing here.

However this is only a question of heat & power consumption. There might be other reasons why we do not see G5 in PB's...

ONE INTERESTING POINT: many people do not believe to G5 in the PB in Paris because it took so long to Moto to get G4 work in PB. Unfortunately this is something different this time because now we are dealing with IBM whose resources are on a completely different level.

However, there is one thing I am certain: because of the the release of iPod & iMac they will have something BIG to show us.

When it comes to the question of buing a PB the issue is quite simple:

if you need it now -buy now ! If you can wait - wait, because there is no point wasting your money to something you really do not need.

:rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by yujini
Though G5 powerbook would be ideal,
I won't complain if they actually have the Radeon 9600 (64meg, I doubt it's 128) in the new 15 inch powerbooks.
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Apple has been doubling the VRAM in its 15in powerbooks ever since the G4. The are lots of companies out there that have 128mb VRAM on their laptops, e.g. Dell.

Rev A (400 and 500) 8mb
Rev B (550 and 667) 16mb
Rev C (667 and 800) 32mb
Rev D (867 and 1000) 32 - 64mb
 
Re: Re: Powerbooks are definatley going to be a G5 now

No way we're seeing G5 PowerBooks in Paris.

Just for a moment forgetting the fact that there's no way they could have possibly solved all the heat/power consumption issues. There's no Way Steve Jobs is going to use the Paris Keynote for a product announcement as big as that. Sure he's reaching out to Europe, but he's going to want to be on his home turf when he announces the G5 PowerBook

My guess would be June 04 but we can always hope for January. I'm starting Law School that Fall so it would be nice to have at G5 12" PowerBook to take with me.

I think it's going to be mostly software with perhaps an update to the current PB line brining the 15" up to par with the 17" and some minor speed bumps. I personally would like to see the 12" get a major bump and be able to support more memory and have an L3 cache. When I update my PowerBook I'm going to need every ounce of power I can squeeze from it while I do like the smaller size of the 12".

My guess:
1) Panther goes GM and will ship by Halloween.
2) Updated G4 PowerBooks (maybe)
3) iTMS for Europe
4) iTMS for Windows (doubtful)
 
Ok I didn't know what to make of this so I'll post it here. I went into the Apple store yesterday and asked to speak to the manager. I thought the manager would know more than a salesperson. I told him that I was getting a 12 inch powerbook but not just yet. I also asked him if he thought they were going to be updated anytime soon. He said "12 inch will be getting minor updates but as for the 15" and the 17" you know about the Paris Expo so expect the unexpected thats all I can say"

He seemed as if he knew what he was talking about.
 
Should we put a sticky on these forums that states Apple Store Sales Reps and Managers do not know much more than we do? Most of them are probably just reading MacRumors (or MacOSRumors! (But they've been getting better...))

And if this is the last time I see the word "Lappy" I will die a happy man!!!
Grr!
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Powerbooks are definatley going to be a G5 now

Originally posted by panphage
As far as fast bus/heat killing a G5 powerbook: Everyone must read the damn ars technica article, PLEASE. The G5 at 1.8Ghz eats 42W. The G4e at 1.0Ghz uses 30W. That ain't that much difference. A P4 @ 2.8Ghz uses 68W!!
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-panphage

Yes, but that's just the chip. As others have alluded to around here, there is a whole architecture change behind the use of the chip - Apple didn't simply plop a 970 into a 7455's slot. pretty much everything was updates, which is the big deal. And that whole kaboodle is where the heat comes from. Yes you could pop a G5 in to a powerbook, but you'd have to compromise so much it would be pointless. And we all know that Apple prefers to release a mature product rather than a half-baked one (was that a pun?).
 
Re: Re: Powerbooks are definatley going to be a G5 now

Originally posted by hvfsl
-Radeon 9600M 128MB
Click to expand...

I can't see a PowerBook having twice the VRAM of the dual 2.0GHz G5....
 
Originally posted by AHDuke99
Why doesn't anyone understand? A 1.2GHZ G5 runs at the same heat as a 1.0GHZ G4 7455. Uses 19watts for the G5! This is possible and it will happen. If it was going to be 7455, they would be out by now.
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The 1GHz is 15 watts while the 1.2GHz G5 is 21 to 22 watts.

Why not the 7457? It offers 1.3GHz at 16.6 watts and no changes to the board at all, if Apple has the one pin that was never used.
 
Originally posted by plinkoman
why on earth would they upgrade the 15 and 17 to a G5 and leave the 12 as is? the 12 is a powerbook, not a weaker computer, just a smaller one, i hate how people always talk about it as if it were a glorified ibook....
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The only reason I could see for not upgrading the 12" version is heat. I was browsing the local Apple store and noticed the 12" was very hot on the left hand side. Unless they can improve the heat dispersion, I would venture to say that a CPU upgrade would cause failure in the laptop. Comparing the 867Mhz 12" and 15", the 15" was much cooler.

Any other comments on this?
 
Originally posted by Aciddan
... you don't deliberatley cripple a product.
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You do if you're Apple. Apple has a history of delaying products that are ready for market just to milk as much cash as possible out of the current product line.
 
Originally posted by tomf87
Any other comments on this?
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-tomf87

Yes. CPU failure due to excessive heat in the 12"PB is very unlikely as it is very efficient at cooling. The fact that you feel the heat on the outside of the case is due to the fact that the heat is being 'sunk' from the inside - where the damage would be done. This is "A Good Thing (c)".

This is one of the motivations of moving to an Aluminum skin: the case itself can act a supplimentary heat sink. It's also why the new PB's can be so thin. The iBook, conversely runs a processor and mobo functions that is cooler, yet the machine is thicker for the same components. Why? One of the reasons is that the acrylic skin is insulating the heat - trapping it inside. Ergo the heat dissipation through the keyboard and inability to be used when closed (without a hack).

BTW- the heat you feel is in the area of the HD on the 12. The Microprocessor is under the keyboard toward the back.
 
Originally posted by patrick0brien
...

BTW- the heat you feel is in the area of the HD on the 12. The Microprocessor is under the keyboard toward the back.
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D'Oh! The Apple guy said that was the proc. My bad!

But as far as the heat, no matter where it comes from, that thing gets pretty hot. Besides the small screen (I like a useful desktop area, personally), the hot surface would be enough to deter me from getting one. But I guess you get used to it....
 
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