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WWDC PowerBook G5 2.2GHz?

thatwendigo said:
Those "speed bumps" have also included at least three changes in processor - 7455 to 7457 to 7447A. The first two are pin-compatible, but I've heard some mutterings that the last is not compatible with the others and would require a new pin-out for the socket and minor revisions to the motherboard.

Oh, and I'm one of those people who does expect the G4 to "keep getting faster," because the core is about to be the basis for a new processor. The FreeScale e600 is a G4-based design with on-die memory controller, 400mhz FSB, low power consumption, and a clockrate that should be introduced around 2.0ghz at a mere 17 watts peak. The dual-core version adds a second logical core, and only 8 more watts, for a dual 2.0ghz chip at 25 watts peak expenditure.

That is what I want in the PowerBook.
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Hey, thatwendigo, I've read quite a few of your posts regarding this new processor. It does sound like the logical choice. However, for marketing reasons, we all know that getting the G5 badge on the Powerbooks must be a priority. So...
What if they put the FreeScale e600 chip in a Powerbook and called it a G5 anyway? I mean, the name "G5" is not owned by IBM. Couldn't Apple call any new chip whatever they wanted? Maybe they'll call it the "mobile G5" or something.

Squire
 
I think the Powerbook/ibook should have their own processor that is made specifically for a laptop, ala Pentium M, but better. Not a g4 or a g5. Anything like that out there?

(edit: maybe the freescale thing wendigo is talking about)
 
Oh Pleeease!

Okay, so not only is there going to be a G5 in the Powerbook but now it is going to be faster than the current PowerMac? What a joke. Sad thing is someone is going to take this seriously. If it did happen I have a drawer full of socks and full bottle of ketchup at the ready! ;)
 
sedarby said:
Okay, so not only is there going to be a G5 in the Powerbook but now it is going to be faster than the current PowerMac? What a joke. Sad thing is someone is going to take this seriously. If it did happen I have a drawer full of socks and full bottle of ketchup at the ready! ;)
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Amen!

People, please, this is page 5 of comments on a completely anonymous theory.... not exactly reliable at all. You can bet somewhere there is a PC weenie right now who submitted the rumor, sat back with a 6 pack of beer and some chips, and is now killing himself laughing at how gullible the Mac community is.

New PB's came out a month and a half ago. Some of those people are JUST receiving theirs now (I got mine in the first week mind you). Apple is not about to crush the current lineup with a new G5 PB so close to this release. For the people who say "well, they released in Nov 2002 and in Jan 2003, and those were only two months apart"... NO! They released a 15" in November, and 12" and 17" in January. If you want to compare 15" releases the next one after November 2002 wasn't for 10 months (Paris Expo, September 16th I think). Furthermore, for the people who say the G5 chip is cooler, therefore it can go in with less heat, remember the chip is only a small part of the heat generation. Finally, IBM hasn't even been doing a great job of the G5 of late (1 year with no G5 tower updates, unless you include making the single 1.8 into a double).

Please people, be realistic. If this rumor came from an Apple employee maybe... if it came from a shipping dude in Shanghai maybe (though not really maybe). This is completely unsupported, with no name, evidence, etc. If you believe this be VERY careful of the guy who wants to sell you a bridge too!

Cheers,

James
 
Don't forget that the 970FX is suppose to have it's own type of SpeedStep technology. So a 2.0ghz 970FX G5 could perform at 1.0ghz when on batteries and use less than 8w of power. Then when you have the power cord plugged in, it could run at the full 2.0ghz speed (if higher CPU speeds were needed). Of course that would mean that the fan would be running quite often when it is plugged in, but that would be a sacrifice that I am willing to make. :)
 
James L said:
Please people, be realistic. If this rumor came from an Apple employee maybe... if it came from a shipping dude in Shanghai maybe (though not really maybe). This is completely unsupported, with no name, evidence, etc. If you believe this be VERY careful of the guy who wants to sell you a bridge too!
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It is one thing to believe that a rumor might be true, and quite another to invest your money soly on a rumor. Nobody here is trying to *sell* you a G5 PowerBook, are they?
 
Squire said:
Hey, thatwendigo, I've read quite a few of your posts regarding this new processor. It does sound like the logical choice. However, for marketing reasons, we all know that getting the G5 badge on the Powerbooks must be a priority. So...
What if they put the FreeScale e600 chip in a Powerbook and called it a G5 anyway? I mean, the name "G5" is not owned by IBM. Couldn't Apple call any new chip whatever they wanted? Maybe they'll call it the "mobile G5" or something.

Squire
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Apple has in the past - either a Moto or a IBM chip has been the G3.

The e700 sounds like it might be really close to the features of the IBM 970... unfortunately it's vapourware right now. Does Apple think Moto can deliver?

Would the Mac community be up in arms if they call something that doesn't have all the *features* a G5? For example, a 97x is 64bit, and FreeScale e600 is 32 bit (even though 64bits is more marketing than a practical advantage right now). It would give the PC fanboys a morsel to chew on. Unfortunately, the e600 is also vapourware right now.

That said, Apple could introduce the FreeScale cpus as the M series (for Mobility) in order to counter the Pentium-M marchitecture... claiming that yeah, while the G5 is the fastest cpu for the desktop (ahem), the *FreeScale* is the best thing for a laptop (which it probably is if it can be made)...

-Wyrm
 
sjjordan said:
maxing out the RAM on all systems is the most absurd thing I think I've ever heard

1. Apple makes a lot of profit selling upgrades to powerbook buyers.
2. It's going to drive the price up a few $100's
3. Most people don't need 4GB RAM. ha ha. I still can't stop laughing.

I needed that. This rumor made my day.
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I think you need basic reading comprehension skills. That's not at all what the rumor is.
 
eric67 said:
I would not be surprized to see Apple introducing a portable line dedicated to more "transportable" than portable...having desktop power with limited but still raisonable battery life...
do not forget that more than 70% of PC notebook contain a desktop processor, meaning almost no battery life, but transportable performance...
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That's what I want! I want a lab/studio on the go. I don't need a little thing to check my email on and IM my girlfriend. I need high power, transportable equipment. I couldn't care less if it weighs 10 pounds, or even 15.

Bring on the UltraBooks!
 
johnnowak said:
That's what I want! I want a lab/studio on the go. I don't need a little thing to check my email on and IM my girlfriend. I need high power, transportable equipment. I couldn't care less if it weighs 10 pounds, or even 15.

Bring on the UltraBooks!
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Why? What on earth do you do that demands that kind of power while sitting on a train, say?

Wouldn't mind a laptop that scaled up its power when plugged in, say - but I don't want it melting through the desk. And I don't want it like the PC laptops which have no battery life, charge at a crawl while on, have fans CONSTANTLY on with no break, output a stream of air hot enough to melt cables and still manage to be too hot underneath to touch...
 
Cool that would make the newest 2.2GHz G5 powerbook as portable as the original Osborne PC.

But with the lates in carry-on luggage technology, the wheels and telescoping handles will make this PowerBook a breeze to use and carry around.
 
bob_the_gorilla said:
Why? What on earth do you do that demands that kind of power while sitting on a train, say?
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Nothing.. that's why I don't need a light little Powerbook.

What I do need is something I can take to laptop-music-type performances once a month maybe, and take home once every two months or so. I don't even care if it doesn't have a battery. I'm fine using it always plugged in... any music venue or museum has electricity. I just want a desktop with a built-in screen that I can carry around. 95% of the time it'll just be sitting on my desk anyway.

I want the power of a desktop in something that's "transportable", as someone said above. I don't want to use it on the train or the bus, or carry it with me every day even. I just want to be able to move it for special occasions like doing a performance or something. You need all the power you can get with doing real-time audio and video synthesis, but what you don't need is battery life or a lightweight system.

I realize there probably isn't much of a market for a dual-G5 15lb laptop... but you might be surprised. ;-)

It's like kids with LAN parties (that's what they're called, right? :-\). Hauling the desktop and the monitor over is a huge pain in the ass. Taking a 10 pound laptop is no big deal, and no one cares about battery life. However, you need the power of a desktop and an all-out video card. No one wants a namby-pamby G4 machine... although if you're are so obsessive over your games then you probably need more than a faster computer.
 
My prediction for WWDC.

New iMac (or something new in that range).
Updated PowerMacs upto 2.6 ghz if we are lucky.
Lots of bla-bla about Tiger and other sofware.

In regards to G5 PowerBook,who really knows?. Logic implies that it won't happen soon,after new G4 PB's haven't been around that much. High end 17" model has barely started shipping. On the other hand editor of German mac magazine (MacUp i think) claims that he had his hands on PB G5 fully working prototype. Could Apple add another high-end G5 laptop(high-end $ as well) to its existing G4 PB range without canibalising its sales. Maybe they could. Potential customers then would not expect G5 PB to replace G4 PB at the same price point and then there would be no reason to delay their purchases. G5 PB would sit there as top of range ultra expensive model for a few that really need all that power in laptop for premium price.
 
I could see it happening at the WWDC

Gyro, I think you are right.

The only PowerBook I think Apple would introduce at the WWDC with a G5 would be a high-end 17-inch. It would fit the $3,299 niche that was once occupied by the initial release of the 17" PowerBook G4. Notice that the current 17" is now $2799. Using history as a guide, recall that pro G4 tower prices were lowered on the G4 revision prior to the G5s. Perhaps Apple lowered the price to may way?

So you offer a high-end G5 model...1.6GHz? 2.0 GHz? I don't know, but a G5...
128 MB of VRAM standard
Improved 17-inch display
etc.
$3,299.

I can see it happening. I hope it does happen. "One more thing..."
 
Gyroscope said:
In regards to G5 PowerBook,who really knows?. Logic implies that it won't happen soon,after new G4 PB's haven't been around that much. High end 17" model has barely started shipping.
Click to expand...

Logic doesn't work when it comes to Apple. The PowerBook hasn't REALLY seen any major revamp since the 15" last fall. Everything else has been pathetic speed bumps. That being said I think IF any G5 PowerBook is announced at WWDC it won’t be released until 4th quarter anyways. Even if Apple does have the product finished look at how many products would be running G5’s at that point. It’s a given that Apple is going to release new PowerMacs. So IBM now has to crank out enough CPU’s to meet demand for both PowerMacs and one or possibly two models of PowerBook. Its been stated in numerous new sites that IBM has been having problems producing the new 90nm G5 CPU’s. So I’m expecting fall as a good timeframe as to when they could produce enough CPU’s to meet demand and make NO mistake about it. A G5 PowerBook, even if it was only a 17”er, is going to be in insane demand.
 
Apple isn't gonna half ass the G5 PB

if they release it, it will be all across the PB line

btw --- with the iBooks having G4's now, its about time that the G5 come out

I think we'll see it at WWDC

PS --- the "this should be on Page 10/Page 3" joke has gotten old
 
bob_the_gorilla said:
I still think the chip is too hot and power-hungry to be put in a laptop yet. If the G4s get unbearably hot (I should know), what on earth would the G5s be like?
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This has been talked into the ground. 90nm G5's running in the 1.6-1.8Ghz range are in the same bracket of heat generation and power consumption as a G4. That coupled with a number of speed scaling techs IBM has introduced over the last 6-8 months that will allow the G5 to scale in speed would make a G5 PowerBook very possible. Also keep in mind we have NO idea how long Apple has been working on this. They very well could have had a team dedicated to the G5 PowerBook in tandem with the development of the PowerMac. Who knows.
 
mklos said:
I think who ever posted this rumor is seriously smoking something! Why would Apple go through the trouble of coming out with G4 updates a few weeks ago, then turn around 30 or 40 days later and release completely new PowerBooks?
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Again has anyone considered that they may pull a PowerMac? Announce it June and release in September-October?
 
SiliconAddict said:
Hmmm I've used the unit conversion tool on my PDA to try and convert from "quite some time" to days but I get failed date return error. Please convert that for the people on the thread who don't have the software to convert generalizations. :rolleyes:
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Yeah, understandable. What he really meant to say is that it will require a process shrink, power features, lower current drain and packaging. When all that happens, voila, they'll stick it in a Powerbook. :)

-Wyrm
 
No G5s Please ...

Macrumors said:
In an anonymous post to Craig's List, one participant claims:
Obviously anonymous mailing list posts lack much credibility.
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That's NOT true!
First, they've introduced new laptops only a month ago. Users would KILL them. Quentin Tarantino would make a new movie in his trilogy: KILL STEVE.

Second, they don't have such fast processors running in small portables, yet. Not even in one year. They've been testing 1.6 GHzs so far, but new PowerBooks won't be on the market before next MWSF anyway.

But I personally believe they will go for rewamped G4-based chips coming from Motorola, not G5s.

But what we know anyway? Nothing. I think that same situation is inside Apple too. No one knows nothing. Maybe Steve, and he reveals his secrets to Rubinstein and Schiller just 5 minutes before conference. That's why they're so confused when you press people ask them something :D
 
Anyone noticed the original link has now been removed by the website? Even they thought it was utter crap and took it down. Now let's get back to reality, forget about a PB upgrade 2 months after the last one, and continue guessing about the realistic WWDC stuff?

:rolleyes:
 
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