When will the iBook get a G4?
I almost bought a 800 mhz iBook, but then I remembered how even on my 700 mhz eMac OS X dosn't run very snappy. Some things work great, but sometimes I get the spinning beach ball. Once I upgraded to Jaguar it helped greatly, but some stuff is still pretty slow. Is the G4 in the iBooks near future (before next summer), or should I spend some extra money and get a Powerook?
Macaddict16
Macaddict16
Comments
The iBook will have it for quite a while, I'm guessing.
After the initial frenzy wears off on these new models, by early next year, people will expect a G4. It really is the minimum for acceptable future proofing. Anything with a G3 will look and feel very old in a year from now.
Macaddict16
<strong>I have also heard (I can't remember where) about the possibility of IBM adding a altivec to the G3's. Anyone heard of this or am I just lacking of sleep?
Macaddict16</strong><hr></blockquote>
If they did that wouldn't it basically be a G4?
Simply put, when the GPUL comes to pass, it will be impossible to implement into a one-inch-thin titanium frame, so a new line of PowerBook must be created, which will further emphasize the iBook's role as a truly mobile computer. If you think about it, the iBook has already begun to traverse this road, what with its squinty-small 12" screen, locked resolution, castrated monitor spanning, and rapidly decreasing cost.
No, no.. not a piece of hardware... I mean a naming convention ala GeForceTi(GF2Ti) and GeForce3Ti.
IBM may sprout a G3 with Altivec(sic) and they arrive with the 970s timeframe.
Apple has a renaming party and we get G5 and G4 mobile pro (advanced G4 or G3 with Altivec?) and G5 mobile (G3 with Altivec)
well, food for thought...
Even OS X performs better on a G4. I've tried out OS X on 600 MHz G3 systems that are noticeably slower than my 400 MHz G4! Altivec is for real, and Apple should make a 100% commitment to it. Without such a commitment from Apple, how can developers be expected to embrace Altivec?
I bought my G4 two years ago, and even then, I made it a point to get a G4 over a G3 as a way to "future-proof" my system. It turns out to be a great decision, because now I can use OS X no problem. But if I had bought a 400 MHz G3? Forget it, OS X would be a slug.
Don't forget, the G4 is also a low power, low heat dissipating CPU, much like the G3. These are not reasons to hold onto the G3, but excuses made FOR the G3. Altivec is Apple's savior, and they should acknowledge this by ditching the G3 ASAP.
If you need a G4 buy a Ti Book. For those who don't require the G4 the G3 provides a very nice, low-end platform. The newest G3 uses something like 3.6W @800MHz. This means it can be used with less cooling meaning less weight, less noise and less battery drain.
When the G4's power consumption drops down to this level it will be a great time for Apple to put this in the iBook.
The fact that the G4 is ALREADY used in a laptop proves that it meets the power and heat requirements for a laptop. It should be even easier to cram the G4 into the iBook's larger enclosure (or a new enclosure of comparable size).
<strong>Look at it this way....the G4 and the G3 are much closer in power consumption and heat dissipation than the G4 and the Pentium 4. Dig?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yeah, but how noisy and hot does the PowerBook G4 get?
Look, I don't feel like typing my post again. Here's the link: <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=10&t=003070" target="_blank">http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=10&t=003070</a>
There is simply no arguing with my logic.