Magnet madness to hit Intel iBook line

[AppleInsider]

Only Apple could take a phenomenon as ancient and rudimentary as magnetism and make it seem so profound.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based Mac maker has slowly and subtly been adding magnetic innovations to its computer systems over the last six months and now looks ripe to add yet another.

This past October, Apple introduced an iMac G5, which bundled an Apple infrared remote, giving users control over their music, movies and photos from up to thirty feet away. The company designed the device to stow away neatly (and magnetically) on the side of the computer when not in use -- a simplistic luxury that was also adopted in the design of the company's new iMac Core Duo.

Several months later in January, Apple unveiled that its first Intel- based notebook, the 15-inch MacBook Pro, would also sport a new magnetic technology, dubbed MagSafe. The MagSafe power connector makes charging the notebook’s battery easier and safer by magnetically coupling the power cord to the MacBook Pro.

The new power connector was designed to safely disconnect from the MacBook Pro when there is strain on the power cord -- helping to prevent the notebook from falling off its work surface when the power cord is inadvertently yanked.

If reports are accurate -- and they are believed to be -- Apple's forthcoming line of Intel-based iBook consumer notebooks will use magnetic technology in yet another fashion.

In addition to adopting the MacBook Pro's MagSafe power connector, the notebooks will also shed their traditional latch technology in favor of a purely magnetic latching system, people familiar with some of the Intel iBook's design elements have told AppleInsider. Instead of using a magnet to capture a small metal latch when the notebook is close, the new iBooks will use a stronger magnetic system that will adhere the notebook's display component to its base without the need for a movable latch, these people say.

The Intel-based iBook, which may make its debut under a new product name such as MacBook, is rumored to be the most heavily redesigned Macintosh to come out of Apple's industrial design labs in the last two years.

The notebook reportedly resembles a shrunken MacBook Pro, based around a 13-inch high-resolution display, but clad in iBook white. Like Apple's iMac Core Duo and MacBook Pro, the new iBooks are also expected to pack a built-in iSight video camera, Apple Remote, and Front Row media software.

Although processor specifications for the upcoming iBook line remain largely unconfirmed, logic would point to the notebooks adopting a 1.67GHz Intel Core processor, either Solo or Duo.

According to sources in the Far East, the Intel iBook has been scheduled for a manufacturing ramp early in the Spring. Still, there remains a slim possibility it could see an introduction alongside an Intel-based Mac mini and the long-rumored iPod Boombox audio system at next week's special Apple media event in Cupertino.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[mynamehere]

Didn't the iSight (the regular one) have some way of sticking magnetically to the top of a monitor/iMac even before this?

[FormerLurker]

1.67GHz Intel 1.67GHz Core processor

now THAT"S what I call a "dual-core" chip!

[Ra]

Originally posted by mynamehere
Didn't the iSight (the regular one) have some way of sticking magnetically to the top of a monitor/iMac even before this?

Yeah, it comes with magnetic mounts for the newer displays. My girlfriend used them to wipe her hard drive.

[DeaPeaJay]

This sounds pretty cool. I was planning on replacing my iBook G4 with a Macbook pro near the end of summer, but I may just go with a new iBook instead! It's certainly cheaper than a Macbook pro.

[kim kap sol]

Originally posted by Ra
Yeah, it comes with magnetic mounts for the newer displays. My girlfriend used them to wipe her hard drive.

Horseshit! That's the biggest urban myth of them all. It's almost impossible to wipe a hard drive with magnets. You may be able with a very powerful one but even that is doubtful.

Maybe floppy disks and other magnetic media that isn't incased in a metal shell...but not a hard drive...and especially not if it's inside the computer.

Why do you waste your time lying like that?

[pmjoe]

I didn't realize there was a magnet in the Powerbook latch untill the discussion about the new power connectors on the MacBook Pro. Now I know how that floppy I sat on the top edge of my Powerbook case got ruined. Apple really should be required to warn consumers about this crap, or to be honest they really ought to just do it out of kindness.

[nagromme]

Originally posted by kim kap sol
Horseshit! That's the biggest urban myth of them all. It's almost impossible to wipe a hard drive with magnets. You may be able with a very powerful one but even that is doubtful. ... Why do you waste your time lying like that?

Actually, just for the experiment I erased (or at least made unreadable) a HD I was giving away. I used a magnet from a toy, a little more powerful than the one in the Cinema Display iSight mount, but not much I'd say. (Those iSights REALLY stick.) BTW, isn't the magnet in the mounting post, not the display? Because you can place your iSight anywhere along the top edge and it will stick.

While on the subject of past magnetic innovations (what's next, clockwork?), don't forget the magnet near the hinge of every Apple laptop that (I'm told) tells the computer whether the lid is shut or not.

I'm thinking about how a strong new magnet latch could release on an iBook. My theories:

1. Like the old spring-shut eMate-style iBooks, maybe the force that holds it shut is "enough" but not super strong. Just pull the lid up no problem.

2. A button that pushes a peg through a hole to push the magnets apart--but that wouldn't look much more seamless than the magnet latch we have now.

3. An electromagnet that counteracts the latch magnet--using electricity for a brief moment when you open the lid.

4. My best guess: a button in the case will mechanically pull the case's magnet deeper away from the surface, thus making it lose its grip on the lid. On the surface, you see nothing at all.

Originally posted by pmjoe
Now I know how that floppy I sat on the top edge of my Powerbook case got ruined. Apple really should be required to warn consumers about this crap, or to be honest they really ought to just do it out of kindness.

Laptops have other magnets too: the motors in the optical drive and HD, the speakers, and even the battery and electronics and lamp can have a magnetic field.

Floppies are notoriously unreliable, so I wouldn't rush to blame the PowerBook. I would however ask what you did NEXT with the floppy and the PowerBook, because that might be a clue to a bigger problem j/k

[Xool]

Originally posted by kim kap sol
Horseshit! That's the biggest urban myth of them all. It's almost impossible to wipe a hard drive with magnets. You may be able with a very powerful one but even that is doubtful.

Maybe floppy disks and other magnetic media that isn't incased in a metal shell...but not a hard drive...and especially not if it's inside the computer.

Why do you waste your time lying like that?

Actually I know someone who damaged their iBook hard drive after resting the magnetic mount above the drive. I had to fix the damn thing.

[DeaPeaJay]

Originally posted by pmjoe
I didn't realize there was a magnet in the Powerbook latch untill the discussion about the new power connectors on the MacBook Pro. Now I know how that floppy I sat on the top edge of my Powerbook case got ruined. Apple really should be required to warn consumers about this crap, or to be honest they really ought to just do it out of kindness.

I don't think a warning is necessary. And if they did put a warning, it would probably be in the users manual somewhere (who knows, maybe there's one in there already). And who reads the user manual? It should be obvious that there's a magnet in the latch.

[aplnub]

Myth Busters had to use a VERY POWERFUL RARE EARTH MAGNET to wipe a credit card. I am not saying it can't be done, I am just saying it would be in the minority if a magnet wiped a disk. But who the heck is rubbing 3.5" floppy's over an iBook anyway??? I don't even own any floppy's anymore...

[DeaPeaJay]

Originally posted by aplnub
Myth Busters had to use a VERY POWERFUL RARE EARTH MAGNET to wipe a credit card. I am not saying it can't be done, I am just saying it would be in the minority if a magnet wiped a disk. But who the heck is rubbing 3.5" floppy's over an iBook anyway??? I don't even own any floppy's anymore...

I only use floppies when my instructors at school require them because they're stuck in the dark ages, and when I need to create a boot diskette for Red Hat linux.

[a_greer]

Originally posted by kim kap sol
Horseshit! That's the biggest urban myth of them all. It's almost impossible to wipe a hard drive with magnets. You may be able with a very powerful one but even that is doubtful.

Maybe floppy disks and other magnetic media that isn't incased in a metal shell...but not a hard drive...and especially not if it's inside the computer.

Why do you waste your time lying like that?

Rare earth magnets in the wrong hands...Think about it, magnets write and re-write the data, so a magnate can destry the data, just remove the hdds outer casing and whipe the platter(s) with a few rare earth magnets for about 5 minutes...report back to the class about what data is left

[a_greer]

<crosses fingers> PLEASE HAVE BRIGHTER LCDs</crosses fingers>

[aplnub]

Originally posted by a_greer
<crosses fingers> PLEASE HAVE BRIGHTER LCDs</crosses fingers>

And 7 + hours of battery life...

[a_greer]

Originally posted by aplnub
And 7 + hours of battery life...

I can carry an extra battery, just give me MORE BRIGHTNESS...I went to a store today and saw the 12 inch ibook in between a 17 inch Intel imac and a 20 inch cinema attached to a G5 and all of the PC books (on display were HP, Dell and IBM) put it to shame.

On a related note, the Intel mac with just 512 is SOOOOOO friggen fast...WOWZAAA....I will be ordering a 20 incher before year end as I have given up on a tower from apple ever meeting my wants at my pricepoint. And surprisingly, the iMacs built in speakers are really good...that is a total shocker for an AIO

[aplnub]

The new iMacs are screamers...

I just put in a 1 GB ram chip in my G5 to bump me up to 2 from 1.5. I have to do something to keep me from picking one up for home.

[syklee26]

i am not too sure about magnet closure because this laptop is not going to be heavy. when the base is heavy it is not too difficult to open it but when it is light it gets rather difficult to open.

and assuming this article is true, this pretty much does it for macbook pro 12 inch ones. I have been thinking that Apple will offer something like

$999 macbook
with 1.67ghz core SOLO
40gb HD
64mb vram
isight and those other typical goodies.


$1499 macbook
with 1.67ghz core DUO (I forgot the name of that cooler version, not the one originally slated for macbook pro)
60gb HD
64mb vram (or lower quality 128mb vram)

both would have about max 6 hr battery (which would translate to about 4 hr normal usage)
both would NOT have as bright of screen as macbook pro but definitely brighter than iBook.

Apple will also do some other stuff to separate macbook from pro line.

[JeffDM]

Was there a public announcement for a Macsafe compatible car charger? I hope Apple doesn't assume that an inverter is an acceptable compromise. Maybe that's too much to expect because I can't find a car charger for any Apple laptop at the moment.

[DeaPeaJay]

Originally posted by JeffDM
Was there a public announcement for a Macsafe compatible car charger? I hope Apple doesn't assume that an inverter is an acceptable compromise.

I'm just curious, apart from long trips, why would you want a special car charger for your mac?

When I go on long trips that's the only time I'd want to charge my computer in the car, and then an inverter works just fine, and I'm not limited to powering my computer and nothing else

[Ra]

Originally posted by kim kap sol
Horseshit! That's the biggest urban myth of them all. It's almost impossible to wipe a hard drive with magnets. You may be able with a very powerful one but even that is doubtful.

Maybe floppy disks and other magnetic media that isn't incased in a metal shell...but not a hard drive...and especially not if it's inside the computer.

Why do you waste your time lying like that?

She left them lying right over the hard drive.

But that's ok, don't believe me.

[rpm16601]

"Several months later in January, Apple unveiled that its first Intel- based notebook, the 15-inch MacBook Pro, would also sport a new magnetic technology, dubbed MagSafe."

Uh "NEW" ? my deep fryer has had a magnetic power connector for 4 years.

[the_snitch]

The clamshell color ibooks Lids were magnetically held shut - i dont know why they killed it with the icebooks and ibook g4s, it seemed like a wonderful innovation. I also loved the built in handle on the clamshells. They really need to add that kind of stuff back to the new macbooks as durability is VERY important in education markets which is one of the major target markets of the ibook/macbook.

[FormerLurker]

Originally posted by the_snitch
The clamshell color ibooks Lids were magnetically held shut -

I believe that was some sort of dual-action hinge, not a magnet.

[Ringo]

Originally posted by Ra
She left them lying right over the hard drive.

But that's ok, don't believe me.

You've obviously never opened a hard drive. There are some extremely strong rare earth magnets sitting right inside every hard drive. It's more likely that a drive error occurred around the same time or the drive was bumped.

[Ra]

Well, its a marvelous coincidence then, that the hard drive failed the same day. *shrug* whatever...

[Matthew Yohe]

Only Appleinsider could take an innovation as ancient and rudimentary as magents on a Mac and make it seem so newsworthy.


Why is AI making this wide and sweeping statement that Apple has a newfound love for magnets? Powerbooks have had this latch tech for years... and really... it's just an innovation in latches...

[Ringo]

Originally posted by Ra
Well, its a marvelous coincidence then, that the hard drive failed the same day. *shrug* whatever...

Hard drives fail all the time.

[chashulme]

Originally posted by Ringo
You've obviously never opened a hard drive. There are some extremely strong rare earth magnets sitting right inside every hard drive. It's more likely that a drive error occurred around the same time or the drive was bumped.

I can't believe I'm keeping this argument going... :-)

My two cents...

Yes, there are magnets in the motor that rotates the magnetic recording surface(s), but they are arranged so as to be opposing. This keeps the magnetic lines of force in check, so to speak.

As far as the urban myth of magnets erasing (or corrupting) magnetic media, this is of course possible. But it is much, much less prevalent than the "common hysteria" would claim. If an unprotected media like a diskette is directly exposed to a magnet, then it may be rendered partially or completely unreadable. But, a rotating hard disk device is a much more substantial collection of metals and is much less likely to be affected. In the presence of a strong magnet, like the iSight magnetic mount, problems may result if the magnet is applied directly to the cover above the disk surface. The reason is that plate aluminum is commonly used to reduce weight, but aluminum is magnetically semi-permeable. Because Al is weakly affected, then the magnetic lines of force are able to penetrate the housing and affect the stored data on the disk. If the housing were highly mag permeable, then the lines of force would again be held in check, or conducted, so as to have much less affect on the media.

Actually, I'm just kidding. I don't know anything about the subject... :-)

[Ensign Pulver]

Although processor specifications for the upcoming iBook line remain largely unconfirmed, logic would point to the notebooks adopting a 1.67GHz Intel 1.67GHz Core processor, either Solo or Duo.

Emphasis added.

Uh, big difference there. Be nice to have some recon on this. More important than a magnetized latch, me thinks.

[PB]

Originally posted by AppleInsider

If reports are accurate -- and they are believed to be -- Apple's forthcoming line of Intel-based iBook consumer notebooks will use magnetic technology in yet another fashion.

In addition to adopting the MacBook Pro's MagSafe power connector, the notebooks will also shed their traditional latch technology in favor of a purely magnetic latch system, people familiar with some of the Intel iBook's design elements have told AppleInsider. Instead of using a magnet to capture a small metal latch when the notebook is close, the new iBooks will use a stronger magnetic system that will adhere the notebook's display component to its base without the need for a movable latch, these people say.

We don't know the details, but this seems like a bad choice. What about if accidental opening of the display is much more easy than before? This could ruin the hard drive while in move, if the computer is sleeping and the display just pops up by accident.

[PB]

Re: magnets and storage media,

you forget what your host has to say about this. Look at page 43.

[a_greer]

Originally posted by rpm16601
Uh "NEW" ? my deep fryer has had a magnetic power connector for 4 years.

You missed the memo, it is new because steve says so, take off your tin foil hat, it is minimizing the RDFs effect on you!!!</sarcasum>

It is still a first for a laptop, I think that is what everyone means.

[msantti]

A $999 Mac Book with a built in iSight and 13" Widescreen LCD makes the Mac Book Pro at $1999 look expensive, even if it has a Core Duo and the Mac Book does not.

Won't even get into the $2499 model.

[kim kap sol]

Originally posted by PB
Re: magnets and storage media,

you forget what your host has to say about this. Look at page 43.

They're required to write this to avoid getting sued.

[Bergermeister]

Agreed.

I think the 999 range will be a 12" or smaller... the 13" wide would roll in at 1199 or 1299. Of course, I could be wrong, in which case ignore the fact that I said this and hurry down to your local Apple Store. See if you can get there before I do!

999 will have iSight and a 60 HD as well as Intel something (sorry, couple too many beers tonight is hindering my thoughts)... 1299 will have a better Intel something, an 80 HD, with a wide screen . Both will have SuperDrives.

Don't forget both will have Front Row. Hopefully one would have a rotating screen and pop-out speakers so it could be mounted like a picture for TV an movie viewing. Perfect for a dorm room. Or library. Or oval office; they do so little real work there they might as well watch TV. Duck! Cheney's coming.

MagSafe on all portables. Wish the brick were smaller (or no broick at all); that would make the portables MORE portable. Also I would like to see a battery charger... I like to carry two batteries with me for presentations but hate habving to swap batts to charge both. In years past there was a charger, but I believe it was made by a 3rd party.

The new MagSafe thingy has been standard on kitchen appliances in Japan for over 12 years; nothing new, just wonder why it took so long (and so many destroyed laptops) before someone thought to put it on a notebook.

Magnet madness ... event madness ... 3 days ... argh!

May your Mac be with you... Always!

[DeaPeaJay]

I want to know if they're going to have backlit keyboards! I hope they don't limit that to the pro option

[DeaPeaJay]

Here's what I'm hoping for

MacBook
$1199.00
13-inch Widescreen
1.67GHz Intel Core Duo
512MB memory
60GB drive
SuperDrive
backlit keyboard
built in iSight

compared with

MacBook Pro
$1,999.00
15-inch Widescreen
1.83GHz Intel Core Duo
512MB memory
80GB drive
SuperDrive
backlit keyboard
built in iSight

So basically, replace the 12inch powerbook with a 13 inch widescreen and put it in a white ibook shell

[aplnub]

Originally posted by Matthew Yohe
Only Appleinsider could take an innovation as ancient and rudimentary as magents on a Mac and make it seem so newsworthy.


Why is AI making this wide and sweeping statement that Apple has a newfound love for magnets? Powerbooks have had this latch tech for years... and really... it's just an innovation in latches...

It seems everyone else in this thread is all about knowing every molecule change that will be found in the new iBooks. So I guess that is why they report the smallest things ever about Macs. That is why we are here...

[aplnub]

Originally posted by PB
We don't know the details, but this seems like a bad choice. What about if accidental opening of the display is much more easy than before? This could ruin the hard drive while in move, if the computer is sleeping and the display just pops up by accident.

I am sure Apple has thought about this scenerio and has a resonable latch force in place. Let's hope...