New PowerBooks tomorrow. - Page 7  

Combo drive 15" powerbook is now shipping same-day. Oh, the torture.

Actually, the Combo drive model has been shipping same-day for a while now. It's the Superdrive model that had changed to 7-12 days shipping about a week ago.

It appears as though nothing is coming out today (I hope I'm wrong...but)

July 16th would be the next opportunity.

Aside from the 7 to 10 day wait for the SuperDrive 1 GHz PowerBook at the online Apple Store, there seems to be something afoot.


That's a link from Berklee College of Music Computer Requirements page. Either they know something is coming out this week (or soon) or they are guessing just like everyone else.

Guys, when trying to see into the future, get rid of what you want and try to predict what is realistic. I SOOOO want a G5 Powerbook - but it ain't going to happen anytime soon - or else Steve would have announced it at WWDC...

The power consumption of these chips is far more than the marketing document would have you believe. That is the reason for the overdesign of the case, the cooling system and the G5 heatsinks. It's not just for noise issues - the FP iMac and Cube are also very quiet but do not have such overdesigned cooling systems.


Besides taking the statement at face value, it seems that the "As you can see..." comment is referring to the heat issue...

Take a look at this chart. It extrapolates where the 1 GHz 970 would be based on the EETimes numbers...



As this shows, best case at 1GHz would be around 30W and the power consumption could be more.

We KNOW, chaz. Weve talked about this already: no one here with half a brain and some common sense is expecting a G5 PowerBook anytime soon.

We ARE, however, expecting a 15 that is more in line with the 12 an d 17 in terms of motherboard, RAM, enclosure, AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth, etc.

Forget the G5 PowerBook.

An updated 15 inch to Aluminum specs is what I'm looking for too. Hopefully, it comes soon and it would be nice to see a speed bumped G4, although I do not know how likely that is with the current G4 and the schedule of the 7457.

It seems that half the people do know and the other half are arguing rather hopefully for the G5 powerbook. I'd love to see it too - just can't see their reasoning - and it just drives me nuts!!!

Edit: Oops! Just noticed that someone else had already gotten to the Jozwiak quote about the G5 not going into PowerBooks "any time soon". Suffice to say that while Apple is very secretive about new products under development, I don't recall them ever outright lying to cover what they're working on.

As for the "year of the laptop", it could mean what everyone is dreaming here, but it could also mean what is discussed in this article.

Hello everyone,

I am almost sure that the 12" and 17" AlBooks G4 will not be updated in the Creative Pro conference.

The reason is simple: both machines have been release 3 months from now and Apple introduces new hardware every 4-6 months.

So, my guess, is that Creative Pro will have nothing new in respect to the PowerBook G4 12" and 17".

On the other hand, a new 15" AlBook may appear. There are great chances has we all know.

Best,
jdl.

The release date was in January, not sure about the shipping date...

It meant that notebook sales will jump up this year, not anything else

12 inch powerbooks shipped in January.

http://www.mbsdirect.com/events/pb12gallery.html

So the "it's only been three months" argument is baloney.

I'd say that in light of this graphic:



You can go on and forget about G5 iMacs too, at least untill late 2004, but more likely mid-2005.

IBM has already stated that a 970 for mobile applications would be available in 1Q 2004.

show us, please

I will bet you $100 that Appple announces a G5 iMac by August 1, 2004. Late 2004 or 2005 is insane.

This thread will be correct as some stage

Hmm I am still deciding on what to get as my next machine, but a nice new lappie released soon might help tip the scales.

PB15SD noted here as shipping 7 to 10 days now sez 5 to 7 days. Maybe the end is near?

The new AlBook 15 has to be within a week or 8 days of being announced, right? Hmmm? Yes? Please??

So many people have been waiting so long for this thing, maybe a bit of a price decrease? The 7457 has to cost less, along with the SD, and maybe the HD costs a little less. I wish Apple'd use that new 7200 rpm 60GB Hitachi. Maybe the new 15.4" LCD could cost a bit less? I don't want to get my hopes up but I'd like to see a nice package of features for $2399. Isn't Al also cheaper than Ti? I'll bet Apple doesn't even have to change a thing in the mobo since the 7457 is pin-compatible. Just pop in a faster chip and a faster GPU, and add a sharper, better display.

This will probably be the last G4 PB. I'll bet the first G5 PB arrives in Feb. using a 1.4 GHz .09µ G5. They can keep the same display and case design but it'll have to have a new mobo. I can't wait for that. My next PB after this one will have a G6. 8)

Still says 7 - 10 when I check...

Ok, my mistake.
So, we should expect for sure new machines till mid-July, because the six months are away, right?

Creative Pro is the place where they will announce the updates on the powerbook G4 line or not?

Any bets??

jdl

I am in need of a new laptop badly. If they announce a new PB with pen input, I'll buy one immediately. If not, I'll be buying a bottom-o-da-line iBook.

I'm on my second 15" TiBook right now. The case design is pure crap. I lost count on the number of things that went wrong with the case design on the first one I owned. This one (800mhz, combo drive) has components inside the case that are broken, which Apple will not fix because they swear they're user created problems, and cannot be material related problems. In my case, the hinge metal snapped 1" up the interior back of the top of the case. It's nasty, and if I'm not careful when I open it, the entire top warps something wicked.

If it has pen input, I'll buy the top of the line. Otherwise I'll be holding out on the big buy until the G5. The iBook does everything I actually *need* right now, and I have a desktop for the other stuff.

-Chilton

OK but change something and it's 5-7 days. I changed the memory to 512MB *one chip* and it became 5-7 days. Guess it doesn't mean anything.

I can no longer find it. The article stated that low-power versions were due 1Q of 2004.

ThinkSecret implies that there could be a new Apple wireless Bluetooth KB and mouse soon. Maybe at the same time as the updated PB announcements? Speaking about the new PBs, if the 7457 does have a 200 MHz bus, maybe it could use DDR400 memory. Latest macbidouille.com update shows this photo of such an SO-DIMM:

Looks like you're getting the iBook.

Is it tomorrow yet?? I don't know, it always seems to be today.

Chilton makes a good point. Why don't the new '03 AlBooks recognize pen input on their trackpads, since Jag already has Inkwell. Could enabling this on AlBooks be a surprise feature in Panther? (I would soil myself I would be so happy)

Chilton that sounds rough about that TiBook. They always looked flimsy to me. NOTHING touches the 12" now. It is sturdier than the white iBook, for real. It's been through near car accidents with me. And dropped twice (not my fault either of these!)

Would it be cool to bring password protection via signature to OS X? I know I know it's as easy to break as OS 9 Voice Password was but it's cool. OK I'm just rambling and I'm tired. But bottom line: this thread will look funny in September! I think they'll wait until the back to school time in August or Sept to update the PowerBooks and iBooks.

Hey, just hope to god nobody locks the thread or else Apple will never ship the damn things.

BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.....

Sorry, just releasing a little pent-up frustration.... ahhhh... ok, I feel better now...

Now, release that dang 15" AL Powerbook already Apple!!!!

THAT would be cool... the only problem would be that could use it to practice your signature... which could lead to some serious problems...

but don't count on there being "hidden" tablet functionality in your mini... infact I'm willing to bet a good chunk of dough that it isnt...

would be a KILLER addition tho...

But the memory bus still wont be double pumped. So we are still in the same situation as the G4 towers. The processor would only talk with the memory at 200MHz, but the other stuff (DMA access and what not) would get the benefit of the DDR.

A few questions. What does the following mean:


Is this not the FSB they are talking about? I got that from http://e-www.motorola.com/webapp/sps...p?code=MPC7457 at about the middle of the page under PRODUCT FEATURES.

Also from http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/39/31031.html:


What does a 970 consume at 1.4GHz? Isn't it less than 30W? I thought the big thing about the 7457 was it would consume less. Is this still ideal for a Pbook?

This document says that IBM is working on "64-bit Multi-Gigahertz Embedded PowerPC's". These chips will have, guess what, SIMD acceleration. It seems absolutely perfect for powerbooks. It doesn't tell though when this will happen.

[Klinger voice] Sherman...T...Potter...[/Klinger voice]

can i ask where did these numbers for the graph come from?
i've had a look at the eetimes article:
http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030623S0092
and it only has one mention of 97W per processor. i don't see any hard data or impression of independent testing.
in contrast i've seen 3 weblinks from ibm and others with consistent data for 42W@1.8GHz and 19W at 1GHz:

www-3.ibm.com/chips/techlib/techlib.nsf/techdocs/A2CE393ABF2CE99787256D21006AE8A2/$file/PPC970_MPF_Review.pdf

www-3.ibm.com/chips/techlib/techlib.nsf/techdocs/A1387A29AC1C2AE087256C5200611780/$file/PPC970_MPF2002.pdf

http://arstechnica.com/cpu/02q2/ppc970/ppc970-1.html

My question is - is there another eeTimes page with hard data that contradicts IBM's own numbers for the G5? or any other pages?

I thought ee Times admitted that they had confused the heat
output of the dual 2GHz with a single, and that the rest of those figures are simply extrapolated from that first misstake.

This is a bullcrap thread.

I check it everyday, thinking "okay, maybe it'll come true TODAY...". It never does.

Stick a piece of dynamite in it and light the fuse.

I think we all thought the same since post #1. Agreed. Just another thread to ramble on in.

Yep, this thread will be right some day...

In regards to the chart, the hard data's origin is listed directly on the chart. The rest is extrapolation based on known temperature characteristics of SOI. Whether the EETimes numbers are right will need independent verification ( but I supose that if people feel that the independently verified numbers do not support their point then THOSE sources will have to be verified ) but that will not happen until the actual G5 ships.

Regarding the veracity of the IBM numbers: those numbers are from 9 months ago and not on shipping product. They most likely are based on estimates from simulation.

If EETimes mentions the number more times does it make the "data" any more hard?

I'd like better numbers but choose to believe the latest not the oldest. Must be the engineer in me... Believe whatever you want - still doesn't change the fact that the PB G5 isn't coming out soon!

I'd love it too but it's not - I don't base my predictions on wish fulfillment!

How often does Apple introduce a new PowerBook? Not any portable. Not any product, but PowerBook specifically?

Once a year.

We've had ours this year, and the 15" was sod out...

(I can say that here, can't I?)

When will the next PowerBook announcement be?

When was the last one? January? There you go.

PowerBook G5? January 2005 maybe. Don't hold your breath.

They didn't upgrade the 15" because they're too close to finalizing upgrades for the 12" and 17". Doesn't mean any of them are in production yet. They're not.

I'd say by October they may start manufacturing the more common parts, and production ramping up late December for a January release, if they plan ahead. Else, they may not ship until February or March. But they'll be announced in January.

So what can we expect? 15" won't be touched until the 12" and 17" are updated as well, bringing the 15" to current standards, but with a 15.2" screen, usb 2, I seriously doubt it will have FW 800, because it would need two fw ports. As for stylus imput, they would have to redesign it drastically for that, and Apple isn't stupid enough to have you writing with a stylus on the lcd screen itself. People aren't gentle enough with the portable keyboards as it is.

We might see a change of processors though, over to the new Motorola chips, for the PowerBook G4 and the iMac, but not for the Emac or iBook. I seriously doubt any of the consumer products will have a G5 until Apple is ready to move the entire product line to G5, sometime about 2005-6.

So hold your horses, but don't hold your breath.

Jaedreth