Is the 15inch AlPB really coming soon? - Page 10

Is anyone else puzzled by the fact that Apple's consumer desktop specs now exceed the professional laptop, at least superficially, for the first time. It seems like a very unusual move, especially if the new Pbooks are due in only two weeks (I know, just rumors).

Although I see almost no chance of a G5 Pbook before next year, this move does seem to give that rumor a little more credence. After all, wouldn't a 1.25 GHz Pbook be a bit anticlimactic at this point?

At this point, I'm thinking we're more likely to get a G5 PowerMAC revision than a PowerBook update in Paris

Temper, temper. Different processor. I think this is actually a good sign for next week.

According to MacBidouille, the G4 in the 1.25 GHz iMac is a 7455B. The new powerbooks need 7457s in sufficient volume before they can be updated. So that should be why the iMac got bumped before the PB.


Hey, you should relax. You don't want to get an ulcer before you can get a new powerbook

I'm hoping for dual 1.25GHz 7457's...
...dreaming perhaps since Motorola can't manufacture enough

Yes it would...but then again so was this iMac upgrade.
Unfortunately, it may have to do with what Apple has available to them at the time (chip wise) and I suppose a minor speed bump with a new Aluminum enclosure (for the 15") is better than none.

The main goals of this speed bump/upgrde will be new enclosure , processors to 1.25, updated SD, USB 2.0, Airport extreme, faster RAM & Hardrive. That is all. Don't go messing up those britches just yet.

I should note, that I will be buying one and that when I say "that is all" I am not trying to downplay the importance of those updates.

[crying] macrumors.com (which correctly predicted new iMacs today) reports no new Power Books tomorrow [/crying]

On a positive note, this MUST mean G5 PowerBooks at Paris, cuz as much as I think it is farfetched for Apple to release them so soon, it would be even more absurd for Apple to be saving a puny speed bump for an Apple Expo announcement.

Just Recieved my TiPowerbook 3 minutes ago from fedex. Yay

So why intro the iMac first if the Pbook is coming shortly? It's sort of a perception issue. By the iMac appearing first the Pbook update looks even weaker than it is (if only a 250 MHz bump, etc., per rumors). At least if you intro the Pbook first there is more positive spin that you can put on bringing the iMacs up to "pro" standards rather than bringing the Pbooks up to consumer standards.

Again, it all makes a little more sense if the Pbook update is better than we've been hearing (yes, those rumor thingys again).

You goofy sumbitches who are a) whining about 1.25GHz G4 PowerBooks and b) actually expecting portable G5s next Tuesday are both maddening and hilarious.



Better keep the Prozac or whatever your chiller of choice is close at hand in the coming weeks...



What am I missing here: what, exactly, is so horrible about a 1.25GHz G4, 1MB L3 cache, fast bus, 64MB graphics, new aluminum enclosure (with all the improvements over the Titanium that implies: hinge, AirPort reception, nicer keyboard, etc.), AirPort Extreme, built-in Bluetooth, DDR RAM, probably 80GB hard drives, FireWire 800 and (possibly) USB 2 (the reason I say that is because now, in addition to the G5 the new iMacs sport USB 2, so I'm guessing any new PowerBooks will...or should).

All of the above in a cool-as-can-be 1" thin, sleek and light, full-featured aluminum body that will be the envy of your friends, family and co-workers? And quite possibly a BODACIOUS chick/dude magnet for years to come?

What's horrible about it is that you can't go to store.apple.com and buy it NOW. The PC laptop world is above 2GHz . Apple won't even release 1.25Ghz laptop. They're too damn busy screwing around with the new iMac.

Who gives a flying rat's ass what any PC laptop is up to? Big deal. Good for them. I don't use them, so I don't really give a damn.

They can be 5GHz for all I care and guess what? It still isn't anything I'd want to use and in no way affects my computer-using life, either in a professional or personal capacity.

A lot of the Mac community needs to seriously let go of this whole "yeah but..." PC-envy complex. Forever comparing what they have, compared to what we have and looking at it only from a numbers/spec point of view is such a narrow, limiting way to go about it all.

I've never understood that whole thing, or bought into it all. Thank God.

Absolutely nothing...just deliver it!
If that's all we're in store for, it shouldn't have taken that long for it to arrive.
The waiting has been the hardest part...that's all.

True. But it doesn't change the reality that Apple's current laptop line is obsolete.

exactly

I don't know whether to or

Sigh...

You never know. Remember, Powerlogix said they had samples of the 7457 at 1.6GHz and they expected to ship upgrades at that speed. They certainly would not have access to chips that are faster than what's available to Apple.

1.4GHz upgrades are available right now and Sonnet identifies them only as 745X.

Is there any way, then, that even though the new PowerBooks won't be G5-based, perhaps they're going to indeed be more in the 1.4-1.6GHz range, as opposed to the expected 1.2GH/? And perhaps with 200MHz bus speeds?

Again, I don't know. But is this possible? I don't read/understand those spec .PDF things, so I'm fumbling wildly here...

If that turns out to be legit, all the better! I am in for the new PB 15 pretty much no matter what, I already made up my mind this summer to wait it out.

Can I get an AMEN!!!

Amen! Oh wait...

I agree, I don't care if they have a Terrahertz chip, it still runs windblows...which I only do when there is absolutely no other choice.

I suffered through 4-hour renders on a 500MHz G4 without upping to a cheap +GHz windblows box, which I easily could have justified from a cost (work) standpoint (had two macs with one rendering in the background).

Maybe because something better for the Powerbook is imminent??

Just a thought.

I'm just speculating based on what I know. I know Powerlogix said they had chips at 1.6 and I have no reason to doubt them. They also leaked news of their first 7455 upgrades on the boards prior to shipping. So the chips exist. In what quantities, who knows? But PowerBooks at 1.25 and 1.4 would be nice.

Moto said speeds "up to 1.3GHz" on the 7457 but I know that the 7455 was "officially" topped out at 1GHz until recently, while Apple had been shipping 1.42 machines since January or February. There were about six months where those parts were not listed on Moto's site for purchase.

I am assuming a 200MHz bus because that was what the Register reported last spring. But someone on another board said they read it topped out at 133. I don't believe that because why would the 7457 support a SLOWER bus than the 7455? Especially if they are supposed to be pin-compatible?

is it just me or is this imac update really good news?
i would be so bold to assume that the powerbooks will be at least 1.25ghz on the low end.... i think that will make for one killer 12" pb! now if they would only add dvi on the 12"
i'm sure all of you guys waiting for the 15" PB can surmise what 1.25ghz on the low end will mean for the 15"!!!!

Don't count on it. 1.0Ghz for the 12", maybe.

"Maybe"?

I'd like to think - after nearly 9 months - there is no "maybe" to the subject of the 12" PowerBook getting AT LEAST a 1GHz G4.

If only for psychological reasons alone.



What, 867MHz to 933MHz? Is that what you expect? No way. At least 1GHz, no doubt about it...otherwise, there might be riots.

i think some people have been conditioned to be overly pessimistic about updates!
i've got higher hopes seeing what the imac is at!
the powerbook isn't a consumer model is it?

Ooh, good point! I didn't think of that...

They wouldn't want their consumer desktop totally trouncing their "pro" laptop, would they?

Well, they have both been at 1GHz for almost eight months...

It does seem to be, but only in a world where logic applies. In a world where Apple is continually forced to do illogical things from a product standpoint due to an inadequate processor update cycle, it may mean nothing. Ah well, cross the toes and hope.

The PowerBooks will be updated by the 16th. Perhaps maybe as early as this Wednesday?

Apple Insider's front page news blurb regarding PowerBooks states, "Sources could not confirm a date or time for the official announcement, but did mention September 9th or 10th as likely candidates."

Mac Rumors seems confident that there will not be PowerBook updates tomorrow. They said iMac updates were more imminent than PowerBook updates, and sure enough, they were right.

The money is on Think Secret though for nailing the details back on August 20th. Good job, Nick!

Consider this:

• The iMac has now been updated twice since the last 15-inch PowerBook update.
  
• The $1800 new iMac is more powerful than the 15-inch PowerBook which costs $2600.
  
• The new iMac has a 1.25 GHz processor, faster than the current top of the line PowerBook.
  
• The new iMac has USB 2, DDR 333 RAM, and is both Airport Extreme and Bluetooth ready, none of which are available on the current top end 15-inch, which is $800 more.

This is terribly lop-sided and hopefully won't last long.

It's also more powerful than the 17" PB that costs $3300.

Higher clock speed, but no L3 cache.

Dont normally jump into the prediction fray, but two things I noticed this weekend and today. Went to Fry's here in Austin and there was only a 17" PB on display, no 12 no 15. They had 17" refurbs on sale for $2799; sale price ending 9/9/03. This may not seem strange to many, but the Fry's here has NEVER offered refurbs, just open box deals at $100 below retail. Another person got an open box deal on a 17" from CompUSA at $2750. I'll swing by the CompUSA here to see if they have the same deal going on. Last time CompUSA had such a huge discount on an open box model was right before the iBook updates. It seems VERY strange to me to see 2 retailers that rarely offer any refurbs (atleast here in Austin) all of a sudden have a number of them around. Couple this with Fry's end of sale date of 9/9/03 it seems awfully coincidental. Makes me think that there is something in the works for the PB line, even if its just a little speed bump like the iMac.

maybe the imac uses the 7455+ and was ready to go and apple is (still) waiting for the 7457 to drop in their new 15incher pb's. [edit] next time i will read all replies: already mentioned by PizzaBoy.

but one thing is for sure: the 15"pb will have at least 1.25Ghz or better.
it is ready to go but as a new product it needs mr.jobs to tell everybody it finally arrived.

they won't have introduced this speedbumped imac with very nice specs (and again 100 euro's cheaper) before the new pb-line if the 15"pb wasn't ready and it has to fear of updated imac's with almost the same specs to make it look bad.

or it doesn't matter...
we will whine about our hardwaristic poverty anyway.
so the marketing department thought: chew on these for a week

It sure does give everyone more to speculate about, eh?

One thing we can surely count on in new PowerBooks is USB2, if iMacs now have it.

yeah that's for sure.

though....meh.

Ideally, if you look to the G5 AND today's new iMac, we should be able to piece together a fairly reasonable picture of what the new PowerBooks (particularly the 15" which is lagging quite behind the others) will be sporting.

I would imagine FireWire 800 and USB 2 DEFINITELY on the 15" and 17" models. And you know what? As long as they're going to sheath that thing in aluminum and stick the word "power" in its moniker, they'd damn well better let those things find their way to the 12" model too (that goes the same for DVI and L3 cache)!



Don't get me started...

But there will probably also be 2x SuperDrives (I'd love them to be more and I'd LOVE the CD-R to be at least 16x). Do they make a 2x SuperDrive with 16x CD-R speed? Or, are there any reasons - economically or technically - the newer 4x SuperDrives (which do indeed have 16x CD-R) couldn't be used in the PowerBooks?



And of course the 15" will get AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth. That's a no-brainer, I'd imagine.

You know, there's something else...something small and catchy and unique that I bet will make it on there too that isn't available on any laptop. I don't even know what it is, but I bet that Apple - in some sort of effort to help offset the mass frustration and near-hysteria swirling around the long-untouched PowerBooks - will throw something on these new PowerBooks to help "sweeten the deal"...and hold most people over until the arrival of a G5-based PowerBook.