Anyone got any ideas? The superdrive and 1ghz are great improvements on the revised Ti book but does anyone have any idea what and when is due out next? <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
Faster better I/O (firewire2 and USB2), DDR memory, perhaps 7457, hopefully PPC970, either way, a .13u or smaller process CPU. Possibly support for 2GB (if someone makes a 1GB so-dimm)
Thanks, Matsu. Do you have any ideas about the enclosure? In the run up to the release of 1st gen Ti-books there was loads of speculation but I don't see anything similar at this stage in the powerbook's evolution.
I don't see any great changes to the enclosure. They might revisit it, but they've kept the current one for so long - even at the expense of offering SuperDrives as an option - because it's a home run. The TiBook still looks fresh and gorgeous, and there still isn't anything out there that offers its combination of power, completeness and size.
So at least for the next refresh, I'm expecting the same, only better: Maybe a brighter screen, faster SuperDrive, SuperDrive on the low end, faster processors, more/faster RAM, better graphics acceleration, etc.
The interesting question to me is whether Apple will try diversifying their laptop line at all, or if they'll stick with two lines covering all the bases. I have to say that the iBook and the PowerBook do a pretty good job of that.
-the screen will have a resolution of 1600X1280 (or similar). If not it will be a touch sensitive screen, similar to tablet PCs.
-Video card will be a Radeon 9000 or something new from nVidia (nforce chipset ?)
-formfactor will change....u will still have 1" thickness and aslot loading drive, but airport antennas will be up in the display.
-Battery will employ iPod battery technology and will last for a whole 5 hours while watching DVDs. They wll address this issue, mainly because the time needed to actualy burn a DVD on the go is preety high.
I don't see the screen resolution goign that high untill both the OS and the videocard are up to the task of fluidly and intelligently resizing all text elements (even those in a browser window.) Some things will just look way too small, especially that annoying tiny text on so many flash pages.
MAYBE, 1440x960, but even that is a little high, perhaps 1366x912 or thereabouts. I would expect anything higher to be an option rather than standard. Unless they went to a bigger screen, they could keep the same height and push the screen out to 16:10 16" yielding a book with a slightly (about .75") wider footprint, but I wouldn't bet on it.
-the screen will have a resolution of 1600X1280 (or similar). If not it will be a touch sensitive screen, similar to tablet PCs.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Not gonna happen.
There are a bunch of Dell Inspirons around here with the 16x12 15" screens. Everyone runs them at 10x7, which means that they're dim, you have to look at them straight on, and everything's fuzzy.
Don't look to Apple to go too far over 96dpi. If they do (12" iBook) they'll offer an alternative (14" iBook) for people whose eyes aren't up to the challenge. And believe me, there are a lot of those people.
As Matsu says, once we get resolution independence Apple can crank the dpi as high as it'll go. But we're a ways from that yet.
I would say that with Apple's obsession with detail and ergonomic standardization, that they'll keep the same screen resolution in every laptop model except the 14 inch iBook -- after all, it puts them at 102 dpi across the laptop line, which is proportionately similar at the laptop viewing distance as the 90-something dpi they have standardized on in their desktop LCD displays.
Other than that . . . for the Powerbook, 200MHz bus, 13u G4 processors at 1 or maybe 1.1; and 1.2GHz or maybe 1.3 GHz; 2x Superdrive on the high end, 1x Superdrive or a 16x Combo drive on the base, stick with the Radeon 9000, 64MB Vram across the board, 80GB/60GB hard drives, faster i/o -- it all sounds reasonable to me. But they won't wait until July - I think they'll stick to the six month schedule they've been on lately. So maybe May.
It's the next revision after that where we may see something rather different.
Based on the possibilities of the lithium polymer technologies in the iPod, the redesigned PowerBook, whenever it arrives, will totally leapfrog the current model. Remember that lithium polymer batteries can take ANY shape, so don't be surprised to see the new battery(ies) integrated directly into the frame of the 'Book for outstanding battery life, better heat dissipation, and better motherboard layout (because of the additional room available). Just hope that you never have to get the battery replaced...
Don't look to Apple to go too far over 96dpi. If they do (12" iBook) they'll offer an alternative (14" iBook) for people whose eyes aren't up to the challenge. And believe me, there are a lot of those people.</strong><hr></blockquote>
If we take this road we will never get really crisp type on screen. As soon as higher resolutions are common, web-designers will increase the size of the fonts. And then peope who have trouble reading will also benefit.
[quote]<strong>
As Matsu says, once we get resolution independence Apple can crank the dpi as high as it'll go. But we're a ways from that yet.</strong><hr></blockquote>
This will be a nice feature for users, but it will be HTML-Hell for graphic designers.
Because firewire ports carry a decent amount of current, and Apple uses the powered variety, could it be that there is some potential voltage issue with having more than one powered port running off the PB's power supply? Were people frying ports with the two port (Pismo) models? Or mebbe, in the interest of thinness, plus the addition of the G4, and a bigger screen, there isn't enough juice left over for two reliable firewire ports? If so, then Apple has done a good thing, if not, see standardized Matsu response form...
<strong>Faster better I/O (firewire2 and USB2), DDR memory, perhaps 7457, hopefully PPC970, either way, a .13u or smaller process CPU. Possibly support for 2GB (if someone makes a 1GB so-dimm)</strong><hr></blockquote>
Comments
So at least for the next refresh, I'm expecting the same, only better: Maybe a brighter screen, faster SuperDrive, SuperDrive on the low end, faster processors, more/faster RAM, better graphics acceleration, etc.
The interesting question to me is whether Apple will try diversifying their laptop line at all, or if they'll stick with two lines covering all the bases. I have to say that the iBook and the PowerBook do a pretty good job of that.
Specs will be:
-1Ghz, 1.2Ghz G4s(smaller n cooler dies)
-167Mhz Bus speeds
-Superdrive across the board(not customizable)
-the screen will have a resolution of 1600X1280 (or similar). If not it will be a touch sensitive screen, similar to tablet PCs.
-Video card will be a Radeon 9000 or something new from nVidia (nforce chipset ?)
-formfactor will change....u will still have 1" thickness and aslot loading drive, but airport antennas will be up in the display.
-Battery will employ iPod battery technology and will last for a whole 5 hours while watching DVDs. They wll address this issue, mainly because the time needed to actualy burn a DVD on the go is preety high.
MAYBE, 1440x960, but even that is a little high, perhaps 1366x912 or thereabouts. I would expect anything higher to be an option rather than standard. Unless they went to a bigger screen, they could keep the same height and push the screen out to 16:10 16" yielding a book with a slightly (about .75") wider footprint, but I wouldn't bet on it.
<strong>
-the screen will have a resolution of 1600X1280 (or similar). If not it will be a touch sensitive screen, similar to tablet PCs.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Not gonna happen.
There are a bunch of Dell Inspirons around here with the 16x12 15" screens. Everyone runs them at 10x7, which means that they're dim, you have to look at them straight on, and everything's fuzzy.
Don't look to Apple to go too far over 96dpi. If they do (12" iBook) they'll offer an alternative (14" iBook) for people whose eyes aren't up to the challenge. And believe me, there are a lot of those people.
As Matsu says, once we get resolution independence Apple can crank the dpi as high as it'll go. But we're a ways from that yet.
Other than that . . . for the Powerbook, 200MHz bus, 13u G4 processors at 1 or maybe 1.1; and 1.2GHz or maybe 1.3 GHz; 2x Superdrive on the high end, 1x Superdrive or a 16x Combo drive on the base, stick with the Radeon 9000, 64MB Vram across the board, 80GB/60GB hard drives, faster i/o -- it all sounds reasonable to me. But they won't wait until July - I think they'll stick to the six month schedule they've been on lately. So maybe May.
It's the next revision after that where we may see something rather different.
[ 11-22-2002: Message edited by: photoeditor ]</p>
<strong>... the screen will have a resolution of 1600X1280 (or similar)...</strong><hr></blockquote>
Yeah, why not? There must be some reason for those 128x128 pixel icons.
Personally, I'd like to see bluetooth on board in the next rev. of Powerbooks.
[ 11-25-2002: Message edited by: yomofo ]</p>
<strong>
Don't look to Apple to go too far over 96dpi. If they do (12" iBook) they'll offer an alternative (14" iBook) for people whose eyes aren't up to the challenge. And believe me, there are a lot of those people.</strong><hr></blockquote>
If we take this road we will never get really crisp type on screen. As soon as higher resolutions are common, web-designers will increase the size of the fonts. And then peope who have trouble reading will also benefit.
[quote]<strong>
As Matsu says, once we get resolution independence Apple can crank the dpi as high as it'll go. But we're a ways from that yet.</strong><hr></blockquote>
This will be a nice feature for users, but it will be HTML-Hell for graphic designers.
<strong>Faster better I/O (firewire2 and USB2), DDR memory, perhaps 7457, hopefully PPC970, either way, a .13u or smaller process CPU. Possibly support for 2GB (if someone makes a 1GB so-dimm)</strong><hr></blockquote>