Better separation between Apple's portable line needed...
I was just thinking about how (and don't lash out at me right after I say it) PC laptops are differentiated in comparison to Apple's. You have the various processors (eg. you have the Celeron and Pentium, plus other derivatives), that are separated by speed, cache size, speed of ram, front side bus; then other components such as screen size/display technology, optical drives, expansion etc.
I believe that it would be a better move for Apple if they differentiated their laptops based on the type of processor first. Now that the iBooks and PowerBooks have been updated the gap between them is not that great as they use the same CPU, have a SuperDrive option, etc.
What if Apple used the 750GX or something IBM G4-derivative in the iBooks as it could scale well and had support for all of the features that would make it more feature-wise competitive with PC laptops in it's range (like memory, FSB, CPU, etc.) and then use the 970FX G5 in the PowerBooks? They could then differentiate the two even more by using state-of-the art (and not what Apple thinks is state-of-the-art, but what the industry does) such as OLED displays, better speakers, and a huge performance lead over the iBooks that would still make them worth the extra cost. Apple could even make the PB more modular so that in the future they could offer upgrade kits for certain models that would make people want to upgrade even only after a year of use.
Now just because the PB would have a huge performance lead doesn't mean that the iBooks would be crappy. They should by able to offer the consumer and even gamer a great user experience.
An example of the possible iBook vs. the PowerBook:
Top-end iBook: 2Ghz IBM G4,400Mhz DDR FSB, 512MB DDR400 Memory, 60GB 7200 RPM HD, 14 inch widescreen with hiher resolution, 1.2 inches thick, comes in colours, 64MB DDR Graphics card, FW 400, USB 2.0, 56K Modem, Audio Out/In Monitor Spanning/Mirroring, better speakers, 10/100 Ethernet, slot loading 4X Superdrive, Airport Extreme built-in and a 6 hour battery life. All for $1699 including AppleCare.
Top-end PowerBook: 2.6Ghz IBM 750FX G5, 1Ghz FSB, 1GB DDR 533 Memory, 120GB 7200 RPM SATA HD, 17 inch widescreen sub MS response time OLED with very high resolution plus special mode allowing automatic calibration of display brigthtness/contrast based on surrounding light, 1-inch thick,metalic colouring, 128MB DDR state of the art GPU standard, FW800, FW400, USB 2.0, Modem, Gigabit Ethernet, Optical out, Headphone jack out, slot loading 8X dual-side Superdrive, Airport Extreme plus Bluetooth Built in, Special internal antennas that boost signal strength an extra 50 percent, Monitor Spanning, Mirroring, S-video and Dvi out, HDTV/DMI input/ output, harmon kardon virtual surround speakers built in, Backlit keyboard, and a 6 hour under normal use conditions (4 hours at maximum performance)battery life. AppleCare included for $3000. Timline: Summer 2005.
Sounds crazy doesn't it? Well, if this happened Apple would probably double it's market share! And about AppleCare, it should not cost upwards of $200!!! Most PC laptops come with all that standard (including 24/7 tech support and on-site repair within a day or two)!!! Apple has to be more competitve this way! I know the Mac is worth more for the ease of use (I would never switch to a PC even if I still had to putput along on my G4 350) but sometimes people can't afford the upfront cost. Apple has so much money in the bank (over 4 Billion easy) that it can cope really well even with a profit decrease on the iBooks. But better than a profit decrease would be a more efficient manufacturing process that is used to make the laptops and therefore a lower price-point can still yield a reasonable profit.
As for the crazy tech in the PowerBook, it's really not that crazy. Within a year IBM/Apple should have no more heat cooling issues or have switched to an evan lower-powered derivative of the 970FX (smaller die size maybe?). Plus OLED displays are a lot cheaper to manufacture and produce even at larger sizes than LCD's now and are a lot thinner and have sub ms response times. It all depends on how aggressive Apple is willing to be with it's manufacturing process and how much Apple is willing to stake in the long run by losing some profit now to enhance marketshare.
I believe the only way to do this is to increase the performance gains of both the iBooks and PowerBooks many fold as well as aggressive advertising. Apple needs to change the perception it has as an stylish over-priced under-performing computer maker!!! I can't recall seeing an Apple ad on tv in months!!!
Sorry for the long rant and the various topics covered other than differentiation of processors between laptops. Your ideas and comments would be appreciated. Thanks.
I believe that it would be a better move for Apple if they differentiated their laptops based on the type of processor first. Now that the iBooks and PowerBooks have been updated the gap between them is not that great as they use the same CPU, have a SuperDrive option, etc.
What if Apple used the 750GX or something IBM G4-derivative in the iBooks as it could scale well and had support for all of the features that would make it more feature-wise competitive with PC laptops in it's range (like memory, FSB, CPU, etc.) and then use the 970FX G5 in the PowerBooks? They could then differentiate the two even more by using state-of-the art (and not what Apple thinks is state-of-the-art, but what the industry does) such as OLED displays, better speakers, and a huge performance lead over the iBooks that would still make them worth the extra cost. Apple could even make the PB more modular so that in the future they could offer upgrade kits for certain models that would make people want to upgrade even only after a year of use.
Now just because the PB would have a huge performance lead doesn't mean that the iBooks would be crappy. They should by able to offer the consumer and even gamer a great user experience.
An example of the possible iBook vs. the PowerBook:
Top-end iBook: 2Ghz IBM G4,400Mhz DDR FSB, 512MB DDR400 Memory, 60GB 7200 RPM HD, 14 inch widescreen with hiher resolution, 1.2 inches thick, comes in colours, 64MB DDR Graphics card, FW 400, USB 2.0, 56K Modem, Audio Out/In Monitor Spanning/Mirroring, better speakers, 10/100 Ethernet, slot loading 4X Superdrive, Airport Extreme built-in and a 6 hour battery life. All for $1699 including AppleCare.
Top-end PowerBook: 2.6Ghz IBM 750FX G5, 1Ghz FSB, 1GB DDR 533 Memory, 120GB 7200 RPM SATA HD, 17 inch widescreen sub MS response time OLED with very high resolution plus special mode allowing automatic calibration of display brigthtness/contrast based on surrounding light, 1-inch thick,metalic colouring, 128MB DDR state of the art GPU standard, FW800, FW400, USB 2.0, Modem, Gigabit Ethernet, Optical out, Headphone jack out, slot loading 8X dual-side Superdrive, Airport Extreme plus Bluetooth Built in, Special internal antennas that boost signal strength an extra 50 percent, Monitor Spanning, Mirroring, S-video and Dvi out, HDTV/DMI input/ output, harmon kardon virtual surround speakers built in, Backlit keyboard, and a 6 hour under normal use conditions (4 hours at maximum performance)battery life. AppleCare included for $3000. Timline: Summer 2005.
Sounds crazy doesn't it? Well, if this happened Apple would probably double it's market share! And about AppleCare, it should not cost upwards of $200!!! Most PC laptops come with all that standard (including 24/7 tech support and on-site repair within a day or two)!!! Apple has to be more competitve this way! I know the Mac is worth more for the ease of use (I would never switch to a PC even if I still had to putput along on my G4 350) but sometimes people can't afford the upfront cost. Apple has so much money in the bank (over 4 Billion easy) that it can cope really well even with a profit decrease on the iBooks. But better than a profit decrease would be a more efficient manufacturing process that is used to make the laptops and therefore a lower price-point can still yield a reasonable profit.
As for the crazy tech in the PowerBook, it's really not that crazy. Within a year IBM/Apple should have no more heat cooling issues or have switched to an evan lower-powered derivative of the 970FX (smaller die size maybe?). Plus OLED displays are a lot cheaper to manufacture and produce even at larger sizes than LCD's now and are a lot thinner and have sub ms response times. It all depends on how aggressive Apple is willing to be with it's manufacturing process and how much Apple is willing to stake in the long run by losing some profit now to enhance marketshare.
I believe the only way to do this is to increase the performance gains of both the iBooks and PowerBooks many fold as well as aggressive advertising. Apple needs to change the perception it has as an stylish over-priced under-performing computer maker!!! I can't recall seeing an Apple ad on tv in months!!!
Sorry for the long rant and the various topics covered other than differentiation of processors between laptops. Your ideas and comments would be appreciated. Thanks.
Comments
Originally posted by macaddict74
Top-end iBook: 2Ghz IBM G4,400Mhz DDR FSB, 512MB DDR400 Memory, 60GB 7200 RPM HD, 14 inch widescreen with hiher resolution, 1.2 inches thick, comes in colours, 64MB DDR Graphics card, FW 400, USB 2.0, 56K Modem, Audio Out/In Monitor Spanning/Mirroring, better speakers, 10/100 Ethernet, slot loading 4X Superdrive, Airport Extreme built-in and a 6 hour battery life. All for $1699 including AppleCare.
Top-end PowerBook: 2.6Ghz IBM 750FX G5, 1Ghz FSB, 1GB DDR 533 Memory, 120GB 7200 RPM SATA HD, 17 inch widescreen sub MS response time OLED with very high resolution plus special mode allowing automatic calibration of display brigthtness/contrast based on surrounding light, 1-inch thick,metalic colouring, 128MB DDR state of the art GPU standard, FW800, FW400, USB 2.0, Modem, Gigabit Ethernet, Optical out, Headphone jack out, slot loading 8X dual-side Superdrive, Airport Extreme plus Bluetooth Built in, Special internal antennas that boost signal strength an extra 50 percent, Monitor Spanning, Mirroring, S-video and Dvi out, HDTV/DMI input/ output, harmon kardon virtual surround speakers built in, Backlit keyboard, and a 6 hour under normal use conditions (4 hours at maximum performance)battery life. AppleCare included for $3000. Timline: Summer 2005.
Hello, wake up, the dream is over, the sun is rising...
they used a 750gx in the iBooks - back when they were know as "iBook G3". You want to go back? Why?
Next: there is no "IBM G4". The rumored 750vx (with a SIMD unit) obviously is not available now and there are no indications it is being developed at all.
Next: the 750 is a pretty lame CPU by todays standards. It does _not_ support a faster FSB than the G4, in fact the bus interface is much inferior.
Next: the 750 does not scale well. IBM has never gotten it above 1Ghz although they announced faster 750s over a year ago. There is no indication it will reach 2Ghz in 05.
Next: there is no available 970fx at 2.6Ghz as far as we know. For all we know, IBM has difficulties to produce 2Ghz pieces and the 2.6 Ghz would most certainly be too hot to go into a laptop.
Next: OLEDs are not ready for use in a notebook. The blue LEDs wash out rather quick. Would you buy a PowerBook with a display that is partially dead after 3 years usage? OLEDs are quite likely 3 years away still.
Last: Speculating about summer 05 is ... well a bit far fetched, huh? Just because you can write down all the lovely buzzwords that give you a geeky hard-on does not mean Apple could implement them - now or in a years time.
Originally posted by kraig911
PC laptop support sucks... a client of ours just sent his sony viao laptop off to be repaired and yeah... he won't be getting it back they said for at least 4-6 weeks.
The best tech support for a PC is a toolkit and knowing how to fix the damnd thing...or a good friend who can do it for ya, because ALL MAJOR OEM TECH SUPPORT FOR NON CORPRATE ACCOUNTS SUCKS in PC land.
as to mac tech support, they , 2 or 3 summers ago, spent an hr. on the phone with me trobleshooting a proforma that I found at a garage sale! for free!, In my defence, I was totaly new to apple and had no idea of the systems age, but thanks to that techy and OSX apple has won me over so my next laptop will be an apple.
the Pwr book is more of a status symbol, even if an editor/photographer could get by with an ibook, they would be laughed at by their peers. there is something to be said for the look, feel, and style of the al pwr books that ibooks just dont have IMHO.
There is plenty to diferentiate iBooks and Powerbooks so no real need to artificially add more. As it is there is a good selection of choices in the Apple lineup and each has its merits.
Hell, appearances alone (the rugged, thicker plastic of the iBook for school and whatnot, vs. the sleek, metallic and professional look of the PowerBook).
Then you get into specs, with onboard Bluetooth, AirPort, DVI on the PowerBooks (plus the PC slot, lighted keyboard, FireWire 800 on the upper models).
I think they're fine as is.
Originally posted by Smircle
Well, you know...
they used a 750gx in the iBooks - back when they were know as "iBook G3".
I don't think the iBooks ever used the 750GX. It topped out at 750FX before it went G4. The 750GX is available now at speeds up to 1.1GHz. It is mainly used in the embedded market. The only mac use is a ZIF upgrade by powerlogix and only the 1GHz version is available.