Final curtain call for PowerPC-based PowerBooks?
Apple Computer is believed to be prepping one final update to its PowerPC-based PowerBook G4 product line that could be unveiled at the end of next month, AppleInsider has learned.
Reliable sources say the PowerBook update is slated for an introduction during the third week of September at Apple Expo Paris, but has recently fallen into a rut that could force a delay or even cause the company to scrap the revision entirely.
Two new models that have shown up on radar are referenced as the PowerBook5,8 and the PowerBook5,9. Both Apple's current 15-inch and 17-inch PowerBook G4 systems identify themselves as the PowerBook5,7, with the 12-inch model being listed as a member of the iBook family (PowerBook6,8).
At the high-end, the new PowerBooks are expected to gain a mere 30MHz speed boost that would put the 15-inch and 17-inch models at 1.7GHz. Additionally, the new 15-inch PowerBook is expected to step up to the feature set of the current 17-inch PowerBook.
The new PowerBooks are also expected to be the first Macs to gain support for dual-channel DDR2 SDRAM, which can reach higher frequencies with less energy consumption than standard DDR SDRAM.
At least one of the two new models will also gain a higher resolution (or higher density) display, sources say. Rumors that Apple was preparing to offer higher density displays with its PowerBook line first surfaced in February, after the company accidently shipped a user manual for its 17-inch PowerBook referencing an unannounced model with a native resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels.
Screens with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels are categorized as WUXGA displays, which is short for Wide Ultra eXtended Graphics Array. PowerBooks currently ship with WXGA (or Wide XGA) displays, of which the 17-inch model sports the highest resolution at 1440 x 900 pixels.
The new PowerBooks will reportedly gain software support through a special build train of the yet-to-be-released Mac OS X 10.4.3 Update, which remains in development.
Precisely what will become of Apple's 12-inch PowerBook offering is an unknown. Prior to Apple's announcement to switch to Intel-based processors in 2006, reliable sources said Apple planned to abandon its 12-inch PowerBook offering with the release of the current model. It's unclear if these plans have changed in light of the Intel announcement and the fact that all PowerBook G4 models will see no further revisions after this year.
Still, at least one factor threatens to hamper Apple's plans to release the new PowerBooks next month, AppleInsider has been told. Specifically, it's believed that Apple's PowerPC development team has been met by a shortage of resources as the company shifts the vast majority of its engineers to its forthcoming Intel-based projects.
The new PowerBooks are expected to be powered by Freescale's new MPC7448 PowerPC G4 processors. The MPC7448 is based on Freescale e600 PowerPC core, and boasts a 1MB Level 2 backside cache, which is double that of the 512KB cache included with Freescale's MPC7447A chips used in the current PowerBooks.
The MPC7448 is also the first product in the MPC74xx family to use Freescale's 90 nanometer (nm) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) CMOS process that will significantly increase clock and bus speeds while reducing power requirements.
The PowerBook G4 line is one of Apple's two best selling Macintosh products as of late, with the iMac G5 being the other. By producing one more PowerBook G4 revision this fall, Apple will be able generate added interest and maintain higher average selling prices moving into the holiday shopping season, said a respected Wall Street analyst who asked not be named. But it would not be detrimental to the company if it failed to do so, the analyst added.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs is currently scheduled to deliver the keynote presentation during the September Apple Expo in Paris.
Reliable sources say the PowerBook update is slated for an introduction during the third week of September at Apple Expo Paris, but has recently fallen into a rut that could force a delay or even cause the company to scrap the revision entirely.
Two new models that have shown up on radar are referenced as the PowerBook5,8 and the PowerBook5,9. Both Apple's current 15-inch and 17-inch PowerBook G4 systems identify themselves as the PowerBook5,7, with the 12-inch model being listed as a member of the iBook family (PowerBook6,8).
At the high-end, the new PowerBooks are expected to gain a mere 30MHz speed boost that would put the 15-inch and 17-inch models at 1.7GHz. Additionally, the new 15-inch PowerBook is expected to step up to the feature set of the current 17-inch PowerBook.
The new PowerBooks are also expected to be the first Macs to gain support for dual-channel DDR2 SDRAM, which can reach higher frequencies with less energy consumption than standard DDR SDRAM.
At least one of the two new models will also gain a higher resolution (or higher density) display, sources say. Rumors that Apple was preparing to offer higher density displays with its PowerBook line first surfaced in February, after the company accidently shipped a user manual for its 17-inch PowerBook referencing an unannounced model with a native resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels.
Screens with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels are categorized as WUXGA displays, which is short for Wide Ultra eXtended Graphics Array. PowerBooks currently ship with WXGA (or Wide XGA) displays, of which the 17-inch model sports the highest resolution at 1440 x 900 pixels.
The new PowerBooks will reportedly gain software support through a special build train of the yet-to-be-released Mac OS X 10.4.3 Update, which remains in development.
Precisely what will become of Apple's 12-inch PowerBook offering is an unknown. Prior to Apple's announcement to switch to Intel-based processors in 2006, reliable sources said Apple planned to abandon its 12-inch PowerBook offering with the release of the current model. It's unclear if these plans have changed in light of the Intel announcement and the fact that all PowerBook G4 models will see no further revisions after this year.
Still, at least one factor threatens to hamper Apple's plans to release the new PowerBooks next month, AppleInsider has been told. Specifically, it's believed that Apple's PowerPC development team has been met by a shortage of resources as the company shifts the vast majority of its engineers to its forthcoming Intel-based projects.
The new PowerBooks are expected to be powered by Freescale's new MPC7448 PowerPC G4 processors. The MPC7448 is based on Freescale e600 PowerPC core, and boasts a 1MB Level 2 backside cache, which is double that of the 512KB cache included with Freescale's MPC7447A chips used in the current PowerBooks.
The MPC7448 is also the first product in the MPC74xx family to use Freescale's 90 nanometer (nm) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) CMOS process that will significantly increase clock and bus speeds while reducing power requirements.
The PowerBook G4 line is one of Apple's two best selling Macintosh products as of late, with the iMac G5 being the other. By producing one more PowerBook G4 revision this fall, Apple will be able generate added interest and maintain higher average selling prices moving into the holiday shopping season, said a respected Wall Street analyst who asked not be named. But it would not be detrimental to the company if it failed to do so, the analyst added.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs is currently scheduled to deliver the keynote presentation during the September Apple Expo in Paris.
Comments
Now I'll definitely wait until after the Paris Expo, and get the 17" 2GHz with HD resolution if Apple announces it.
If Apple fails to release new Powerbooks by the Holiday Shopping season, I think many people may opt to "wait a bit longer" for an Intel based Powerbook as the current models would have been out for approx a year.
Overall, I hope we see those new Powerbooks and I hope to get one!
It's going to be cat and mouse with the new generation of macintels in the spring, with people waiting for optimized pro software and apple to get the kinks out of the revA hardware.
There are many creative professionals that are very handicapped on the mac right now without a true cutting-edge laptop. We just can't do our work efficiently in the field. We'd be willing to shell out $3-4K on a laptop if it offered serious, time-saving performance.
They could drop Intel machines tomorrow, or it could take another 12 months. You can just never tell with those crazy kids...
-TheOtherRob
Originally posted by amac4me
Let's say there is an update to the Powerbook line ... would anyone want to speculate if those Powerbooks would become collectors items as they would be the "last PowerPC based Powerbooks"?
Um, I might collect one if it has a cooler running 7448 in it. I'm really not looking forward to the Intel switch. I'd be very happy with a 1.8Ghz PPC PowerBook that I could run for several years until the Intel mess shakes out.
On the other hand, when I return, the Intel PowerBooks will probably be only 3 months away. Oh the Humanity!
So the PowerBook G4 will top at 1.7GHz.
Sorry,
-K
And the death of the 12", merged feature-wise with the iBook, was probably an inevitable thing. If anything it will probably usher in PCMCIA slots, faster firewire, and no more of that mirroring crap on the iBooks.
Originally posted by Kasper
Please see updated article. 300MHz upgrade meant to be 30MHz upgrade
So the PowerBook G4 will top at 1.7GHz.
Sorry,
-K
You are almost correct. It IS 30MHz. The top speed for the Powerbooks now is 1.67GHz. So it will be 1.7GHz.
The 7448 line has the SAME speed as the 7447a's. Maybe later it will go higher, but will we see it?
As it's a "drop-in" replacement for the 7447a, it's easy to implement. So, for those expecting, for reasons I don't know, a 2GHz part, don't. There isn't any.
All of you whiners out there, cut it out already. Apple will use what they can get. No more, no less.
Don't forget this has a 1MB L2 cache, not 512Kb. That could add 10% to the performance. If they up the bus to 200, it could add a couple percent more.
The memory has more latency, but is faster, with the larger cache, faster bus, and memory, as well as the 2% higher speed, it could be 17% or more faster.
Hmmm, I think we can tell how soon a product will go Intel by the significance of their PPC updates.
Mac mini?
- Nothing new so either it's the first to go Intel or it gets killed off. JAN 06 at MWSF / Single Core (Yonah) M
iBook?
- Got faster processors, better graphics, larger hard drive options, etc. APR 06 at Special Event / Single Core (Yonah) M
PowerBook?
- Gets faster processors, faster ram, faster bus, WUXGA screen, digital audio for 15", etc. JUN 06 at WWDC / Dual Core (Yonah) M
So in other words the better the PPC update the longer the wait until it goes Intel. A product with a short wait doesn't need much but a product with a long wait will need as much bang for the buck to tide people over.
I'm starting to like the switch to Intel. With all the bad luck Apple gets with processor manufacturers, Intel might imitate Motorola and IBM but at least they'll initially get a cool chip that runs faster than most G4 and G5s and they won't have to worry about the PCs getting faster than Macs.
Originally posted by mynamehere
No more 12"?! WTF?!
Maybe they will continue to sell the current 12" model but just not make an effort to update it. I'm sure they will have a 13" widescreen model for the Intel transition though.
I really want these to stay around. In fact I'd want something smaller. And now that Apple have hired Vaio developers I really look forward to seeing an Apple equivalent to VAIO VGN-T2XP:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/articl...d=36&page=3353
10.6" and lightweight! ;-)
Cheers Daniel
Originally posted by 1984
A mere 30Mhz speed boost after all this time. So are there any who still doubt the merits of the Intel transition? At least they are upgrading other stuff to compensate. Doesn't the 7448 support a 200MHz bus?
If it runs at 1.7GHz it seems so.
So while it might only "look" like 30% as far as the clock rate, it could mean a real world speed boost of ~20%. I think that would be good enough until Intel 'books arrive.