They've been making G4 mobo's for a long long time now, perhaps there is a greater degree of "RELIABLE" modularity in their components than we give credit for, and making new Mobo's is just a question of stirring in known quantities and drawing new traces? Everything on there is something that we've seen before, just a slightly different mix.
Why would they update an old chipset NOW?
I'm betting it's for the iBook, not just the eMac. The eMac could have gone without AirPort Extreme until DDR chipsets are cheap enough (and the iMac goes 970 LOL).
The speakers would look nice as horizontal vents, with a sleak industrial-style design reminiscent of high end servers...only sleek, shiny white. Kind of like the small vents on the side of iBooks for heat dissapation.
Barto has a good point. Why bother updating the chipset for the eMac now? Seems odd doesn't it? I think it's a good indication that the only G3 using Mac may finally grow into the G4 family. This way we won't have to trouble Moto with two processors to think about. Perhaps that's what it is. Perhaps Moto can't think about more than one PPC processor at once. So we'll just get them to make G4's for the iBook (because the PM, X-Serve, & PB will soon be using the 970 methinks), iMac, & eMac. That's 3 lines for Moto and 3 lines for IBM. Wouldn't want to stress Moto any. So let's make it easy and eliminate the G3 so they can focus on the G4. Put the G3 in the museum like the G2.
Placebo & pscates, don't you think it would be cool to have white speakers in the white iBook that you could see? Just a thought. I know they make white speakers.
Yes! I never thought of that, but that's what apple does with the G4's. Unprotected speakers would be nice, as long as Apple gave you the option of installing sleek speaker guards. Maybe a line of small speakers, like the soundsticks, down each side of the keyboard. Hmm, speaking of the keyboard, why not have the speakers under the keyboard? The sound would be good, and you could make the laptop even smaller.
Placebo, I have to say you made me laugh with that last post. Could you just imagine trying to type with speakers jamming under the keyboard? They would librate and make your fingertips numb. Which would allow you to quit working earlier so it does have it's advantages, but I think the whiet speaker idea with a minimalistic guard would be adequate. I think pscates is on the right path though. Sweet design of that iBook above.
And when you say "smaller", by how much? The screen dimensions are kinda dictating the body size. Yeah, maybe that area around the monitor (what's that actually called?) could be smaller, but I was just kinda copying current thicknesses on the 12" iBook AND PowerBook. But if I could lost .25-.375 on each side of that, then yes, the iBook could shrink down in overall dimension by about a half inch in each direction.
I think. Hell, I don't know.
I'm sitting here looking at this thing in Photoshop (drew it all in Illustrator in two separate chunks: the display portion and the body portion, brought it in to Photoshop to do all the screen stuff only) and if something like this came out, I'd flip my lid. It would be WAY more affordable than the PowerBook I'm currently considering. AND, I get to stay an "iGuy".
As cool as 1.4GHz 980/970/9-whatever stuff sounds, fact is I used a 400MHz G3 iMac for over two years and I'm at the 14 month period on this "lowly" 800MHz G4 iMac. For what I do, how I work, etc. Anything in the G4 1GHz and up category is going to more than suit my needs.
I've never sat here going "I wish I had more speed and power!". Maybe RAM, maybe hard drive space, maybe faster CD-burning, etc. But never "this G4 SUCKS!".
I can't express how much I'd love to be able to get a 1GHz (or higher) G4 iBook for the mid-$1000's as opposed to shelling out another $600-1000 for a mid-sized PowerBook.
And I guess it wouldn't have to be a G4 necessarily. Just something that feels a little snappier with OS X and the iApps than a G3 does. That's all. Modify a G3, create a new chip, put in an existing G4. I don't care. Just give me those nice little benefits I get when encoding, Photoshopping, etc. that a G4 has over the G3. Whatever that's called (Altivec?). But there is a difference and I can tell it because I'm on both every single day and I've performed experiments.
At this point, I wouldn't want to buy a laptop with the current, as-is G3 in it. Not for what I do and all. I'd feel like I was going backwards.
All Apple has to do is listen to me. I've got my finger firmly on the pulse of the American buying public.
Just kidding. But really: they'd make a KILLING with something like the above. All us cheap bastards who hate metallic-looking laptops would snap 'em up!
pscates, I agree that the current G3 leaves tons to be desired. who knows, perhaps IBM can inject enough steroids into the G3 to make it perform to our liking without making it a G4, but why not just let IBM have some fun with the G4 instead? I bet they could have a lot of fun with it. Bet they could make it cheap too. So why not drop it into the iBook? I honestly believe that that G3 is being shown the door. It's a nice little processor, but as you said, there's a noticable difference between the G4 and the G3 and when the iLife products are for everyone, you'd expect Apple to provide processors that didn't make you want to go rent a movie while the G3 sluggishly went about doing it's job, though renting movies isn't always a bad idea.
I would love to see the G4 migrate into the iBook. Here's another design for you to think about. I'm a firefighter in the Air Force. We deploy a lot and have to be rougher on our gear than I'd like. My iBook shows the scars of deployment. You should design an iBook like those Sony walkmans that could be dropped and still work. It would be in very high demand by folks who have jobs that aren't exactly friendly to electronics. Waterproof would be a cool feature as well. Anyway, just figured I'd give you another design to think about. No one has actually made one to my knowledge for the general public. So you'd be a first for the design. Have fun.
Okay, here's one with less plastic around the screen. Knocked the overall size down by about half-an-inch horizontally and a little over a quarter vertically. New dimensions are now about 12.6" wide and 8.5" tall (like a sheet of paper).
Oh, and the keyboard? I just cut it from an iBook product shot, trimmed it up a bit, tweaked the tone, etc. and pasted it in. There's NO WAY I'm going to manually draw the keyboard in Illustrator!
pscates, great job on the illustration. There's nothing like seeing something that would probably be an easy adaptation by Apple, yet they haven't come up with it. Well done. 8)
Either way Mr Scates, it looks fab! Does saying "fab" make me less manly? I can't afford to throw away my manly points on words like "fab", damn, and there I went and did it again.
But just to prove how right I was that no one would miss the 12" iBook if a 14" of similar proportions were made, just look at the reaction to Pscates' mock-up. If Apple could source a screen to make this thing happen they would fly off the shelves!
As for a widescreen PB12? I don't see it. I tell ya why. As a screen gets smaller it becomes more important for it to be taller. 768 is the minimum acceptable height, the iBook/12PB's pixel density is also at the maximum acceptable (readable) limit at least for the next few years untill GPU's, apps and web standards catch up. I don't see the screen getting smaller or changing format, but I do see the baby PB losing about another pound, getting thinner, and about a inch less deep. If it got a wide screen it would be really short, or have an impossibly squinty pixel density. Use one of those fujitsu or Sony Xwide format screens, you'll se what I mean. Lotsa, lotsa lotsa scrolling. 4:3 is better for a small screen.
Matsu, from your most recent post it sounds like you're talking about a sub-book. I think there are a few people out that would want them (a very vocal few), but are there really people who want something so small? Seems that most people want the 14 to 15.4 range for screens. People even prefer the 14" iBook to the 12", so going to the sub book would make a very loud thud for most of us, though I'm sure that Japan, China and other places would like them. I'd look at a sub book and wonder how long it'd take me to break it. Probably not long. I'm not gentle with electronics, never have been. I think the iBook would best be served up in the 14" configuration, and I think they ought to drop a mean G4 in it as well. The biggest problem with the iBook is that plastic doesn't dissipate heat as well as aluminum. But when the Power Books (at least the 15 and 17) go to the 970, that frees up the G4 for the iBook, and I doubt that anyone would complain too much about that.
Yes, I am, BUT I'm talking about a sub book that actually makes sense! I posted on it a couple of times. As I figured it, the screen and the keyboard set the limits on how small one can practically make a sub-note. Those two marks alone, and if you read my post, I'd leave both of them in tact. Just as functional as the current 12" books, just trimmed down to the least excess possible.
Matsu, I understand what you mean. But in all reality just how much do you think you could trim from the current 12"? Doesn't look like there's hope of it until more miniturization occurs with the technology.8)
Make the footprint smaller, less deep, same width, same screen. Move the speakers to the resultant thicker side bezels (NXT type, flat speaker) thereby chucking the 3 drivers. Use a magnesium body, like some cameras, not just a frame that's skinned as the current iBook. Tighter integration of Mobo chips and increased efficiency in the back light, screen and other major components, resulting in less need for larger/heavier batteries. I'm pretty sure it's possible to take the current PB under 4lbs without touching either the screen or the keyboard. Even if it doesn't get a whole lot lighter, it should still be possible to shrink the footprint and the thickness slightly.
The current 12" PB doesn't look substantially smaller than the iBook in any one dimension, even when you add it all up, it doesn't seem dramatic, but if you place them side by side, then you certainly do notice. String together a few of these evolutions and after a generation or three, you're there.
Matsu, I think that sounds very interesting, and while I'm not in the market for a small laptop like that, it would be interesting to see. The question remains though, does the G4 have much life left in it with Moto ending future development? They have the 7447 and the 7457, but after that what'll be done? Seems to me that we're left with IBM making a G4, or a SIMD G3. Either way, it'd be nice to see some sweet processors find their way into the iBook.
They bumped the mid- and high-end models to 900MHz and bumped the hard drives, I believe. It was a small, quiet upgrade...but it was within the past month.
Comments
Originally posted by Matsu
They've been making G4 mobo's for a long long time now, perhaps there is a greater degree of "RELIABLE" modularity in their components than we give credit for, and making new Mobo's is just a question of stirring in known quantities and drawing new traces? Everything on there is something that we've seen before, just a slightly different mix.
Why would they update an old chipset NOW?
I'm betting it's for the iBook, not just the eMac. The eMac could have gone without AirPort Extreme until DDR chipsets are cheap enough (and the iMac goes 970 LOL).
Barto
And when you say "smaller", by how much? The screen dimensions are kinda dictating the body size. Yeah, maybe that area around the monitor (what's that actually called?) could be smaller, but I was just kinda copying current thicknesses on the 12" iBook AND PowerBook. But if I could lost .25-.375 on each side of that, then yes, the iBook could shrink down in overall dimension by about a half inch in each direction.
I think. Hell, I don't know.
I'm sitting here looking at this thing in Photoshop (drew it all in Illustrator in two separate chunks: the display portion and the body portion, brought it in to Photoshop to do all the screen stuff only) and if something like this came out, I'd flip my lid. It would be WAY more affordable than the PowerBook I'm currently considering. AND, I get to stay an "iGuy".
As cool as 1.4GHz 980/970/9-whatever stuff sounds, fact is I used a 400MHz G3 iMac for over two years and I'm at the 14 month period on this "lowly" 800MHz G4 iMac. For what I do, how I work, etc. Anything in the G4 1GHz and up category is going to more than suit my needs.
I've never sat here going "I wish I had more speed and power!". Maybe RAM, maybe hard drive space, maybe faster CD-burning, etc. But never "this G4 SUCKS!".
I can't express how much I'd love to be able to get a 1GHz (or higher) G4 iBook for the mid-$1000's as opposed to shelling out another $600-1000 for a mid-sized PowerBook.
And I guess it wouldn't have to be a G4 necessarily. Just something that feels a little snappier with OS X and the iApps than a G3 does. That's all. Modify a G3, create a new chip, put in an existing G4. I don't care. Just give me those nice little benefits I get when encoding, Photoshopping, etc. that a G4 has over the G3. Whatever that's called (Altivec?). But there is a difference and I can tell it because I'm on both every single day and I've performed experiments.
At this point, I wouldn't want to buy a laptop with the current, as-is G3 in it. Not for what I do and all. I'd feel like I was going backwards.
All Apple has to do is listen to me. I've got my finger firmly on the pulse of the American buying public.
Just kidding. But really: they'd make a KILLING with something like the above. All us cheap bastards who hate metallic-looking laptops would snap 'em up!
I would love to see the G4 migrate into the iBook. Here's another design for you to think about. I'm a firefighter in the Air Force. We deploy a lot and have to be rougher on our gear than I'd like. My iBook shows the scars of deployment. You should design an iBook like those Sony walkmans that could be dropped and still work. It would be in very high demand by folks who have jobs that aren't exactly friendly to electronics. Waterproof would be a cool feature as well. Anyway, just figured I'd give you another design to think about. No one has actually made one to my knowledge for the general public. So you'd be a first for the design. Have fun.
Oh, and the keyboard? I just cut it from an iBook product shot, trimmed it up a bit, tweaked the tone, etc. and pasted it in. There's NO WAY I'm going to manually draw the keyboard in Illustrator!
My one "cheat"...
maybe someday.
But just to prove how right I was that no one would miss the 12" iBook if a 14" of similar proportions were made, just look at the reaction to Pscates' mock-up. If Apple could source a screen to make this thing happen they would fly off the shelves!
As for a widescreen PB12? I don't see it. I tell ya why. As a screen gets smaller it becomes more important for it to be taller. 768 is the minimum acceptable height, the iBook/12PB's pixel density is also at the maximum acceptable (readable) limit at least for the next few years untill GPU's, apps and web standards catch up. I don't see the screen getting smaller or changing format, but I do see the baby PB losing about another pound, getting thinner, and about a inch less deep. If it got a wide screen it would be really short, or have an impossibly squinty pixel density. Use one of those fujitsu or Sony Xwide format screens, you'll se what I mean. Lotsa, lotsa lotsa scrolling. 4:3 is better for a small screen.
The current 12" PB doesn't look substantially smaller than the iBook in any one dimension, even when you add it all up, it doesn't seem dramatic, but if you place them side by side, then you certainly do notice. String together a few of these evolutions and after a generation or three, you're there.
They bumped the mid- and high-end models to 900MHz and bumped the hard drives, I believe. It was a small, quiet upgrade...but it was within the past month.
Update...yes, here it is:
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2003/04/22/ibook/
They updated them April 22, about three weeks ago.