Possible new iBook
Howdy everyone, I'm pretty new here, I've enjoyed reading the posts here and learning new things. I think I may have a tip from someone inside Apple and I wanted to share it with you all.
I received a phone call from a guy at the Apple store today. He started out by telling me that I was a preferred customer with a standing line of credit and that I had received a coupon for $25 off of any purchase at the Apple Store. I told him my next purchase would most likely be an iBook and that I was waiting for the rumored Gobi version of the G3 before I'd be making any purchases. His reply was; "Well, I think you'll be really happy by the end of the month (I'm unsure if he said this month or next month). So, I assume that we may be seeing an update to the G3 soon. I thought that I'd share this with you guys. I'm also hoping for an end to the 640MB limit on RAM, and an update to USB 2.0 on this new revision. Hopefully we will also see a price reduction (I can always hope can't I?).
Larry
I received a phone call from a guy at the Apple store today. He started out by telling me that I was a preferred customer with a standing line of credit and that I had received a coupon for $25 off of any purchase at the Apple Store. I told him my next purchase would most likely be an iBook and that I was waiting for the rumored Gobi version of the G3 before I'd be making any purchases. His reply was; "Well, I think you'll be really happy by the end of the month (I'm unsure if he said this month or next month). So, I assume that we may be seeing an update to the G3 soon. I thought that I'd share this with you guys. I'm also hoping for an end to the 640MB limit on RAM, and an update to USB 2.0 on this new revision. Hopefully we will also see a price reduction (I can always hope can't I?).
Larry
Comments
It wouldn't surpise me if the ibook was updated... only because I just bought one.
It's part of a deeper problem: I'm heartily sick of reading around here at the moment:
"I might upgrade my iMac Rev. A if Apple announces a PowerMac 970 next week."
These people didn't need to wait until a friggin' 970. Any recent machine would have floored them in relative performance. People get used to reading "Apple is behind Intel" so they assume the current machines can't be fast, and say "I won't buy one, I'll stick with my 3 year old Mac thank you."
Newsflash: recent Macs are still very fast. A Dual-1.25 blows the translucent socks off a B&W G3 that I recently saw someone seeming to proudly claim was only a little bit slower than more recent Macs.
But no, when the 970 Macs are finally announced, there's going to be such a demand that Apple's factories will be swamped and they'll be undersupplied for months.
Then sales will dry up. Then they'll have to rev them. Rinse. Repeat.
Originally posted by LarryC
I'm also hoping for an end to the 640MB limit on RAM, and an update to USB 2.0 on this new revision. Hopefully we will also see a price reduction (I can always hope can't I?).
Larry
aaaaah! there is NO limit to 640Mb thats all you could buy when the iBook came out! now you can get a 1gb module for about a trillion dollars still but dropping fast
Originally posted by michaelb
It's part of a deeper problem: I'm heartily sick of reading around here at the moment:
"I might upgrade my iMac Rev. A if Apple announces a PowerMac 970 next week."
These people didn't need to wait until a friggin' 970.
Thanks for a beautiful rant, michaelb.
Many other factors have encouraged me to wait. I have an iBook that serves all my actual needs, which entail more portability. There are always higher-priority spending items, like hardwood floors and a new kitchen. My wife would rather see me buy a Wintel desktop for compatibility with work software. Etc. Remember, there's much more to upgrade psychology than just pure performance!
Then sales will dry up. Then they'll have to rev them. Rinse. Repeat.
Gargle, gargle... (or is your product for topical application?
Escher
Originally posted by LarryC
I have a Compaq laptop that uses PC 266 DDR-SODIMM. It has two memory slots hat work just damn fine. There is no excuse or reason that I am aware of that Apple has to have one RAM chip soldered into place. 128MB of RAM permanently occupying one of two RAM slots is a damn joke. OS X loves RAM, the more the better.
You could argue that the soldered chip should have 256 Megs, and I agree. However, two slots won't work. The iBook is one of the smallest full-featured (meaning hard drive, optical drive, etc. all require space within it) laptops available, leaving little left for an additional memory slot.
The 640 Megs limitation isn't a pre-defined one - it's simply because 1024 Megs chips are still rare and expensive (I'm not even sure they exist for PC100 RAM).
I wish that I had a digital camera so that I could show you how my compaq's memory is situated. It's ingenious, and takes up hardly any room at all. I'm sure that Apple could do the same. I'd really like to see Apple give customers a choice as to how much (size) ram that one soldered in place chip actually help. Better yet, I'd love to see both slots be removeable/upgradeable.
Larry
Originally posted by michaelb
... It's part of a deeper problem: I'm heartily sick of reading around here at the moment:
"I might upgrade my iMac Rev. A if Apple announces a PowerMac 970 next week."
These people didn't need to wait until a friggin' 970. Any recent machine would have floored them in relative performance. People get used to reading "Apple is behind Intel" so they assume the current machines can't be fast, and say "I won't buy one, I'll stick with my 3 year old Mac thank you."
Newsflash: recent Macs are still very fast. A Dual-1.25 blows the translucent socks off a B&W G3 that I recently saw someone seeming to proudly claim was only a little bit slower than more recent Macs.
But no, when the 970 Macs are finally announced, there's going to be such a demand that Apple's factories will be swamped and they'll be undersupplied for months...
I am also one of the few holding onto my Rev B 350 mHz Blueberry iMac for the release of the 970. It isn't because I feel the performance of the current G4's aren't up to snuff... Quite the contrary... They are, and for four years have been, waaaaaaaay overpriced. Carry that ridiculous cost of the 15 and 17" iMacs along with the previous statement.
What I'm waiting for is a price drop on the current G4 stock, 50% will do nicely thank you gvery much, and put them in line with other machines of their capability in the Intel/AMD world.
I can take or leave the 970s. Sure I want to see what they look like, see how fast they are compared to the G4 and current Intel/AMD offerings, but what I want to own is a 1.25DP G4. I've loved those since the first mirrored door rolled into the Applestores.
With so much excitement about the 970s filling the retail air with glee I am all to happy to spend my hard earned savings on a last year's model. If, like my iMac, I can get 4 years of blissful computing from it.
But I won't pay 2 grand. That's nuts.
It's disappointing when Apple replaces a model you just bought, but really they have no choice but to continually refresh the product lines.
I totally feel your pain. I lived it too. I bought a high-end PowerBook (Pismo 500) that I loved to bits...just to watch in horror as the first G4 TiBook rolled off the lot three weeks later. Needless to say...I was crushed.