Upcoming G4 Powerbook specs...

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Hey!

Unfortunately, it looks like we're not getting a G5 powerbook any time soon, but...



Just thought I'd let everybody know (in case hadn't seen this already) what another rumor site is saying about the new powerbooks coming out in the months ahead...





The 7457 is Motorola's follow-up to the current top-of-the-line G4, the 7455. It not only doubles the G4's on-die L2 cache to 512KB, but expands its external L3 cache support to 4MB (though only 2MB can be used as cache per se; the rest is available as "private memory"). The clock speed will max out at 1.3GHz, but the extra cache sizes should improve performance even on the 1GHz version compared to current G4-based PowerBooks. So too will its 200MHz frontside bus, which paves the way for 400MHz DDR SDRAM support.





If you want to get the whole scoop, go to



The Register



Please comment on the reliability of the sources (which seems to be good) and also your opinion on whether these specs are worth waiting for... (i'd say they are)



thanks.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    omekomek Posts: 43member
    Looks good to me! Now throw us a bone here Apple!!!! I need a new 15" Aluminum now!!!
  • Reply 2 of 19
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    I just hope the benefits of the PPC 7457 mentioned in the article come to the 12-inch PowerBook at the same time as to the 15-inch PowerBook! I'd be quite happy with a 1Ghz 7457, consequently improved battery life, 200Mhz FSB and 1GB RAM in the Rev.B 12-incher. A 1.2Ghz PPC 7457 and DVI-out would be icing on the cake, for which I'd be happy to pay a premium.



    Quick! Apple needs to revise the 12-inch PowerBook before I fall for a PowerMac G5.



    Escher
  • Reply 3 of 19
    jonathanjonathan Posts: 312member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Escher

    I just hope the benefits of the PPC 7457 mentioned in the article come to the 12-inch PowerBook at the same time as to the 15-inch PowerBook! I'd be quite happy with a 1Ghz 7457, consequently improved battery life, 200Mhz FSB and 1GB RAM in the Rev.B 12-incher. A 1.2Ghz PPC 7457 and DVI-out would be icing on the cake, for which I'd be happy to pay a premium.



    Quick! Apple needs to revise the 12-inch PowerBook before I fall for a PowerMac G5.



    Escher




    only 1 GB RAM?





  • Reply 4 of 19
    709709 Posts: 2,016member
    /OT: Jonathan: Posts:85

    ...well I always wondered if the odometer rolled at 10000, now I know.

    OT/
  • Reply 5 of 19
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Why are there three separate "upcoming PowerBook" threads in Future Hardware? They're all pretty much saying the same thing/same topic.







    A little house-cleaning and consolidating, maybe?



  • Reply 6 of 19
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Jonathan

    only 1 GB RAM?



    Max RAM, of course! Two user-accessible RAM slots are not too much to ask of a PowerBook. Gotta move up from my iBook's 576MB. Jonathan, how 'bout a drink now that the WWDC hubbub is over?



    Escher
  • Reply 7 of 19
    I really dont see how you guys cant satisfy with 1 Gb?? Im about as happy as can be with my 512 Mb...
  • Reply 8 of 19
    maskermasker Posts: 451member
    I'm "getting by"with 1.5 GB...



    Running PS7, Quark in classic, Freehand, Acrobat, PowerRip. Suitcase, Entourage, and Safari/IE pretty much does it.



    MSKR
  • Reply 9 of 19
    maskermasker Posts: 451member
    I'd say that a safe bet for the 15.4 inch PowerBooks would be:



    7457 G4 processor (as stated above with improved bus and cache)

    15.4 screen

    Firewire 800

    512MB DDR333 SDRAM

    Airport Extreme - Built-in Bluetooth

    (Actual) 5 hour battery life

    Gigabit Ethernet

    NVIDIA Geforce 440 Go Video or ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 or better

    DVI out





    Hopeful features:

    Backlit keyboard

    No fan- very quiet fan

    Priced at :

    $1.999 Combo - 60GB

    $2,499 Superdrive - 80GB & more RAM

    Retractable feet in the rear (a la the good old days)



    MSKR
  • Reply 10 of 19
    rolorolo Posts: 686member


    The 7457 is Motorola's follow-up to the current top-of-the-line G4, the 7455. It not only doubles the G4's on-die L2 cache to 512KB, but expands its external L3 cache support to 4MB (though only 2MB can be used as cache per se; the rest is available as "private memory"). The clock speed will max out at 1.3GHz, but the extra cache sizes should improve performance even on the 1GHz version compared to current G4-based PowerBooks. So too will its 200MHz frontside bus, which paves the way for 400MHz DDR SDRAM support.



    The Register



    I went to Motorola's PowerPC site to see the specs on the 7457 about 6 months ago and again last night. They're different. I remember it mentioned 200 MHz FSB and up to 4MB L3, as above, but now it says 133 MHz and 2MB L3.

    http://e-www.motorola.com/webapp/sps...018rH3bTdG8653



    Product Features



    The MPC7457 processor's 32-bit superscalar core contains:



    ¥ Three issue (plus branch) capability

    ¥ 128-bit wide vector unit -- AltiVec technology

    ¥ Integrated 512K on-chip L2 cache (twice the size of previous generation)

    ¥ Full Symmetric Multi-Processing capability (SMP)

    ¥ 36-bit physical address space for direct addressability of 64 Gigabytes of memory

    ¥ Hardware and Software Tablewalk

    ¥ High-bandwidth 133 MHz 64-bit MPX Bus/60x Bus

    ¥ 8 BAT registers

    ¥ Three power-saving user-programmable modes to reduce power drawn by processor

    ¥ Parity checking support on L1, L2 and L3 cache arrays



    It now also says support for up to 2MB backside L3 cache. Since it says that at 1 GHz it dissipates less than 10W, two of them would be nice in a 17" PB. At least it seems possible.
  • Reply 11 of 19
    I will not be buying a powerbook until Feb/Mar 2004. If they are still using the G4, then I will be waiting longer. Nothing moto is going to release will make me want to buy a G4 powerbook. so if I have to wait until Jan 2005 for a G5 PB I will.
  • Reply 12 of 19
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Good God, is it THAT much of a critical factor (G4 vs. G5)? You'll go without for a year-and-a-half, just to get a G5 into a usable portable form? Wow...



    \



    Barring any freaky, out-of-the-blue surprises in the next few months, hunker on down and prepare to wait it out. Good luck!



  • Reply 13 of 19
    kecksykecksy Posts: 1,002member
    Rumor has it ATi's new Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro will be making it into Apple's new line of Aluminum PowerBooks.
  • Reply 14 of 19
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kecksy

    Rumor has it ATi's new Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro will be making it into Apple's new line of Aluminum PowerBooks.



    I'll take one.
  • Reply 15 of 19
    neutrino23neutrino23 Posts: 1,561member
    Any ideas about the resolution of the 15.4" LCD? Will it be the same as the current screen (1280 x 854)?



    I saw read that there is a Compaq Presario 15.4 inch notebook with the following specs:

    "The display supports WUXGA (1,920 by 1,200 resolution), WSXGA+ (1,680 by 1,050) and WXGA (1,280 by 800)."



    This seems a bit much for that size of screen. Has anyone seen one of these? Can you read that screen without special glasses? The resolution of the 17 Al PB might be tolerable (1440 x 900) in a 15.4 inch package.



    I currently use a cinema display (1600 x 1024). I could tolerate that in a much smaller package. It would be good to achieve a vertical resolution of 1024 pixels.



    ---

    Slightly off topic, did you notice Steve changing glasses during the keynote? I think this is the first time I've seen him do that.
  • Reply 16 of 19
    Yeah, I'd like the 17" resolution to be something more standard. That's one of the reasons I'm waiting.. The other is that I have no money. Beggars can't be choosers, though.
  • Reply 17 of 19
    Quote:

    Originally posted by neutrino23

    Slightly off topic, did you notice Steve changing glasses during the keynote? I think this is the first time I've seen him do that.



    Funny, I noticed that too. It even seemed to mess up his flow a little bit.
  • Reply 18 of 19
    bodhibodhi Posts: 1,424member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pscates

    Why are there three separate "upcoming PowerBook" threads in Future Hardware? They're all pretty much saying the same thing/same topic.







    A little house-cleaning and consolidating, maybe?







    Exactly.





  • Reply 19 of 19
    jonathanjonathan Posts: 312member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Escher

    Max RAM, of course! Two user-accessible RAM slots are not too much to ask of a PowerBook. Gotta move up from my iBook's 576MB. Jonathan, how 'bout a drink now that the WWDC hubbub is over?



    Escher




    Sounds good. I'll shoot you an email soonish, when I get a chance.
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