Okay, so about those mystical new PBs...

fred_lj · August 23, 2003 7:57AM

I don't think we're going to see any new PowerBooks until IBM can deliver 90nm-process 970s. Apple has their hands gruesomely tied by Motorola's lovely CPU-shenanigans, and I really don't see another direction for the top end portables. I think most can wait for PBs until the end of this year or later, that is, if a G5 appears inside them.

anders · August 23, 2003 8:09AM

And you don´t even have the excuse of being a newbie.

fred_lj · August 23, 2003 8:16AM

What happened to "Here's to the crazy ones?"

nofeer · August 23, 2003 8:24AM

all these posts, forums, and rumor mills, have been WRONG WRONG WRONG, i almost feel should wait out this till maccentral puts it on their site. all this effort, excitement etc. what to believe in. apple missed the back to school season unless something new comes out in the next week, if not, moto has forced apple to lose tons of sales, i'd be kicking their a__ and divorce myself from their ineptness, but we don't know the truth, the apple strategy is held so close to jobs chest that it's a vacuum.

WHAT TO BELIEVE should be a topic

My interest is a PB, so if nothing new from apple till christmas then major competitive loss of value, and the G5 momentum will be lost.

nemesis · August 23, 2003 6:45PM

I am starting to think your right about the no new powerbooks untill small G5 is ready. BUT what about the Huge lack of 15in PBs??? Hm..? What have you got to say about those? Oh maybe appe will just refill the channel with old g4 ones. Oh well.

bill m · August 23, 2003 7:46PM

For those who recall my post in the "New PB tomorrow" thread, there is still a chance that part of it becomes a reality next week. The woman told me she expected a new 15" AlBook G5 "the week of august 25". Maybe the date will prove to be correct, yet the G5 part could well turn to be just another G4, an improved chip but still no G5.

Ok, here is my question. If Apple is already delivering 1.6/1.8ghz G5 towers in fair to good quantities, could it mean that IBM has already produced lots of "slower" G5's, say 1.0 to 1.2ghz, to become the brains of a new generation of Powerbook G5s? Some say that won't happen until the 90nm G5 is done, due to heat (watts) dissipation issues. Yet, some other mention that the current 130nm G5 consumes equal or less power than a similar speed rated G4, while also being a better processor due to having a more flexible (faster) bus architecture support.

If the above is correct, meaning that say a 1.0ghz PB G5 would be a step up from the current 1.0ghz PB G4, what precludes Apple from bringing it to market? If presented with the choices, I would certainly go for a 1.0ghz PB G5 over a >1.0ghz PB G4.

ast3r3x · August 23, 2003 8:17PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bill M

If the above is correct, meaning that say a 1.0ghz PB G5 would be a step up from the current 1.0ghz PB G4, what precludes Apple from bringing it to market? If presented with the choices, I would certainly go for a 1.0ghz PB G5 over a >1.0ghz PB G4.

Publicity. It would be horrible to release an update that is the same speed, even if it really is faster. I would say if they update it, it will be at least 1.2GHz...I mean a 200MHz upgrade.

bill m · August 23, 2003 9:00PM

ast3r3x, sorry, I somehow got things mixed up with the 12" @ 867mhz and forgot the current top of the line 15" G4 is already at 1.0ghz... my bad. Being powerbookless for over a month now is doing bad things to my brain. Thanks for the correction there.

So, for practical discussion purposes, let's say there is an IBM 970 G5 chip available running at 1.2ghz, which I guess it is true. Given the now public specs on shipping 1.6 and 1.8ghz G5s, is it technically feasible and practical to have such a processor in a Powerbook?

ahduke99 · August 23, 2003 9:19PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bill M

ast3r3x, sorry, I somehow got things mixed up with the 12" @ 867mhz and forgot the current top of the line 15" G4 is already at 1.0ghz... my bad. Being powerbookless for over a month now is doing bad things to my brain. Thanks for the correction there.

So, for practical discussion purposes, let's say there is an IBM 970 G5 chip available running at 1.2ghz, which I guess it is true. Given the now public specs on shipping 1.6 and 1.8ghz G5s, is it technically feasible and practical to have such a processor in a Powerbook?

Bill M, I agree wuth you very much on this issue, I've had a long thread about the G5 In Powerbooks over at Spymac

http://www.spymac.com/forums/showthr...threadid=37049

I included the thread with your reports, well, the link anyway. And I belive that there will be a G5 Powerbook, if not next week, at Paris.

kenaustus · August 23, 2003 10:21PM

I think Steve Jobs would LOVE to announce a G5 PB, in Paris at the latest. Two issues: have they finished the engineering work and is there a block in the Apple Moto agreement?

On the engineering side I would bet that they have been working on the G5 PB almost as long as the G5 PM. The fact that they didn't spend the effort to deliver an Al 15" when the other PB's were announced is a good indication that they were concentrating their efforts on the next generation, and that would be a G5.

If all engineering problems are solved then it is only a question of the Moto agreement, and what restrictions are included in it. With Moto's rather sorry performance over the past few years I would bet that they are between a rock and hard place on this issue.

It really gets down to a flip of the coin for us on the outside, but if there is a G5 PB in the next few weeks then all hell is going to break loose in the laptop market.

filmmaker2002 · August 23, 2003 10:29PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kenaustus

It really gets down to a flip of the coin for us on the outside, but if there is a G5 PB in the next few weeks then all hell is going to break loose in the laptop market.

I'll take two.

amorph · August 23, 2003 10:30PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kenaustus

If all engineering problems are solved then it is only a question of the Moto agreement, and what restrictions are included in it. With Moto's rather sorry performance over the past few years I would bet that they are between a rock and hard place on this issue.

There is no evidence that Apple's relationship with Moto is at all exclusive. Moto has actually gone on record to deny this.

Apple bought G4s from Moto for so long because it was the highest-performing PowerPC available, period.

nemesis · August 23, 2003 10:45PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kenaustus

... but if there is a G5 PB in the next few weeks then all hell is going to break loose in the laptop market. [/B]

Um yah. And apples stock would go through the roof. "Introducing the world's fastest notebook, the new powerbook G5." that would be sweet. Alot of people might have to wash their dockers after that one.

mac+ · August 23, 2003 11:58PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ast3r3x

Publicity. It would be horrible to release an update that is the same speed, even if it really is faster. (snip)

Remember Pismo? (G3 @ 400MHz and 500MHz) Feb2000-Jan2001

Next new PowerBoook was...

TiBook (Mercury)! (G4 @ 400MHz and 500MHz) Jan2001-Oct2001

Same clock speed... but faster processor and way improved case/screen design. Although, we lost the second drive/battery bay option which seemed to upset some people.

Even if Apple releases an AL15.4"PB G5 at 1GHz soon, I for one, won't be complaining!

bodhi · August 24, 2003 2:35PM

yeah we need another Powerbook thread...like I need a nail in my forehead..

Okay, so about those mystical new PBs...

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