Sounds to me that Apple is backing off regarding previous promises to increase Mac market share. When asked how to nourish the hungry commoners, a famous lady once said 'Let them eat BMWs' -- or some such.
Saying the iBook will get a G5 soon because SJ said the PowerBook wouldn't get one for a while is kind of like how people said the 15" PowerBook would get a G5 before any other Mac, including the other PowerBooks and the PowerMacs, sometime last spring.
There were a bunch of morons on macrumors that kept saying 'a g5 at 1.2 GHz is not too hot, therefore there will be one at paris' despite several attempts to reason and plead with them that there would NOT be a g5 powerbook. UGH!
Is anyone else curious as to wtf apple is going to do to the PBG4s? I mean, motorola just came out with their latest g4, and it clock s up to a whopping 1.3 GHz. What future upgrades can apple do with just the g4 and its glacial improvement cycle?
Since the g5 won't be in the powerbooks anytime soon, maybe we will see the g5 in these portables instead:
mobile g5
portable workstation
64book
or probook
The powerbook and powermac names have been used for a while, maybe there will be a new naming scheme.
i=consumer
and maybe the u-line (ultimate or unix)
u-tower
u-mac
u-book
or how about t (total solution)
t-books
t-macs
Specs on the t-line
2.0-2.5 ghz processors in the t-books, 2.5-3 in the towers
support for 16 gbs of ddr ram across the line of towers
4 gbs for t-books
1.5 ghz fronside bus in desktops
800 mhz-1 ghz in the t-books
gigabit ethernet
usb 2
firewire 800/400
modem
108 mbs wireless (netgear already makes a router supporting this, and it is backward compatible to b/g)
hot swapable hard drives in the t-books up to 250 gbs
5 hour standard battery life in portables (real life, not manufacturer rates)
user upgradable video cards in the t-book
2-button touch pad
t-books will be cool and quiet like the g5
built in camera and mic built into display for ichat video conferencing
audio line in for t-books
tv tuner cards built in for tower (and all of the required ports
also t-books will have audio and rca inputs standard
And the t-books and other "t products" will be redesigned to match the g5 tower. The t-books will get circular holes for the vents, since they match pretty well already
My first PowerBook was a 520 (68040), then came a 5300 (603), then a Wallstreet (G3), then a Titanium 400 (G4). I have never owned two books with the same architecture.
The 520 had a CPU running at 33Mhz if I recall correctly. The Wallstreet was about 8 times as fast, but the current crop will be only 4-5 times the speed of the Wallstreet. I just cannot afford to buy a new Powerbook every other year to keep up with the software.
I would have bought a AlBook 15, provided it had two out of the following:
- a G5.
- A G4 at 1.6ghz or faster.
- Not the crappy 1280 resolution.
- A battery lifetime of around 6h.
- Were priced considerably (30% or so) lower.
The current books sport neither, they are such a waste of money :-/
Ah well, for the first time in my life, I have just ordered a PC Notebook. Let's see how this Centrino at iBook-prices performs...
And hopefully, Apple gets over this lackluster G3 and low-clocked G4 mess to add meaning to the Power in Book again.
Hmm- I just bought my daughter a Gateway Centrino M notebook since Windows machines are required at New Mexico Military Institute. We talk every other day or so and the first comment out of her mouth each time is "I wish they'd let me use my Mac". She's had no end of problems with that thing. Sudden shutdowns, absolutely appalling battery life, ethernet hardware that ceases to function for no particular reason...not to mention actual software related buggery.
Don't get me wrong, I have a couple of fast Athlon machines here and I know XP fairly well and I don't mind working with them at all, but when I sit down at my Mac I can feel my blood pressure drop (although not far enough to be life-threatening or anything).
So, good luck with your Centrino machine. I'd be curious to hear how it works for you. Gateway says ours is functioning the way it was designed to, but I think it's defective.
So, good luck with your Centrino machine. I'd be curious to hear how it works for you. Gateway says ours is functioning the way it was designed to, but I think it's defective.
Thanks
I'll keep you posted. Actually, I am curious how it will perform. I do not expect too much considering its price (1150 EUR), but surely more than you got out of your Gateway.
Has anyone thought that Apple could use a much improved 750 with altivec, better bus, etc (not calling it a G3) in the Powerbooks early next year.
It would provide an obvious upgrade path for the Powerbooks (come on....Motorola really cannot be trusted to improve the G4 in 6-9 months).
The ibooks could transition to 7457 G4s in the spring with minimal additional cost, while the powerbooks absorb the development costs of the new 750 w/altivec and new motherboard. Then in the fall the powerbooks go G5 and the ibooks inherit the spring 2004 powerbook chip and motherboard. Smooth progress with the high priced products absorbing development costs.
Has anyone thought that Apple could use a much improved 750 with altivec, better bus, etc (not calling it a G3) in the Powerbooks early next year.
They can't use what doesn't exist.
The rumored IBM 750VX - what you're talking about, basically - is rumored to start sampling late this year. If this is right (and given that the source is the Register that's a great big if) we won't see one until late next summer at the earliest.
That rumor from one unreliable source is about the extent of it. IBM did mention something about G3s with SIMD engines being somewhere in the future in a press release at some point, and AFAIK they're shipping one right now to Nintendo, but that engine is much simpler and less capable than AltiVec.
We also have no idea what Motorola has planned, apart from a "high performance PowerPC" and the move to 90nm at Crolles. The 130nm 7457 is the end of the line for the G4 according to their most recently published road maps - but then, roadmaps are not reliable.
My first PowerBook was a 520 (68040), then came a 5300 (603), then a Wallstreet (G3), then a Titanium 400 (G4). I have never owned two books with the same architecture.
The 520 had a CPU running at 33Mhz if I recall correctly. The Wallstreet was about 8 times as fast, but the current crop will be only 4-5 times the speed of the Wallstreet. I just cannot afford to buy a new Powerbook every other year to keep up with the software.
I would have bought a AlBook 15, provided it had two out of the following:
- a G5.
- A G4 at 1.6ghz or faster.
- Not the crappy 1280 resolution.
- A battery lifetime of around 6h.
- Were priced considerably (30% or so) lower.
The current books sport neither, they are such a waste of money :-/
Ah well, for the first time in my life, I have just ordered a PC Notebook. Let's see how this Centrino at iBook-prices performs...
And hopefully, Apple gets over this lackluster G3 and low-clocked G4 mess to add meaning to the Power in Book again.
Have to agree, Im still in two minds whether to go for the 1G 15" - dont need DVD burning, but going from my Ti400 which is approaching 3years old for only 600MHz is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!.
Hell, even a 1.33 for the 15" would have been enough to get me to BUY NOW, instead, I might just wait for MWSF - for hopefully another small update, now that the 7457's are flowing, surely there wont be another 9 months for the next update!.
We know that the new Powerbooks have the Motorola 7447 in it and not the 7457. I suspect that the 7457 will be ready by January giving apple plenty of time to put these in the next powerbook update.
They will get a small speed boast (probably not past 1.5ghz) but they'll add the L3 cache to it increasing the speed enough to make it worth a purchase over the old ones)
We know that the new Powerbooks have the Motorola 7447 in it and not the 7457. I suspect that the 7457 will be ready by January giving apple plenty of time to put these in the next powerbook update.
They will get a small speed boast (probably not past 1.5ghz) but they'll add the L3 cache to it increasing the speed enough to make it worth a purchase over the old ones)
Apologies, I wasnt quite sure which processor was being used, which is academic in any case, since it is a G4.
Upon reflection, I think the new PB's are a great update - its just that they are 3 months overdue, AFAIC, which means we would have got another update at MWSF - now that is less likely that apple would speed bump so soon. Probably, around the March timeframe.
Therefore, I will probably get the new 15" now and get about 12 months out of it until the G5 is introduced later in 2004.
AppleInsider mainpage predicts Powerbook G5s with liquid cooling system. 17" model could arrive by next summer.
"AppleInsider has received slightly more detailed information -- albeit via unconfirmed reports -- on the PowerBook G5.
One of the major obstacles facing PowerBook engineers is the intense heat emitted by the PowerPC G5 processor. (While a single processor Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver) draws 338 watts, a single processor Power Mac G5 requires 450 watts.) To help combat the problem, sources say the company is experimenting with liquid cooling systems in early prototypes of the portables.
Liquid cooling essentially functions as a radiator for the CPU inside of a computer. Just like a typical radiator, a liquid cooling system circulates liquid through small pipes in a heat sink attached to the processor module. As the liquid passes through the heat sink, heat from the hot processor is transfered to the cooler liquid. The warmed liquid is then cycled to a radiator on the side or rear of the casing where it is released into the ambient air outside of the unit. The cooled liquid then travels back through the system to the CPU to continue the process.
IBM, manufacturer of the PowerPC G5, has been using their own liquid cooling system in ThinkPad laptops since the late 90's. Referred to as the "thermal hinge," the design made its way into ThinkPad prototypes in 1999. However, with wattage of CPUs on the rise, the company was already designing a more effective, cost efficient, and easier to manufacture solution two years later. Last year, Hitatchi unveiled its "FLORA 270W Silent Models" which were equipped with silent water cooling systems consisting of a water storage tank.
In January, a researcher at Sandia National Laboratories announced that he had created technology to disperse the heat generated within laptop computers more efficiently than the current cooling systems. The new process uses heat from the CPU to convert methanol into a vapor with the aid of a heat pipe "wick" created out of finely etched lines. The vapor then releases the heat it is carrying in a specified area, where it turns back to liquid and returns to collect more heat.
At the time, the technology was being licensed to an upstart company, but no further information was made available.
While Jobs says Apple has hopes of producing a G5 PowerBook by the end of next year, sources expect -- with the aid of such a cooling system -- the company to be able to deploy a 17-inch PowerBook G5 by next summer. Due to its extra size, the 17-inch model currently provides the most leeway for implementing a liquid cooling system. However, a liquid cooling system is said to increase the manufacturing cost of each unit.
Apple is also said to be experimenting with newer lithium ion batteries that will be required to sustain sufficient battery-life on a portable G5 unit."
We know that the new Powerbooks have the Motorola 7447 in it and not the 7457. I suspect that the 7457 will be ready by January giving apple plenty of time to put these in the next powerbook update.
??? How do we know that? Did anyone open the new 15" ? If so please give me a link. (Thx in advance)
Sounds to me that Apple is backing off regarding previous promises to increase Mac market share. When asked how to nourish the hungry commoners, a famous lady once said 'Let them eat BMWs' -- or some such.
SJ said in an interview that although he would like to see Apples market share rise, Apple is not depending on it. And then he compares to BMW, which has an even lower market share than 3% on the global car market and is quite lucky with it.
Comments
(yes, I know you're kidding
no way could apple have jamed a g5 chip with all of its associated circuitry in a powerbook.
but many of you didnt want to see reality.
this also verifies beyond a shadow of a doubt that motorola is going no where.
they are here for the foreseable future.
i told you the trend is lighter faster,cooler.......not more powerful but WAY hotter.
use your heads please.
goodnight.
Originally posted by mania
There were a bunch of morons on macrumors that kept saying 'a g5 at 1.2 GHz is not too hot, therefore there will be one at paris' despite several attempts to reason and plead with them that there would NOT be a g5 powerbook. UGH!
Oh. Now I can see why Matsu is so proud.
0.09 microns by 2010?
mobile g5
portable workstation
64book
or probook
The powerbook and powermac names have been used for a while, maybe there will be a new naming scheme.
i=consumer
and maybe the u-line (ultimate or unix)
u-tower
u-mac
u-book
or how about t (total solution)
t-books
t-macs
Specs on the t-line
2.0-2.5 ghz processors in the t-books, 2.5-3 in the towers
support for 16 gbs of ddr ram across the line of towers
4 gbs for t-books
1.5 ghz fronside bus in desktops
800 mhz-1 ghz in the t-books
gigabit ethernet
usb 2
firewire 800/400
modem
108 mbs wireless (netgear already makes a router supporting this, and it is backward compatible to b/g)
hot swapable hard drives in the t-books up to 250 gbs
5 hour standard battery life in portables (real life, not manufacturer rates)
user upgradable video cards in the t-book
2-button touch pad
t-books will be cool and quiet like the g5
built in camera and mic built into display for ichat video conferencing
audio line in for t-books
tv tuner cards built in for tower (and all of the required ports
also t-books will have audio and rca inputs standard
And the t-books and other "t products" will be redesigned to match the g5 tower. The t-books will get circular holes for the vents, since they match pretty well already
Bring on the next generation.
My first PowerBook was a 520 (68040), then came a 5300 (603), then a Wallstreet (G3), then a Titanium 400 (G4). I have never owned two books with the same architecture.
The 520 had a CPU running at 33Mhz if I recall correctly. The Wallstreet was about 8 times as fast, but the current crop will be only 4-5 times the speed of the Wallstreet. I just cannot afford to buy a new Powerbook every other year to keep up with the software.
I would have bought a AlBook 15, provided it had two out of the following:
- a G5.
- A G4 at 1.6ghz or faster.
- Not the crappy 1280 resolution.
- A battery lifetime of around 6h.
- Were priced considerably (30% or so) lower.
The current books sport neither, they are such a waste of money :-/
Ah well, for the first time in my life, I have just ordered a PC Notebook. Let's see how this Centrino at iBook-prices performs...
And hopefully, Apple gets over this lackluster G3 and low-clocked G4 mess to add meaning to the Power in Book again.
Don't get me wrong, I have a couple of fast Athlon machines here and I know XP fairly well and I don't mind working with them at all, but when I sit down at my Mac I can feel my blood pressure drop (although not far enough to be life-threatening or anything).
So, good luck with your Centrino machine. I'd be curious to hear how it works for you. Gateway says ours is functioning the way it was designed to, but I think it's defective.
Originally posted by briareos
Gateway says ours is functioning the way it was designed to, but I think it's defective.
Yes.
Originally posted by briareos
So, good luck with your Centrino machine. I'd be curious to hear how it works for you. Gateway says ours is functioning the way it was designed to, but I think it's defective.
Thanks
I'll keep you posted. Actually, I am curious how it will perform. I do not expect too much considering its price (1150 EUR), but surely more than you got out of your Gateway.
It would provide an obvious upgrade path for the Powerbooks (come on....Motorola really cannot be trusted to improve the G4 in 6-9 months).
The ibooks could transition to 7457 G4s in the spring with minimal additional cost, while the powerbooks absorb the development costs of the new 750 w/altivec and new motherboard. Then in the fall the powerbooks go G5 and the ibooks inherit the spring 2004 powerbook chip and motherboard. Smooth progress with the high priced products absorbing development costs.
just a thought.
Originally posted by tate
Has anyone thought that Apple could use a much improved 750 with altivec, better bus, etc (not calling it a G3) in the Powerbooks early next year.
They can't use what doesn't exist.
The rumored IBM 750VX - what you're talking about, basically - is rumored to start sampling late this year. If this is right (and given that the source is the Register that's a great big if) we won't see one until late next summer at the earliest.
That rumor from one unreliable source is about the extent of it. IBM did mention something about G3s with SIMD engines being somewhere in the future in a press release at some point, and AFAIK they're shipping one right now to Nintendo, but that engine is much simpler and less capable than AltiVec.
We also have no idea what Motorola has planned, apart from a "high performance PowerPC" and the move to 90nm at Crolles. The 130nm 7457 is the end of the line for the G4 according to their most recently published road maps - but then, roadmaps are not reliable.
Originally posted by Smircle
Wow, this is one big letdown :-(
My first PowerBook was a 520 (68040), then came a 5300 (603), then a Wallstreet (G3), then a Titanium 400 (G4). I have never owned two books with the same architecture.
The 520 had a CPU running at 33Mhz if I recall correctly. The Wallstreet was about 8 times as fast, but the current crop will be only 4-5 times the speed of the Wallstreet. I just cannot afford to buy a new Powerbook every other year to keep up with the software.
I would have bought a AlBook 15, provided it had two out of the following:
- a G5.
- A G4 at 1.6ghz or faster.
- Not the crappy 1280 resolution.
- A battery lifetime of around 6h.
- Were priced considerably (30% or so) lower.
The current books sport neither, they are such a waste of money :-/
Ah well, for the first time in my life, I have just ordered a PC Notebook. Let's see how this Centrino at iBook-prices performs...
And hopefully, Apple gets over this lackluster G3 and low-clocked G4 mess to add meaning to the Power in Book again.
Have to agree, Im still in two minds whether to go for the 1G 15" - dont need DVD burning, but going from my Ti400 which is approaching 3years old for only 600MHz is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!.
Hell, even a 1.33 for the 15" would have been enough to get me to BUY NOW, instead, I might just wait for MWSF - for hopefully another small update, now that the 7457's are flowing, surely there wont be another 9 months for the next update!.
They will get a small speed boast (probably not past 1.5ghz) but they'll add the L3 cache to it increasing the speed enough to make it worth a purchase over the old ones)
Originally posted by howyoudoin
We know that the new Powerbooks have the Motorola 7447 in it and not the 7457. I suspect that the 7457 will be ready by January giving apple plenty of time to put these in the next powerbook update.
They will get a small speed boast (probably not past 1.5ghz) but they'll add the L3 cache to it increasing the speed enough to make it worth a purchase over the old ones)
Apologies, I wasnt quite sure which processor was being used, which is academic in any case, since it is a G4.
Upon reflection, I think the new PB's are a great update - its just that they are 3 months overdue, AFAIC, which means we would have got another update at MWSF - now that is less likely that apple would speed bump so soon. Probably, around the March timeframe.
Therefore, I will probably get the new 15" now and get about 12 months out of it until the G5 is introduced later in 2004.
"AppleInsider has received slightly more detailed information -- albeit via unconfirmed reports -- on the PowerBook G5.
One of the major obstacles facing PowerBook engineers is the intense heat emitted by the PowerPC G5 processor. (While a single processor Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver) draws 338 watts, a single processor Power Mac G5 requires 450 watts.) To help combat the problem, sources say the company is experimenting with liquid cooling systems in early prototypes of the portables.
Liquid cooling essentially functions as a radiator for the CPU inside of a computer. Just like a typical radiator, a liquid cooling system circulates liquid through small pipes in a heat sink attached to the processor module. As the liquid passes through the heat sink, heat from the hot processor is transfered to the cooler liquid. The warmed liquid is then cycled to a radiator on the side or rear of the casing where it is released into the ambient air outside of the unit. The cooled liquid then travels back through the system to the CPU to continue the process.
IBM, manufacturer of the PowerPC G5, has been using their own liquid cooling system in ThinkPad laptops since the late 90's. Referred to as the "thermal hinge," the design made its way into ThinkPad prototypes in 1999. However, with wattage of CPUs on the rise, the company was already designing a more effective, cost efficient, and easier to manufacture solution two years later. Last year, Hitatchi unveiled its "FLORA 270W Silent Models" which were equipped with silent water cooling systems consisting of a water storage tank.
In January, a researcher at Sandia National Laboratories announced that he had created technology to disperse the heat generated within laptop computers more efficiently than the current cooling systems. The new process uses heat from the CPU to convert methanol into a vapor with the aid of a heat pipe "wick" created out of finely etched lines. The vapor then releases the heat it is carrying in a specified area, where it turns back to liquid and returns to collect more heat.
At the time, the technology was being licensed to an upstart company, but no further information was made available.
While Jobs says Apple has hopes of producing a G5 PowerBook by the end of next year, sources expect -- with the aid of such a cooling system -- the company to be able to deploy a 17-inch PowerBook G5 by next summer. Due to its extra size, the 17-inch model currently provides the most leeway for implementing a liquid cooling system. However, a liquid cooling system is said to increase the manufacturing cost of each unit.
Apple is also said to be experimenting with newer lithium ion batteries that will be required to sustain sufficient battery-life on a portable G5 unit."
Originally posted by howyoudoin
We know that the new Powerbooks have the Motorola 7447 in it and not the 7457. I suspect that the 7457 will be ready by January giving apple plenty of time to put these in the next powerbook update.
??? How do we know that? Did anyone open the new 15" ? If so please give me a link. (Thx in advance)
End of Line
Originally posted by Locomotive
Sounds to me that Apple is backing off regarding previous promises to increase Mac market share. When asked how to nourish the hungry commoners, a famous lady once said 'Let them eat BMWs' -- or some such.
SJ said in an interview that although he would like to see Apples market share rise, Apple is not depending on it. And then he compares to BMW, which has an even lower market share than 3% on the global car market and is quite lucky with it.
Originally posted by ryaxnb
That boosts your post count! You should have 1 post instead.
And this boosts mine.