Apple Exec:No G5 Powerbook Soon

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
From MacMinute:



PowerBook G5 is 'going to be a while'

November 3, 2003 - 17:00 EST__ Dave Russell, director of product marketing for portables and wireless at Apple, recently discussed the possibility of a PowerBook G5 with ComputerWorld: "We certainly want to do that," he said. "But it's going to be a while. We think the G4 has a very long life in the PowerBook." He echoed that the main hurdle in getting a G5 processor into a laptop is the need to keep the processor cool.



(This is not the first time in recent weeks that an Apple exec. said a G5 Powerbook is not coming soon.)
«134

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 75
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacsRGood4U

    From MacMinute:



    PowerBook G5 is 'going to be a while'

    November 3, 2003 - 17:00 EST__ Dave Russell, director of product marketing for portables and wireless at Apple, recently discussed the possibility of a PowerBook G5 with ComputerWorld: "We certainly want to do that," he said. "But it's going to be a while. We think the G4 has a very long life in the PowerBook." He echoed that the main hurdle in getting a G5 processor into a laptop is the need to keep the processor cool.



    (This is not the first time in recent weeks that an Apple exec. said a G5 Powerbook is not coming soon.)




    It's going to be at least a year from now. 4Q2004 would be the earliest (calendar year that is not FY)!
  • Reply 2 of 75
    kecksykecksy Posts: 1,002member
    Too bad. The G4 is dead. Apple's going to have trouble getting faster chips for the next PowerBook refresh, and dual processors will not work with the current enclosures. Plus, the heat issue would be a problem like it is with the G5.
  • Reply 3 of 75
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kecksy

    Too bad. The G4 is dead. Apple's going to have trouble getting faster chips for the next PowerBook refresh, and dual processors will not work with the current enclosures. Plus, the heat issue would be a problem like it is with the G5.



    1.33 GHz seems fesible in the 15" and why not use 2x1GHz G4 CPU (the new ones [MPC7447/MPC7457]!) in a 17"? That would still be way faster than the current 1.33GHz 17" and if you look at Motorolas documentation you'll see that the heat dissipation of the currents CPUs is drastically reduced at 1GHz!
  • Reply 4 of 75
    kecksykecksy Posts: 1,002member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BNOYHTUAWB

    1.33 GHz seems fesible in the 15" and why not use 2x1GHz G4 CPU (the new ones!) in a 17"? That would still be way faster than the current 1.33GHz 17" and if you look at Motorolas documentation you'll see that the heat dissipation of the currents CPUs is drastically reduced at 1GHz!



    I'd hardly call going from 1.25 to 1.33GHz an upgrade. A 7% increase in clock speed would be pathetic.



    I'm still not convinced duals in a 17-inch would work without a redesign.
  • Reply 5 of 75
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    "No G5 PowerBook soon..." translates into MWSF 2004.







    Just watch. Bastards.



    But seriously, what's the point at this current time? I'll take a sleek, light 1GHz-plus G4 over what would be, no doubt, a 4-inch thick G5-powered portable (and I use "portable" very loosely here).



    This just further makes that Jack Macwhispers guy look like a goon, since he was the one shouting "970 PowerBook boxes spotted at WWDC!"







    Between that, Apple laying G4 iBooks on us out of the blue, etc. I'm pretty much locked in to not believing ANYONE about ANYTHING...ANYMORE.







    "No, the next iBook rev will have the 750vxf3 chip, codenamed (insert favorite desert here) and..."



  • Reply 6 of 75
    dhagan4755dhagan4755 Posts: 2,152member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pscates

    makes that Jack Macwhispers guy look like a goon, since he was the one shouting "970 PowerBook boxes spotted at WWDC!" Between that, Apple laying G4 iBooks on us out of the blue, etc. I'm pretty much locked in to not believing ANYONE about ANYTHING...ANYMORE.



    I know! I'm a complete mess now. I feel like I am stuck between two dimensions -- the G4 and the G5. I guess my OCD is kicking in.
  • Reply 7 of 75
    smirclesmircle Posts: 1,035member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacsRGood4U

    "But it's going to be a while. We think the G4 has a very long life in the PowerBook."



    Damn

    I can't see myself replacing the aging Ti400 with anything less than 1.8Ghz. Some 1.3Ghz 15" with crappy battery life, yesterdays screen definition and a plainly sucking RAM architecture surely will not entice me to shell out big bucks. Esp. since Apple has completely dropped the ball on quality control this time (even worse than with the original Tibooks).



    It was a good idea to buy a Centrino to tide me over until Apple has chips and the determination to produce a killer laptop again. And you better beat that 5h battery life I get on the wintel.



    Seems like a long wait...
  • Reply 8 of 75
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    i, for one, say good. i've got TWO of those damn G4's in my tower i bought a month ago, and this just means prolonged support for yours truly!



    hahahahahaHAHAHAHAhahaha!
  • Reply 9 of 75
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacsRGood4U

    From MacMinute:



    PowerBook G5 is 'going to be a while'

    November 3, 2003 - 17:00 EST__ Dave Russell, director of product marketing for portables and wireless at Apple, recently discussed the possibility of a PowerBook G5 with ComputerWorld: "We certainly want to do that," he said. "But it's going to be a while. We think the G4 has a very long life in the PowerBook." He echoed that the main hurdle in getting a G5 processor into a laptop is the need to keep the processor cool.



    (This is not the first time in recent weeks that an Apple exec. said a G5 Powerbook is not coming soon.)




    What do you expect them to say? "We'll have it out shortly... just don't stop buying the G4 Powerbook in the meantime."?



    Apple won't pre-announce a product for a reason, people would wait to buy the new product, causing a stop in revenue and a glut of "old", unsellable products.



    By saying it's "going to be a while' the Apple exec hasn't told us anything...
  • Reply 10 of 75
    who cares about a G5 in a powerbook anyways?

    if you want more power than go buy a desktop!

    all this whining is getting on my nerves.

    i told you all long ago about the hobsons choice apple made by choosing ibm over motorola.

    so deal with it!



    i personally dont think they should EVER put a g5 in a powerbook.

    its too damn hot for that.

    forgetaboutit!



    you all still are thinking the same and not different and as my good friend la franken would say "thats just stinkin' thinkin'"
  • Reply 11 of 75
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    With Moto SPS being spun off, what are the chances of a swift 90nm 745X series? Perhaps with 1MB cache. I'm sure I read that the RM version was being cut, but that was when Motorola was still making all the decisions. Now that SPS is on it's own, the roadmap may have changed too. Hopefully for the better.
  • Reply 12 of 75
    "We think the G4 has a very long life in the PowerBook"



    Translation = "We're stuck with the G4 in the Powerbook until we can figure out a way to shoehorn a G5 into it. When we do the G4 is out on it's ear."
  • Reply 13 of 75
    Quote:

    Originally posted by geekmeet

    "who cares about a G5 in a powerbook anyways?"

    "i personally dont think they should EVER put a g5 in a powerbook."




    Those are some of the most short sighted comments I have heard in a while. Why indeed put a G5 into a powerbook? Why put a G4 into an iBook. Hell, what was Apple thinking putting a G5 into their towers?!?!?



    It's about progress. It's about trying to stay ahead of the curve. It's about getting the most kickass mobile power you can get. It's also about sticking it to the PC world. True the present G5 is one hot little mama but when they hit the die shrink to .90nm, then I think we will see a G5 powerbook. You would just have the powerbook stumble along with a minor G4 speedbump for the rest of it's life? Oh yes, come MWSF2005 introducing the new PBG4 at 1.867 Ghz. That'll wow 'em.



    Just because YOU don't think a G5 powerbook isn't a good idea doesn't mean that evey other person wanting one is "whining" about it.
  • Reply 14 of 75
    you all just dont get it.

    with the 970 its not simply a case of dropping a faster cpu in the powerbook case.

    the enitre motherboard sucks MORE power not less.

    yes we have a 1 ghz frontside bus,yes we have a 2 ghz processor,yes....we have that 400mhz ddr memory but all this consumes MORE power than the current powerbook architecture.



    ask yourself this:why do i have a laptop and not a desktop?

    what are the differences in a laptop versus a desktop?



    my outlook is as follows:

    there are reasons why desktops are more powerful than laptops.

    one of the MAIN reasons why is because you have a giant power supply in desktops that supply a lot of power to the computer,thus....desktops are bulkier and heavier than laptops.

    conversely......laptops have smaller power supplys and form factors lending to the fact that you want to make them PORTABLE.



    i will say it again,this time slowly.....the ENTIRE pc industry in regards to laptops and in particular their weigh and power requirements is trending towards faster,lighter,smaller.

    laptops themselves are shrinking,not getting bigger and heavier.



    the reason you dont have a g5 in a laptop right now...well the main reason is you just cant.

    not right now because apple wants to do it right.

    one of the advantages of motorola was and is their processors dont consume gobs of power,granted they dont run at 3 ghz but i digress.



    have any of you compared a powerbook with a pc laptop?

    hello!!



    you want a 970 in a powerbook because you think you need it.

    not yet.

  • Reply 15 of 75
    chinneychinney Posts: 1,019member
    Not precisely on topic, but a very good review of the 17-inch PowerBook in Report on Business (part of the Globe and Mail, Canada's 'national' newspaper):



    article





    I guess the point is that, even at current speeds, the reviewer thinks that the PowerBook is ahead of the competition, for 17-inch, at least. The Globe and Mail, incidentally, is not usually a pro-Apple publication (although this reviewer obviously likes them.)
  • Reply 16 of 75
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Well that's because this reviewer actually has a clue and looks at *gasp* the WHOLE PICTURE (and not just $#%@ MHz and numbers).



    Don't make me say s*** w****.







    These Apple PowerBooks ARE head and shoulders above the others: to be this full-featured AND this thin, light and attractive, with all the goodies built-in and not pooching out the side on some silly card or dongle?



    Hell yeah they're superior. Factor in the keyboards, FireWire 800, gigabit Ethernet, 80211.g, Bluetooth, the illuminated keyboard, the 2GB RAM capacity, the gorgeous displays, etc.



    THAT'S just the hardware, fellas.



    I've not even touched on the OS, the iApps, .mac, iTunes/iPod/music store, Safari, etc.



    When you factor ALL that in, there's really no contest is there?



    Yes, go buy a 3GHz PC laptop. Whoop-di-do. Like it's going to be 1/10 as cool as any Apple laptop.



  • Reply 17 of 75
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by opuscroakus

    Those are some of the most short sighted comments I have heard in a while. Why indeed put a G5 into a powerbook? Why put a G4 into an iBook. Hell, what was Apple thinking putting a G5 into their towers?!?!?



    Don't feed the trolls
  • Reply 18 of 75
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by geekmeet



    there are reasons why desktops are more powerful than laptops.

    one of the MAIN reasons why is because you have a giant power supply in desktops that supply a lot of power to the computer,thus....desktops are bulkier and heavier than laptops.

    conversely......laptops have smaller power supplys and form factors lending to the fact that you want to make them PORTABLE.





    Thanks for the obvious points which many seem to forget. I think we've been spoiled and lured in some respects by Jobs himself by touting laptops as the future.

    You want ultimate speed?...get a G5 tower, you want sexy portability?...get a Powerbook.

    You can't have both...at least not yet.
  • Reply 19 of 75
    kecksykecksy Posts: 1,002member
    If the 74x7 series scales a few hundred more megahertz, and Apple uses higher capacity batteries, fixes the display issues, and adds the fiber-optic keyboard across the line, it would make a worthy upgrade.



    I don't think the G4 can be stretched for two updates though. After the winter/spring refresh, the next line of PowerBooks will need to use G5s.
  • Reply 20 of 75
    chagichagi Posts: 284member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kecksy

    If the 74x7 series scales a few hundred more megahertz, and Apple uses higher capacity batteries, fixes the display issues, and adds the fiber-optic keyboard across the line, it would make a worthy upgrade.



    I don't think the G4 can be stretched for two updates though. After the winter/spring refresh, the next line of PowerBooks will need to use G5s.




    Interesting point. We're all assuming that the G4 can't go any/much higher in clock speed, but if we don't see G5 soon in Powerbooks, kind of implies that some sort of stopgap will be introduced.



    Maybe some sort of higher clocked IBM "G4" chip? I think we've all realized how much IBM kicks Moto's ass by now, might there be some further love coming soon from an unexpected angle?
Sign In or Register to comment.