ibook g4 will lead to all superdrive line up?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Maybe apple will announce an all super drive line up.



Low end consumer models with 2x and high end with 4x.



Imagine:

imacs (emacs must be dead, only product with out USB 2)

15" imac 2x superdrive $1299 (right in line with low end sony's with DVD burning

stopgap: 1.25 g4, 256 RAM, same video and hard drive

g5: 1.6 g5, same specs as above

17" imac

stopgap: 1.42 g4, 512 RAM, 4x superdrive, 160 GB $1799

g5: 1.6-1.8 g5 and same specs



BTO: current 15" imac $899





ibooks

12" BTO current specs, price

12" 2x super, 30gb, 256RAM, $1299 or so

14" 2x super, 60gb, 256RAM, airport extreme, $1599



Bluetooth still built to order





powerbooks

12" current model drops to $1599, BTO

12" new model: same specs except ATI 9600 64MB video, 60GB hard drive $1799

15" combo drive BTO, 64 video only, same price

15" super 128 video, 5400 RPM hard drive same specs for the rest $2599

17" same specs as 15"





and apple could be the first maker with all dvd burning line-up.





Of course in the future all models would use a multi-format drive once availible.



The big differentiator: pro models use dual format 4x, consumer machines use dvd-r until 8x are availible in pro machines.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    I'm positive that Apple will have an all superdrive line up in a year or so. I'm pretty sure they won't make a big deal about it, because it's kinda expected. Like they didn't make a big deal about dropping the G3.
  • Reply 2 of 13
    There will be a superdrive option eventually, but not across the line. The low end 12" will only be available with a combo. This is what Apple has done in the past, and I think it works well. If they give the superdrive to all the iBooks they all start to look like the same machine only with different clock speeds.
  • Reply 3 of 13
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    Eventually it WILL be across the line. DVD-R is getting insanely popular, and the cost and demand will be as such as to guarantee that in the near future Apple's line up will be all SuperDrive. And as far as differentiation from the PowerBook goes (before someone raises that), Apple has never really cared about artifically differentiating products. They, as the underdog, don't have that luxury. The iBook's disabled spanning is about cost of support and VRAM, not differentiation (before anyone raised that).



    Barto
  • Reply 4 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Barto

    And as far as differentiation from the PowerBook goes (before someone raises that), Apple has never really cared about artifically differentiating products. They, as the underdog, don't have that luxury. The iBook's disabled spanning is about cost of support and VRAM, not differentiation (before anyone raised that).





    Having the iBook with spanning would cost no more.
  • Reply 5 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by beamso

    Having the iBook with spanning would cost no more.



    True, but in general most people who do monitor spanning do so with a 64mb+ graphics card. A 32mb card isn't considered "beefy" enough to do that kind of work, correct me if I'm wrong. The danger is that a 32mb card may overheat. So technically, spanning would cost more as it "requires" at least a 64mb card.
  • Reply 6 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DMBand0026

    True, but in general most people who do monitor spanning do so with a 64mb+ graphics card. A 32mb card isn't considered "beefy" enough to do that kind of work, correct me if I'm wrong. The danger is that a 32mb card may overheat. So technically, spanning would cost more as it "requires" at least a 64mb card.



    The PowerBook G4 (DVI) came with a 32MB graphics cards and managed it successfully. I also think the Gigabit Ethernet models managed it on a 16MB ATI Mobility Radeon (Apple doesn't suggest this themselves, but other websites do).
  • Reply 7 of 13
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    1) Support costs, development costs, quality control costs...



    2) Quartz Extreme - you need a 16MB graphics card for 1024x768, so I'm guessing you could run into problems with a 2nd monitor.



    Barto
  • Reply 8 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Barto

    I'm positive that Apple will have an all superdrive line up in a year or so. I'm pretty sure they won't make a big deal about it, because it's kinda expected. Like they didn't make a big deal about dropping the G3.



    Oh wait and see. Steve'll LOVE this!
  • Reply 9 of 13
    stoostoo Posts: 1,490member
    Quote:

    2) Quartz Extreme - you need a 16MB graphics card for 1024x768, so I'm guessing you could run into problems with a 2nd monitor.



    Does Quartz Extreme use main memory as VRAM (more practical over

    AGP than PCI) ?
  • Reply 10 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Barto

    1) Support costs, development costs, quality control costs...



    2) Quartz Extreme - you need a 16MB graphics card for 1024x768, so I'm guessing you could run into problems with a 2nd monitor.





    1. It doesn't cost any more to develop, because the work's already been done (hello PowerBook) and the cards support it. I think Apple's got more to worry about w.r.t. quality control than just the cost, judging by some of the stuff that they've shipped recently.



    2. What currently shipping machine doesn't ship with a graphics card with less than 32MB?
  • Reply 11 of 13
    gabidgabid Posts: 477member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Barto

    2) Quartz Extreme - you need a 16MB graphics card for 1024x768, so I'm guessing you could run into problems with a 2nd monitor.



    Barto




    On my old 550 Mhz TiBook with 16 MB VRAM Quartz Extreme would just turn off when a second monitor was attached (and, honestly, I didn't notice any huge difference). I used monitor spanning a lot with not problems. The most complex things I did with it was run VPC or a full-screen QuickTime on the 2nd monitor and everything was smooth, except for the speed of VPC on 256 RAM



    On the subject of spanning, has anyone tried the spanning hack on the G4 iBook? I know people on other boards say it works but some 1st had comments here would be nice. I'm guessing that the hack kills the warranty?
  • Reply 12 of 13
    gabidgabid Posts: 477member
    EDIT: Double post deleted.
  • Reply 13 of 13
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Stoo

    Does Quartz Extreme use main memory as VRAM (more practical over

    AGP than PCI) ?




    AGP moves data into main memory when the VRAM is full, but Quartz Extreme turns off when this occurs (main memory is just too slow).



    Barto
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