ti powerbooks ....why not....?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
1.have a dual powerbook with both cpu's

being auto stepped..

logically it could run at lower speeds with better

efficiency

besides no ones ever done a dual laptop before



2.move the airport into the lcd behind the apple

logo ? would that minimize rf interference ?



3.keep the slot load cdrw & if a dvdr is doable

then do so



4.move to ddr with 512 being the bare minimum std

across the board



5.start hdd sizes at 40,60,80 with 120 being bto

(if doable)



6.cut down on the writs area & make keys slightly

larger...atleast the arrow keys...my dell laptop

has better keys...see how sony/dell implements them

the current keys are way too small for coding/typing at a stretch (arrow keys again



7.i have had any paint issues so no comment on that....the heat issue needs serious thinking.



8.move to 64mb on the gfx preferably nvidia





btw im a pure pc/unix guy & this ti800 is my only

mac used for fun....

the above are simply observations on what i'd like

to see in a laptop as an engineer.



all in all a good product with a few design issues

& some pricing issues,



cheers

pete

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    1.) why? DP laptop ain't happening. they can't get decent clocked single processors in there. nevermind 2.



    2.) might.. then again that is titanium as well. perhaps they could integrate it into the glass like a car windshield



    3.) yep. slot load is cool



    4.) 512 is pushing it but whatever



    5.) maybe if those sizes were available



    6.) no problem with the keys. T pad is a bit small bt not sure how they can fix that



    7.) does get damn hot.. so how do you expect 2 processors!



    8.) PLEASE. no nVIDIA!! ATI mobility products kick ass and are proven and have solid drivers.
  • Reply 2 of 15
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    The fact that they can't get decent enough single clocked procs might be reason to look at duals (even for a laptop)



    There is no FAST x86 with the power characteristics to go into a dual laptop. However there are PPC's that just might. Pairing up a couple of PPC's could actually produce a CPU section with still less overall power-drain and heat than one very fast x86 or even one of the faster PPC's. Cut the L3 down to 1MB, maybe use a smaller process (if it were available) and some intelligent control to automatically shut down one processor or throttle both where appropriate. It could be done, and the WOW factor would be huge, but they'd probably only go for it out of desperation.



    I think such a beast actually exists in cupertino as a design study/engineering exercise: lessons learned in making it work would be very useful in getting more conventional products to work properly with and without fans. I don't think they'd build one for sale, though.
  • Reply 3 of 15
    razzfazzrazzfazz Posts: 728member
    [quote]Originally posted by Matsu:

    <strong>The fact that they can't get decent enough single clocked procs might be reason to look at duals (even for a laptop)

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Dunno, seeing what what a lot of people around here keep saying about the DP powermacs, I'd imagine that, even if a dual 800MHz PBG4 was introduced tomorrow, people would still be complaining that there's no increase in clock speed (and there's no way they can go dual and increase the clock speed at the same time).



    Bye,

    RazzFazz



    [ 08-31-2002: Message edited by: RazzFazz ]</p>
  • Reply 4 of 15
    matsu has some good point on dual cpu's

    clock speed is good but not everything

    im running a 450 sun u10 that beats the pants

    off everything around the house inclu my amd x86



    the question is heat/power issues apart why has

    no one ever done this before ?

    if theres a provable performance gain with dual

    cpu's with multithreading built into the os (beos

    comes to mind)then this could be a new area for the ppc arch. dual x86's would be nice too

    but their higher power consumption would kill

    the battery life on a laptop



    its nice to see people chipping in with their

    opinions



    pete
  • Reply 5 of 15
    bodhibodhi Posts: 1,424member
    I have said this before. If Apple can get an entire computer into an 8" Cube without a fan, they can do almost anything up to and including a Dual Processor Powerbook.
  • Reply 6 of 15
    A PowerBook is a heck of a lot smaller than an 8-inch cube, and nobody has to sit with a cube on their lap for an hour. Cubes don't have a built in screen either.



    Frankly, that PowerBooks exist at all is something of a minor miracle.



    This is probably why PowerBook's cost $3500 and cubes cost $1500.
  • Reply 7 of 15
    On the subject of Powerbooks, keypads, and dual processors...



    I'm looking at the compact keyboard that came with my iMac, and thinking that it's not too wide for comfortable use on my lap. If Apple made a Powerbook(or some new line of portables) wide enough for a numeric keypad, would that add enough room and heat dissipation surface for a second processor?
  • Reply 8 of 15
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    now thats a thougt... i wouldnt mind a really long (well 3" more inches) laptop that had a 16:10 aspect ratio like a dvd... with a FULL keyboard.... it owuld be nice...
  • Reply 9 of 15
    One of the possibilities that comes to mind in my flights of fantasy, when thinking about a widescreen laptop is the idea of the display actually being two LCDs.



    I can just see a lot of wow factor in being able to change the resolution of half of your screen while the other remains unchanged.
  • Reply 10 of 15
    Heat Dissipation



    (Confession: Heat transfer is the only class I've ever failed-- apparently it's not enough just to show up for tests-- so my opinion may not be 100% valid.)



    If you consider the current "Wind Tunnel" PowerMacs, I've heard reports of as many as 4 fans, and that when the Big One gets to blowing, it'll drown out a 747 taking off. These aren't the same µprocessors as in the TiBook, but it's in the family.



    The Cube may have been fanless, but it had a highly optimized convection cooling system (read: big, huge holes on top), was a single, pokey processor (450MHz), and had its power supply external to the case.



    Under OS 9, my girlfriend's 550 TiBook was extremely hot after 2 hours of Word usage, though it is much cooler under 10.2. (Personally, I think the high heat + oils from the skin contributes to the paint issue.) I can't imagine hot this would be with an additional micro clocked even higher.



    Now, if Motorola can use its expertise (stop laughing) in embedded system to make a cooler G4, then there would be a possibility.



    I used to be surprised how Intel could throw a 2GHz P4 into a laptop, until I saw the battery life of these things. I think you can drop the core voltage only so much. Maybe in the next shrink (&lt;.10µ? as in .09µ) would a dual-PPC laptop be possible, with similar battery life and similar heat dissipation.



    Airport



    I find the 550's range to be annoying. Maybe the DVI TiBooks have better range, but I agree with putting it on the screen. The screen has a better orientation for receiving signals (vertical) than the current slits on the side of the main body. I don't know if there's enough room to manufacture a "window" for the antennae, though. Maybe they can put it in the logo.



    Or maybe they can add a telescoping rabbit ears on the screen. I think that would solve the problem. (I did better in Digital Communications than Heat Transfer.)
  • Reply 11 of 15
    Actually using dual processors could help the heat problem by spreading out the heat sources and selectively switching between processors in use to allow cool-down time.



    I see the benefits of using even low powered duals in my DP500. Running multiple apps concurrently is much snappier than on faster single processors.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    addisonaddison Posts: 1,185member
    iFriedEggs?
  • Reply 13 of 15
    i should also mention that the only source for apple info i've ever had swore up and down that he'd personally seen, touched, and worked on a DP TiBook.



    i've known the guy for years, and he's never lied about anything before. he said they exist, and he's actually worked on one before.
  • Reply 14 of 15
    warpdwarpd Posts: 204member
    I would really like to see something that is completely doable: A powerbook G4, Dual 1ghz.



    While running on battery life, the second chip cannott be used, and it reverts to a single proc.



    Plug that puppy into the AC, and reboot, and BOOM! The second chip kicks in and gives bad ass workstation performance!! That will get $3000 of my money!
  • Reply 15 of 15
    [quote] I would really like to see something that is completely doable: A powerbook G4, Dual 1ghz.

    While running on battery life, the second chip cannott be used, and it reverts to a single proc.



    Plug that puppy into the AC, and reboot, and BOOM! The second chip kicks in and gives bad ass workstation performance!! That will get $3000 of my money!



    <hr></blockquote>



    Not a bad idea, but the problem is not powering the chips, it is cooling them in the small space. Unless you also have a 36inch shop fan plugged in to the outlet below the outlet the tibook is using, good luck not melting the SOB
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