Future ibook

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Now that the new Mini pbook has been released, what do you think apple will do with the ibook line? I would really love to see them make an ultra portable version like the sony srx series. Let's her everyone's opinion!



[ 01-16-2003: Message edited by: Eldios ]</p>
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 46
    hegorhegor Posts: 160member
    I dunno. I think the 12 inch iBook is pretty small already. Any smaller might compromise its durability.



    My guess on the next iBook:



    Same case. Faster G3 with 133 mhz bus. Speeds of 867mhz and 1 ghz. Airport Extreme. Bigger HDs, and maybe if we are lucky a faster video system. Maybe Firewire 800 as well. Price drop of about $100 across the line.



    Nice improvement, but nothing earth shocking.
  • Reply 2 of 46
    stunnedstunned Posts: 1,096member
    I would like to see a metallic black or blue iBook. That would be so cool!
  • Reply 3 of 46
    It kinda would be nice to see Apple, selectively, branch out into 'colours' again.



    A State or Prussian blue or a black iBook option would be nice. Good ideas there.



    But as to a 'Powerbook' style case revision? Not until after the next 'bump'. The current iBook case has at least one more revision in it.



    Next for the iBook? Hmmm. Let's not underestimate Apple's ability to do the unexpected. Knowing Apple, they probably could make the iBook more gorgeous than it is already. See 17 and 12 inch Powerbook for that. However, I think we'll 'just' see the iBook driven down in price by another £100 inc VAT across the board. Also, 1 gig processors next. 800 mhz G3 on the 'low end'. Slightly better bus/graphics system hopefully so the G3 can really kick its heels. (Thinksecret rumours of 1 gig plus 200mhz bus G3s sound okay. But like them, inclined to think we'll hit 1 gig and then bus and 1 gig plus speeds will come after. With a slighly slimmer case.)



    Firewire 2? Hmmm. Not so sure. Think the next 'power'Macs will get that. (Kinda ironic that the Powerbooks got it before the pro desktops. Heh.)



    Lemon Bon bon



    [ 01-18-2003: Message edited by: Lemon Bon Bon ]</p>
  • Reply 4 of 46
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    [quote]Originally posted by Eldios:

    <strong> I would really love to see them make an ultra portable version like the sony srx series. Let's her everyone's opinion!

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Man are you gonna be dissapointed when they drop the 12 in favor of an all 14" line-up. This new 14 will be slimmer/smaller than the current 14, but not quite as small as the 12.
  • Reply 5 of 46
    [quote]Originally posted by hegor:

    <strong>I dunno. I think the 12 inch iBook is pretty small already. Any smaller might compromise its durability.



    My guess on the next iBook:



    Same case. Faster G3 with 133 mhz bus. Speeds of 867mhz and 1 ghz. Airport Extreme. Bigger HDs, and maybe if we are lucky a faster video system. Maybe Firewire 800 as well. Price drop of about $100 across the line.



    Nice improvement, but nothing earth shocking.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    What a rediculous comment! Do you not think that adding all of those things and then dropping the price on the iBook wouldnt be earth shattering? Apple's best selling computer getting all of that and costing less money would certainly be amazing.
  • Reply 6 of 46
    cubistcubist Posts: 954member
    They probably won't drop the prices any. The prices are competitive with comparable PC laptops.



    I expect the 14" to be discontinued. Apple needs fewer models, not more. USB2 is a possibility, because that's a consumer feature. I did like the 13" widescreen suggestion, but I think it was just a fantasy.



    Having multiple colors leads to inventory problems, as they found with the iMac. What if you got a set of extra outer shells in different colors, or maybe inserts you could put in to change the color? That'd be pretty nice. How hard are the existing ones to open? I saw a guy who painted his an elegant ruby red... but paint is so permanent.



    I think 'electric blue' (light metallic blue) would be a nice color.
  • Reply 7 of 46
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Think about the target audience of the iBook for a second: Value conscious buyers. Similarly priced wintelon notebooks invariably ship with a 14 or 15" rather than 12. To these buyers a larger screen represents a better spec and a more compelling value. Yes yes, some of us favor a smaller form factor, but that isn't the iBook's intended market. If they were priced the same (12 and 14) the 14 would easily outsell the 12, even some of you who claim to like the smaller size so much would opt for the 14 instead.



    Subnotes cost. Want one, Apple will sell you a PB12. Not to worry, the 14 will get smaller and lighter than the current version, and while it won't be quite as small or as light as the iBook12, it will be close enough that no one that matters is going to care.



    At 999, a 14" screen is a bonus. These customers are looking for a one size fits all notebook, they don't want to plug in external monitors (that they can't span anyway (at least not out of the box) and they won't mind an extra half pound or inch of footprint.
  • Reply 8 of 46
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    [quote]Originally posted by Xidius:

    <strong>



    Are you kidding me? That would be the powerbook line, with 12 + 14" screens, and G3s instead of G4s... FOR $100 LESS THAN THE iBOOKS COST RIGHT NOW! $899 for a 867mhz ibook, with a 130mhz bus, a 40gb hdd, airport extreme, better video card, AND firewire 800?

    </strong><hr></blockquote>

    Well what do you expect? I know I also think that some of those specs will find their way into the next iBook. Come on, 867MHz G3 with a 133MHz bus should've been in the iBook a while ago. Of course they'll get Airport extreme. The only thing I don't agree with is the Firewire 800 since the 12" PBs don't even have it.
  • Reply 9 of 46
    The dearth of better processors is really putting a squeeze on Apples ability not only to update their machines, but to differentiate them.



    [quote]Same case. Faster G3 with 133 mhz bus. Speeds of 867mhz and 1 ghz. Airport Extreme. Bigger HDs, and maybe if we are lucky a faster video system. Maybe Firewire 800 as well. Price drop of about $100 across the line.<hr></blockquote>



    That to me is a worthy update. It would make me strain not to get out my credit card. And in all honesty I think this is the type of update needed to continue to spur consumers to purchase Apple kit.



    [quote]Are you kidding me? That would be the powerbook line, with 12 + 14" screens, and G3s instead of G4s...<hr></blockquote>



    Exactly - Apple is stuck at the top end. Altivec this and Altivec that aside, there really isn't much difference between the G3 and G4. Instead of being able to introduce faster processors to the "pro" lineup, at this point the only option Apple has is to introduce other features - FW 800 being one of them.



    If Apple updates the iBook any time soon - it will have the option of putting in faster processors (which I would hope it would do) and putting in newer tech (which I also would hope it would do). This is necessary to keep a line of products selling - but unfortunately that means it will be bumping into the @$$ of the current PB lineup - and that is no good.



    Same thing has happened on the desktop side - iMac hasn't been updated in over a year. My guess is it is partly because if they did, it would look so much like a "power"mac that PMac sales would have eroded even furthur (the price difference is enough that dual processors alone don't make it worth going for the PMac for performace sake).



    To me what should differentiate the pro from the consumer portable lines is performance and size. To way over-generalize (try not to rip this apart) a pro usually needs screen real-estate and performance - the consumer wants cheap/easy to use/easy to put away (small).



    That latest PB update removed the size differential. An iBook update will remove nearly all of the performance differential. What are we left with? Metal vs. Plastic. This is an alarming trend.



    Apple really needs low-end 970s (1.2GHz) for their "pro" portables soon or this side of the fence will get ugly too (I don't even like to look at the desktop side of the fence - no walking through that with clean shoes!).
  • Reply 9 of 46
    I hope the future of the iBook will mean



    -Ridicules high speed G3s (as I understand it the G3 is capable of scaling much higher than now. I know the "but the Mzh can´t go higher than the G4 of marketing reasons" argument but I´ll ignore that at the moment)

    -Bluetooth

    -Everything else the same (beside the usual larger HDs and ram)

    -Channel the savings of NOT changing anything else and the R&D of the enclosure being paid in the first couple of years of huge sales to lower prices.



    The iBook is the cheapest mac right now (ignoring the classic iMac) and even though the margins are low right now it could go lower a year from now. The G4 iBook IS the PalmZilla and the price of that will go down into the iBook area a year from now.
  • Reply 11 of 46
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    I would like to see a cool 13" widescreen iBook. It can even be a G3, I don't care. But something kinda unique and different.



    With a side, slot-loading optical drive.



  • Reply 12 of 46
    I wouldn't be surprised to see the iBooks staying a generation of chips behind the AlBooks.



    So as the AlBooks move up to a next gen of chips, I would expect to see the iBook get a G4. Keeps a clean product differentiation, and allows Apple to incorporate other nice features like a faster bus and graphics chip without making the iBooks overly competitive with the rest of its notebooks.



    I am very happy with the clean white appearance of the iBook, but I wouldn't be too surprised to see more colour.



    It seems to me that Apple went white on its products in part because others were copying the coloured case design. There are indications that Apple has something up its sleeve in that area - it seems to me that is a consumer-focused innovation, and the iBook is a consumer market PC...so why not?
  • Reply 13 of 46
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    Many here have speculated on a 12" 1 GHz G3 iBook at some point.

    Can this co-exist along side the 12" 867 G4 Powerbook? I can seeing this causing a huge confusion among buyers. I would suspect the speed between the two would be pretty close and the only other differentiating features would be bus speed.



    Or perhaps we'll won't get any 1 Ghz iBooks until all PB's are also at 1Ghz+.
  • Reply 14 of 46
    [quote]Originally posted by satchmo:

    <strong>Can this co-exist along side the 12" 867 G4 Powerbook? I can seeing this causing a huge confusion among buyers. I would suspect the speed between the two would be pretty close and the only other differentiating features would be bus speed.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=002911#000010"; target="_blank">I agree</a>



    I would bet you money 90% of the people who buy either of these don't even know what the bus speed means. I work with a "pro" user who thinks that a 60GB hard drive is faster than a 40GB one.



    [ 01-18-2003: Message edited by: The Pie Man ]</p>
  • Reply 15 of 46
    hegorhegor Posts: 160member
    I forgot to include bluetooth. Duh on that. I see the point about firewire 800, I forget that the 12PB didn't get it. However I stick to the rest of my prediction/fantasy wish list. Especially the processor speeds, Apple should really get its entire lineup at 1 GHZ or faster. A relatively dirt cheap 867 iBook would be forgivable especially at a sub $999 price. As for the mhz difference between the iBooks and the PBs I think Apple would probably update the whole lineup at the same time. So come April or whatever we may look at something like this:



    iBook12 867 G3

    iBook12 1 GHZ G3

    iBook14 1 GHZ G3

    PB12 1 GHZ G4

    PB15 1 GHZ G4

    PB15 1.25 GHZ G4

    PB17 1.25 GHZ G4



    [ 01-18-2003: Message edited by: hegor ]</p>
  • Reply 16 of 46
    macgregormacgregor Posts: 1,434member
    I don't see that the 12" iBook is doing so badly. I think having both 12 and 14" is good...it is choice...consolidating into one 13" iBook is what the warehouse manager's would like to see, not the public.



    I know that the iBook G3's probably will never have speeds higher than PBook G4's...for marketing reasons....but marketing like that caters to ignorance and doesn't even attempt at education. The difference between a G3 and a G4 is important...as much as between a pentium and a G4. Education and "the feeling" is what brings people to Apple in the first place and it is what keeps many of us here.



    I would love to see the iBook branch out into possible variable color technologies. If a 1gig G3 iBook had a white color like now that with a toggle could go from electric blue ('a la PowerMate) to laser red....that would be hot!! It might even convince some to buy an iBook instead of a 12" PowerBook, but so what!! It would also convince some Vaio buyers as well. Pushing the envelop in all product lines is a good thing in the long run...regardless of what the marketing clones think! Don't waste time second guessing marketing b.s. ... it is the other dismal science.
  • Reply 17 of 46
    powerbook

    g4

    airport extreme

    fw800

    bluetooth



    vs



    ibook

    g3 (up to 1Ghz)

    airport

    fw400



    it is a perfect product matrix. you must have some differences (not only the cpu) especialy between the 12" power/ibook.



    Fact: for homework the ibook is FAST (even with 800 Mhz).
  • Reply 18 of 46
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Apple is slow to adjust pricing, and would rather rejigg models slightly than drive down prices too much, but now there is a 12Pb knocking at the 14" iBook's door, making it highly irrelevant. But it won't go away, I guarantee you, it's the twelve that's on the way out pricisely because a larger screen (which is about the same cost) will let them keep prices and margins up a little longer, and provide a better value to the low-end customer. A win-win situation unless you happen to be a road warrior, in which case Apple will gladly take a little more from you in the form of a PB 12.



    Look for:



    All 14"



    999, 800Mhz G3, CD-ROM optical, basically the old model with down spec'd optical. This model is never really an honest effort on Apple's part, or it would have a DVD-ROM drive instead.



    1299, better bus (133Mhz) 867-1Ghz G3, Combo Drive, 256MB RAM, 30GB HDD, bluetooth, 54Mb/s airport, firewire and USB as is.



    1499, Same model as above with more standard RAM, and a bigger HDD.



    That's what it would like if they were doing such an update tomorrow. If the update comes later, when a better supply of faster G4's liberates the PB's, then I would expect fast G3's in the two top models as well as a new case that made the 14" a little smaller and lighter. The 999 keeps the old case, possibly in the ugly (and one would assume cheaper) all white, yeck!.



    Prices will only fall when PC manufacturers have driven the low end laptop to 699USD by the end of '03. Apple will then drop 100 across the board.
  • Reply 19 of 46
    quickquick Posts: 227member
    I guess we will not see a major update for the iBook line until the PowerBook gets a 970 CPU. After that the iBook may spot a G4 (1Ghz +).

    But I believe an other scenario will take place in which the iBook line vanishes from Apple's portfolio completely. If the new 12" PowerBook drops to a sub $1K price tag (next year at the earliest), there is no need for an iBook anymore.



    EDIT: If this happens, the only way for an iBook to compete was a $699 machine with a 1Ghz G3, but I don't think Apple will sell any computer at this price point in the next couple of years.



    [ 01-19-2003: Message edited by: Quick ]</p>
  • Reply 20 of 46
    [quote]Originally posted by Quick:

    <strong>I guess we will not see a major update for the iBook line until the PowerBook gets a 970 CPU. After that the iBook may spot a G4 (1Ghz +).

    But I believe an other scenario will happen in which the iBook line vanishes from Apple's portfolio completely. If the new 12" PowerBook drops to a sub $1K price tag (next year at the earliest), there is no need for an iBook anymore.



    [ 01-19-2003: Message edited by: Quick ]</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Or they just rename the 12'' the iBook
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