iBooks in April?
According to the buyers guide at MacRumors.com ibooks have been updated every year since their release in april and may. They have also followed the upgrade during the October months as well every year.
What do you think the odds are of the iBooks getting upgraded in April / May since the powerbooks were just released and are barely ahead of them. If you think it is possible for them to be upgraded then, what do you think the specs will be? It looks like it may be doubtful for a powerbook g5 to come out in Q2, and maybe even optimistic for it come out in Q3. How do you think the powerbook lines will affect the iBook lines?
The main thing I'm waiting for in an iBook is a 64mb graphics card. A card compatible with Core technologies with tiger. I'm willing to wait until June for a laptop. Even though the whole point is to have one for school.
I think the iBook upgrade specs will be as follows:
12"
1.33ghz
256mb ram
ATI 9200 (64mb vram... making it compatible with tiger)
40gb 4200rpm drive
combo drive
14"
1.42ghz
256mb ram
ATI 9200 (64mb vram)
60gb 4200rpm drive
superdrive
Think those are do able? what do you guys think?
What do you think the odds are of the iBooks getting upgraded in April / May since the powerbooks were just released and are barely ahead of them. If you think it is possible for them to be upgraded then, what do you think the specs will be? It looks like it may be doubtful for a powerbook g5 to come out in Q2, and maybe even optimistic for it come out in Q3. How do you think the powerbook lines will affect the iBook lines?
The main thing I'm waiting for in an iBook is a 64mb graphics card. A card compatible with Core technologies with tiger. I'm willing to wait until June for a laptop. Even though the whole point is to have one for school.
I think the iBook upgrade specs will be as follows:
12"
1.33ghz
256mb ram
ATI 9200 (64mb vram... making it compatible with tiger)
40gb 4200rpm drive
combo drive
14"
1.42ghz
256mb ram
ATI 9200 (64mb vram)
60gb 4200rpm drive
superdrive
Think those are do able? what do you guys think?
Comments
That said, I do think that a couple of things will be tweaked. First, I'm sure that Apple will want all shipping models to support Tiger's features either before it ships or shortly after. Because of this, I would expect to see the iBook's video updated to the lowest cost chip that will support Core Image.
Secondly, I think that we'll see some form of DVI port supplant the current VGA out, since the Mac mini also features DVI at this point. Of course, this would mean that the iBook will also need to officially support monitor spanning (since DVI out would need to support other resolutions than the iBook's native screen res, much less of an issue with VGA out arguably).
Originally posted by quagmire
It is not the 32 MB making the 9200 not work with coreimage. It is the 9200's architecture that makes it not work with coreimage.
What makes a card Core Technology Savy? It was my undrstanding that the Memory had the most to do wtih it?
Is it the Memory speed and core speed? Is it the rendering pipes? Is it the type of memory? Is it the Open GL support?
Originally posted by quagmire
It is not the 32 MB making the 9200 not work with coreimage. It is the 9200's architecture that makes it not work with coreimage.
what the crap? so my brand new ibook i bought in december won't work with tiger?
Originally posted by Frugle
what the crap? so my brand new ibook i bought in december won't work with tiger?
It'll work just fine
Originally posted by Frugle
what the crap? so my brand new ibook i bought in december won't work with tiger?
It will work, It just won't be compatible with Core Image and Core Video. Those technologies put off rendering to the graphics card intead of the cpu... since your gpu isn't supported, all that stuff will be put off on the cpu. It will still run tiger, just not as efficiently as a mac with a compatible graphics card.
Originally posted by Chagi
I wouldn't expect major things in April, particularly since Apple needs differentiate the iBooks from the Powerbooks. Additionally, the most recent quarterly conference call showed good sales figures for the iBook, why redo something right now that is selling strongly?
The reason it did so well is because last quarter was the time when it was revised, in addition to the holiday season. April would put it nearly two quarters since the last revision, and an appropriate time for a refresh... especially for the back to school quarter.
That said, emig's guess seems spot on (except I'd guess the 9200 continues to have 32MB).
Originally posted by emig647
What makes a card Core Technology Savy? It was my undrstanding that the Memory had the most to do wtih it?
Is it the Memory speed and core speed? Is it the rendering pipes? Is it the type of memory? Is it the Open GL support?
Certain type of pixel shaders from my understanding.
Better off waiting for new eMacs or PowerMacs, IMHO
As for the other stuff:
The usual couple of fractions of a GHz
a couple of GB
a smidge more vidcard powah
etc.
Originally posted by a j stev
Better off waiting for new eMacs or PowerMacs, IMHO
That's just great unless you need portability... the whole point behind an iBook.
Originally posted by MCQ
That said, emig's guess seems spot on (except I'd guess the 9200 continues to have 32MB).
So you think they will release them with non-Core Technology compatible cards again!? That means I'm back to square one. Decided between a PC Laptop and a Powerbook. Neither of which I want to buy.
Originally posted by emig647
So you think they will release them with non-Core Technology compatible cards again!? That means I'm back to square one. Decided between a PC Laptop and a Powerbook. Neither of which I want to buy.
This is a bit off topic, but do you think that the iMac will get a video card upgrade between now and august? I'm looking to buy a Mac, and if I could get an iMac with a bit more powerful GPU (Paying $2400 for a computer with a non upgradable 64 bit graphic solution doesn't appeal to me, regardless of the software included) I'd be sold.
We'll see:
- a slight speed bump and a 7447B instead of the 7447A.
- the new trackpad
- the SMS technology (maybe)
- 32MB video RAM (64 is a pro feature for Apple)
- VGA out (no DVI)
- maybe, just maybe a Radeon 9600. Since they launced the Mac mini with the 9200, I recon they'll keep the 9200 in the iBook too.
- maybe a slight price drop.
Originally posted by Alcibiades
This is a bit off topic, but do you think that the iMac will get a video card upgrade between now and august? I'm looking to buy a Mac, and if I could get an iMac with a bit more powerful GPU (Paying $2400 for a computer with a non upgradable 64 bit graphic solution doesn't appeal to me, regardless of the software included) I'd be sold.
I'm sure the iMacs will definitely get better graphics cards next round... which will be before august.
Originally posted by Smircle
Yes, an iBook update in April/May is quite likely.
We'll see:
- a slight speed bump and a 7447B instead of the 7447A.
- the new trackpad
- the SMS technology (maybe)
- 32MB video RAM (64 is a pro feature for Apple)
- VGA out (no DVI)
- maybe, just maybe a Radeon 9600. Since they launced the Mac mini with the 9200, I recon they'll keep the 9200 in the iBook too.
- maybe a slight price drop.
I was thinking an ATI 9600 as well. But that would tromp on the 5200Go inside the 12" powerbooks... perhaps these could get an upgrade to 9700's. Nvidia has to have a faster solution for laptops besides 5200Go's.