New/updated PBs - I'm worried we won't see them soon

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
I want to buy a PowerBook soon, but based on the planned keynote in Paris, the fact that its specs are not mind-blowing by now (to say the least) and some rumors on various sites including AI I postponed my purchase till the end of September. One may say I took as slight gamble, so I'm watching closely for any developments that would confirm or dismiss those expectations. And what worries me even more than the cancellation of the Paris keynote is the lack of additional rumors surfacing.



You see, if we assume that say on 23rd Apple would roll out new or even updated PoweBooks their production must have started somewhere in August and they should be arriving to warehouses in the US right about now to be delivered to the shops to ensure they will have at least some in stock in each of them on the day of the announcement. With the current number of just Apple's own stores through the country it's a whole logistic operation. And then there are updates to product manuals, websites, whole tech support staff has to be trained about the changed systems ? and the sales staff has to be able to respond to clients' questions at the day of the announcement. And then there are major retail partners, who also would be getting them early to ensure availability on the release day.



The point is that by now the number of people knowing about the new PBs should be increasing exponentially and that means no tight secrecy can be maintained any longer. If there is to be new PB on 20th or 23rd we should be seeing more rumors surfacing by now.



But so far there is just the mysterious cancellation of the keynote and the Motorola announcement tomorrow I don't give damn about. It doesn't look good, but it's just two more weeks so let's wait and see.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 30
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    If there is no real updates, you can expect a litte drop in prices. That the least Apple can do, if they want to continue to sell pbooks.
  • Reply 2 of 30
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Emin

    I want to buy a PowerBook soon, but based on the planned keynote in Paris, the fact that its specs are not mind-blowing by now (to say the least) and some rumors on various sites including AI I postponed my purchase till the end of September...



    I'm in the same position. I postponed buying a PowerBook based on rumors from various sites, including AI (http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1229), that suggested that Apple would be updating its PowerBook line one more time before the go MacTel. I was hoping that Jobs would be mentioning the PBook updates at Paris Expo, but now I'm not so sure if/when it'll happen.



    One nice thing about the PC world is that once Intel announces new CPUs, you can rest assured that new computers will be announced... but with Apple, we don't have that measure of comfort. Both Freescale and IBM have announced that new CPUs (7448 and 970FX) are shipping, but Apple leaves us sitting... and waiting... and wondering.
  • Reply 3 of 30
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ka2357

    Both Freescale and IBM have announced that new CPUs (7448 and 970FX) are shipping, but Apple leaves us sitting... and waiting... and wondering.



    Last I heard Freescale's 7448 will be available in October and I'm not sure IBM said that the 970FX/MP were shipping yet!!!

    Anyway, I don't see Freescale nor IBM being very friendly with Apple right now.

    The fact that Apple had to conclude a legal agreement with Freescale to force them to keep feeding Apple with G4's until 2008 is a sign.

    I don't know if this contract includes 7448s...

    Apple and IBM are under contract until the end of 2007...

    One if the reasons why there will be no keynote at Apple Expo Paris is maybe because Apple couldn't get early new chips (7448 or 970FX or 970MP) to update PowerBooks or PowerMacs and/or iMacs. No?

    The only "good news" so far is that Intel is pushing to get the Yonah chips available january 2006 link
  • Reply 4 of 30
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mjteix

    Last I heard Freescale's 7448 will be available in October and I'm not sure IBM said that the 970FX/MP were shipping yet!!!





    You are right, Freescale announced earlier this summer (June if I remember well) large volume availability of the 7448 chip for October 2005. And as of yet, IBM has not fixed an availability date for the new 970 chips.
  • Reply 5 of 30
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mjteix



    The only "good news" so far is that Intel is pushing to get the Yonah chips available january 2006 link




    Wait till January '06? Not an option, really. But if nothing comes out around Paris then probably a second-hand Al PB would offer a better value as a bridge to PB-Intel. After all, when PB-Intel comes out current G4 PBs become "old" and depreciate fast.



    Anyway, Apple Expo is just 12 days away so not a really big wait till matters hopefully clear up a bit.
  • Reply 6 of 30
    No real garuantee on January either. Just idle conjecture at this point.
  • Reply 7 of 30
    eminemin Posts: 45member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ChevalierMalFet

    No real garuantee on January either. Just idle conjecture at this point.



    Well, it all is more or less. However, one has to guide his or hers purchasing decisions somehow and for that we need some information. We all know it's wiser to postpone a PB purchase as long as you can now. As there is nothing official we have to rely on rumors.



    The problem is Apple is really good at keeping their corporate mouth shut. No one said even a word about iPond Nano until just moments before the unveiling. Amazing.
  • Reply 8 of 30
    The way I look at it is the current PowerBooks do not offer me enough value over my 1Ghz PB to justify their price. Which is a shame because I really wanted to buy one?and there is a short window before I don't buy one until next year.
  • Reply 9 of 30
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Emin

    We all know it's wiser to postpone a PB purchase as long as you can now. As there is nothing official we have to rely on rumors.



    Yes, but rumors don't make for good buying decisions. If you want to bank on rumors, new rumors suggest that Apple won't release new PBooks in the spring w/Yonah, but will wait till Merom is ready in later '06. Besides, while all the hoop-lah suggests that PBooks w/Intel will run circles around the current crop of G4s, at least the G4s are stable... and we won't be able to say that about the first MacTel PBooks.



    I for one have no interest in being a MacTel guinea pig... so I'll wait until Paris Expo, just in case Apple wants to update the PowerBooks, then will place my order. Even if Apple releases a MacTel PowerBook in the spring, I'll be quite happy with my PPC PBook... it'll serve me quite nicely for the type of work I do and will get me through the next few, which by the time I'm ready to buy again, the kinks will have been worked out with all the new MacTel units.
  • Reply 10 of 30
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    Just give me a 13 inch widescreen. I don't care about the processor at this point!



    I don't know how likely this is, given Jobs is no longer giving a keynote presentation. And, a simple webpage posting may be too subtle for an update with the magnitude of a new screen size. \
  • Reply 11 of 30
    Freescale has put up the fact sheet for the MPC7448:

    http://www.freescale.com/files/32bit.../MPC7448EC.pdf



    Generally, Freescale only puts out a fact sheet when the chips are ready for someones product.



    However, if you look at the pdf, Freescale seems to have not included the lower voltage part (1.1 vs. 1.3v) that would seem to be destined for the Powerbook. The 1.3v 7448 is noted to have typical power usage of 21w, while the max usage comes down at 30w. That must be pretty close to the thermal limits of Apple's laptop line.



    Whats the guess that yields on the lower voltage 7448s are poor and Apple will have to wait for enough stock to build up. Hence no keynote and no powerbooks until October. Just idle speculation.
  • Reply 12 of 30
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    The lack of a Paris keynote has no bearing on PowerBook updates. There's absolutely no way that Steve would have announced a 7448 PowerBook in a keynote. I still think they're coming whenever they get 7448 into it, probably in the next few weeks, but think of it this way - if they don't come this fall, that probably means they're going Intel in January and they just decided not to bother with another G4 for a few months.
  • Reply 13 of 30
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BRussell

    I still think they're coming whenever they get 7448 into it, probably in the next few weeks, but think of it this way - if they don't come this fall, that probably means they're going Intel in January and they just decided not to bother with another G4 for a few months.



    Quite possible, if we don't see new PPC Powerbooks this autumn. Although canceling the keynote can mean things that are beyond my imagination right now, I am not still completely convinced that it is unrelated to issues in Freescale or IBM (where are those 970MPs?).
  • Reply 14 of 30
    I'm looking forward to updates. I have the current model, so I'm not desperate, but it is fun to see something new.



    A quick look on Amazon shows these Powerbooks are not selling as they were in the months following the last update in January, so I really do think it is time for an update:



    Here is what I want to see:



    Obviously, the switch to 7448.



    Next, I think they should scrap the combo drive models. They should have just three models: 12-inch, 15-inch, and 17-inch, all with Superdrive. The 12-inch and 15-inch models should fall down to the prices of the previous combo drive models, and they should take $200 off the 17-inch.



    We'll have to keep an eye on the shipping estimates at Apple.com, in the coming weeks. They seem to have plenty of the old stock right now.
  • Reply 15 of 30
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ibook911



    A quick look on Amazon shows these Powerbooks are not selling as they were in the months following the last update in January,




    You deduced that from the sales rank? Or some other clues are there which I miss?
  • Reply 16 of 30
    one thing to consider is what access do you have to current software, I think it better to run current apps in native powerpc than to run them on intel rhapsody....I have a very nice collection of current apps and so it was the deciding factor for me to go ahead and get a powerbook now. the update was not rumoured yet when I placed my order but I am very happy with the 1.67 g4 performance so far
  • Reply 17 of 30
    I hate to read between the lines....but....



    Quote:

    September 05, 2005 2:15 am ET

    MacCentral

    No keynote for Paris Expo; Jobs to still attend show

    By Jim Dalrymple



    Apple Computer on Monday said that there will be no opening keynote presentation at Apple Expo Paris, which is normally given by company CEO, Steve Jobs. Company officials confirmed that while there will be no formal presentation, Apple executives will be on hand all week.



    ?While this year?s apple expo will not feature a formal keynote presentation members of Apple?s executive team will be hosting a Q&A session for members of the media on the opening day and will be at Apple Expo throughout the week,? Apple spokesperson, Bill Evans, told MacCentral.



    In addition to the executives that will host the Q&A session, Apple also confirmed the presence of Jobs at the event.



    ?Yes, Steve will be at Apple Expo with other members of Apple?s executive team,? said Evans.



    Jobs will make his first appearance at Apple Expo Paris after undergoing pancreatic cancer surgery in August 2004, keeping him from the European show.



    Last year at Apple Expo Paris, Phil Schiller, Apple?s senior vice president of Hardware Product Marketing, unveiled the redesigned iMac G5.

    Apple Expo Paris will open on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 at 11:00 am local time.



    Sounds like something is going to be announced if by no other reason that Jobs will be there to take questions from the media. I can't imagine them NOT announcing something, because what the hell is the press going to ask about? "How was your summer, Steve?" Oh yay, that's real exciting.
  • Reply 18 of 30
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mercury7

    one thing to consider is what access do you have to current software, I think it better to run current apps in native powerpc than to run them on intel rhapsody...



    An excellent point, one which many have neglected to discuss. I agree with you that it's better to run native PPC apps right now with a current PBook G4. A lot of people are simple thinking GHz to GHz. People are forgetting that there will be a lot of apps that aren't ready for an Intel CPU and will, as you mentioned, need to be run through Rhapsody, which is only going to lower the performance.



    I also don't understand why so many people put down the G4. Don't get me wrong, I like to see better performance, just like everyone else... but I'm currently using an old PowerMac with dual 450MHz G4s and 1GB of RAM, and a ten-page Word document containing complex tables opens from scratch in less than 6 seconds. Mail opens in 3 seconds, Safari in 3 seconds, iPhoto in 7 seconds, iTunes in 6 seconds, Quicken in 6 seconds, a 17-slide PowerPoint presentation in 7 seconds, with Photoshop Elements being the slowest at 26 seconds. My point is that most PPC apps open on my older system quickly, most in under 7 seconds... so a current PowerBook G4 at 1.67GHz with a gig of memory is still not a slouch and a bit faster.



    True, I'm not playing any graphics-intensive games, but I can run high-end statistics software (SPSS) reasonably well. I've been planning on getting a PowerBook and I personally would prefer one of the last PowerPC PBooks than one of the first MacTel units. I have more confidence in Apple's design capability and quality control than I do most PC vendors, but we all know that (a) there are going to be glitches with the first run of MacTel PowerBooks that will take time to work out, and (b) there will be a lot of apps that simply won't have been converted yet into Universal Binaries, so will have to run through Rhapsody.



    Sure, we all saw the video of Steve running several apps on his PowerMac Intel, but people are forgetting that he most likely worked very closely with those app developers to ensure that what he ran on stage not only ran, but ran well and quickly.



    I'd like to see the PowerBook updated, perhaps with the 7448, a dual-layer SuperDrive, updated video, and maybe a bigger or faster hard drive. I'll buy one soon, though will wait until Paris Expo happens in case Apple decides to quietly unveil the next/last generation of PPC PowerBooks.
  • Reply 19 of 30
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ka2357

    True, I'm not playing any graphics-intensive games, but I can run high-end statistics software (SPSS) reasonably well.



    Off topic: I've almost given up on SPSS, it sucks so bad. They just released the update to make it run on Tiger about a week ago, or I was going to switch to Stata. Who knows what they'll do with the Intel switch.
  • Reply 20 of 30
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DHagan4755

    I hate to read between the lines....but....







    Sounds like something is going to be announced if by no other reason that Jobs will be there to take questions from the media. I can't imagine them NOT announcing something, because what the hell is the press going to ask about? "How was your summer, Steve?" Oh yay, that's real exciting.




    Very interesting, what sense of humor, guess this is something you thought everybody oughta know even those guys at macrumors.com, great post.
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