The iBook is the biggest selling Mac model. It is very popular with consumers. Consumers, as in people who don't know what Intel and PPC mean; as in people who will buy software labelled "for Mac" and be frustrated when it doesn't run. The potential for confusion is so enormous, it can't be a good idea to risk the most popular line.
I don't know what Apple has planned, but if I were tasked with this transition, I'd do it this way: First, a whole new line of machines with the Intel CPUs (leaving existing lines alone), with a distinctive name and appearance; second, a logo program with a new logo, so consumers would look for that instead of "Mac"; third, a special set of ads with a distinctive look to educate the consumers about the first two. I think I'd be tempted to call it "NextMac" with the two words being in different colors.
Have to agree with you LBB. Mr. Ive and his pixies will have been working on some amazing form factors for the Intel switch. As well as larger desktop replacements I could see a sub-notebook on the horizon with hi-res screen and flash-only memory. Probably horrendously expensive but extremely desirable.
... I could see a sub-notebook on the horizon with hi-res screen and flash-only memory. Probably horrendously expensive but extremely desirable.
Amen to that. I have no desire for a big honkin' suitcase machine, but that super-thin flash iBook would be mighty tempting. And MacOSRumors (yes, I know) says they're about to release such a thing, too!
MOSR (Y,IK) says "iBook". Tiny subnotes are premium products in Japan, so I agree, PowerBook is much more probable. I think you need at least 8GB of "disk" to run Tiger and apps comfortably, so the machine will probably cost more than the 12" PB.
Having the greatest global mind-share in its entire history at the moment I think Apple may be in "diffusion" mode so a sub-notebook would start a new class of product.... er NanoBook? (eeew...)
Yonah in the iBooks for Q1 2006 and Merom in mid 2006 for the Powerbooks. Says the Merom will be a dual core.
Sounds about right. Apple spent a lot of time and money redesigning the PowerBook logicboards for the 7448 G4 processor. We got them last week... only without the processor. Pretty much count on one last PowerPC upgrade once Freescale gets these to Apple in quantity. If Apple decides to use a single-core Yonah in the iBooks then a 7448 G4 PowerBook could hold it's own (given it's other attributes) until Merom is available later in the year.
I think it will be Yonah vs Merom as far as differenciating between the consumer and professional portables. I think single-core Yonah processors will be used in the iBooks and Mac minis initially (which will be the first to go Intel) followed by single and dual-core Merom processors in the PowerBooks later in the year. Around that time we may see a dual-core Yonah added to the iBook and Mac mini lineups but not until then.
keep in mind switching over pro systems will most likely happen later because those are the users who will have the biggest problem because they need their apps ported, running final cut pro under rosetta for example, will not cut it
Final Cut Pro is an Apple app, and thus has probably already been prepared for compilation to a Universal Binary.
7448 be damned. They may have spent time engineering it for a part that never came, but that's not going to hold Apple back from putting out an Intel PowerBook when humanly possible just to get the damn things to match up to the competition in terms of speed and performance.
Quote:
Originally posted by Placebo
Final Cut Pro is an Apple app, and thus has probably already been prepared for compilation to a Universal Binary.
I don't know if anyone here remembers back to the 667 & 800 DVI PowerBooks, when I believe it was a German show that an Apple rep toted a prototype 1GHz PowerBook. At the time, there was buzz about the Marklar project and whether or not Apple was porting OS X to Intel. As we know now, it was happening all along. But the Apple guy was asked about it, and he said it was true and Final Cut Pro screamed on it. So that is probably one of the first apps that's been fat-binaried.
So this whole Intel switch is probably something that has been in the works for years. I bet the prototypes are in full-swing, and I bet all that Apple is just biding time until Yonah is available. They know they have to do something with their portable line, and quick.
Why? The 7448 is a drop-in replacement and Yonah should flatten it.
Because the Intel PowerBooks are a ways off and they needed something to sell in the meantime. The 7448 is pin-compatible but other things were needed to fully support it. We have them now but we don't have the 7448.
All depends on whether Apple is designing the first Intel PowerBooks around a consumer level chip like Yonah or a pro level chip like Merom. I'm betting on Merom.
Of course, Apple could have just done the absolute minimum update for the powerbooks to convince people the Intel switch is going to take a long time and therefore continue to enjoy good laptop sales over the Christmas season.
Then, before you know it, boom , Steve Jobs shows us a new line of Intel Mac minis, iBooks and Powerbooks in January. Apple tends to underpromise and overdeliver.
Of course, Apple could have just done the absolute minimum update for the powerbooks to convince people the Intel switch is going to take a long time and therefore continue to enjoy good laptop sales over the Christmas season.
Then, before you know it, boom , Steve Jobs shows us a new line of Intel Mac minis, iBooks and Powerbooks in January. Apple tends to underpromise and overdeliver.
Really? I was thinking the opposite.
I'd probably have bought a new Powerbook if they'd put in the 7448, upped the speed to at least 1.8Ghz and upped the FSB to 200Mhz. The Genesi guys have been running 7448s at 1.8Ghz since February.
If they'd done it in the 12" and improved it's screen I'd have asked where to sign.
Now I'm waiting for the next rev. If it's Intel, I'll be waiting for the rev after that so potentially it's no sale at all from me for a year+.
Apple IME tends to under deliver on stuff we're expecting and often never deliver on other stuff. See 'Year of the Laptop' or 'Year of HD' or '3Ghz PowerMacs'.
With Intels roadmap for workstation and server chips in the toilet bowl now, I wonder if we'll see the plan change from a transition to Intel, to a transition to a multi-platform future. It'd be nice to be able to choose the chips in Macs depending on what you want them to do or you're investment in software.
So this whole Intel switch is probably something that has been in the works for years. I bet the prototypes are in full-swing, and I bet all that Apple is just biding time until Yonah is available. They know they have to do something with their portable line, and quick.
Steve Jobs as the wizard from Lord of the Rings? Think he has a crystal ball?
Comments
I don't know what Apple has planned, but if I were tasked with this transition, I'd do it this way: First, a whole new line of machines with the Intel CPUs (leaving existing lines alone), with a distinctive name and appearance; second, a logo program with a new logo, so consumers would look for that instead of "Mac"; third, a special set of ads with a distinctive look to educate the consumers about the first two. I think I'd be tempted to call it "NextMac" with the two words being in different colors.
Originally posted by mmmpie
Dual cores from freescale have been delayed a year, till 2nd H 06.
Freescale are still saying 1H06 for production of the 8641D which is what they've said all along. Where have you read otherwise?
Originally posted by aegisdesign
Freescale are still saying 1H06 for production of the 8641D which is what they've said all along. Where have you read otherwise?
I too remember having read this one recently, but I have not retained the link. So it could be true.
Originally posted by PB
I too remember having read this one recently, but I have not retained the link. So it could be true.
It's all academic anyway as I wouldn't have thought Apple would have used the 8641D even if they were sticking with PowerPC.
And there's no reason Intel iBooks or Powerbooks will be what we've been used to getting.
Widescreen. Thinner. Faster.
Lemon Bon Bon
Originally posted by vinney57
... I could see a sub-notebook on the horizon with hi-res screen and flash-only memory. Probably horrendously expensive but extremely desirable.
Amen to that. I have no desire for a big honkin' suitcase machine, but that super-thin flash iBook would be mighty tempting. And MacOSRumors (yes, I know) says they're about to release such a thing, too!
Originally posted by cubist
And MacOSRumors (yes, I know) ...
We should establish this phrase as our official evocation to the famous and so entertaining MOSR_on_crack .
Seriously. iBook flash-based and horrendously expensive?
Originally posted by PB
We should establish this phrase as our official evocation to the famous and so entertaining MOSR_on_crack .
Seriously. iBook flash-based and horrendously expensive?
Yeah, I doubt that. A powerbook, maybe.
Originally posted by mynamehere
Yeah, I doubt that. A powerbook, maybe.
MOSR (Y,IK) says "iBook". Tiny subnotes are premium products in Japan, so I agree, PowerBook is much more probable. I think you need at least 8GB of "disk" to run Tiger and apps comfortably, so the machine will probably cost more than the 12" PB.
Originally posted by kcmac
At least as noted here.
Yonah in the iBooks for Q1 2006 and Merom in mid 2006 for the Powerbooks. Says the Merom will be a dual core.
Sounds about right. Apple spent a lot of time and money redesigning the PowerBook logicboards for the 7448 G4 processor. We got them last week... only without the processor. Pretty much count on one last PowerPC upgrade once Freescale gets these to Apple in quantity. If Apple decides to use a single-core Yonah in the iBooks then a 7448 G4 PowerBook could hold it's own (given it's other attributes) until Merom is available later in the year.
I think it will be Yonah vs Merom as far as differenciating between the consumer and professional portables. I think single-core Yonah processors will be used in the iBooks and Mac minis initially (which will be the first to go Intel) followed by single and dual-core Merom processors in the PowerBooks later in the year. Around that time we may see a dual-core Yonah added to the iBook and Mac mini lineups but not until then.
Originally posted by 1984
Sounds about right. Apple spent a lot of time and money redesigning the PowerBook logicboards for the 7448 G4 processor.
Why? The 7448 is a drop-in replacement and Yonah should flatten it.
Originally posted by cj171
keep in mind switching over pro systems will most likely happen later because those are the users who will have the biggest problem because they need their apps ported, running final cut pro under rosetta for example, will not cut it
Final Cut Pro is an Apple app, and thus has probably already been prepared for compilation to a Universal Binary.
Originally posted by Placebo
Final Cut Pro is an Apple app, and thus has probably already been prepared for compilation to a Universal Binary.
I don't know if anyone here remembers back to the 667 & 800 DVI PowerBooks, when I believe it was a German show that an Apple rep toted a prototype 1GHz PowerBook. At the time, there was buzz about the Marklar project and whether or not Apple was porting OS X to Intel. As we know now, it was happening all along. But the Apple guy was asked about it, and he said it was true and Final Cut Pro screamed on it. So that is probably one of the first apps that's been fat-binaried.
So this whole Intel switch is probably something that has been in the works for years. I bet the prototypes are in full-swing, and I bet all that Apple is just biding time until Yonah is available. They know they have to do something with their portable line, and quick.
Originally posted by Blackcat
Why? The 7448 is a drop-in replacement and Yonah should flatten it.
Because the Intel PowerBooks are a ways off and they needed something to sell in the meantime. The 7448 is pin-compatible but other things were needed to fully support it. We have them now but we don't have the 7448.
All depends on whether Apple is designing the first Intel PowerBooks around a consumer level chip like Yonah or a pro level chip like Merom. I'm betting on Merom.
Then, before you know it, boom , Steve Jobs shows us a new line of Intel Mac minis, iBooks and Powerbooks in January. Apple tends to underpromise and overdeliver.
Originally posted by jms698
Of course, Apple could have just done the absolute minimum update for the powerbooks to convince people the Intel switch is going to take a long time and therefore continue to enjoy good laptop sales over the Christmas season.
Then, before you know it, boom , Steve Jobs shows us a new line of Intel Mac minis, iBooks and Powerbooks in January. Apple tends to underpromise and overdeliver.
Really? I was thinking the opposite.
I'd probably have bought a new Powerbook if they'd put in the 7448, upped the speed to at least 1.8Ghz and upped the FSB to 200Mhz. The Genesi guys have been running 7448s at 1.8Ghz since February.
If they'd done it in the 12" and improved it's screen I'd have asked where to sign.
Now I'm waiting for the next rev. If it's Intel, I'll be waiting for the rev after that so potentially it's no sale at all from me for a year+.
Apple IME tends to under deliver on stuff we're expecting and often never deliver on other stuff. See 'Year of the Laptop' or 'Year of HD' or '3Ghz PowerMacs'.
With Intels roadmap for workstation and server chips in the toilet bowl now, I wonder if we'll see the plan change from a transition to Intel, to a transition to a multi-platform future. It'd be nice to be able to choose the chips in Macs depending on what you want them to do or you're investment in software.
Originally posted by DHagan4755
So this whole Intel switch is probably something that has been in the works for years. I bet the prototypes are in full-swing, and I bet all that Apple is just biding time until Yonah is available. They know they have to do something with their portable line, and quick.
Steve Jobs as the wizard from Lord of the Rings? Think he has a crystal ball?
Originally posted by mynamehere
Steve Jobs as the wizard from Lord of the Rings? Think he has a crystal ball?
Yes...I'm sure Steve has his own Palantir. How else can he know what we want before we do?
The fact that the Mac mini has had a slight upgrade (silent as well) leads me to believe the we may indeed have an Intel coming out party at MWSF.
May as well get the show on the road.