G5 PowerBook "Challenge"

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Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday September 18, 2003 @07:51AM from the not-gonna-happen-any-time-soon dept.

CarlBenda writes "MacWorld/UK has some interesting quotes from Jon Rubinstein, senior vice president of Hardware Engineering at Apple concerning the possibility of a G5 powerbook. He's said that a G5 powerbook is "an issue of good, solid engineering" and that "a few years ago, nobody thought it would be possible to get a G4 processor in a PowerBook". Start saving your money."

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"I'm not dead yet.." by grub · 2003-09-18 07:54 · Score: 5, Insightful

A G5 PowerBook.. not bad for a company that has been dying for 20+ years according to the trolls.

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1. Re:"I'm not dead yet.." by RevMike · 2003-09-18 08:31 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  not bad for a company that has been dying for 20+ years according to the trolls.
  They were nearly dead until Jobs came back. Apple before the iMac had one foot in the grave. Now the company is doing high quality engineering and top notch marketing.
Um... okay? by nacturation · 2003-09-18 07:54 · Score: 5, Insightful
To sum up the article:
- The G5 processor runs really hot
- Notebooks don't like heat
- It'll be tough to get the G5 in a PowerBook
How did this made the front page?
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1. Re:Um... okay? by Frymaster · 2003-09-18 08:11 · Score: 5, Insightful
  Because Apple is suddenly cool these days,
  no. apple was always cool. it's just that people are only starting to realize it now. think about it:
  
  one of the original pioneers (if not the pioneer) of home computing in general
  
  first comapny to bring the wimps thing out of the lab and into the living room
  
  first company to bring risc out of the server room and into the living room
  
  first company to make a unix mom-n-dad can actually use
  
  and, despite all this, the computers still look nice.
  very cool indeed!
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Can't wait by Damn_Canuck · 2003-09-18 07:55 · Score: 5, Insightful

By the time the G5 Powerbooks come out, I think I might be able to actually afford a Macintosh laptop system. Here in Canada, the Powerbooks are at least $2300, and the iBooks are at least $1400. Right now, this is not feasible. But, by the time the cooling system works properly, I might be able to scrape up the thousands of dollars required.

I do applaud Apple for not releasing information on products that it is unsure about, including these G5 laptops. They have strongly hinted in the article that they are looking at it, but they did not make any promises as to when it will be released. This way, they are not forced to rush production which would result in an inferior product. They are going to make sure they have quality over timeframe, which is something some other software companies should learn. Before you set a release date, get a demo/prototype done, and do at least a minimal level of testing!

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#1 reason to buy a mac by Anonymous Coward · 2003-09-18 07:56 · Score: 4, Insightful

no one wants to hack it
If they're musing about it in public... by Space+Coyote · 2003-09-18 08:04 · Score: 4, Insightful

... then they aren't working on anything remotely resembling a product. If they were they'd be keeping very quiet about it all. This article has the tone of GM execs talking about flying cars.

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they could do it today but it'd be a rough sell by Anonymous Coward · 2003-09-18 08:15 · Score: 5, Insightful

They could make one with a G5 tomorrow. But, it would only be maybe a little over 1GHz (10-15 watt range for the G5)*. That is certainly doable in a laptop and Apple has made them in that power range before. Ufortunately, the clock speed won't be any higher than the G4 and you wouldn't be able to take advantage of huge amounts of RAM (that won't happen for years). So, from a marketing perspective the G4 is still an easier sell.

People just assume that G5 consumes this enormous amount of power because of all the fans in the G5 desktop. This isn't true. Even the 2G takes only about 40 watts or so. One P4 3G takes in the range of 80 watts of power. All of the extra G5 fans are to make the cooling quieter.

*note that in the PC world 20-30 watt peak power consumption has been considered useable in a laptop.
IBM announcement of a new G5 revision sure signal by danigiri · 2003-09-18 08:16 · Score: 5, Insightful

Yeah. But...
We can only start to hold our collective breaths (for a significant time) until IBM kinda announces a G5 revision that's suspiciously low-power and is much cooler (surely helped with some of the latest IBM fab breakthroughs). They might or might not talk the same Moto gibberish of aiming at the embedded market, blah blah.
Only then Rubinstein and his faeries can reasonably start to work their magic. Supposedly, once bi'blue hints them they can start engineering the wondruous shrinkage of the original G5 motherboard without actually having a G5' sample. After that heroic feat, that industrial design archangel and his minions will come down and design yet another striking enclosure...
By then, a couple of revisions of the motherboard will have shipped, as well as a couple of G5 tower speed bumps. Besides, one might expect that preceding the mobile G5 we will see the infamous speedy G3+Altivec (IBM's G4) that bi'blue is secretly eager to hurl into Motto's face, to prove their incompetence.
My two eurocents. You can safely spend your money now
dani++
Re:No Thanks by v_1matst · 2003-09-18 08:20 · Score: 4, Insightful

"but does anyone really need the power of a G5 in a notebook?"

ummm... yes. Some people use their laptops as their primary machine and some people actually use them for more than just web browsing, pr0n and mp3s. I know plenty of people who need quite a bit of processing power (mostly animators and musicians/producers) and the portability of a laptop. The g4 powerbook has been the choice of many, and I'm sure they would welcome the g5.

Asking if anyone 'really needs' X is -NOT- a good argument against X.
Re:9 Fans by jo_ham · 2003-09-18 08:25 · Score: 5, Insightful

And the G5 chassis is basically a giant wind tunnel with carefully aligned vanes and aerofoils. There's no easy way to fit that sort of design into a chassis less than an inch deep (even if it is over 17" wide).