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Apple Announces New iBooks
vasqzr writes "Apple has announced new iBooks. New features include G4 processor up to 1.33GHz, built-in wireless networking capability, a DVD-burning SuperDrive and up to 1.25GB of memory. G5 PowerBooks can only be closer...They also show a single processor 1.8GHz G5 PowerMac desktop for $1,499"
These new G4 chips have support for 200 MHz busses. Why does Apple not let those of us still browsing back in the G4 section have that little bitmore performance? iBooks and PowerBooks should have 200 MHz busses all thw way across the board.
BLING BLING. Meet the architecture that's changing everything.
I bet a revision of the PB line can't be far off: the 12" PB now looks way overpriced next to the 12" iBook.
Even though I'm more of a PC guy, I have always liked Apple computers, since I don't know a LOT about them (I only fixed them now and then at a dutch apple reseller), I find them to be generally userfriendly and appealing to the eye (Except for the first I-Mac design).
:)
From what I've seen, Apple is not really afraid to take risks (hence the IMac design, 2nd IMac design and the latest IMac, OSX). I've also been quite impressed by their network/server solutions, they do seem to have a lot of horsepower for their intended job.
Even though I'm not buying one (I'm more of a PC gamer/tech than an Apple one), I hope they will do well in the future
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However, There really is no correlation between improved iBooks and the problems that apple face in getting the G5 to stay cool enough for use in the powerbook design. It's just wishful thinking.
Could there be a more obvious troll? These posts get modded up far too often.
I love X. But it's just sooooo unfair for X to do this. Y does it so much better, I just can't believe it!
PS - I'm a huge fan of X, so what I'm saying MUST be true!
These are "low-end" consumer laptops. Equivalent x86-machines would have something like 2GHz Celeron in them. And I assume I don't have to tell you how much Celerons suck? And what about the size of the laptop? Battery-life? I think iBook would beat that lowly Celeron-laptop quite easily in those things.
So, smaller laptop with longer battery-life, AND better CPU (Pentium-M is good, but those aren't usually in low-end machines)? Sounds like a good deal to me!
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From the page linked by the earlier post: All competitive offers must be presented before you place your order with Apple.
So if you're like my brother and bought an iBook two weeks ago, you're screwed.
Nowadays all but the absolute lowest-end PC laptops have dual-headed display support with separate "screens" on the built-in display and the video out port. It's in the $1000 Compaq/HPs, the eMachines and Medions and so on. About the only major-brand PC laptop you can now buy withour dual-head support is Dell's 1100-series Celeron laptop.
Apple still cripples the iBook with mirrored-only video. No desktop spanning. The Radeon chipsets they use do support it, but Apple reserves that feature for the Powerbooks.
Should $1800 really be the cost of entry for a dual-head capable laptop in 2004? And if Apple really wants to make Bluetooth ubiquitous it's probably time to make it standard equipment on every machine like they did with USB and 1394.
...possible to build an El Cheapo $500 AMD/Intel boxen to match or even ouperform G5 Apple boxen, the trouble with such a box is still that IT WOULD NOT RUN OS.X. It would probably not be as stable as a Mac either.
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By lower price tag, you're really only talking $15, and loosing a lot of functionality. Apple uses these combo drives through all their portables, which means they wouldn't actually be any cheaper for apple, since most people get combos.
:)
Also, like Longhorn, 10.4 will apparently require a DVD drive.
In other words, don't be so shortsighted
What the hell are you talking about?
You're going to tell me that every part in the bottom-of-the-barrel crap case, motherboard, etc., you're going to buy for your build-it-yourself Athlon64 are just as good as what Apple is using in the Power Mac G5? And NO, I'm not talking about things that are predictable and/or identical no matter where you buy them, like the video card and processor...I'm talking about the power supply, case, the RAM you select, the sound capability (Power Mac G5 has optical in and out, etc., so you have to take that into account), no single vendor support (some people actually care about this), no #1 Consumer Reports ranking for tech support, quality, need for repairs, etc. (some people actually care about this), no fantastic industrial design of the case in general (some people actually care about this).
Look, if you want a whitebox homebuilt, that's your business. And YOU might personally consider it "comparable", but it's not.
Do you know what you get from Dell at the $999 price point? (Inspiron 1150 or 1100)
90-day warranty on some models.
7lb, 2-inch thick 'portable'
1.5 hour battery life!
2.2 GHz Celeron processor (1100), or a 2.8GHz P4 (115)
No CD-RW (1150)
Integrated graphics adapter
Let me tell you what you don't get:
BlueTooth
Firewire
AirPort wireless networking
S-VIDEO/Composite output
You can't even get a 12.1" notebook from Dell unless you pay $1,159
1.) They released a new iBook, at a lower price point, with more included than before. A fully useful Mac laptop is now $999.
2.) They released a new XServe RAID. They are competing at $2 a gig. This is much more aggressive pricing than their competitors, allowing them to edge into the enterprise based both on price and performance.
3.) They now offer a single processor low-end G5. This lowers the price of entry into their pro-range. It helps keep up with demand, given that supply of G5 processors is an issue.
What is this all about? Well, it lowers the price of entry for the platform. That is good for average consumers, and wooing people to the platform.
However, look at which units these are. The low-end G5 is a great office machine. This is the computer you put under your desk. The iBook is a great laptop for someone who already has a desktop. The XServe RAID gets Macs into the server room. This is all about the Enterprise. Go for the solid midrange, and they will come.
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However, telling everyone that you think Mac's are a "very expensive doorstop" in a business setting just shows your lack of knowledge. I write code for a living and shudder at the thought of being forced back onto a Windows machine. Fortunately the companies I contract with don't care what operating system I use as long as the code works. There are many other people in my line of work who us Apple computers instead of Windows. Or perhaps we are all glorified graphic artists?
Apple computers have their place. I see people in every part of the corporate infrastructure using them day in and day out and very happy about it. Just because you don't feel they are a good deal does not make it so.
As for your price comparison, no one every said that Apple computers compete at the bottom of the price brackets. Never have, doubt they ever will. However, when you compare mid-range and high end systems, that is where the deal is to be made. Dell competes at the bottom, Apple competes at the top.
seSales, Point of Sale software for OS X.
Now if you actually started to configure that 469 deal with "firewire" and other features the mac includes and a decent gfx card to match, it ends up costing more. This is known as reeling people in with "bait". That monitor they include is a piece of crap and nobody in their right mind would used that on a daily basis with it's low refresh rates that make even the Emac monitor look bad.
Did you see the low end ibook price? Got anything bad to say about it?
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Agreed. Last night I was talking to a friend who is not particularly computer savvy. However, he's a small business owner, very busy, and his time is valuable. Anyway, he was complaining about his PC, that he had gotten some kind of IE takeover spyware, and he couldn't get it back. His computer was clogged with all kinds of junk, and he'd already spent several hours trying to get rid of this thing, and was now just going to wipe his hard drive and re-install everything...essentially an evening-long process.
I said, "that's why I use a Mac." He told me he wanted a Mac, but they were $200-$300 more expensive! I just can't understand that mindset. Sure, but just think of the time savings. My Macs never break. They never get viruses. I don't have to worry about virus scanners and spyware and all the rest of that garbage. I'll crash maybe once every two months. How is all that time saved not worth a few hundred bucks, especially when a computer is vital to your business?
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"Playing" does not acclimatize you to the workings of the system. If you are good at using windows and not good at using OS X, then you will be faster on windows. If you are good at using both, then you will be faster on OS X due to time saved through a more efficient and better designed user environment combined with fewer maintenance needs. Other applications will not steal focus, exposé allows you to access your needed applications more quickly. I still find it astonishing that microsoft has not streamlined the entering and selection of multiple network configuration through a simple interface. Most people don't know how or want to create scripted netsh commands. And you don't waste your time worrying about patching and rebooting for worm avoidance, keeping your lusers out of IE for spyware avoidance, maintaining firewall rules, and keeping your antivirus up to date. Windows is becoming more and more annoying because you have to manage all kinds of little things in order to keep it safe, secure and working smoothly. You don't have to worry about any of this on a mac and so your time is spent doing your work instead of maintaining the system.
As to just plugging in and working, I hope that you are behind a router or firewall or a mac/linux box sharing the connection, because just plugging an XP box into a broadband connection ill get you owned by a worm in under an hour, even if you do absolutely nothing. This is of much safer with a mac (but of course not perfectly safe with a mac or linux or anything else.) If you want to do that with XP, you'll have to get hundreds of MB of updates (I hope you download faster than the trojans find you), and turn off your network messenger to avoid the popups, shut off your uPnP to avoid vulnerabilities, and probably get a firewall set up because it's next to impossbile to close all ports on a windows box.
And when you are done with the mac, you can sell it of course. My iBook is 20 months old now and on eBay it's still going for 40-45% of what I purchased it for. Can you sell an x86 box for 40-45% of its original purchase price after 20 months of use?
Don't get me wrong, I have windows, linux and mac machines. I use each one for what it's good at. And the mac is good for getting work done. And I have found that when it comes down to doing work, if you are good at using all systems, the mac is by far the least intrusive and just gets out of the way so you can do what you're doing.
Of course, you can indeed patch up your XP box to make it almost as safe as a mac, requiring plenty of time installing the patches and installing/configuring third party software. And this takes a lot of time. How many $/h is your time worth? What's the difference in price between a mac and PC (even though it is totally an apples and oranges comparison to begin with?)
x86 is only cheaper than mac if your time has no value.
I don't know. It's a damn fine way of getting customers to tell Apple about resellers that are undercharging. ;-)