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New iBooks 'Any Day Now'
teewurstmann writes "Thinksecret reports that 'sources have confirmed that Apple's consumer laptop will receive a long overdue refresh very soon, possibly as early as this week.' They speculate that the new iBooks might have a widescreen display.
I sure hope they are right! I've been waiting to buy one of those suckers for half a year now!"
If you check the Mac Buyer's Guide it's way overdue.
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/
For those who don't want to read the article (or links), I believe the gist is as follows:
- The rumour for widescreens is substantiated by an internal Asustek memo indicating that Apple is buying wide screen laptops.
- The forthcoming iBook update is at least furthered by the lack of an iBook update in a very long time (for iBook updates). See, e.g. Macrumours Buyers Guide. It's been 274 days since an iBook update, where the average is 158. It's writing on the wall.
- It almost certainly won't have an Intel processor. Apple's plans to move to Intel supposedly start in Q1 2006.
Time will tell, of course.
I understand the desire for consistency in display pitch, but Apple seems stuck on the idea that no one wants a small hires display. After using a Thinkpad with a 14 inch SXGA+ (1400x1050) and a Zaurus with 640x480 on a 3.7 inch display for a couple of years, the usual 15-in XGA seems positively clunky. Hell, the Dell D800 my new employer gave me seems ridiculous -- who the hell wants to lug around a monster 8-lb 17-in screen and get only a wXGA display? Surely the market will support an iBook or PowerBook with a hires (SXGA on 12-14 or UXGA on 15-17in) display.
And no, I do not have extraordinary eyesight -- I wear glasses. It's just a matter of seeing more = more work done faster, and I don't think that's uncommon for mobile computer users.
I think not...(*poof*)
[quote from Apple Store support site] Price protection If Apple reduces the price on any product within 10 calendar days of shipment, you can request a refund or credit of the difference between the price you were charged and the current price. To receive the refund or credit you must contact Apple within 14 business days of shipment.
The show-stopper here is that the Airport Extreme card doesn't work in Linux.
The iBook is incredibly good value if you're looking for a small laptop. Similarly-priced PCs are all heavy 15-inchers. Even the 12" Powerbook is competitively priced in the small-laptop market.
"Prosumers." You know, people who think they have to spend $600 more to get features like dual-monitor support that Apple cripples out of the iBook*.
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(Posted from a 12" PowerBook)
* Apparently you have to hack an iBook to get its graphics card to do something it was built to do.
Here is the hack: http://www.rutemoeller.com/mp/ibook/supportlist_e
I really can't understand why people still drool over this POS hardware. FYI the logic board problems have not been resolved yet. The G4 iBooks are plagued with the exact same logic board problems as the G3s. This wouldn't be that bad if the G4s were covered under Apple's recall program but unfortunately they're are not. It will probably take another class action before they even acknowledge the problem. I seriously hope that Apple have learned from their past mistakes and have designed a completely new logic board for this iBook update. If not, be prepared for another round of whacky trackpads and dead screens.
The only gripe (and it is a big gripe) is that the 3D support sucks. It does have accelerated 3D but the ATI Radeon driver is horrible and hasn't been upgraded. I hate manufacturers that just dump machines after 6 or 12 months on the market with barely any support after that. It's not just Acer but HP and no doubt others too.
No, cloning will run the 2nd display @ 1024x768. Instead of 2048x1536 if you were running dual mode with two 1024x768 displays. Also the GFX would be using the same amount of RAM for a mirror mode but using spanning it will increase the video RAM's usage.
Not necessarily (not that I have any knowledge on the veracity of the original claim). Piping out cloned video at 1024x768 is an awful lot less work than managing another screen at 1900x1200 (which I do with my iBook 12" when at home).
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
However, they have also historically upgraded in April, so they are several months overdue for an upgrade. They may be waiting on the iBooks to corrispond with new Powerbooks, whihc are nearing the end of their normal development cycle.
However, while iBooks have had a fairly regular update cycle, powerbooks are somewhat scattered. Look at the graphs on the Macrumors.com buyers' guide.
/usr/games/fortune
Everything except Airport Extreme wireless, that is.
Look at the graphs on the Macrumors.com buyers' guide.
Look at the links to the Macrumors.com buyers' [sic] guide.
Don't call me back. Give me a call back. Bye. So yeah. But bye our, well, but alright we are on a shirt this chill.