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New iBooks 'Any Day Now'

Posted by timothy on from the rumorous-is-putting-it-mildly dept.

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!"

19 of 360 comments (clear)

  1. Why? by Quasar1999 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    With them moving to a whole new chipset for 'power' reasons, why not wait till they get the intel based laptops out?

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    1. Re:Why? by jerkychew · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'd assume that the build cycle on laptops is pretty long - you're designing the whole enclosure and all of its parts to work tightly together, pun intended.

      If the holdup was a chipset, it's likely that they've been sitting on the final design for a long time now. To scrap it at this point would cost a ton of money, especially since it's been what, ten months since the last ibooks came out?

      And finally, When are the Intel-based Macs due? 2006? 2007? It's not worth delaying a product launch that long just to wait for the new architecture, especially since nobody's heard anything about Intel-based *books yet.

  2. CPU? by LurkerXXX · · Score: 2, Interesting

    But will they have the new fast, low-power chips that IBM recently announced?

  3. Have we learned the difference b/w news and rumor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Apparently not.

  4. I highly doubt the widescreen rumor is true by pHatidic · · Score: 1, Interesting
    Why would Apple make a widescreen laptop? These laptops are meant for schools, which means the pricepoint they have to sell at remains basically a constant. Since the price of screens hasn't really come down since October 2004, why would Apple make a more expensive model now when they weren't willing to before? Almost everyone over school age gets the powerbook as it a prettier, albeit less durable. I highly doubt schools will be willing to shell out an extra $150 bucks for an extra inch on the monitor, which is why I think this rumor is highly unlikely to come true.

    My guess is that the update will include the two finger scroll pad, the hard drive drop detection, for about 100 bucks cheaper. Since the iBook is almost as fast as the powerbook I doubt that they would make the iBook any faster for fear of cannibalizing the high end market.

    1. Re:I highly doubt the widescreen rumor is true by Psykechan · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I would have bought an iBook instead of my Powerbook, for instance, had Apple offered a widescreen display.

      Yep. Someone at Apple still cries themselves to sleep at night over that lost iBook sale. Wait a sec, you bought a Powerbook. What did Apple lose on this deal?

      The iBook, as well as Apple's whole consumer line, has to straddle the price point of being only slightly more expensive than cheapo PCs and not being too much less than the lucrative Power*** line.

      Apple really would much rather have all of their customers purchase high margin Powerbooks. The consumer systems cannot be allowed to cut into that too deeply.

      I can see the new iBooks shipping with a slight processor speed upgrade (1.42GHz) and 512MB RAM standard. There could also be a HDD size upgrade (40GB and 80GB). Widescreen isn't out of the question but probably won't happen. I can't see a video upgrade from the ATi 9200 while some PBs are still shipping with the crappy Go5600.

  5. What about CPU upgrade? by Zo0ok · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Can they make any significant CPU-upgrade at all? The iBooks are already close to the PowerBook, and if they dont upgrade the PowerBooks the difference will be insignificant.

    I hope for more RAM and lower price. The current CPUs are fast enough, and I dont want any more heat/less battery time.

    The iBook will have to wait another year for the Intel CPUs - they are probably the last ones (along with the eMac) to switch from G4.

    1. Re:What about CPU upgrade? by l0ungeb0y · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "The iBooks are already close to the PowerBook, and if they dont upgrade the PowerBooks the difference will be insignificant."

      As having been the owner of both a 2004 800mhz G4 iBook and a 2002 800mhz G4 powerbook... I can firmly attest that when used side by side, the 2002 powerbook was far more responsive and "snappier"&reg than the iBook.

      For about $400.00 more you can get the 12" powerbook.
      I'd really recommend you at least check it out before commiting to an iBook, not that an iBook is bad per se.... but there's a definite lack of performance when compared to their power series. I'm absolutely certain Apple pulls some of it's punches on the iBook and iMac and I was rather appalled that a 2yr old model would outperform a brand new model with the same processor and memory specs.

      Just an FYI.

  6. Re:Better screens by Peter+Cooper · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I agree.

    I think Apple's screen quality is surrounded in a lot of hype. I'm a real Mac die-hard these days, but I don't think the screens live up to what I've heard. I remember people claiming the iBook and PowerBook screens were amazingly "bright and crisp". Okay, the color accuracy is amazing, but bright? My iBook is not particularly bright at full brightness, and neither are any of the PowerBooks I've looked after or worked on. Put it this way, my father's Acer (avoid with a barge pole) has a much brighter and crisper screen than any Apple notebook I've seen. Even better are those Sony glare-free "coated" TFTs, which have insanely bright and vivid colors.

  7. Closing th Gap to Pro Models by kannibal_klown · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Don't get me wrong, I love it when Apple announces a product update.

    But with Widescreens, there's now even less difference between the iBook and PowerBook.

    Both already have G4 CPUs
    Both have Superdrives
    Both have DVI out

    I know there are some minor arch differences, but they're getting a little too close for comfort.

  8. Re:Consumer laptop by generic-man · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "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*.

    (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.

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  9. Keep the 12" by Peter+Cooper · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The "article" talks about revisions to the 14" line, and possibly a new 15" line. I really hope the 12" line doesn't go though. A lot of us bought iBooks because they're a lot smaller and cheaper than comparable PCs at that size. 12" is ideal for flights, carrying around like a book, and just throwing in your bag wherever you want to go. By all means, increase the res of the 12" (1024x768 is a let down), but don't ditch the line, because its compactness makes it useful. Whereas the 14"? It has the same res.. so a waste of money.

  10. Re:Consumer laptop by xenoandroid · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yep, but the hack isn't hard and sometimes I wonder if it was disabled for another reason. It seems that people who used the hack had more frequent issues with the logic board.

  11. Re:All lot will wait for Intel by bedouin · · Score: 1, Interesting

    If you let the Intel switch affect your purchase of an Apple product, at least now, you're being stupid.

    The last PPC based Mac will be released in 2007. Judging from the 68k > PPC transition, that will likely mean PPC will be supported into 2010 -- at least.

    So you'd be buying a machine that will be supported and up to date for 5 more years. Considering the average person probably doesn't even grasp what's going on under the hood in the first place, I wouldn't overestimate the impact of switching on sales. My friend who is fed up with his Viao is still going to buy an iBook in the fall, and that's probably the case of many people.

    Not to mention, I'd happily buy a G5 PowerMac even in 2007, just to have the last of PPC machines. Remember, Apple had to keep the G4 PowerMacs around sometime after the G5s were released, just because there was still a sizable demand for OS 9 bootable machines.

  12. Re:Better screens by OmniVector · · Score: 2, Interesting

    i really hope you're not talking about those shiny, glare prone, xbrite screens? those things are awful.

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    - tristan
  13. Re:it would be much better by dr.badass · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yes, Thinksecret has gotten stuff right in the past, they've also blown it a couple times.

    Importantly, they have blown it pretty consistently since they got sued for misappropriating trade secrets.

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  14. Re:Better screens by Sentry21 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    My 12" Powerbook G4 (purchased in September), is completely unusable if there is sunlight within my field of vision - I literally can't even see if there's something on the screen unless I shade my eyes. If I am using it, it has to be indoors and out of the sun (which sucks because my desk faces my window to avoid glare on the screen).

    Fantastic machine, mediocre LCD.

  15. Re:Consumer laptop by BoldAndBusted · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Good. Why do I need a hack to use hardware that has been artificially crippled?
    Because Apple is greedy like most giant corps are, and people still pay for crippled hardware if they like the marketing, apparently.
    How can Mac-heads support the fact that Apple deliberately strips this feature out to wring more money from laptop buyers?
    I can't, and many don't. But, who can account for starry-eyed fanboys/fangirls of any company or group?
  16. Re:Consumer laptop by binary+paladin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Apple sells their displays at a premium because fanboys will buy them and people will pay for the brand. It's good business.

    I was almost stupid enough to purchase the 20" Apple display with my Mini a couple months ago. Then... in a moment of clarity... I pulled my head out of my ass and did a bit of research and ended up getting a Samsung 21.3" screen with a MUCH better resolution (1600 x 1200) and brightness for like $200 cheaper.

    Seriously, the only reason I was even considering the Apple display is so everything would "match." Again, I pulled my head out and remembered I was going to use my Logitech mouse and unmatching speakers. For a moment though, it was like my computer was making me go all "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."

    Anyway, I'm not really defending Apple except to say that their reasons are fiscally sound for them. I love my Mac, but I also have no illusions about the fact that Apple is a business.