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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!"
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.
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.
"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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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.