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Macworld to Bring Updates to Laptop Lines?
An anonymous reader writes "Reuters is reporting on the breathless anticipation that leads up to Macworld every year. Many analysts are hedging their bets that this year will bring a long overdue update to the Mac laptop family. From the article: 'We think the iBook, PowerBook, Mac Mini, and potentially Xserve are areas that are going to move to Intel first,' said Shaw Wu, an analyst at American Technology Research."
If only I could get a hold of the old Mac commercials when they slam on the Intel Processors
The article suggests that they will introduce new G4 based models. I find this highly unlikely. They will need to push their new Intel Line. I suspect they will reveal new Intel Based laptops, and as always a surprise that rocks the world from Mr Jobs himself
I think at this point it's pretty much common sense that something is going to be done to the ibook line with macworld occuring.. tomorrow I guess it would be (unless you're in a timezone in which it is currently monday.. in which case.. greeettiinngs frromm the paaassttt..), we know the intel switch is coming, we know they have said that they are likely to release the ibook and mini lines first with intel chips (yonah most likely it seems, that's about the only thing that would make any sense)
:o I know I'd buy one >.> (typing from my beloved 12" ibook G4).
With the keynote occuring tomorrow, it's probably time to stop repeating the speculation, or at least vary it up a little, Jobs to release iRock, a portable Steve Jobs shrine, so you can worship him in all his bald glory anywhere you go!
My money is on the Apple Tablet being unveiled. ... but maybe that's just wishful thinking.
I had considered a Mac last time I was shopping for a laptop, but I couldn't get past the facts that:
/me crosses fingers...
a) I can't work on Microsoft products like SQL Server on a Mac
b) The Mac only has a few games, compared to the PC
If these Intel Mac laptops arrive, and they really can be dual booted into XP, these two problems go away. I could easily see myself getting a Powerbook and using OSX for all my daily fiddling, and then booting into Windows when I needed to.
If iPod is the defacto standard for music players, it's going to be difficult to raise the iBook to be the laptop standard. Everywhere I look companies are too heavily invested into Dell and other big name PC laptops. But I'd like to see Jobs try and win this one.
While, granted, there are a whole lot of rumors flying around about intel macs, what if there is no intel update? AFAIK, Apple have never stated that they would move to intel this early. So what will this do to apple, not only to the fans (myself included) but to the greater public, if we see another tiny bump to the laptop lines? Apple stand to loose a lot of face should they not be able to deliver...
Does this make my brain look big?
I think Steve Jobs will announce that Microsoft is licensing OS X to replace the plumbing in Windows Vista, and a giant kitchen sink will knonk him on the head as Bill Gates appears on the big screen behind in a Dark Helmet helmet with an girly laugh. Oh, yeah. One more thing... :P
If the warehouses are emptied out of G4 PowerBooks, they might think now is a good time cramming out a first version of an Intel based PowerBook. Otherwise, they are probably going to wait a little bit longer to avoid unnecessary losses (or get rid of the stocked up stuff for a great discount).
Two problems: Apple needs to upgrade its aging portfolio of laptops, but at the same time they can't risk introducing a flawed first Intel model; it's gotta be more or less perfect, and it's gotta be so much better than a G4 in almost every regard.
I will definitely buy one as soon as I hear the specs and reviews are good. Otherwise, I will most definitely postpone for a while, and get on with my current G4 PB.
Actually, the article suggests they will update the current G4-based models... "Apple has said it will start selling Intel-based computers by the middle of this year. But many analysts have said for months they expect an earlier introduction of some Macintosh models, particularly ones using the older G4 processor."
I think you misunderstood. The article is suggesting that models that are currently G4-based will be updated to something other than a G4 processor (most likely Intel).
sigs are a waste of space
An 'Intel Inside' tattoo?
The Mothership
First, they don't move that platform very quickly. Secondly, their real cluster sales go towards SciViz, which have a particular fondness for the G5 platform.
There exists no way of exchanging information without making judgments. --Bene Gesserit Axiom
considering Steve Jobs said the laptops and the mac mini were to be converted to Intel first.
Here's an idea: Apple, do everything you need to do to create the next "impossibly small" version of one of your products. Then don't do it. Keep it the same size, and fill the available space with a BATTERY so we actually use and enjoy all of those cool features.
A video iPod that can barely display two hours of video? Please.
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
iBook (all with 13.3" widescreen display and integrated graphics - 945GM MCH)
$799: Intel Centrino Solo 1.66Ghz
$999: Intel Centrino Duo 1.66Ghz
$1199: Intel Centrino Duo 1.83GHz
Mini
$499: Intel Centrino Duo LV 1.5Ghz
$599: Intel Centrino Duo LV 1.66Ghz
$699: Intel Centrino Duo LV 1.66Ghz (but with included DVD+DL burner, bluetooth, etc)
Plus the MacTV annoucement (42" and 50" Plasmas with Minis built in), and the new 1GB shuffle replacement (possibly the 1GB Nano).
The Doormat
If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
You meant to write "a chair," didn't you?
I'm generally "Interesting," "Insightful," and even "Funny" here. What the hell happens to me at parties?
Back in those days it was Apple/Motorola slamming the first gen Pentium II versus their first gen Power PC 750 "G3".
The G3 in 233 and 266 MHz flavors was faster than the PII in its 233 and 266 MHz flavors. But eventually the PII was shipping at 450 MHz while Motorola was still churning out 350 MHz G3s. Apple slipped behind and had to use other tactics (more cache, wider busses, etc) to try to compete.
Today Intel has the Pentium M, more specifically, the second generation Pentium M, available with dual cores. Sure looks a lot better than the vaporware that Motorola/Freescale is advertising, or the big and hot IBM PowerPC 970 "G5" or the in-order (poor for multitasking) game console versions of the G5.
I think Apple made the right move, I just wish Intel had a better naming system for their CPUs.
..that Steve Jobs will be wearing a rather tight black shirt of some kind.
Even though there might not be any new G4 products, there is still a possiblity for G5 notebooks since IBM made an announcement that they had developed multicore and low-power consumption G5 chips, which came right after the announcement that Apple was switching to Intel. Even though we haven't seen the low-power consumption chips, we have seen the dual core chips in the newest power macs. Jobs did say that we would still see new PPC products before the complete switch to Intel.
Steve Jobs never said that. All that was 1) Intel-based products will be on the market by WWDC 2006, and 2) the migration will be completed by the end of 2007.
Check the keynote yourself.
I don't know, I think throwing an Intel board into an XServe enclosure and bundling the latest stable build of OS X 86 (plus diligent QA, of course) isn't too bad as a stopgap if they're not ready for it in the other products. After all, historically Mac OS X Server was the first version of Mac OS X released. My reasoning is that servers aren't Apple's primary market, so the inevitable transitioning kinks won't be in the spotlight, and many of the XServes they do have depolyed are for applications like HPC where they're used to bleeding edge hardware and software. The other thing is that servers don't need to run the 3rd party desktop applications like Adobe's stuff; it's mostly standard Unix daemons and custom software.
THE NERD IS THE COMPUTER.
A "soft" launch is when a company prints up a bunch of promo material, throws out some specs, "announces" the product... and then nothing.
You can't buy it in stores, distributors don't have it, often times samples aren't available for review. As a consequence, your sad tech journalists are limited to parroting PR material, because that's all that is available.
This is one of the reasons you get speculation about prodcuts, that even when announced, aren't available for months.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Assuming they're Intel-based (which is now in doubt), my question is whether there will be any barriers to running Linux and Windows. I'm intrigued by OSX, but I can't shift my work environment over all at once. Too disruptive. So if I could get a single laptop running OSX, Linux, and Windows, then maybe transition gradually to OSX depending on how I find it, that would be great.
Come on Jobs, give us a Yonah-based Powerbook I can triple boot!
Xserve and Xserve RAIDs are totally different animals. An Xserve is a rack-mountable dual-processor server (G5s now). An Xserve RAID is a rack-mountable 3U fibrechannel drive enclosure. Now, they do work rather well together... but one is not like the other.
My other car is first.
the local NPR station here in the Los Angeles area, KCRW is having their spring fund-drive and will be giving away one of the newly announced products to a subscriber. the DJ said she didn't know what it was, as it was still secret, but they would announce what it is on tuesday. my guess is similar to what some previous posters have said: a mini-based plasma DVR.
"...that's as white as it gets; all the bits are on..."
I'm sorry. You must be new here. Usually these threads are full of speculation and wild-ass guesses, not someone reading article. Sheesh!
Specs:
.85"
640 x 364 x 24 bits 4.25" 16x9 LCD
Weight 257g, 6.5" x 2.8 x
40GB Hard Drive, 2GB Flash (Instant On/Standby)
Touch screen with Inkwell, full Qwerty Keyboard Twistable Clamshell
(see Sharp Zaurus SL-C3100), touch wheel as joystick in landscape, edge buttons for gaming - see Zodiac/PSP
OSX Lite based on FreeBSD w/ Linux Layer Enabled
802.11G/Bluetooth/IR/IEEE 1394
Headphone Jack
USB 2.0 (2)
Compact Flash Slot
4 AA NiMH 2300Mah batteries, user replacable
Software
Open Office
iCal Sync
iTunes
Price $649
"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
If Apple was going to introduce a PVR/PC, it seems like they would have introduced it before Christmas. American Consumers spent billions of dollars on Televisions, DVDs and other multimedia devices this year. If Apple released a good PVR on say, the Mac Mini, I would have seriously considered one.
As is, I had trouble finding any Multimedia/PVR PCs for less then $1200, and most of them still seemed pretty buggy.
"Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
At no time did Steve or any other Apple representative suggest which models would be available with Intel processors first. Watch the Keynote.
There have been rumors to that effect, practically since the beginning. Obviously, the focus on "low power" suggests laptops and small-form-factor machines like the Mini, and the relative strength of the G5 compared to the G4 suggests G4-based models would be replaced first. But never have any public announcements or statements from Apple corroborated this.
The US free market: two halves of a government-granted duopoly are free to set the market price.
Foxtrot
that is the only factor from this whole "switch" to intel thing that has had me worried. What do you guys think or know of this?
Nom de dieu de putain de bordel de merde de saloperie de connard d encule de ta mere.
my question is whether there will be any barriers to running Linux and Windows
According to Phil Shiller, Apple's VP of Marketing, no, they won't be doing anything to prevent you from running Windows (Fool that ye may be!). That doesn't mean it will be easy or practical or supported or anything, but it's at least been stated that Apple isn't going to intentionally get in your way.
Don't become a regular here -- you will become retarded.
- CPU will most likely be upgraded to Intel Yonah Single Core CPU
- FSB will be upgraded (142MHz to ?)
- Default RAM will stay at 512MB
- 802.11G and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR will remain
-Optional HD upgrade might go from 100GB max to 120GB max
- don't know about displays (widescreen ?, 13.3 ?)
- Video RAM BETTER be upgraded to 64MB (32MB isn't enough for games or full Core Image functionality and the iBook has had 32MB for 5 or 6 updates (3 or 4 years!)
- Firewire 400 WILL continue to be on the iBook (lots of people with Digital Video Cameras and iMovie would be useless otherwise)
- Battery life might go from theoretical 6 hours to theoretical 5 hours
- LCDs might be upgraded the same way Powerbook LCDs were, BUT resolution might not change
- Hopefully the iBook will gain an internal iSight like the iMac G5
- The iBook won't get a remote (people would lose it too easily) but it might get a few function keys added/changed to allow easier FrontRow control
- The iBook P4 will look somewhat different just like the iBook changed when the CPU changed from G3 to G4
That would be an iBook that I would be willing to trade up for (I have an early 2004 iBook G4 14" 1GHz)
AFAIK Intel Macs won't have BIOS functionality, which means booting the kernel won't work the same way as on the common PC, i.e. current i386-compatible operating systems won't (most likely) boot of the shelf. It does not however prevent OS developers adding OpenFirmware support to their products.
I demand the Cone of Silence!
"We think the iBook, PowerBook, Mac Mini, and potentially Xserve are areas that are going to move to Intel first," said Shaw Wu, an analyst at American Technology Research.
"We also think they might move the iMac or Power Mac," he added. "There, that should cover everything"
Now before I get modded down, I be to remind whoever might read this that what I am saying is FACT. - bogaboga