OT: powerbook updates

drush · Post by **drush** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 6:17 pm

Apple declared the powerbooks End Of Life today, which means no more are shipping. this has to mean an update will be announced in the next couple days. while i seriously doubt it's a G5 announcement if you're in the market a speed-bumped G4 should be around the corner.

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 6:35 pm

they wouldn't end-of-life it if it was just a speed-bump would they?
i dont recall them doing that to any of the aluminum PB's
last end of life that was done was the G4 iMac, and look what they did with the iMac

hoffman2k · Post by **hoffman2k** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 6:41 pm

AdamJay wrote:they wouldn't end-of-life it if it was just a speed-bump would they?
i dont recall them doing that to any of the aluminum PB's
last end of life that was done was the G4 iMac, and look what they did with the iMac

If they come up with the g5 PB now without announcing it at the keynote.
Well... i wouldn't be all that surprised.
Though i suspect it will be dual g4's.
I hope your right

drush · Post by **drush** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 6:57 pm

i was under the impression they always did it for purposes of shipping (or, not, more like) to stores. hope you're right too and it's instead very unusual.

they also EOL'd the eMac, btw. i suspect that will either go G5 or will go away altogether.

benthomas1977 · Post by **benthomas1977** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 9:08 pm

where do you get your info?

it sort of makes sense though.. Apple probably wouldnt want to overshadow the imini and the other new products with a g5 pbook so they waited..

heh, whatever..

ejectorset · Post by **ejectorset** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 10:05 pm

my unfounded speculation is that they will keep the ibook line for lappies and replace the powerbook line with G5 tablet thingies of some sort.

iTabs or something.
maybe they have something completely new up their sleeves.
either way the G5 iMac's are damn close to portable and if they have been paying attention to who wants G5 pbooks maybe they will amaze us all and come out with something that fixes the whole laptop performance stigma (ie. a screen being a physical barrier between the performer and audience) something that lays flat or at a slight angle that is primarly interfaced with a touchpad/button and midi.

all I know is that the powerbooks were still tied into a very old product naming convention that they don't seem to still use.
they are all about iShit lately and the powerbook name gives a nod back to the days of powerPC's and more recently powerMacs.

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 10:18 pm

hoffman2k wrote:
If they come up with the g5 PB now without announcing it at the keynote.
Well... i wouldn't be all that surprised.
Though i suspect it will be dual g4's.
I hope your right

dual core g4's wouldn't help ableton unfortunately... maybe it will in version 5 if we get multi-threading. it would be horrible for ableton if they came out with SLOWER dual core G4's, like 1.3ghz dual core on the top models.

benthomas1977 · Post by **benthomas1977** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 10:38 pm

2 g4 processors would be just as hot as a 1.8ghz g5, my 667 powerbook is red hot, all of the time, always has been, no way they could fit two in there..

i see a tablet, I-tab... So glad i just bought max/msp, a touch screen would be fantasic.. Like a 15inch kaoss pad//

ejectorset · Post by **ejectorset** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 10:40 pm

yeah I have no idea that is just my guess. at least something that is geared towards the "laptop musicians" wouldn't suprise me. apple seems to really pay attention to how their products are being used and find new ways to help their evolution.

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 10:44 pm

fondue wrote:2 g4 processors would be just as hot as a 1.8ghz g5, my 667 powerbook is red hot, all of the time, always has been, no way they could fit two in there..

i see a tablet, I-tab... So glad i just bought max/msp, a touch screen would be fantasic.. Like a 15inch kaoss pad//

they wont use 2 g4 processors, they would use 1 dual core g4. which has been reported to be only marginally hotter than the early G4's in pbs (400mhz, 500mhz)

but as ableton users, keep the dual core g4's out. does us no good. its the G5's front side bus that we need.

benthomas1977 · Post by **benthomas1977** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 10:57 pm

yes, its the front side bus that makes the difference, isnt that the major difference between the ibooks and the powerbooks too?

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 11:03 pm

fondue wrote:yes, its the front side bus that makes the difference, isnt that the major difference between the ibooks and the powerbooks too?

it is but its not a MAJOR diffrence.
the original aluminum powerbooks had the same FSB that the current ibooks have. 133mhz.

there is no task that a 1.33ghz ibook with 133mhz FSB can't do that a 1.33ghz powerbook with 167mhz can. its a very, very small difference, mostly just a crippling of the ibook so that Apple could justify its different price points. it seems to have worked on alot of people.

both ibooks and powerbooks have slow FSB's compared to every other portable computer made in the last 2 years. G5 is absolutely necessary for the Powerbook, or you can write apple off for Ableton for a long time to come.

benthomas1977 · Post by **benthomas1977** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 11:13 pm

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 3:45 am

another good chance for the G5 is the fact that Tiger (OS 10.4) is so soon to come. many folks are thinking that a possible G5 PB would come preinstalled with Tiger, expecting a G5 PB announcement about 2 or 3 months before they ship (average for the "power" line from Apple after big revisions), shipping concurrently with the release of Tiger.

it would not be a good move for Apple to release their next generation OS without a next generation portable in the product line, and they realize that.

therarekind · Post by **therarekind** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 4:57 am

Signs are certainly seeming to point in the direction of a G5 Powerbook being released very soon. Digitimes has reported that the manufacturing company contracted by Apple in taiwan has reported delivery of PowerBook G5s by Q2 2005.

Also, several websites including Amazon.com put ship dates of Tiger at the end of March. If it usually takes a few moments to actually ship the Powerbooks after an upgrade has been announced, that would put it right around the time Tiger is being released. Just as AdamJay said above, this makes sense.