[acadian]

AppleInsider

If it is true, a 1.3 Ghz 17" will definately be in my future.

[DigitalDNA]

Ummm I dunno whats going on but when I click on that link there is no story.

[acadian]

For some Apple loyalists the wait for a new breed of PowerBook G4s has seemed like an eternity. Rumors routinely began to surface back in May, just prior to the company's annual World Wide Developer Conference. At the time, much of the buzz surrounded hints of a revised 15" model and soon spanned across the entire PowerBook product line.

A month later Apple's developer conference had come and gone and new PowerBooks remained as nothing more than hearsay. By mid-July sales of the current line of PowerBooks had slumped considerably in anticipation of the overdue revisions. The bi-annual Macworld trade show arrived shortly thereafter and high expectations once again turned to disappointment among eager PowerBook buyers.

With little to no explanation from the Apple, and frustration building among avid consumers, sources began to paint a muggy picture of Apple microchip supplier, Motorola. As it was reported, problems with the chip-maker's 0.13 micron process were resulting in extremely poor yields of the high-end PowerPC 7457 G4 processor, code-named 'Apollo 7.' Unfortunately for Apple, the PowerPC 7457 family of semiconductors were to power the entire line of new PowerBook G4s.

By late August the situation fared no better. Apple's two largest hardware distributors showed an almost completely depleted inventory of all current PowerBook G4 configurations. The computer company had missed out on potential millions in educational and back-to-school sales and their retailers were growing anxious. To levitate some concerns -- during the last week of August -- Apple told some of its select retail partners to expect new PowerBooks in early to mid September.It wasn't until last week that sources began mumbling the first bits of promising information on the subject. According to an AppleInsider source, Apple's chip supplier had finally accumulated an ample supply of the faster PowerPC 7457 mobile chips. This news was soon echoed by French Mac news publisher, MacBidouille. According to the site, success rates on high-end PowerPC 7457 production improved this month with Motorola producing 30,000 and 20,000 units of the 1.25GHz and 1.3GHz chips, respectively. However, since Motorola's engagement with Apple sets a pre-defined price on microprocessors, they are currently eating a loss of approximately $125 per functional unit.

Nevertheless, AppleInsider has positively confirmed with multiple sources that the new species of PowerBook G4s will make their debut on September 16th during Apple Expo in Paris, France. While the confirmation has been specific to a remodeled 15" PowerBook, it's expected that the entire portable line will be refreshed. This information also corroborates last week's report stating all PowerBook orders would be full-filled within the two week period.

According to reliable sources, demo versions of these new PowerBooks are currently being produced and shipped to the site of the expo. Upon arrival, the laptops will be met by Apple engineers who will update their system software to the recently finalized version of Mac OS X 10.2.7 Blackrider.

Previous rumors put the new 15" PowerBook in an aluminum enclosure with ports on the sides, a backlit keyboard, USB 2.0, FireWire 800, and a 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 processor. The 17" configuration is said to gain USB 2.0 and a 1.3GHz PowerPC G4 processor. It will be interesting to see if Motorola's current yields have allowed Apple to meet these original specifications.

Meanwhile, the computer company is also readying updates to their consumer iBooks. The new units will sport USB 2.0 and AirPort Extreme support, sources said. Additionally, the PowerPC 750FX flavor of IBM's G3 processor allows for the implementation of a 200MHz 60x bus that could potentially keep the portables running Apple's latest OS offerings at more than respectable speeds for a fraction of the cost of the PowerPC G4. Further information pertaining to the official release of these iBooks, as well as their processor generation, is currently unconfirmed.

[cszar2001]

I bought my 17 2 months ago and was thinking about getting the new one when it comes later this year.
But the upgrade doesn`t justify that.

I think I´ll wait till the G5 comes in 1 or 2 years.

Nonetheless I`ll be watching the keynote like a five year old the day before christmas.

[ae86_16v]

Wow. . . I am excited. Got AMEX ready in hand. I wonder which video card they'll use.

[nobitacu]

I have a 17" already, and it's working great for me, I'll too wait for the G5, no need to upgrade just for a tiny .3 mhz increase that doesn't really make much difference in performance.

Ming

[TAZ]

Been waiting for the updated 15"-er for a few months to say the least. Have credit card will travel tomorrow if the update happens. My 12" goes to wife to replace her iBook.

[AssassyN]

Sounds interesting to say the least...does anyone know where they'll be a live stream of the Keynote online? How about a recorded d/loadable stream if I'm in class during the keynote?

[aapljack]

Apparantly MacRumors is working on one. That is the only place I have heard of possible live updating. It could be a late night/early morning for some.

-b

[Agent69]

I don't know how much truth there is in this story but it makes me wonder how much money Motorola has cost Apple in unit sales over the last few years due to their inability to develope and produce faster CPUs.

[PeteWK]

Originally posted by Agent69:
I don't know how much truth there is in this story but it makes me wonder how much money Motorola has cost Apple in unit sales over the last few years due to their inability to develope and produce faster CPUs.

It has nothing to do with Motorola's inability. The fact of the matter is that Moto has no interest in R&D because it makes all it's money making 300 and 400 mHz G3s to go into all manner of other electronics. They've slashed all development budgets.

PeteWK

[MusicalTone]

No webcast, not even satelite like when the G5 was introduced. I dont see any major announcements coming in Paris.

[PeterKG]

When will Steve give his keynote? Won't it actually happen in California for instance on Monday evening on the 15th?

[acadian]

I dont see any major announcements coming in Paris.

I think it's pretty much a given now that new powerbooks will be introduced. There ia a story on the MacNN homepage noting that the Apple booth on the expo floor has all the standard hardware posters (imac, powermac etc..) EXCEPT for the powerbook.

[Alpha-sphere]

Originally posted by acadian:
I think it's pretty much a given now that new powerbooks will be introduced. There ia a story on the MacNN homepage noting that the Apple booth on the expo floor has all the standard hardware posters (imac, powermac etc..) EXCEPT for the powerbook.

OMG this is so exiting
Unfortunately there's no live stream keynote

When can we expect the new keynote stream on the Quicktime events part of the site? http://www.apple.com/quicktime/whatson/appleevents/

[mlwhitt]

Well I really doubt we are going to see anything other than a minor speed bump, ala iMac.

[Targon]

1.3 is that all? fsck that i want a 1.8 ghz G5 15" anything less is too slow