[Karim]

Could this be? That my shiny new Titanium 1GHZ SD that is only 1 month old is going to be EOL'd (end-of-lifed) on Jan 7?

48% of me hopes not, 51% hopes so. Love it when Apple innovates.

"Commercial APPLE ensured me that there would be announced innovations on January 7 but not of new G4 Pro. The update of these machines having to intervene rather about March. It as indicated to me as it was necessary to make have patience the customers of Powerbook 1 ghz superdrive until January 7!!"

From www.macrumors.com, original source: http://www.macbidouille.com/niouzcon...002-12-31#4246

Translated by google.

Happy new years to all!

[wallinbl]

I hope it is. Improvements are a good thing. I'd love to see some fantastic new machines.

Don't let new machines bother you. If your PowerBook is good for you, then it shouldn't matter if there is a new one (unless your reason for owning it is to make other people jealous).

[BJNY]

How would they improve it?
Is the Motorola 7457 doable in a laptop?
Will the Superdrive be fully capable (DVD-R 2X, DVD-RW 1X, DVD-RAM 2X, CD-R 16X, CD-RW 4X)?
Bluetooth?
Firewire2?
USB2?

[butter71]

Originally posted by BJNY:
How would they improve it?

maybe it's something as simple as adding bluetooth.. and there will be an upgrade path similar to the combo drive one.

or, even simpler, just airport+bluetooth on the same internal pccard? it'd be a DIY upgrade.

[Commodus]

They're rumours that are saying these things, so take them with a grain of salt. I'd be surprised if there were any notable changes come January 7th.

A faster Superdrive? Not terribly likely within 2 months of Apple's introducing the first slot-loading DVD-R drive in a public product. Firewire 2 and USB 2? Those would be nice, but they're certainly not essential (I've heard that most external hard disks can't saturate USB 2 or Firewire, let alone Firewire 2).

Bluetooth is the only addition I think that they could realistically make, but even then it wouldn't have an earth-shaking impact. Bluetooth is only really useful for cellphones (Internet access and syncing contacts) and wireless keyboards/mice; if you could really use those on your TiBook, you probably already have the external USB adapter.

So if you're a TiBook user, you're likely to be safe (though I would never say never). Do NOT get an iMac before the 7th, though... if you do, you're impatient, inattentive, or both.

[Eug]

Originally posted by Commodus:
A faster Superdrive? Not terribly likely within 2 months of Apple's introducing the first slot-loading DVD-R drive in a public product. Firewire 2 and USB 2? Those would be nice, but they're certainly not essential (I've heard that most external hard disks can't saturate USB 2 or Firewire, let alone Firewire 2).

I don't think there will be any update to the TiBook in Jan, but I felt I should make some points:

1) The TiBook SuperDrive was touted by Panasonic to have 2X DVD-R write and 16X CD-R write. Furthermore, it supports DVD-RAM and DVD-RW write, but it seems that Apple's custom firmware removes all this functionality. If someone were able to get a hold of a Panasonic firmware, it might just be possible to get 2X DVD-R write, as well as everything else. See here.

2) The fastest current Firewire chipset (Oxford 911) is saturated by most recent 7200 rpm hard drives.

[iChristopher]

If you don't think there will be some sort of update to the PB 1GHz, just go try to order one from the Apple Store and take note of the delivery time.

How significant it will be remains to be seen. My prediction/wish list:

- Bluetooth, either on an Airport combo card or on the motherboard.

- Speed bump.

- A right mouse button (long-time coming). I predict this as an option for all Macs soon.

- New and improved enclosure. Mostly I want to seem the retain the form factor but use more durable finish.

[all2ofme]

Re: Delivery times -

1GHz Superdrive: 3-5 days
867MHz: 3-5 days

I'd like them to release something newer, faster and spunkier but I don't think it's likely unless any iBook updates (also unlikely I think) would make the Powerbooks a *lot* less attractive than they are now.

But hey, I'm not buying for another few weeks anyway, so fingers crossed

[k2director]

I'd be surprised to see a revised Pbook in January, other than with Bluetooth built in. Anything other than Bluetooth would come too soon after the 867/1gig models shipped.

If there *is* Bluetooth, my hope is that it will come via new Airport cards, which would let any laptop owner add it easily to their machine without an external adapter (major pain), and each one would put $100 in Apple's pocket, not D-Link's or whoever else's.

Or, Bluetooth could end up on the motherboard, but that would be pretty dissapointing for a whole lot of people who just bought new machines! And Apple does seem to be sensitive about pulling that kind of trick.. (ie, they offered original Ti combo drives upgrades). In other words, if Bluetooth is to be added to the motherboard, I don't think we'll see it for a few months, until there's a full Ti update.

Time will tell...

[Eug]

Originally posted by iChristopher:
If you don't think there will be some sort of update to the PB 1GHz, just go try to order one from the Apple Store and take note of the delivery time.

How significant it will be remains to be seen. My prediction/wish list:

- Bluetooth, either on an Airport combo card or on the motherboard.

- Speed bump.

- A right mouse button (long-time coming). I predict this as an option for all Macs soon.

- New and improved enclosure. Mostly I want to seem the retain the form factor but use more durable finish.

I predict that all four of the 4 predictions above will prove false.

I dunno what you're talking about regarding delivery times.

He means that by looking at the delivery times you can actually see if they have many in stock or not. If there is a delivery time of 21 days or so, which often happened to a product before being revised, it is not unlikely that the revision or completely new version will be out soon.

Steve

[Eug]

Originally posted by SteveJobs:
He means that by looking at the delivery times you can actually see if they have many in stock or not. If there is a delivery time of 21 days or so, which often happened to a product before being revised, it is not unlikely that the revision or completely new version will be out soon.

Steve

Yeah, in other words, his statement makes no sense. ie. Delivery times would suggest there will be no new update.

[mrtew]

You can tell that the PowerBook won't be replaced soon because it's still on the front page at Apple.com When products are new and current they appear there, and when they are getting stale and the replacement is due they disappear onto the regular Store and Hardware pages. Not too difficult to tell.

[DVD Plaza]

As if there will be an update - all the Apple Centres over here are still trying to deliver all the orders of the 1GHz PowerBook's that were ordered when they launched only two months ago.

A mere two months later, when barely half the orders of a BRAND NEW PRODUCT have been delivered, it'll be replaced with another new model?

Unlikely I'd say.

[iChristopher]

Hey, whatever gets you new PB 1GHz owners through the night.

I'll be trading in my 667 DVI for the new dual 1GHz TiBook.

[issa]

I'll be trading in my 667 DVI for the new dual 1GHz TiBook.

And we owners of the lowly 1GHz TiBook will have been using our machines for a year or two when you fulfill this dream.

[craigthomas]

Mark my words: No new PowerBook till the next generation completely revised version. And not at MW.

The two things I have heard is that they will be very different, and will have everything you would want. Interpretation up to you. Of corse no one knows for sure except the team working on the project.

[UnixMac]

my two reasons for no new PB:

1. Apple doesn't want to intro new hardware at shows anymore.. little stuff maybe, or a minor update maybe... but no new major hardware.

2. They intro'ed a new machine less than two months ago... it makes no business sense.

[Karim]

Of any company I can think of, Apple is at the top as far as acting RANDOMLY.

And, I must say I enjoy it.

As far as next week, anything could happen.

[iChristopher]

Originally posted by UnixMac:
my two reasons for no new PB:

1. Apple doesn't want to intro new hardware at shows anymore.. little stuff maybe, or a minor update maybe... but no new major hardware.

What was the last MAJOR hardware release?: iMac

Where was the iMac released?: Expo

I don't remember when the XServe was released, but I don't count it as MAJOR in the traditional sense.

So with no major release since iMac, I don't think it's fair to say Apple no longer intros new hardware at Expos. If they ever get their **** together and get some new chips for the desktops, I'm guessing there will be an Expo intro that will blow your mind.

[Eug]

Originally posted by iChristopher:
What was the last MAJOR hardware release?: iMac

Where was the iMac released?: Expo

I don't remember when the XServe was released, but I don't count it as MAJOR in the traditional sense.

So with no major release since iMac, I don't think it's fair to say Apple no longer intros new hardware at Expos. If they ever get their **** together and get some new chips for the desktops, I'm guessing there will be an Expo intro that will blow your mind.

??? It may not quite be traditional, but the XServe is one of the most major hardware releases in Apple's history. ie. A 1U Unix server supporting half a terabyte of storage, with OS X Server and unlimited clients...

I also feel there will be no significant update though.

[ryju]

Oy, what about the other 1%, I seriously (among lots of other people around here) doubt that new PowerBooks will come out at MWSF. However I'm hoping for SOMETHING cool, unfortunately I'll be at school that day so I won't be able to find out for some time...