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bookofjames · Dec 8, 2004, 10:07 PM

Anyone care to guess a tentative date when the powerbook will be revised?

nate_02 · Dec 8, 2004, 10:29 PM

Originally posted by bookofjames:
Anyone care to guess a tentative date when the powerbook will be revised?

January 17, 2005 at 6:48 AM

bookofjames · Dec 8, 2004, 10:36 PM

wow i wasn't expecting such a specific guess..

Just wondering whether most pp think that the revision will be in Jan or Feb.

macaddict0001 · Dec 8, 2004, 11:04 PM

The reason for such a specific answer is because many people(including myself) believe that it will be realeased at macworld january, which right now seems by far the most likely.

Jack-iMac · Dec 9, 2004, 04:41 PM

HEy

Most probably at Macworld January 2005, there the new G5 revisions will be released. I am sure of this. A 9 month wait for yet another G4 update??? i dont think so! 99% sure it will be a new G5 line if powerbooks. I wonder whatelse Steve has up is sleeve? iPod flash...?

Jack

Filburt · Dec 9, 2004, 05:27 PM

PowerBook revision is long overdue. It has been 234 days since it was last revised.

The latest January San Francisco MacWorld rumor mill points to revised eMac and PowerBook. Redesigned eMac with G5 and slightly faster (speed bump) PowerBook at lower price.

tooki · Dec 9, 2004, 05:38 PM

When? In the future.

tooki

TailsToo · Dec 10, 2004, 12:18 AM

I don't think that we are even close to a G5 PB.. probably faster G4s, though.

bookofjames · Dec 10, 2004, 02:08 AM

if the G5 powerbooks come out, i will definitely get one.

ddma · Dec 10, 2004, 02:13 AM

Yeah, probably a 1.7GHz G4 or 1.67GHz G4 (167MHz x 10) since 1.7GHz G4 upgrade cards are floating around in the market.

D.

shabbasuraj · Dec 10, 2004, 03:17 AM

2005

Lancer409 · Dec 10, 2004, 04:03 AM

when it is released and not a second sooner.

i'll be in line for revision c =)

-typed on a Revision C Powerbook 12

shabbasuraj · Dec 10, 2004, 04:50 AM

Originally posted by Lancer409:
when it is released and not a second sooner.

i'll be in line for revision c =)

-typed on a Revision C Powerbook 12

Sounds like a plan for me also. Maybe if it is 'really all that' then maybe a nice and shiny RevB is in my future.

(Typed on a RevC 12" PB purchased way back in May!!!!!!!!)

Simon · Dec 10, 2004, 04:59 AM

Everybody expects it to be announced at MWSF in January. The current line-up was introduced in April. By January it will be 9 months old. Apple normally updates their portables every 6 months. But, hard facts to prove it? None.

I guess people are expecting 1.7GHz G4s (Freescale 7447A) at the top because update card manufacturers are starting to sell these chips right now. G5 PowerBooks by January seem out of the question.

I own a rev B 12" PowerBook and I am definitely planning on upgrading to the rev D G4. Then I can let others do the beta-testing on the rev A PowerBook G5 and update to the rev B PowerBook G5 in a year from now.

Invincible J · Dec 10, 2004, 05:19 AM

OK, so there's a high possibility of a new PB in January... I just want to know, roughly how much will it cost in �?

Simon · Dec 10, 2004, 06:00 AM

Originally posted by Invincible J:
OK, so there's a high possibility of a new PB in January... I just want to know, roughly how much will it cost in �?

Roughly the same as the current line-up. Apple often doesn't change the price-tag, they just increase the specs.

It could be that European prices are lowered due to the weak USD, but I won't believe it till I really see it.

RonnieoftheRose · Dec 10, 2004, 12:21 PM

The specs for the new model will be a minor improvement over current models but good enough for those who passed on the last revision.

Default config for the 17" will be:

G4 1.7Ghz
Radeon 9700 128MB
80GB

Same with 15". 12" will get 1.5Ghz. We should have seen it coming instead of wishing for 2Ghz with ATI 9800. They're currently too hot and would cut battery life down.

In other news Intel revealed the dualcore mobile Centrino this week to be released in a year's time. Hope we can catch up. Today I tinkered with a Toshiba Qosimo. It had a 2Ghz Dothan and Geforce 5700. Even with that GPU it ran Doom III smoothly with high detail at 1024x768.

Commodus · Dec 10, 2004, 01:15 PM

Ronnie:

And you're sure of this... how?

My (somewhat) pessimistic view is that there will be a final G4 revision in early 2005 based on the MPC7448 (90 nm G4 with 200 MHz FSB and 1 MB L2 cache), and then a G5 version in late 2005.

Leonard · Dec 10, 2004, 02:04 PM

Originally posted by RonnieoftheRose:

In other news Intel revealed the dualcore mobile Centrino this week to be released in a year's time. Hope we can catch up.

I think you should say you hope Intel can catch up. Freescale announced a dual core low-power G4 months ago. http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/...=DRPPCDUALCORE Seeing as Freescale announced these months ago, I'd expect it'll be available for use within another 6 months. Maybe Intel will catch up, eventually.

So if we don't see G5 based Powerbooks, we'll likely at least see dual core G4s.

RonnieoftheRose · Dec 10, 2004, 02:40 PM

Originally posted by Leonard:
I think you should say you hope Intel can catch up. Freescale announced a dual core low-power G4 months ago. http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/...=DRPPCDUALCORE Seeing as Freescale announced these months ago, I'd expect it'll be available for use within another 6 months. Maybe Intel will catch up, eventually.

Nobody would compare even a Freescale G4 to a Pentium-M. The first generation P-M was better, the second even better and the next generation a magnitude better.

RonnieoftheRose · Dec 10, 2004, 02:44 PM

Originally posted by Commodus:
Ronnie:

And you're sure of this... how?

I didn't say for sure. It's just that the G4 has now been fabbed at 1.7Ghz. They could go a little higher by January. Would 100Mhz make a difference? The 9800 Mobility runs too hot currently too. Forget the X800 or 6800 Go too. For any newer GPUs we'll have to wait at least six months before ATI and Nvidia produces versions with low power consumption for inch thin laptops.

Leonard · Dec 10, 2004, 02:50 PM

Originally posted by RonnieoftheRose:
Nobody would compare even a Freescale G4 to a Pentium-M. The first generation P-M was better, the second even better and the next generation a magnitude better.

Did you read the document? This isn't the OLD G4, this is a new much faster G4 (heck it might not even be a G4). The bus on this is going to scale to 667Mhz and support DDR2 memory.

Intel's way behind on the dual core ball. IBM already has dual core, and Motorola is at least a year ahead of Intel. Face it, Intel is having a hard time keeping up.

Fiete5401 · Dec 10, 2004, 06:58 PM

I think (and hope) that the net gen. of PBs will be introduced during the keynote of next years MWSF. It will be Jan. 11th.

I hope that it will be the last rev. to the PowerBook G4 as I don't wanna be a beta-tester again. I bought a rev. a 12"-PB and now I know the sound of laptop-fans! Yeah!

Gimme the last rev. Steve and I'll buy it as soon as it is released!

t500 · Dec 10, 2004, 08:59 PM

I'd like to see better 12inch poer book. The new Moto processor would work (Have a DP G5 on my desk). I would like to see a little more video punch. My little 12inch 867 just needs to be replace with something with some more Ummph!
How about a Wide Screen? That would rock....

Jerr

psy111 · Dec 10, 2004, 09:40 PM

All I want from apple is to have some type of new powerbook by may, and its 12"er better not be just some type of little speed dump (like 1.5ghz), more like a g5 or dual g4's that are good.

RonnieoftheRose · Dec 11, 2004, 01:21 AM

Originally posted by Leonard:
Did you read the document? This isn't the OLD G4, this is a new much faster G4 (heck it might not even be a G4). The bus on this is going to scale to 667Mhz and support DDR2 memory.

Intel's way behind on the dual core ball. IBM already has dual core, and Motorola is at least a year ahead of Intel. Face it, Intel is having a hard time keeping up.

You're kidding yourself. Improvements in bus speed have always brought minor increases compared to improved chip architecture. The G5 runs on a much faster bus than the G4 but clock for clock it's not that much better at 32bit apps.

The P-M runs on a slower bus than the P4 but is 30% faster clock for clock. That was the first version. The second, Dothan, is slightly faster. The next versions will be even faster with architectural improvements and a bus as fast as the current PIV. They might even include hyperthreading.

This and that the P-M is has better power consumption that any G4 has been stated a thousand times. The G4, any G4 revision, is an outdated CPU now - a G3 with AltiVec and the FPU of a 604.

Simon · Dec 11, 2004, 05:08 AM

I always find it very entertaining when some PC troll mentions that the G4 is outdated, but then wants us to hail the P4 and P-M.

Filburt · Dec 11, 2004, 05:11 AM

Originally posted by RonnieoftheRose:
The G5 runs on a much faster bus than the G4 but clock for clock it's not that much better at 32bit apps.

While G5 does not perform that much better than G4 clock-per-clock under Mac OS X 10.3, with 10.4, it is quite a bit improved. Many functions have been optimized/recompiled for G5. The situation is a bit like when G4 first came out. Clock-per-clock, G4 does not perform that much better than G3 when running G3-optimized applications. But turn on the Velocity optimization, it becomes a different story. There's also a concern that for power users, 2 GB physical memory ceiling on G4 over Mac OS X will become low soon. Although dual-core G4 will make a nice transition, the future of PowerBook is G5 (when and if it becomes usable for PowerBook).

Regarding P-M's HyperThreading, don't count on it anytime soon. HyperThreading takes advantage of long pipeline (with idle execution units). P-M benefits from having a short pipeline and I don't expect that to change (dual-core should come first, anyway). In fact, P-M is pretty quaint processor from latest and greatest features point of view.

Lancer409 · Dec 11, 2004, 07:46 AM

Originally posted by shabbasuraj:
Sounds like a plan for me also. Maybe if it is 'really all that' then maybe a nice and shiny RevB is in my future.

(Typed on a RevC 12" PB purchased way back in May!!!!!!!!)

i bought mine in april. funny thing is, i almost bought one the week before rev c was announced! i walked back into the store, and noticed that the powerbook was 1.33 and not 1ghz ... and other changes (like hard drive size i think .. and vid card) ... was hilarious .. i forgot what was upgraded, but i remember walking in thinking wow ... wasnt the specs lower the last time i came in? i forgot if price was changed or not .. but MAN!

RonnieoftheRose · Dec 11, 2004, 10:16 AM

Originally posted by Simon:
I always find it very entertaining when some PC troll mentions that the G4 is outdated, but then wants us to hail the P4 and P-M.

Even more entertaining is watching a Mac user being called a PC troll when most people posting on this forum agree that the Pentium-M series is far better than the G4 series will ever be.

Eug Wanker · Dec 11, 2004, 10:35 AM

Originally posted by Simon:
I guess people are expecting 1.7GHz G4s (Freescale 7447A) at the top because update card manufacturers are starting to sell these chips right now. G5 PowerBooks by January seem out of the question.

The Giga Designs 1.7 is actually an overclocked 1.6 (or slower). I can't get confirmation from Sonnet either that their 1.7 isn't overclocked. All they'll say is that it's guaranteed at 1.7. I'm not convinced a Freescale-rated 1.7 is available, at least in volume, at low enough power for a laptop... Or else Apple is getting all of them. And the 7448 is nowhere to be seen.

I'm hoping for a 1.8 GHz G5.

I own a rev B 12" PowerBook and I am definitely planning on upgrading to the rev D G4. Then I can let others do the beta-testing on the rev A PowerBook G5 and update to the rev B PowerBook G5 in a year from now.

I have the first ever Mac SuperDrive laptop, and I've been happy with that. I'd be more than happy to be a guinea pig for the rev. A G5 PowerBooks too.

Phossil · Dec 11, 2004, 12:16 PM

I don't really need one until August - I am planning on waiting until then so Apple can fix the bugs that are bound to be in the first revision of new powerbooks (especially if they are G5s). Do you think they will have updated and fixed problems (RevB,C?) by then?

Eug Wanker · Dec 12, 2004, 03:13 AM

Originally posted by Phossil:
I don't really need one until August - I am planning on waiting until then so Apple can fix the bugs that are bound to be in the first revision of new powerbooks (especially if they are G5s). Do you think they will have updated and fixed problems (RevB,C?) by then?

If they announce a G5 PowerBook by MWSF, I betcha it won't ship until Feb. at the earliest, and possibly later for the more expensive and BTO models.

THus a Rev. B by August is really pushing it.

electric monk · Dec 12, 2004, 10:31 PM

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
The Giga Designs 1.7 is actually an overclocked 1.6 (or slower). I can't get confirmation from Sonnet either that their 1.7 isn't overclocked. All they'll say is that it's guaranteed at 1.7. I'm not convinced a Freescale-rated 1.7 is available, at least in volume, at low enough power for a laptop... Or else Apple is getting all of them. And the 7448 is nowhere to be seen.

Sonnet says that they do use a true 1.7 Ghz. Giga is indeed overclocked to 1.73 Ghz. The upgrade guys expect 1.8 Ghz in the new year followed by the 7448 at up to 2 Ghz. Followed of course by single and dual core e600's. And e600's are not just G4's with better buses. They also include built in giga ethernet, PCIe intergrated and more. They are basically a system on a chip. Very nice.

Freescale docs