Next (full) iBook Revision

[Macwizzard]

iBook Split

I may just be mad, but it appears as if everyone desires a new line of Apple Computers. There are the Professional, the consumer, and educational for desktops. There are 2 different consumer models and 1 pro model for portables. Should the 12" iBook become a educational model and the 14" a consumer model? That would evenly balance apple's products and suit most people for needs.

Just a thought

I'm not sure why, but I don't see a larger iBook screen in the near future. The Powerbook already has one. Most consumers and educators use iMovie instead of Final Cut and that is the main reason for a wider screen on the PB-for final cut. Unless they release a new line, I suspect that the current laptop screens will remain the same.

One more thing-bluetooth is a very possible addition. Apple has supported it and pacted with companies that make bluetooth devices-why not add it.

That is all of my ranting you can handle-i'll stop now

 

[JSRockit]

The 12" model kills the 14" model in all aspects... except battery life. I really hope Apple kills the 14" iBook, makes the 12" iBook into a middle-range laptop...then makes an eBook for students. The only way they could keep the 14" screen in the line up is if Apple changes the resolution.

 

[rice_web]

I wish Apple would just break the iBook line into two seperate products, the 12" iBook, and a return of the Pismo. The two could carry much the same in respect to configurations, with screen size being one of the few differences.

 

[JSRockit]

That could work. Perhaps we can see a 12" iBook SE, graphite in color with 32MB VRAM, and 750mhz-800mhz G3? or maybe a G4? damn, I hope so...probably not. I'll leave the Pismo to you guys.

 

[Durandal7]

The 12" iBook will remain in it's current form. I expect that if anything is done to the 14" it will get a 15" screen and a black case, labeled the iBook SE.

 

[JSRockit]

Originally posted by Durandal7
The 12" iBook will remain in it's current form. I expect that if anything is done to the 14" it will get a 15" screen and a black case, labeled the iBook SE.

The 14" iBook is already a tank... a 15" screen? I hope not. The 12" is the one raking in the cash. Why not make that the SE model? or are you thinking the 14" sucks so bad that they have to change it?

 

[Durandal7]

Originally posted by JSRockit


The 14" iBook is already a tank... a 15" screen? I hope not. The 12" is the one raking in the cash. Why not make that the SE model? or are you thinking the 14" sucks so bad that they have to change it?

The 12" is fine as a low-end notebook like it is now, Apple has no need to change that setup.

The 14" should be made more high end compared to the 12" and given a new case to reflect that, Apple may want to try this to give a boost to sales. It's biggest problem is that it needs something to really set it apart from the other iBooks and this would serve that function.

 

[King Cobra]

I would say that the 14 inch deserves a faster either a faster graphics card or more video memory. Just like the iMac 17 inch has a GeForce 4 MX instead of it's little cousins, which have the GeF2MX, the iBook 14 inch could have a faster/better card.

 

[JSRockit]

That's cool and all...but most people favor the smaller iBook for portability. It seems most people like the 14" iBook here, but at other forums...people hate it. The 12" iBook is such a great design...it would be sad to see it only available at the low-end. Now, if you change the 14" completely...that could be cool.

 

[LimeiBook86]

what i think

DAM! I justed typed a whole long message about this and I pressed escape by mistake and it deleted it, I tryed to undo but no luck! So this is what i think in a nutshell. CD-ROMS are borinfg they should be optional, the optical drives should be removable and you should be able to change from a CD-ROM to say a SuperDrive, a CD-RW or a Combo Drive. The High-end should come with a SuperDrive and be 900mhz and have a 80GB HD that matches the iMac. The proccesser should be a highend G3 or a G4 These iBooks whould blow my Key Lime iBook FW SE away !!!

 

[gopher]

Last year IBM had a 1 Ghz G3

Albeit in unknown production quantities. Wonder what happened to that. Could that be coming in our next iBooks?

The real question, and we probably won't know the answer for a couple years, is when will we see our first OLED laptops?

OLED, Organic Light Emitting Diodes has the amazing capability of being able to fold the screen itself and be thinner and cheaper than LCDs to produce in the long run. Only trouble is, not enough people are making them. Unless Apple has a skunkworks project with OLEDs nobody knows about!

 

[mcrain]

What they need is a new white iBook with a silver/chrome square on the front along with some groovy air holes shaped like ovals!

That'd be neat.

(yeah, a little sarcasm after a long weekend)

 

[Postal]

I'm going to be conservative, and expect something like this:

- 12" and 14" options remain intact
- choice of 700 or 800 MHz G4s
- possible introduction of a 133 MHz bus (on at least the higher-end models)
- 256 MB of RAM minimum
- Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics with 32 MB of RAM

Now, that's what I think is likely to happen, but there could be a few pleasant surprises. For example, if the 133 MHz bus does come, we could see an 867 MHz iBook. Alternately we could see an instance where the CD-ROM option is dropped entirely, and the Combo drive models come down to the prices the CD-ROM models are at now. That would make an iBook choice simple: 12-inch or 14-inch?

I don't see Bluetooth, Firewire 2 or any other specialty hardware features being included, but you never know...

 

[razakaze]

To summon up this thread, yall seems to agree that 16mb of graphics i pathetic and should be raise to accendate the recomended 32mb Radeon in the jagwire specs.

Fact is that the G3 is much more efficent when is comes to power dissapation. althoug it is weaker per clock, than the G4, it could be tweaked a great deal.

FACT: G3 = IBM 750FX
IBM 750FX runs at stunning a 1Ghz, Apple use the lowend 700Mhz edition, so that it would not move the light away from its TiBook series.

If IBook should go 1Ghz then
TiBook must go 933Mhz+

 

[JSRockit]

I agree...32MB VRAM is needed... Also, get rid of the CD-ROM and 128MB Ram standard unless Apple brings the low-end iBook to $999.

 

[JSRockit]

Apple has 3 12" models on their website now...added one with DVD only. They should have gotten rid of the CD_ROM model.