Macnews.net.tc claims that Powerbooks will be coming in September with speeds ranging from 1.1 GHz and 1.3 GHz powered by the PowerPC 7457.
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Powerbooks in September?
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PLEASE of please tell me it'll happen before that.. I realy realy want a new powerbook when I buy before school. But this must be why apple just took of more for students today
I guess this is as likely as any of the other rumors that said June, July, etc. But a Sep release seems too late for the back-to-school shoppers. Hopefully we'll see a mid-August release.
I have been waiting for the update for so long to get a AL version of the 15... I'm almost worn down by these rumors...
This would seem to be almost the last date possible for them to come out... if they don't come out in Sept... then what's the hold up??? Only Mot? G5's? By that time, who knows...
This would seem to be almost the last date possible for them to come out... if they don't come out in Sept... then what's the hold up??? Only Mot? G5's? By that time, who knows...
Promo ends in Sept. Trade shows in Sept. Counting on Moto to deliver the new chips due in June. Looks like late Sept. Whether Apple, or anyone else, hates it or not.
Hmmm. A full 9 months since the 12" and 17" intros, and a full 10 months since the last 15" speed bump ... for a minor speed increase (10-30% more raw CPU speed, but much less actual performance increase)? 3/4 of the "year of the laptop" without an update ...
Dissapointing is an understatement.
After waiting for nine months one would hope to see around 50% improvement in speed across the board. Yes, I realize this ain't gonna happen with the G4 ... it's just time to get the G5 into the notebook lineup as well. Until that happens, the laptop line is, essentially, on life support.
I should hope that, at the least, the prices go down as well.
Does this mean we'll be waiting another 9-12 months before the next update to the PB line?
Dissapointing is an understatement.
After waiting for nine months one would hope to see around 50% improvement in speed across the board. Yes, I realize this ain't gonna happen with the G4 ... it's just time to get the G5 into the notebook lineup as well. Until that happens, the laptop line is, essentially, on life support.
I should hope that, at the least, the prices go down as well.
Does this mean we'll be waiting another 9-12 months before the next update to the PB line?
honestly i feel the reason its been so long is the time difference between the 15's and new Al books. it wouldnt make to much sense to update the 15 without updating the 17. i think they have been waiting for the 17 and 12 to reach their first time for revision and them come out with all 3 of them at the same time. now all we are trying to figure is when its gonna be.
iJon
The PB is not really a computer for most college kids... At my very large university I've only ever seen one student with a powerbook to date, but I see TONS of ibooks. Not everyone has rich parents
On the other hand, probably about 10-20% of professors have powerbooks.Originally posted by ZildjianKX
The PB is not really a computer for most college kids... At my very large university I've only ever seen one student with a powerbook to date, but I see TONS of ibooks. Not everyone has rich parents
It depends where you go to school I suppose. I'm a film student at the academy of art college anf I've seen more PBs than iBs in my department. It really depends what you need it for. If I was just using it for word and the internet then an ibook would be just fine.
Originally, Moto said the 7457 would be ready at the end of the year. Recently they said they were ahead of schedule. This could be the reason the 15" has been delayed so long, although I'm surprised Moto is ever ahead of schedule.
1.3 Ghz and 200 Mhz bus speed ought to be a nice performance increase, but if I was a PowerBook user, I'd want a G5.
Yes, I've heard that the 7457 is ahead of schedule also and have also seen a Mot press release implying that the 7457 is starting to ship.
http://www.motorola.com/mediacenter/news/detail/0,1958,2687_2175_23,00.html
I also doubt Mot doing anything ahead of schedule.
The reason I put the blame to Mot is that I can't imagine that Apple delaying the release of the update PB so long. No proof that Mot was responsible - it may have been Apple's plan all along.
http://www.motorola.com/mediacenter/news/detail/0,1958,2687_2175_23,00.html
I also doubt Mot doing anything ahead of schedule.
The reason I put the blame to Mot is that I can't imagine that Apple delaying the release of the update PB so long. No proof that Mot was responsible - it may have been Apple's plan all along.
Don't care anymore.
just put the updated 15 in the store so I can put an order down (even if it doesn't ship till Sept) for my sister--she really needs it before school starts.
Plus I want it avail before my ADC membership needs to be renewed, which is Aug 27th.
- bert
just put the updated 15 in the store so I can put an order down (even if it doesn't ship till Sept) for my sister--she really needs it before school starts.
Plus I want it avail before my ADC membership needs to be renewed, which is Aug 27th.
- bert
Originally posted by ZildjianKX
The PB is not really a computer for most college kids... At my very large university I've only ever seen one student with a powerbook to date, but I see TONS of ibooks. Not everyone has rich parents
I'm going to be taking some graphics/video classes this fall and an iBook won't cut it for me, the classes are taught on Macs (yay!), I'm going to need the G4 and the expandability of a Powerbook rather than the Altivec-less G3 and 1024x768 12" screen in the iBook so I'm anxiously awaiting updates even if I can't afford a new one, refurbs and the used prices will go down if new models are released...
I think Apple really dropped the ball on this one, announcing the year of the notebook and releasing a whopping two new models while the PC world introduces notebooks that are superior to the Powerbooks in a lot of ways....and then holding off the update to the midrange model until after school starts....very dissapointing Apple..
It may be the year of the notebook, but apparently not for Apple...
I think everyone needs to stop taking the "year of the notebook" statement so seriously. You may think that Steve Jobs is God, but he is not. Just because he said doesn't mean it is true. I think the statement was just a distraction for the six months between MWSF and WWDC and the G5.
A new 15" Al powerbook with roughly the features of the 17" Al PB and a bump up of the CPU and GPU would be very tasty. Sure, a G5 PB will be a powerful addition to the high end of the portable laptop. But the laptop line is hardly on "life support" just because that one segment is missing. The low end, middle and even the high-middle end parts of the line up are strong.
I now use a Pismo 500 as a portable. It is OK running OS X. However, it is a little slow and doesn't have a GPU adequate for Keynote. The new 15" Al PB will be wonderful for my purposes. Hardly on life support.
inevitable...
listen, we all know apple won't release the new aluminum powerbook 15" until I plunk down $3000 for a frickin 17"....
listen, we all know apple won't release the new aluminum powerbook 15" until I plunk down $3000 for a frickin 17"....
Yeah. that coupon/promo is the most convincing evidence that apple's going to play it close to the vest on new pbooks til september. even if they know that the update is woefully overdue, there's no way they're going to cut students that sweet a deal on new equipment.
The other thing is that they wouldn't want to deal with potential order retractions on G5s, if the new pbooks shipped earlier than the desktops. I know the two aren't exactly comparable, but customers get antsy sometimes.
Originally posted by ZildjianKX
The PB is not really a computer for most college kids... At my very large university I've only ever seen one student with a powerbook to date, but I see TONS of ibooks. Not everyone has rich parents
i attend a high end design school and all of the design & architecture students (eg. NOT fine art students) other than a few specific programs are required, not requested, REQUIRED to purchase PowerBooks. I would say around 65% of the entire school participates in this "laptop program" and of that 65%, 85% are on Powerbooks, the others use Dell (mostly for CAD type stuff)
I am in graphic design and the spec for this September is the top of the line 15" SuperDrive PowerBook. The issue i am having is that if i am going to spend $2500 on a laptop thats going to go for 3 years, I damn well want the current, most up to date model. and since i am sure that a rev is imminent, i am extremely hesitant to buy soemthing now only to find a revision a week later.
What i am really, REALLY preparing to be pissed off about is Apple releasing a 15" in mid to late september, right after i started my classes and outside of my return/exchange period for the laptop that i must have by sept 10th. I can only belive Apple is NOT playing the card of forcing students to buy out these tibooks, knowing they must get it by a certain date, in order to clear out inventory before releaseing a new AlBook revision. Please tell me you are not doing that, Apple.
I love apple, the current TiBook is a great product, and its at a very good price right now and its certainly adiquate for my needs. I am hard pressed to commit now when i know something is coming down the line. I am very dissapointed in this aspect of Apple's business...10+ months for a revision is flat out ridiculous and i am getting annoyed that they are holding off on a new release. So long as i can have a new AlBook in my hands a few days before classes start I will be happy, but i could do without the uncertainty Apple is in some ways forcing on me.