Tiger on an iBook (or: Poor little Mobility 9200)

[DavidLeblond]

Do any of you devs out there running Tiger have an iBook? Or better yet, who has seen Tiger on an iBook AND a machine running a better video card. I have an iBook G4 (933) and was curious as to how Core Video is scaled down compared to on a "supported" card.

I'll probably buy Tiger when it comes out regardless, I was just wondering what to expect (and whether or not I should start saving for a Powerbook.)

 

[Mord]

i have a 600MHz ibook g3 and it runs fine, i just don't get that wavy effect when i use the dashboard.

 

[DavidLeblond]

i have a 600MHz ibook g3 and it runs fine, i just don't get that wavy effect when i use the dashboard.

Thats sorta a let-down... I was looking forward to a neat wavy effect.

Guess I better start saving for a Powerbook.

 

[ifjake]

um, buying a new computer so you can see the "wavy effect." somewhere steve jobs is smiling.

 

[maya]

um, buying a new computer so you can see the "wavy effect." somewhere steve jobs is smiling.

ROTFLMAO.

Yeah I believe Steve J is doing this on purpose.

Same with the Quartz Extreme gimmick, WOW a 3D box effect for fast user switching.

And now a wave ripple effect for widgets, get real people its like the genie effect after a few 100 times it gets boring unless you are entertained with such mindless effect.

Seriously though who cares, if it works as it should great. Productivity before Gimmicks

Core Image uses Open GL and the 9200 Mobility does not have that, the 5200 fx do

 

[maya]

Thats sorta a let-down... I was looking forward to a neat wavy effect.

Guess I better start saving for a Powerbook.

By the time "Tiger" is released the iBooks will see an update that will make it possible for Core Image and its candy.

The only down fall is that "Tiger" states it is fine tuned for a G5 however you are running on a G4 so does that mean you will buy an iMac G5.

 

[Mord]

Core Image uses Open GL and the 9200 Mobility does not have that, the 5200 fx do

that is BS all newish gpu's support open gl heck even a 4MB rage dose, it needs a pixel shader capable card (aka directx 9 not that it uses directx i know)

 

[maya]

that is BS all newish gpu's support open gl heck even a 4MB rage dose, it needs a pixel shader capable card (aka directx 9 not that it uses directx i know)

Then Apple has a lot of explaining to do, seems they just don't want to put the effort into supporting the new iBooks.

Could just be that Core Image runs slow on 64Megs on a Graphic Card and needs more than 64Megs to work well.

 

[DavidLeblond]

I was only kidding about getting a Powerbook just to see the wavy Tiger effects.

Still, I've seen my poor little iBook do a lot more impressive things than a neat wavy effect, so why can't it?

 

[maya]

I was only kidding about getting a Powerbook just to see the wavy Tiger effects.

Still, I've seen my poor little iBook do a lot more impressive things than a neat wavy effect, so why can't it?

Apple getting cheap on use, first they show use some kewl features and then release a product that will not take advantage of it.


Actually I believe it has to do with the inadequate amount of memory, Core Image requires 64Megs minimum more the better.

 

[oingoboingo]

Then Apple has a lot of explaining to do, seems they just don't want to put the effort into supporting the new iBooks.

Could just be that Core Image runs slow on 64Megs on a Graphic Card and needs more than 64Megs to work well.

Like Hector said, it's not just the amount of RAM that the graphics chip has, it's whether or not the GPU supports newer DirectX 9-level features like pixel shaders. The way Apple has implemented the CoreImage/CoreVideo acceleration is dependent on this hardware feature (although don't ask me to explain why).

It's not just iBooks which will miss out on hardware accelerated CoreImage/CoreVideo. The current eMac family are also running the Radeon 9200, and the education-only edition of the iMac G5, which has a GeForce 4MX. IMHO the eye-candy effects of things like the Dashboard widgets aren't what makes CoreImage/CoreVideo exciting. It's the way that those APIs will provide hardware accelerated functions to applications developers which will make complex graphical and video transforms and effects run almost instantaneously on the appropriate hardware...with very little development effort. Take a look at Phil Schiller's excellent demonstration at the WWDC for an illustration of this.

Users with unsupported GPUs will still be able to run software developed using the CoreImage/CoreVideo APIs...it will just not run with full hardware acceleration, or in the case of things like Dashboard, it will disable some of the gratuitous effects. Yeah, it is kind of crappy that Apple is still selling machines in late 2004 which will not be able to take full advantage of their next OS X release in less than 6 months, but you aren't being left high and dry. However, if Apple doesn't update its entire range to at least the FX 5200 at the next round of hardware updates, something is seriously wrong...

 

[ifjake]

Then Apple has a lot of explaining to do, seems they just don't want to put the effort into supporting the new iBooks.

Could just be that Core Image runs slow on 64Megs on a Graphic Card and needs more than 64Megs to work well.

oh come on, Tiger will work just fine on the new iBooks. heck, it's going to work just fine on my 18 month old powerbook. from apple's site: "The performance gains and features supported by Core Image ultimately depend on the graphics card. Graphics cards capable of pixel-level programming deliver the best performance. But Core Image automatically scales as appropriate for systems with older graphics cards, for compatibility with any Tiger-compatible Mac." i'm only curious as to how capable my card is. i would like Core Image to offload as much graphics processing to the graphics chip as possible. it's really just a question of how much eyecandy you want. i think apple should keep designing software with future/cutting edge technology in mind. it's a good plan.

i'm just so crushed that i won't be able to see the ripple effect. *sigh* i guess i'll manage. stay strong, jake.

 

[CrackedButter]

When I start Uni, I want the best money can buy with Tiger preinstalled, I'm not buying another mac till then, for once, they have a feature I am after, and thats corevideo in the form of filters for use in Photoshop.

 

[DavidLeblond]

Core Image uses Open GL and the 9200 Mobility does not have that, the 5200 fx do

No cards "have" Open GL. Click here to learn what Open GL is.

 

[maya]

No cards "have" Open GL. Click here to learn what Open GL is.

I should have said Hardware-Accelerated OpenGL graphics cards.

Typo.

 

[jimjiminyjim]

This is the price one pays for being loyal to a company that stays on the leading edge. I'm trying to debate what to do, as I am likely going to purchase a used iBook. The question is, how old can I get away with. It looks like getting a more recent one won't get me the wavy effect, but I do need something new enough that tiger won't bog down the computer.... I suppose this question should be posted in a new thread... but it's related.