No Next-Gen PowerBooks Until 2007?

pismo

pismo

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So the G5 is dead. I wonder if it'll ever hit 3GHz or is IBM going to give Apple the ultimate F.U. and stickem with 2.7GHz until Intel comes about.

Also, obviously given Steve's comments there is not going to be a PowerBook G5. So where does this leave the PowerBook? In G4 limbo for possibly the next 2 years?

This is devastating given that notebooks are out selling desktops. What's the incentive going to be to buy a PowerBook G4? I think we can consider it pretty much obsolete by now. What effect will this have on Apple?
 
We can expect the PB to be the first one to be "upgraded" to Intel. Pentium M.
 
There's no way I can stick with the performance of this 1.67GHz G4 PowerBook for a whole year. I'll probably have to switch back to a Wintel laptop until one is available if that's going to be the case. :(
 
I don't think apple will skip any powerbook G4 update till they move to intel. There are still some very nice freescale processors (dual core) waiting to find their way into the powerbooks.
 
The most interesting question is: What will the next Laptop of Apple be? Will it even be named "PowerBook" even though no PowerPC architecture is in the clockwork? I don't think so. Maybe "IntelBook" - what a stupid name. Really. I don't know what they will call it. But I was hoping to see a PB G5 as I got one of my friends to switch to Apple - he is waiting for a new PowerBook - which will never come.

So.... I'm wondering what the next Laptops will be like and look like. Will they ship with Tiger or Leopard? Well.... no one can say right now, so we just have to wait and see.
 
The PowerBook name started years before the PowerPC ever showed up. I think there will still be PowerBooks, and with specific mention about 'Books by Steve Jobs, we may see those as first with Intel. Be patient... Should be worth the wait.
 
Yeah, I think both G4s and G5s ought to be dual-core before Apple starts making Intel machines. I hope we'll see both this year, with the G4s going straight into PBs.

I definitely expect to see new G5s at some point, because Apple says they'll still be shipping PPC systems until 2007. Maybe I'm crazy, but I kind of expect the PowerMac to be the last machine to change, since it's really the G4 that needs a kick in the pants more than the G5.
 
Yes. Well: Basically, the PowerPC fraction just doesn't offer very good mobile processors these days. This probably means that it's going to be the Mac mini, the iBook, the PowerBook (in this order?) to get intel processors first.
 
i would have thought the "pro" lines would go first, so as not to be in a situation where the "consumer" lines are "better" than the "pros"
 
Good news for me, since I bought my powerbook in January. At least I can squeeze a year or two out of it before it becomes obsolete. Doubt we'll ever see a G5 powerbook, as the R&D invested in that would probably slow down their transition to Inhell.
 
We know the transition is bottom up, my guess will be (in order):

32bit chips in: Mac mini, iBook, eMac
Then 64bit chips for: PowerBook, iMac, Tower systems

I'd expect more PPC PowerBooks until 2007, perhaps one 32bit Intel too, but as the PowerBook are 'higher end' machines, I guess they will want to make it 64bit ASAP.

I think the Osborne Effect is going to force Apple into moving all this along as fast as possible.
 
Nobody's going to pay for yet another 32-bit powerbook*. Certainly nobody would cough up for an intel-based 32-bit powerbook* that will either run slower than their existing G4 (Centrino family) or get terrible battery life (P4M @ high clock speeds).

* Unless they're stupid.
 
My PowerBook already runs on an "obsolete" processor, the G4. Passing on to a 64 bit dual core power-efficient Pentium M in 2007 would be a good idea for me.

jzdziarski: you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, have you? Current Wintel offerings have _nothing_ to do with what Apple will release nearly two years from now. I'd rather have a Centrino PB in two years than another outdated G4, since a mobile G5 is not going to happen.
 
1.67ghz is half the speed of current desktop replacements. there is the floating point advantages with the G4, but, as we're seeing, raw clock cycles do get the job done.
 
jzdziarski said:
Nobody's going to pay for yet another 32-bit powerbook*. Certainly nobody would cough up for an intel-based 32-bit powerbook* that will either run slower than their existing G4 (Centrino family) or get terrible battery life (P4M @ high clock speeds).

* Unless they're stupid.
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Hmmm, I disagree. There is no benefit in 64bit toward 32bit, so why would someone not consider a 32bit system? Take a look at the mac mini performance compared to a G5 iMac! I would very surely buy a 32-bit powerbook that would run slower than the current G4 systems but last 7hours on battery.
 
yes, people forget that the only real-world advantage we've seen so far for 64bit architecture is the breaking of the 4096mb RAM barrier. there's not enough space in a G5 iMac for anything more than 2gb of ram, so it really is just down to clockspeed and next-gen chip advantages.
 
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