[MCQ]

Screw the Apple store watching. Yahoo Finance is the place to watch for PR releases.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050726/sftu069.html?.v=18

ricing & Availability The new iBook lineup is immediately available through The Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers in two standard configurations. The 1.33 GHz PowerPC G4 iBook, weighing just 4.9 pounds, has a suggested retail price of $999 (US) and includes: -- a crisp 12.1-inch (diagonal) active-matrix TFT display; -- 512MB DDR SDRAM expandable to up to 1.5GB maximum memory; -- a 40GB Ultra ATA hard drive; -- AirPort Extreme 54 Mbps 802.11g WiFi wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR; -- two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400; -- VGA video out, S-video and composite video out support; -- 56K v.92 modem, Ethernet (10/100 BASE-T); and -- a slot-load Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) drive. The 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4 iBook, weighing just 5.9 pounds, has a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US) and includes: -- a brilliant 14.1-inch (diagonal) active-matrix TFT display; -- 512MB DDR SDRAM expandable to up to 1.5GB maximum memory; -- a 60GB Ultra ATA hard drive; -- AirPort Extreme 54 Mbps 802.11g WiFi wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR; -- two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400; -- VGA video out, S-video and composite video out support; -- 56K v.92 modem, Ethernet (10/100 BASE-T); and -- a slot-load SuperDrive (DVD+/-R/CD-RW) drive. Additional build-to-order options for the new iBook include up to 1.5GB of DDR SDRAM, a 60GB, 80GB or 100GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

[MBHockey]

wow! a 130 mhz speed bump!why does apple even release updates like these?

[MCQ]

Originally Posted by MBHockey wow! a 130 mhz speed bump!why does apple even release updates like these?

Let's see:

• ATI Radeon 9550 Standard (32MB)... all the CI whiners can be quiet now.
• 512MB Standard
• BT Standard
• Scrolling Trackpad/SMS standard
• Bump to 40GB on the 12" iBook

[Wraven]

On the Apple web site now.

[thegelding]

modest update...no widescreen...still will be buying today for my eldest...should get her though 4 yrs of college

g

[TheWart]

Well, I am sure people will disagree (aren't opinions awesome ), but I am quite dissapointed with this update.

No widescreen is a *huge* letdown imo, and the 40gb drive for the 12" is still quite small.

As for the proc speed, it is pretty dissapointing as well, but pretty much expected...

Oh well, guess no "switch" for me....going to have to go with a windows laptop.

BTW, is the superdrive not a dual-layer burner??

[shatteringglass]

FINALLY. Goddamn, that took long.

[thegelding]

hmmm..still 32mb graphics?
still 133 bus
still 4200 HD

why was i waiting?

damn, next years iBook is gonna slam this one...but my daughter wants one now

and dad's can't say no

so



g

[mooty]

Originally Posted by MCQ Let's see: ATI Radeon 9550 Standard (32MB)... all the CI whiners can be quiet now.

Does that mean we get to see the ripple effect on dashboard now?

[torifile]

Sell the free iPod you get with it and you've got a lot of laptop for $800. Not too shabby, if you ask me.

Resale on my powerbook just dropped through the floor, though. :/

[InactionMan]

Originally Posted by MCQ Let's see: ATI Radeon 9550 Standard (32MB)... all the CI whiners can be quiet now. 512MB Standard BT Standard Scrolling Trackpad/SMS standard Bump to 40GB on the 12" iBook

I can't find anything on Apple's website that says anything about the 9550 supporting CI. Maybe I missed it.

[shatteringglass]

Looking at the product specs, I'm really disappointed. What kind of update is this, especially after nine months?

[InactionMan]

Yeah, clearly this isn't what Steve was referring to when he said Apple has some great PowerPC products in the pipeline.

I guess today's iBook is a better deal than yesterday's.

[MCQ]

Originally Posted by InactionMan I can't find anything on Apple's website that says anything about the 9550 supporting CI. Maybe I missed it.

Ooh! May have pulled the trigger too early. I take it back, I don't know... I was thinking it said 9650. I don't know exactly what the 9550 is then. I'd bet Luca could figure it out quickly though.

[mooty]

Originally Posted by MCQ Ooh! May have pulled the trigger too early. I take it back, I don't know... I was thinking it said 9650. I don't know exactly what the 9550 is then. I'd bet Luca could figure it out quickly though.

there must be some reason for thw upgrade to it, otherwise they might aswell of left it as is like in the mini's

[murbot]

Originally Posted by thegelding hmmm..still 32mb graphics? still 133 bus still 4200 HD why was i waiting?

I don't know man, that Radeon 9550 is pretty sweet. It delivers blazingly fast performance — I think like 800 million textured pixels per second or something. I think that means you that you can get the most out of fast-action games on it. The last time I saw one of these, I thought it rendered incredibly realistic graphics. (I remember watching in awe at how realistically it rendered elements like metals, liquids and wood.)

[error406]

Well, it's official: Apple's notebook offerings have become joke. 1024x768 on a 14" screen, you've got to be kidding.

They've also left enough of a gap between the iBook and the PB so we don't have to expect any major PB-upgrade any time soon. I can deal with Apple's notebooks not being state-of-the-art in terms of performance, i can deal with Apple being more expensive then more powerful notebooks, but this is getting really ridiculous in the value-for-money-department.

[Satchmo]

Clearly one of the lamest upgrades in Apple history.
Not solely because of the meagre offerings, but the time it took to get this.
It amazes me how Apple can sometimes be so dead on (recent iMac revision), but then drop the ball on this iBook that's been languishing for close to a year.

[shatteringglass]

Originally Posted by murbot I don't know man, that Radeon 9550 is pretty sweet. It delivers blazingly fast performance — I think like 800 million textured pixels per second or something. I think that means you that you can get the most out of fast-action games on it. The last time I saw one of these, I thought it rendered incredibly realistic graphics. (I remember watching in awe at how realistically it rendered elements like metals, liquids and wood.)

Did you just paraphrase the description of the chip from Apple's iBook page?

"ATI Radeon 9550

The Radeon 9550 features an advanced architecture that delivers blazingly fast performance — over 800 million textured pixels per second. That means you get the most out of fast-action games on the iBook G4. What’s more, the Radeon 9550 renders incredibly realistic graphics, thanks to support from the latest advances in programmability. (Watch in awe how realistically it renders such elements as metals, liquids and wood.)"

[mooty]

lol thats amazing how simular they are

[Franz Josef]

Originally Posted by TheWart Well, I am sure people will disagree (aren't opinions awesome ), but I am quite dissapointed with this update. No widescreen is a *huge* letdown imo, and the 40gb drive for the 12" is still quite small. As for the proc speed, it is pretty dissapointing as well, but pretty much expected... Oh well, guess no "switch" for me....going to have to go with a windows laptop. BTW, is the superdrive not a dual-layer burner??

Nonetheless full blown Macs under the hood, running Tiger and iLife 05. A few GB more on the Harddrive, bigger better screen or 512MB extra RAM don't make up for having to run XP and work with M$.

[murbot]

Originally Posted by shatteringglass Did you just paraphrase the description of the chip from Apple's iBook page?

Can't get anything by you, man. I thought everyone here would just assume I was clever, and really knew my graphics cards. Damn!



(hey, I had to do something to keep me from vomitting while reading the iBook tech specs pages)

[mooty]

Originally Posted by murbot CI thought everyone here would just assume I was clever, and really new my graphics cards.

sorry buddy, gotta try harder

Originally Posted by Satchmo Clearly one of the lamest upgrades in Apple history. Not solely because of the meagre offerings, but the time it took to get this. It amazes me how Apple can sometimes be so dead on (recent iMac revision), but then drop the ball on this iBook that's been languishing for close to a year.

It the lack of any processor updates from Motorola that is constraining them. This is why they jumped to Intel. <<<that face is how I feel about Motorola.
<<<<that face is pretty much how I feel about the jump to Intel.

[murbot]

Would it be an abuse of my powers to edit your quote?

Damn you fast posters!

OK, let's get this thread back on track - talking about this piss-poor update.

[Dave.m55]

Wow my order price has gone down quite a bit

[mooty]

I wanna know what the deal is with Core Image... will I see ripples dammit!!!

[InactionMan]

Originally Posted by murbot I don't know man, that Radeon 9550 is pretty sweet. It delivers blazingly fast performance — I think like 800 million textured pixels per second or something. I think that means you that you can get the most out of fast-action games on it. The last time I saw one of these, I thought it rendered incredibly realistic graphics. (I remember watching in awe at how realistically it rendered elements like metals, liquids and wood.)

That's exactly what I thought the last time I played Freeverse Software's Airburst Extreme. Wow! And especially when you see it on a brilliant display with 1024x768 resolution! That's a lot of freaking pixels! Open up Calculator.app and multiply those two numbers, it's a BIG number!

I'm starting to doubt the switch to Intel with this kind of tech coming out of Cupertino.

[shatteringglass]

Originally Posted by murbot Can't get anything by you, man. I thought everyone here would just assume I was clever, and really knew my graphics cards. Damn! (hey, I had to do something to keep me from vomitting while reading the iBook tech specs pages)

Hahaha, it just so happened that I was reading the Apple iBook graphics page when I was reading this thread: "Wait, did I just read that?"

And, ditto. Worst iBook update ever (or at least in recent memory).

[trans3062]

It's offical, Compaq...yes I said Compaq has better notebook hardware than Apple.

Maybe if they called it the iPod Book they would have gave it a better update.