[Mac+]

That multi-coloured PB170 just screams Benetton doesn't it.

As for Sony co-designing the 100s - that's interesting. I wonder if they had a hand in the ultra-small 2400? (Was that it ... the one that was massively popular - and possibly only marketed/sold - in Japan?)

[EDIT] scrap that - seems IBM had a hand in the 2400 sub-notebook style PB.

[Oompa Loompa]

October the 19th is going to be an APPLE + INTEL day! Before the holiday season Intel & Apple are going to hurt the Xbox with IBM's triple-core PowerPC in a very interesting way...




You didn't buy my ipod video predictions as well, did you? Remember MTV in your pocket..?

BTW What's inside this new Ipod... wow, it plays h.264... Intel Xscale?

[RobM]

Originally Posted by Oompa Loompa (uncredited) BTW What's inside this new Ipod... wow, it plays h.264... Intel Xscale?

There's a new export option now from qt pro 7.03 - Movie to iPod 320x240 - you can't change or tweak anything tho' - doesn't say what the codec is, nada.

[Oompa Loompa]

Originally Posted by RobM There's a new export option now from qt pro 7.03 - Movie to iPod 320x240 - you can't change or tweak anything tho' - doesn't say what the codec is, nada.

Hmmm

From Apple's site:

Video support
H.264 video: up to 768 Kbps, 320 x 240, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats etcetera...

[MACchine]

"Pro iNnovations" == PowerBooks speed bump and integrated iSight like the iMac !!!

I want a big screen 50" TV that looks EXACTLY like a GIANT ViPod !!! :smokey:


WoOoW !!! Where is my paint spatter forum motif ???

[Elysium]

Jeez.. I leave the rumor mill for one day, and everything changes again...

Pro updates at last, and real ones this time (none of that minor bump crap). Hopefully black is back, especially in the keyboard and mouse (always hated white).

[Robo]

Originally Posted by cynical_rock Pro updates at last, and real ones this time (none of that minor bump crap).

Well, a major pro update, at least. It's possible the dual core G5 will be the focus of the event, with minor Powerbook updates as an afterthought (just because nobody would forgive Apple if they didn't update the Powerbook). Not trying to be pessimistic, but it's what AppleInsider is suggesting.

Originally Posted by cynical_rock Hopefully black is back, especially in the keyboard and mouse (always hated white).

Yeah, black gear would be really cool (no really?), especially with matching peripherals.

[Meltedbutter421]

I say:
Upgraded Powermacs with integraded IR ports (w/ remote control and front row)
Uprgraded Powerbooks with integraded iSights... like we saw the pattents for a few months ago. (also w/ remote control, front row and photo booth)
Photo Pro
Maybe upgraded Final Cut Suite?

[RobM]

What time is kick-off ?

last Wed I followed things here - have we got any other way to folow this one ? It is definately of more interest to me.

A Blog somewhere ? or one of the IIRC's ?

[Dima]

"mighty trackpad", "colred powerbooks"- guys, you're killing me... I guess the appearance of PB will remain just the same, maybe only with small iSight buildt in. The major upgrades are to done below the surface, and let it be signufucant speed bump, higher resolution of the display and more standart RAM and VRAM. That would be a perfect notebook if if happens so.

[psmith2.0]

I'm not sure. Apple might've gone out of their way to find another venue with no cellular or wireless reception.

Those weinees!

And yeah, I easily see the whole iSight/IR, Front Row and Photo Booth stuff being part of it...and certainly carrying on over to whenever the Intel transition occurs.

Any chance at all the iBook might get updated once more, before the holidays? According to the PR section at Apple's site, they were updated on July 26. We just saw the iMac G5 get updated five months after the last one.

What if, right before the holidays, Apple released iSight-equipped iBooks too?

With the eMac being gone and the Mac mini being headless, the only things left to add the iSight to are the PowerBooks, iBooks and displays...

The PowerBooks and Displays might get theirs next week. Could the iBook happen soon after, say in mid November or so? Built-in iSight, 5400rpm hard drives and 64MB graphics? A pre-holiday "sweetening of the pot"?

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Meltedbutter421 I say: Upgraded Powermacs with integraded IR ports (w/ remote control and front row)

Rather than integrating an IR port into the Power Mac (which sometimes gets enclosed in a tower cabinet, anyway) I think it's much more likely Apple will simply add an iSight/IR port into their displays.

Originally Posted by Meltedbutter421 Maybe upgraded Final Cut Suite?

TUAW seems to think that next weeks event will be software-focused, with a H.264 Final Cut Studio. They didn't even mention hardware, only saying that they won't expect much because of the Apple event this week.

Needless to say, I think that they're, uh, wrong. But as for new software...Apple's software is traditionally updated at MWSF, but maybe we'll see something next week too. Maybe. Does Final Cut Studio not support H.264 yet? Because if not, maybe that will see an upgrade, this being the Year of HD and all (and I know, that's mostly a marketing ploy).

[BlueRabbit]

Originally Posted by Roboman Rather than integrating an IR port into the Power Mac (which sometimes gets enclosed in a tower cabinet, anyway) I think it's much more likely Apple will simply add an iSight/IR port into their displays.

I agree. Especially if you keep your Powermac under the desk, the IR port won't be too effective. I see adding iSights/IR ports into the displays as more likely, and it wouldn't be too hard, since they already have Firewire input. Also, Powerbook users would also be able to use Front Row, which would be really cool.

[MACchine]

Paint sppatterredd Powerbooks YAH !!!

I thuNK I remember sending Apple a link to some kind of finish, anodizing, that looks like paint spspspattter !!!

[RobM]

"Does Final Cut Studio not support H.264 yet?"

It's not an acquisition format at all - a delivery format, yes.

So no you wouldn't edit native H.264. But you export out using QT conversion.
If thats any help.

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by Oompa Loompa (uncredited) October the 19th is going to be an APPLE + INTEL day! Before the holiday season Intel & Apple are going to hurt the Xbox with IBM's triple-core PowerPC in a very interesting way...

That would be interesting, indeed, but I think they'd hold off till next year for that; unless they really want to knock our socks off! That said, I don't think I'd buy an Intel Mac this early on, just because PPC apps, which make up oh... 100% of what I have (other than maybe Tiger, which can run in both?) will run faster on a PPC CPU than an Intel one with a crapy emulator like classic *ouch*.

[userinterface]

Hmm what were the rumors floating aroudn on the graphics cards? X800? Or is that asking too much?

I'm going to buy a new 15' powerbook. Remember when Apple accidentially published a higher resolutions spec in the manual for the 17' powerbook? What was it? And based on this what resolution would you "guess" that the 15' powerbook will be.

[MacRonin]

Originally Posted by userinterface Hmm what were the rumors floating aroudn on the graphics cards? X800? Or is that asking too much? I'm going to buy a new 15' powerbook. Remember when Apple accidentially published a higher resolutions spec in the manual for the 17' powerbook? What was it? And based on this what resolution would you "guess" that the 15' powerbook will be.

Dude, those 15' & 17' PowerBooks must suck the batteries dry in seconds...

Oh, wait, you probably meant "...

...but were too lazy to push the shift key...

;^p

[byzantium]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 Any chance at all the iBook might get updated once more, before the holidays? According to the PR section at Apple's site, they were updated on July 26. We just saw the iMac G5 get updated five months after the last one.

It would be great if the iBooks were updated. But I get the feeling last week's special event was all about the consumer iXXX products going into the holidays season. The iBook update should have been announced there...

but who knows; this sure has been a strange october!

[MacJeeper]

Originally Posted by Leonis Just to let you guys know that day is my B-day

Seriously? Mine too...too bad I already bought a 17 inch Powerbook before coming to college...oh well. Guess it's time to start saving my money again!

iTunes 7...with Rotisserie Oven, now done in colaberation with Ron Popeil's RONCO. But wait!...there's more!

[Matsu]

Any updates to the PPC line-up are nothng more than a glamour for most people. Apple will try to make them as attractive as possible without really lowering prices. However, unless you really need it, this just isn't the time to be buying a new PPC mac.

Those who already have a mac: we have perfectly capable PPC machines, and should wait for the switch. We might even want to hold on to our legacy machines for a while as the Intel software ramps up. Those in the windows world, keep using Windows. You may want a mac, but windows works well enough, and if you haven't switched till now, you really don't NEED to do it, just yet. Wait, you'll get a dual boot machine for your trouble.

As for PPC software support, I don't think it's really going to be so strong once the line is turned over, regardless of what Apple may say, and what can they really say without completely halting PPC mac sales? You just know it's going to (at first) be one or two cases of, "Yes, it works, but to have X/Y feature, or full functionality, you'll need the Intel version," followed by a "we'll get to it" approach by developers...

What would be more interesting is what Apple could do in the pro image management software arena. Not a photoshop, not iPhoto, but the right blend of a powerful RAW converter, noise reduction software (like a noise ninja, noiseware etc etc), up-res for print (like a genuine fractals), and a really easy B&W converter -- not something that resorts to the channel mixer, or does it in a better way, with different "looks" available, nice contrasty, wide tonality, whatever. A tool that takes a bunch of photoshop actions and makes them so easy and fast, or automated, and the results so good that it just isn't worth doing by hand anymore...

[curiousuburb]

Originally Posted by MacJeeper Seriously? Mine too...too bad I already bought a 17 inch Powerbook before coming to college...oh well. Guess it's time to start saving my money again! iTunes 7...with Rotisserie Oven, now done in colaberation with Ron Popeil's RONCO. But wait!...there's more!

It slices, it dices, it juliennes fries... it can cut through this nail... it will fix the broken trim on any car...

[Bryson]

Originally Posted by Matsu *snip* However, unless you really need it, this just isn't the time to be buying a new PPC mac. Those who already have a mac: we have perfectly capable PPC machines, and should wait for the switch. We might even want to hold on to our legacy machines for a while as the Intel software ramps up. *snip*

I don't agree with your main point. I think we've seen enough of the "Rev. As" of this world be badly flawed to make buying the last of tried-and tested design rather than the first of brand new design a good idea. Waiting until the Intel Macs are "ready" is way to long for a lot of people, me included.

If there are new PowerMacs this wednesday, (I wouldn't put it past them to produce some kind of ProPod... ) then I'm getting one.

[Matsu]

Originally Posted by Bryson I don't agree with your main point. I think we've seen enough of the "Rev. As" of this world be badly flawed to make buying the last of tried-and tested design rather than the first of brand new design a good idea. Waiting until the Intel Macs are "ready" is way to long for a lot of people, me included.

Unless, you're a pro who has a playing customer, who needs a job done that you can only do on a mac, or are only really comfortable doing on a mac, then you may disagree, but you're wrong.

Also, you have no evidence that rev one products have a measurably higher failure or fault rate. As much as you can enumerate many past rev A product "issues" I challenge you or anyone to actually quantify those issues as a percentage of units shipped and compare them to the results for all other revisions. I bet you'll be surprised. The rev A myth is just people putting entirely average failure/repair issues down to product revision. The issues, or others continue in all other revs and just aren't publicised int he same way. But if you count the units sent back for repair, there's bound to be little or no difference...

[MacConvert]

I'm wondering what the possibility of the PowerMacs getting quad-SATA HDs as an option would be? The G4 PMs had this as an option. 2 TB of HD space would be an excellent idea in the "year of High Def."

[Mac+]

Matsu - I like your posts, but that comment about challenging people for proof on the Rev A quality control issue goes both ways. Can you show us figures that indicate Rev A machines have the same unit return rate as the other machines?

I understand your point, but I am still inclined to believe (without proof at this point) that the Rev A machines do suffer more quality control issues than other models.

[Bryson]

Originally Posted by Matsu Unless, you're a pro who has a playing customer, who needs a job done that you can only do on a mac, or are only really comfortable doing on a mac, then you may disagree, but you're wrong.

I think you missed out a "in my opinion" somewhere there... It is possible for two people to have differing opinions without having to declare someone utterly wrong.

Also, your two exceptions at the start of that sentence decribe most puchasers of Powermacs, anyway. Thats the point - when I buy a Powermac, I'm going to have to live with it, make money from it and use it every day for years. I want tried and tested tech that I feel comfortable with and trust, not a totally newfangled thing that likely to be glitchy - the payoff for which is that I get to run Windows. No thanks.

Also, you have no evidence that rev one products have a measurably higher failure or fault rate. As much as you can enumerate many past rev A product "issues" I challenge you or anyone to actually quantify those issues as a percentage of units shipped and compare them to the results for all other revisions. I bet you'll be surprised. The rev A myth is just people putting entirely average failure/repair issues down to product revision. The issues, or others continue in all other revs and just aren't publicised int he same way. But if you count the units sent back for repair, there's bound to be little or no difference...

I wasn't actually referring to failure or return rate (although I happen to believe, in my opinion that they will probably be higher). I was referring to the "annoying" things that plague Rev A products, that although not strictly faults" do effect you using the machine effectively. The TiBook paint issue, for example. The iMac G5 rev A power and video problems. I could go on.

Surprisingly enough, I don't have access to Apple's return figures, given that I don't work there, so I'll decline your challenge.

[compulsive]

Originally Posted by Matsu Unless, you're a pro who has a playing customer, who needs a job done that you can only do on a mac, or are only really comfortable doing on a mac, then you may disagree, but you're wrong. Also, you have no evidence that rev one products have a measurably higher failure or fault rate. As much as you can enumerate many past rev A product "issues" I challenge you or anyone to actually quantify those issues as a percentage of units shipped and compare them to the results for all other revisions. I bet you'll be surprised. The rev A myth is just people putting entirely average failure/repair issues down to product revision. The issues, or others continue in all other revs and just aren't publicised int he same way. But if you count the units sent back for repair, there's bound to be little or no difference...

Actually I remember the beginning of OSX and the fact that USB support sucked so bad, and the fact that there were barely any print drivers, etc.

IMHO it is stupid to jump on the Intel wagon at the very beginning as you with be running Rosetta for probably more than a year, that you could be running a full speed DualPM.

But whatever floats your boat.

(BTW lets not get into, "no you are wrong")

compulsive

[byzantium]

Originally Posted by Matsu Also, you have no evidence that rev one products have a measurably higher failure or fault rate. As much as you can enumerate many past rev A product "issues" I challenge you or anyone to actually quantify those issues as a percentage of units shipped and compare them to the results for all other revisions.

I'll take the challenge. From macintouch's survey on the iMac G5

http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/#results

machine, total reported, total failures, % failures
Original iMac G5 17" 2778 501 18%
Original iMac G5 20" 1730 533 31%
New iMac G5 17" 812 100 12%
New iMac G5 20" 589 62 11%

(New is referring to the pre Oct 12 version)

31% of 20" iMacs failing is pretty high.

[byzantium]

Originally Posted by Matsu Those who already have a mac: we have perfectly capable PPC machines, and should wait for the switch. We might even want to hold on to our legacy machines for a while as the Intel software ramps up.

I think you need to qualify your wide-sweeping generalisations a bit. Some of us have old PPC machines that we <i>need</i> to upgrade due to issues with speed, lack of hard drive space, failing displays .. the list goes on and on.

My girlfriend was using a Pismo up until the end of last month - while it's a great machine; it definitely was showing it's age. She couldn't run iPhoto because it was so slow; the screen was very dim; many of OS X's features - like core image aren't supported. So she upgraded to an iMac

Matsu, you can justify your decision to buy or not; but please don't try and speak for other people; because you're not speaking for me or many other people who have their own reasons for needing to upgrade.