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iBook thin = The Heralded Intel Notebook


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iBook thin = The Heralded Intel Notebook
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shell
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Join Date: Oct 2005
 
2005-10-21, 23:34

From AppleInsider:
Quote:
One of the biggest rumors of the coming months will be Apple's new ultrathin/ultra-compact consumer laptop, usually referred to as the iBook Thin. Expect several reports on this topic, shortly to come....
Can anyone say Intel? I know people, including myself were thinking of a new desktop as the first to go x86, but this would make sense as well.
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staph
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2005-10-21, 23:40

Quote:
Originally Posted by shell
From AppleInsider:


Can anyone say Intel? I know people, including myself were thinking of a new desktop as the first to go x86, but this would make sense as well.
Linky? Maybe it's just me, but I can't find the original article.
  quote
Robo
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2005-10-21, 23:44

I can say "iBook mini."

I've been predicting it forever. Just look at the precedent:
MWSF 2004 - iPod mini
MWSF 2005 - Mac mini
MWSF 2006 - ???

I actually haven't heard until now that rumors of an ultra-compact consumer laptop were floating around the rumor sites, but I can't say that I'm surprised.

Especially considering the iBooks are being rumored to gain larger, widescreen displays - Apple did mention having the entire line-up widescreen in 2006.

For the appearance of the iBook mini, I've often thought of Paul's excellent mockup of new iBooks from (not so) long ago. Since then, however, Apple killed the iPod mini (and thus, the style of Paul's mockup), and lately I've been picturing the iBook mini as looking similair to the current iBook, only in bright colors - think the colors of Apple's old logo. (I think the next full-size iBook will end up looking like a squashed Mac mini, with the same style of rounded corners and silver trim.)

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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BlueRabbit
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2005-10-22, 00:35

First thoughts: the name "iBook thin" sounds really dorky. iBook mini would be a ton better, IMHO.

But as for the idea, though, it's not bad at all. I've seen a lot of really tiny (10" screen?) Sony Vaios around, and they look really portable and more or less useable.

Edit: Oh, and a link would be nice, too. I can't find the original over at AI.
  quote
shell
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2005-10-22, 03:31

My bad, it was macosrumors. Not the most accurate of sources, I know, but the "more to come" made me think there was more they weren't telling yet.
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v.noir
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2005-10-22, 03:36

I think Apple would just continue using the iBook name, and not have any suffixes at all like thin or mini. If they named it mini, that'd surely imply that there's also a non-mini version - and if the iBooks go Intel, then why would they keep old ones floating about?
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staph
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2005-10-22, 03:42

Quote:
Originally Posted by shell
My bad, it was macosrumors. Not the most accurate of sources, I know, but the "more to come" made me think there was more they weren't telling yet.
Damn, it definitely won't happen then.
  quote
BenRoethig
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2005-10-22, 12:26

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roboman
I can say "iBook mini."

I've been predicting it forever. Just look at the precedent:
MWSF 2004 - iPod mini
MWSF 2005 - Mac mini
MWSF 2006 - ???

I actually haven't heard until now that rumors of an ultra-compact consumer laptop were floating around the rumor sites, but I can't say that I'm surprised.

Especially considering the iBooks are being rumored to gain larger, widescreen displays - Apple did mention having the entire line-up widescreen in 2006.

For the appearance of the iBook mini, I've often thought of Paul's excellent mockup of new iBooks from (not so) long ago. Since then, however, Apple killed the iPod mini (and thus, the style of Paul's mockup), and lately I've been picturing the iBook mini as looking similair to the current iBook, only in bright colors - think the colors of Apple's old logo. (I think the next full-size iBook will end up looking like a squashed Mac mini, with the same style of rounded corners and silver trim.)
A smaller ibook I really don't see happening. Ultra light notebooks tend to be expensive. A ten inch Powerbook maybe. A 15" iBook should be eventually enter the fray. Apple is the only computer maker without a low end 15" machine.
  quote
Baron Munchausen
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2005-10-22, 12:52

I am hopeful and suspect a thin Intel iBook could well occur.

One interesting point, and something I have asked for many months ago (though for a slightly different reason).

Samsung is now predicting Flash Drives for Laptops. By this, they mean the drive where the OS is kept and I think it is right on. A HDD can be external for the bulk...that being your iPod!

What I mean is an iBook with, say, 16GB Flash storage, 1GB DDR, plus a 60GB iPod connected via Firewire...

With that thirsty HDD out the window, the battery can be smaller and the enclosure can be much, much slimmer...
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Anthem
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2005-10-22, 13:29

Quote:
Originally Posted by Baron Munchausen
Samsung is now predicting Flash Drives for Laptops. By this, they mean the drive where the OS is kept and I think it is right on. A HDD can be external for the bulk...that being your iPod!

What I mean is an iBook with, say, 16GB Flash storage, 1GB DDR, plus a 60GB iPod connected via Firewire...
A cool idea, but flash drives aren't there yet, right? The read-write issues are close to being solved, but there's still not enough cheap flash storage to put in laptops. It's all going into MP3 players.
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Robo
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2005-10-22, 13:34

Quote:
Originally Posted by BenRoethig
A smaller ibook I really don't see happening. Ultra light notebooks tend to be expensive. A ten inch Powerbook maybe. A 15" iBook should be eventually enter the fray. Apple is the only computer maker without a low end 15" machine.
Well, if the "regular" iBooks grow (and all signs point to them doing so), an "iBook mini" wouldn't have to be much smaller. My prediction, after the dust settles from the Intel transition:

iBook mini - 11" - $799
iBook - 13" and 15" - $999
*book ("Starbook," or compact prosumer notebook) - 11" and 13" - $1,499
Powerbook - 15" and 17" - $1,999

But yeah, Apple's always gone against the grain by having their smaller notebooks actually be cheaper. I like that - chalk it up to great engineering.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
Wrao
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2005-10-22, 13:40

Quote:
Originally Posted by BenRoethig
A smaller ibook I really don't see happening. Ultra light notebooks tend to be expensive. A ten inch Powerbook maybe. A 15" iBook should be eventually enter the fray. Apple is the only computer maker without a low end 15" machine.

Which is kind of ironic because they were the first company with a 15" notebook. They arguably made it the standard.

(I'm posting this from my 15" aluminum, what a great computer)
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Wrao
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2005-10-22, 14:03

There was a thread that was talking about how all the major rumors over the past few years have been realized and there aren't really many left. The subnotebook is left.
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Robo
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2005-10-22, 14:11

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrao
There was a thread that was talking about how all the major rumors over the past few years have been realized and there aren't really many left. The subnotebook is left.
Exactly. And the Mac tableet is left. And the Powerbook G5 is left. And the mid-range desktop is left. And the iHome is left. And the true iPod video is left. And the...

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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scrouds
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2005-10-22, 14:26

...And the... hey what about resolution independence?
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memorae
 
 
2005-10-22, 15:02

ihome is not really left actually, front row is about everything you'd want in iHome... So a proper iHome would be quite useless i think
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Brad
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2005-10-22, 15:26

Quote:
Originally Posted by memorae
ihome is not really left actually, front row is about everything you'd want in iHome... So a proper iHome would be quite useless i think
...except that Front Row is limited to the iMac. This leaves plenty of speculation open for a set-top device for the TV.
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Dave Hagan
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2005-10-22, 15:39

While I don't necessarily disagree that thinner iBooks are in the works, I have a problem believing anything I read from MacOSRumors.
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Reid
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2005-10-22, 16:18

Quote:
Originally Posted by BenRoethig
Apple is the only computer maker without a low end 15" machine.
And since when is that an indicator of anything? Apple doesn't do anything just because it's what the other computer makers are doing.
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Meltedbutter421
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2005-10-22, 16:31

if they did come out with a thin iBook... that would be soooooooo cool, even though i just bought a powerbook about 3 months ago. flash hard drives??? that would be awesome. how bout they make the mini iBook half the size of my powerbook? then id deffinatley consider it
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kcmac
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2005-10-22, 16:32

A smaller iBook does nothing for me. Now a smaller Powerbook....yes.

Being that Apple did nothing to the 12" PB recently causes me to think this way.

You remember that some of the rumor sites at the last minute were reporting the demise of the 12" Powerbook. Well, they apparently were wrong again. So what would make them right now?

The smaller and thinner and Intel using laptop will be the Powerbook.
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Robo
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2005-10-22, 17:33

I think Apple needs to split their Powerbook line between the power-focused computers(15" and 17") and the mobility-focused one (12"). Not saying that I want to see the 15" and 17" notebooks get bigger, or the 12" Powerbook get weaker, but having notebooks with different focuses in the same line isn't working anymore. Apple basically has three notebook lines already, with the 12" Powerbook acting as that unofficial mid-range. Apple just needs to make it official. I love the 12" Powerbook, but it's definitely not a Powerbook.

Think of such a compact mid-range notebook as the mobile equivalent of the mid-range "prosumer" desktop we all want to see - small and reasonably powerful.

Also, with the next-generation notebooks, I hope that they're smart enough to base the slower notebooks on the faster ones, rather than basing the faster notebooks (12" Powerbook) on the slower ones (12" iBook). That's caused a bunch of problems for the 12" Powerbook.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
kcmac
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2005-10-23, 20:42

Oh well. Looks like the iBook will get the intel treatment first according to this article.

http://www.hardmac.com/news/2005-10-23/#4659

Yonah - iBook
Merom - Powerbook. (Dual Cores!)
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Dave Hagan
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2005-10-23, 21:33

That article doesn't prove anything, and the source link doesn't say shit about Apple. HardMac a.k.a. MacBidoobie is using the same type of deductive reasoning everyone else is using.

That said, the article matches similar claims by *gasp* MacOSRumors. Knock me over with a feather!
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gsxrboy
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2005-10-23, 23:17

And Yonah will be available in single and dual core anyhoo..
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benkraft
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2005-10-24, 03:04

Quote:
Originally Posted by gsxrboy
And Yonah will be available in single and dual core anyhoo..
...albeit without the 64-bitness "vitally" needed for marketing purposes. Those won't make an entrance until Merom, afair.
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Skaffen
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2005-10-24, 05:12

Quote:
Originally Posted by Baron Munchausen
Samsung is now predicting Flash Drives for Laptops. By this, they mean the drive where the OS is kept and I think it is right on. A HDD can be external for the bulk...that being your iPod!
They're predicting it, but that doesn't mean it's entirely feasible for the next few years. The lifetime of flash memory is still a bit dodgy for general computer use. Great for an MP3 player when you mostly read data and write occassionally, but Samsung only claim 100,000 write cylce reliability for their NAND flash memory: Samsung. Wear levelling can cycle the blocks to extend that but with a fully grown up OS that caches a lot, can use GBs of vm and is designed to do lots of video, photo and audio manipulation, I wouldn't bet on it.

Of course that could be evened out by the fact that you're less likely to damage the HD by physically killing it, but I would be a little unsure...
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Baron Munchausen
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2005-10-24, 06:00

Quote:
Originally Posted by Skaffen
but Samsung only claim 100,000 write cylce reliability for their NAND flash memory
You have a point in that we do need some form of 1"/microdrive for cacheing and paging and for 'work in progress'. However, flash is suitable for OS and applications, as these are not rewritten thousands of times!

I never foresaw such a machine doing intensive photomanipulation running without an HDD of some form in the foreseable future, and I think we need to be sensible about the target market for an ultraslim book.

The point I am trying to make is a slim iBook can be produced without your 2.5" or even 1.8" drive ON BOARD. Many people use their laptops on the go and specifically for a limited set of documents and information. When extra is needed, goes my point, the iPod can step in with its 80GB capacity when required.
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Skaffen
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2005-10-24, 06:58

Quote:
Originally Posted by Baron Munchausen
You have a point in that we do need some form of 1"/microdrive for cacheing and paging and for 'work in progress'. However, flash is suitable for OS and applications, as these are not rewritten thousands of times!
Probably kind of tricky to work that out though, not everything caches in the same place, and you'd need a fairly chunky Microdrive to cover things like PS use. Then saying to people they need to have an iPod to use it to it's full extent would probably not be popular, and I dread to think of the cost (4GB microdrive + 40GB of flash - ouch!).

I can see it happening in a few years time, when they've got reliability up, speeds up and costs way down, just think we're looking more like 2008+. Then it'll be a pure flash system rather than a (rather inelegant) hybrid method designed to make up for the failings of one form of storage.

Of course there may be a much better solution by then anyway.
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Baron Munchausen
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2005-10-24, 08:02

Quote:
Originally Posted by Skaffen
Of course there may be a much better solution by then anyway.

I admit I could be wrong, but it is just my view that serious PS users would be on a PB, not iBook, which is an EDU type machine and thus suited to the robust nature of Flash and the latest 1" drives (now touching 5GB).
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