[zebrahead090]

Uhhh...When do you guys think intel ibooks or Macbooks will come out?

[noah]

tomorrow

[Elysium]

2006

[psmith2.0]

March 14, according to the media invite I received this morning!

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 March 14, according to the media invite I received this morning!

Tell us more .

[Robo]

Or make us another fake invite. Either way.

[psmith2.0]

[oldmacfan]

[zebrahead090]

ibook Thin! Woot woot.

[oldmacfan]

This thread is "thin"

[psmith2.0]

Hey, a great - and informative - thread at AppleInsider about the new iBook!

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1499

Sounds like a really cool machine! iSight, Front Row, Photo Booth, most likely a 1.67GHz Core Solo, widescreen design a sub-$1,000 Combo Drive model and a SuperDrive model, same white design AND a FireWire port (anyone thinking Apple is yanking FireWire from ANY of their Macs is really being silly).

If the SuperDrive model still goes for $1,299, it's gonna be a monster seller!

[Roland]

argl. I don't want to wait till WWDC for an iBook. It sucks to be macless.

Another question though. If the new Dual core iMacs are supposedly only a bit faster than their single core G5 counterparts, could it actually be that a 1.67 core solo processor is a bit slower than a single core G4?

[psmith2.0]

Where are you getting WWDC from? The article (and most of the rumors from AppleInsider and ThinkSecret) mention spring and an April/May timeframe. WWDC is in June, I think.

It might not be that long of a wait? I'd love to see them released in April, just so I could see what's what and make a final decision on a few things...

As for the Core Solo thing, I don't know. I assume, even at only a few hundred MHz higher than the current iBook G4 speeds, it'll still have a larger cache and bus to help it along. Assuming it does, and if Apple also decided to make 5400rpm hard drives standard on the iBook, that would all make for a snappy little performer, wouldn't it?

- 1.42 G4 > 1.67 Intel Core Solo
- 142MHz bus > 667MHz bus (I'm assuming this and the cache...someone correct me if I'm wrong!)
- 512k L2 cache > 2MB (or even 1MB?)
- 4200rpm HD > 5400rpm HD (just fantasizing on this one...who knows if they will?)

Is there a spec sheet/listing on the various features of the Core Solo stuff? We know - because of the new iMac and MacBook Pro - what the above numbers are on the Core Duos Apple went with...are they the same type of numbers on the Core Solo too, the bus and cache specs?

[chucker]

Reasons to believe the iBook will be updated soon:
1) its last revision is by far the longest ago compared to other Macs, if you exclude the eMac, which you do want to. It is only 14 days beyond its average update schedule, or 8%, but all other Macs have had their schedules reduced, it seems.
2) Apple wants something to offer for the upcoming new semester at colleges. The MacBook Pro is certainly not it.

[MCQ]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 Is there a spec sheet/listing on the various features of the Core Solo stuff? We know - because of the new iMac and MacBook Pro - what the above numbers are on the Core Duos Apple went with...are they the same type of numbers on the Core Solo too, the bus and cache specs?

Well, the only "publicly" known Core Solo listed on Intel's pricelist is the following:
http://www.intel.com/intel/finance/pricelist/

Intel® Core™ Solo Processor
Mobile (FCBGA6 / FCPGA6)
T1300 (2M L2 cache 1.66 GHz 667 MHz FSB 65nm)

However, the above chip is $209 in lots of 1000. I don't want to get into an argument about Apple getting discounts, we don't know how substantial they'd be.

That said, the rumors for a while have been that there will be a version of the Core Solo with a 1MB Cache / 533 MHz FSB that will be the successor to the Celeron line, at a similar pricepoint ($100-$150). I continue to believe that if those processors are introduced in Q2, they will be the ones used in the iBook... purely from a business standpoint.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 - 1.42 G4 > 1.67 Intel Core Solo

Indeed. Or 1.33 G4 if you're going from the low-end model.

Screen: 12.1-inch or 14.1-inch screen to 13.3-inch widescreen.

Resolution, presumably? 1024x768 to 1152x720 or 1280x800. Unsure about this. Hoping for the latter, of course. For the 12.1-incher, that's a jump from 105.79 ppi, and for the 14.1-incher, from 90.78 ppi, to either 102.14 ppi or 113.49 ppi, both of which are well within Apple's usual range. Still, I have a bad feeling they're going to sacrifice those 48 vertical pixels and go with the smaller resolution, just to make the thing a little more "consumer"/"low-end".

- 142MHz bus > 667MHz bus (I'm assuming this and the cache...someone correct me if I'm wrong!)

Bus is at 133 MHz or 142 MHz. The Core Solo and Duo both appear to have 167 MHz, quad-pumped, giving (pretty much) effectively 667 MHz. This is significantly better than the G4 but significantly worse than the G5, but for better or worse, the G5's advantage will wane over time.

- 512k L2 cache > 2MB (or even 1MB?)

Indeed. Seems even the Solo has 2 MB cache.

- 4200rpm HD > 5400rpm HD (just fantasizing on this one...who knows if they will?)

Would be nice, yes.

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by MCQ That said, the rumors for a while have been that there will be a version of the Core Solo with a 1MB Cache / 533 MHz FSB that will be the successor to the Celeron line, at a similar pricepoint ($100-$150). I continue to believe that if those processors are introduced in Q2, they will be the ones used in the iBook... purely from a business standpoint.

Even that is a bit of a nice step up (the bus and cache, specifically) from the current G4 specs, it seems? And for its target audience, I'm betting it'll be a fine machine.

If they have to do that to keep them at the same prices, that would be okay.

The iMac and MacBook Pro didn't go up...all stayed at $1299, $1699 and $1999. I realize a few things were "dropped" from the MacBook Pro, but, IMO, enough things were added/improved to make it a wash.

[chucker]

In some very rare occasions, the G4's 142 MHz bus might be one tiny notch faster than the quad-pumped 133*4=533 MHz bus of the Celeron-style low-cost Core Solo. That's okay though. The iMac G5 had a much nicer bus too, at 1:3 ratio, i.e. 633 and 700 MHz, respectively, yet Apple was okay with changing it for a quad-pumped 167*4=667 MHz bus. For all intents and purposes, Intel's bus design is good enough™.

[Robo]

I think we'll see the "standard" Core Solo in the iBook/MacBook. That's what's going to be in other $999 and up notebooks (remember, the iBook is a mid-range notebook), and it wouldn't be good for Apple to bring a Celeron to a Pentium fight.

That said, the "Lite" Core Solo - the Celeron successor (hopefully, they'll ditch the "C" word) - would be great for the inevitable "MacBook mini."

[Roland]

I still think that they're saving the iBook for WWDC. I really love to see it in April, but I just don't think they'll launch it without much fanfare

[spikeh]

AI had news of iBook updates today. They think it's Spring but that's conjecture (and AI conjecture at that )

[Dave Hagan]

Originally Posted by spikeh They think it's Spring but that's conjecture (and AI conjecture at that )

Their conjecture has been incredibly accurate...

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Roland I still think that they're saving the iBook for WWDC. I really love to see it in April, but I just don't think they'll launch it without much fanfare

Why? April starts the education buying season. April is when the Core Solos are expected to be available en masse. April and October are traditional iBook update months (2005 being the exception).

It doesn't make any sense at all for Apple to wait until WWDC to launch the iBook/MacBook just so they can have more "fanfare."

They have enough stuff to upgrade this year, anyway. Sheesh. WWDC is not low on prospective upgrades (although I expect 10.5 to be the focus).

[thegelding]

ai has a very good source

g

[Roland]

I didn't know that the iBook usually gets updated in April, just don't want to set myself up for disappointment.

[Dave Hagan]

I expect OS X 10.5 Leopard to be a truly massive upgrade.

[pOps]

OMG June!!! it might take untill June...

and I'm waiting for it since last year already...

damn, damn, damn...

(from Appleinsider.com , dated today):

Asustek has secured a contract from Apple Computer to make an initial delivery of 1.2 million iBook notebook personal computers, the Commercial Times reported, without citing sources. According to the report, of which the reliability is unknown, the notebook will be powered by Intel microprocessors and equipped with 13.3-inch display. The report further states that Apple will not begin to sell the notebooks until June, while contract suppliers of LCD panels will start delivering the displays to Apple's manufacturing facilities in April. AU Optronics Corp., Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp., as well as South Korea's LG Philips LCD will reportedly supply the LCD panels for the new iBooks. AU Optronics is expected to supply about 40,000-50,000 panels to Apple a month, the report added. The Commercial Times also recently reported that Intel will cut Core Duo pricing ahead of a new 2.33GHz model in May.

[rollercoaster375]

Two months <_< I think I'll die.

[CFP]

I really hope this doesn't mean the MacBook is still two months away... as it is, I'm constantly checking forums and rumour sites like a true obsessive. I haven't wanted anything so badly since that Scalextric set of Christmas '89

[psmith2.0]

Pretending this rumor/story is true, why do they wait so long? Seems like most of the work is done with the MacBook Pro...how hard would it be to "scale down" and "leave stuff off" to create a consumer-level laptop based on the same Intel guts?

Does that mean they'll blow right through the big April-May buying season (or is that a myth itself...I've always heard that's when the education buyers "do their thing", but, not being in that field, I don't really know).

I, like bazillions of others, truly expected a new iBook in the March-April timeframe.

Odd.