Silent iBook update

A sleeper Tuesday, hmm, I wonder why such little fanfare about it? Does this mean that the PBs are about to be upgraded too? One has to wonder a little bit......
 
Haven't the last 2 iBook updates been quiet? Seems odd, no big announcement for a big product. (But, then again, it is only processor and HD).
 
No Airport Extreme or Bluetooth!?!? I was going to buy one this summer, but they don't have these features ... what gives? I surely doubt they are going to upgrade them again in July or August.
 
Originally posted by bjurusik
No Airport Extreme or Bluetooth!?!? I was going to buy one this summer, but they don't have these features ... what gives? I surely doubt they are going to upgrade them again in July or August.
Click to expand...

The iBook is the lowend consumer portable. If they load it up with AE, Bluetooth and some other goodies, what's going to make you buy the 12" PB over it? Probably only a Super Drive if you need one.

MHz for MHz, the G3 is faster than the G4 with no L3 cache on non Altivec operations. I want to see some benchmarks against the 12" PB!
 
Although the new iBook is running at 900MHz, please don't forget the 100MHz system bus speed! It's no way faster than the PowerBook 867's 133MHz system bus.
 
Sure it's the low end model, but AE is their new technology, they should get it out there. I mean, even the new iMacs have AE and Bluetooth, and they are just consumer products. To me, it doesn't make much sense to put AE in desktops, it's not that hard usually to run a cord to it. On the other hand, this is supposed to be the year of the laptops. I want something small and portable without sacrificing features. Would it honestly have cost that much more to add Bluetooth or AE, no. Definitely not work the $700 more that the 12" AL is over the iBook.
 
Amen to that, bjurusik. I think Apple really should have done more than processor speed bumps. Usually when new products come out on their webpage I say to myself "Wow, that's cool!" but today I just felt...well, nothing impressed me frankly. I guess the current iBook owners have nothing to worry about, as there weren't any substantial hardware upgrades, pretty much only a minimal processor speed bump. I know iBook sales would eat at PowerBook sales if they revved the G3 to 1 GHz, but would that be so bad? Apple would still be making money...the G3 has been at 1GHz for longer than the G4, hasn't it?

And come on Apple, get with the program. If you want people to adopt your new technologies (AE, FireWire 2, etc), put them in new hardware! It's stupid business practice to try to stop the advancement of one product (iBook) over another (PowerBook) since as long as people are buying your product (either Book) you are still making money.
 
when did they update the apple stores layout? :confused:

cool updates though, now my ibook is out of date :( ;)
 
Originally posted by ddma
Although the new iBook is running at 900MHz, please don't forget the 100MHz system bus speed! It's no way faster than the PowerBook 867's 133MHz system bus.
Click to expand...

System bus hardly means anything. The G3 infact is rated for a 200MHz System bus. Apple keeps it at 100MHz so to not totally embarass the G4.

You have PC2100 RAM in the 12" PB running at (167MHz?) on a 133MHz System bus. Figure that one out.

Check out the URL below. The G3 bests the G4 in two apps by a fair margin.

http://www.barefeats.com/emac.html
 
Originally posted by bjurusik
Would it honestly have cost that much more to add Bluetooth or AE, no. Definitely not work the $700 more that the 12" AL is over the iBook.
Click to expand...

You just answered your own question. If Apple put AE and Bluetooth in the iBook, no way would people pay $500+ more for a 12" AL.

Now since it's still not there, a lot of people will kick it over and decide it's what they need and shell out that $500+ for AE and Bluetooth.
 
Originally posted by Snowball
I know iBook sales would eat at PowerBook sales if they revved the G3 to 1 GHz, but would that be so bad? Apple would still be making money...the G3 has been at 1GHz for longer than the G4, hasn't it?

And come on Apple, get with the program. If you want people to adopt your new technologies (AE, FireWire 2, etc), put them in new hardware! It's stupid business practice to try to stop the advancement of one product (iBook) over another (PowerBook) since as long as people are buying your product (either Book) you are still making money.
Click to expand...

If iBook sales were to seriously dwarf PB sales, Apple would be in some serious trouble. What do you think the R&D costs were for those new PBs? It's been incorporated into the price of the PBs, now Apple needs to sell a specific amount of them within a specific time to recoup those costs.

The current iBook design is going on two years now and has seen a significant price drop ($200). R&D costs were recouped and Apple could afford to do this.

Apple's main focus is PBs right now. They have so much invested in them there is no way they can afford sales to slow down.

So to sum it all up, Apple's product mix and price plan selection is carefully formulated to return optimum revenue for Apple. The idea of "as long as they're selling something" they're making money doesn't work in reality.
 
all this doesnt answer my question, how long ago did they update the layout of the apple store? ;) :p
 
well it IS only 100mhz and a few other little bumps.

in the past year, the iBook has only seen a 50% increase in processor speed. last year, i believe the top of the line model was 600mhz. now it's up to 900. that's nothing to get too excited about, that's all.

Originally posted by Ugg
A sleeper Tuesday, hmm, I wonder why such little fanfare about it? Does this mean that the PBs are about to be upgraded too? One has to wonder a little bit......
Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by kendall
You just answered your own question. If Apple put AE and Bluetooth in the iBook, no way would people pay $500+ more for a 12" AL.

Now since it's still not there, a lot of people will kick it over and decide it's what they need and shell out that $500+ for AE and Bluetooth.
Click to expand...

You're right, people wouldn't pay the extra money ... that's why the 12" AL is pointless. Sure you get a faster G4 processor, but I don't think anyone buys the 12" AL book for a multimedia intensive computer. But that's not the point. The don't even sell the old Airport basestation at the Apple Store anymore, so why include it in *new* models. Atleast give the buyer the option of upgrading to AE. It's like buying a brand new car with a tape cassette. AE and Bluetooth are just accessories ... consumers and professionals alike have cell phones / PDAs with Bluetooth that they would like to sync and would like to have a fast wireless internet connection. But now the consumer has to go out and buy the professional model because Apple was being cheap.
 
Originally posted by bjurusik
You're right, people wouldn't pay the extra money ... that's why the 12" AL is pointless. Sure you get a faster G4 processor, but I don't think anyone buys the 12" AL book for a multimedia intensive computer. But that's not the point. The don't even sell the old Airport basestation at the Apple Store anymore, so why include it in *new* models. Atleast give the buyer the option of upgrading to AE. It's like buying a brand new car with a tape cassette. AE and Bluetooth are just accessories ... consumers and professionals alike have cell phones / PDAs with Bluetooth that they would like to sync and would like to have a fast wireless internet connection. But now the consumer has to go out and buy the professional model because Apple was being cheap.
Click to expand...

But you see, people will pay $500+ when not given any other option. Apple is not being cheap, Apple is trying to stay in business.

Also, the iBook was not redesigned, so how do you expect them to offer AE? It is a completely different size than the original AirPort card.

AE Base Station works with the original AirPort card so it's not a big deal.

Nobody has a 11 or 54 Mbps internet connection so it's pretty much pointless unless you're transfering files within a home network. Even still, 54 Mbps is terribly slow compared to a CAT5 wire and 1000 Mbps ethernet.

You want all these little goodies with your iBook but chances are, you'll never use them so what's the point?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top