>> Has anyone heard a date for revised Ibooks? I'm considering picking >> one up >> but I don't want to jump the gun if speedbumped, or perhaps even >> G4-based, >> Ibooks are on the way. >> > > I doubt we'll see anything soon. I can't see them getting faster and > with > the release of the 12" Aluminum G4, I doubt there will be a G4 iBook. > At > least not until the new 12" G4 hits the market and gains a foothold. > > -Mark
There have been a few people speculating on the future of the iBook at a message board I visit quite often. One person says that Apple will follow the industry trend of relegating the 12" notebook to the pro line, and then they'll slim down the 14" iBook to about 5.5 lbs. Consumers see the 14" screen as being more desirable than the 12" screen, even though most of us disagree. Anyway, PC laptops generally have 14" or 15" screens, so I wouldn't totally discount that idea. However, since the 12" iBook is so popular, I don't know why Apple would want to use only the 14", even if they do bring the price down to the current levels and slim it down a bit. Also, the next iBook revision (regardless of when it is) will get Airport Extreme compatibility. This is a good thing unless you're on a budget and/or you already own an Airport card. You can find used Airport cards on eBay for $50-$70, and you can now buy them for $79 from Apple. AE cards are $99 and used units aren't really available yet. In my case, I'm very glad I got an iBook BEFORE AE, because my school had a number of Airport cards to give to students for free. I got a free Airport card a few days ago, but if I could only use AE, I'd be out of luck. It's not as future proof, but 802.11b is still strong and it's still compatible with 802.11g, so it'll be around for a long time. Finally, the next iBooks will not boot into OS 9. This shouldn't be too big of a concern, seeing as how OS 9 is basically dead, but if you prefer OS 9 or if you have some programs that require you to boot into OS 9 (not just use Classic mode), you have to keep that in mind. A lot of disk utilities still use an OS 9 boot CD, so those won't work in an OS X-only machine. Here's what I see in the next iBook revision (probably a bit later than February, though it's possible): -Faster processors (duh) probably up to 1 GHz G3. No G4. -Possibly a standard of 256 MB of RAM, though it'll still be 128 MB on the mobo. -Possibly a faster graphics card, with 32 MB of VRAM on the low end... the high end iBook will still be 32 MB but it could be on a different graphics card like a Radeon 9000 or a GeForce 4 Go instead of the Radeon 7500. -As a few brave souls have suggested, the case might get modified, making the 14" model the only one available at the same price points ($999 and $1299). I don't think this will happen but it's entirely possible, in which case it leaves room for a higher-end iBook at the $1499-$1599 price range (where the current 14" iBook resides). Perhaps a 15" iBook? That would be sweet. However, other things will be revised earlier than the iBook. The iBook is still a great price/performance ratio, probably still the best in Apple's line right now (and it's been something like two months since it was updated!). A February update is remotely possible but it's more likely that the line will get added to rather than changed (just like what happened with the iBook a year ago, and the PowerBook less than a month ago). iMacs, eMacs and PowerMacs are next. -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Check our web site for refurbished PowerBooks | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-Books list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-books%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
