So this apple thingy on the 10th jan...
Discussion
I stuck up a question couple of weeks ago regarding choice of laptop between MS and Apple powerbook. Advice was that i should wait until after some apple expo thingy on the 10th jan to see if there is any advance on new chips etc...
Is anyone going to it/ will have first hand knowledge of what might kick off..? Stuck on a mine site so bit out of touch with these things. But, if someone could post up any relevant snippets of info i'd apreciate it.
Ta!
Is anyone going to it/ will have first hand knowledge of what might kick off..? Stuck on a mine site so bit out of touch with these things. But, if someone could post up any relevant snippets of info i'd apreciate it.
Ta!
jimothy said:
Keep checking the apple site as they put the news up as it happens. Thay also will stream the keynote speach where the major announcements are made...
There is no live keynote this year. Check www.macnn.com/ for up to date news.
Steve Jobs' Keynote is at 9am Sanfranciso time (5pm GMT) on the tuesday 10th jan, you'll be able to go www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/appleevents/ and view the whole keyneote address shortly after its been given (not sure long how long it takes to be uploaded though).
I'm hoping for the Intel Mac mini....
I'm hoping for the Intel Mac mini....
jimothy said:
Keep checking the apple site as they put the news up as it happens. Thay also will stream the keynote speach where the major announcements are made...
There is no live stream this year
www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/01/20060103235134.shtml Sites like macrumors will be providing love coverage. Come on Intel based Macs...
Bacardi said:
A new Powerbook, or rather Macbook Pro, is here:
www.apple.com
I ordered mine the second the store site came back up. Estimated shippnig Feb 7th. I'll post my impressions when I get it...
Intel dual core chip has gone into the PowerBook (now "MacBook Pro"
.
- Expensive, but really fully loaded (DVD writer, remote control, Gigabit Ethernet, etc.). It's £2-400 more than the equivalent PowerPC Powerbook. Or viewed another way: 15" MacBookPro or 17"Powerbook for the same money
- Launch claim is "4 times faster", but treat that with some caution and wait for some independent test results. Will you really experience that improvement with the things you do regularly? To be fair, all the bus speeds have been uprated significantly, so I'm guessing hard disk use would be the bottleneck.
- Includes a built in iSight camera (does anyone really use these the way Apple thinks we do?)
- Also check out the uprated iLife and iWork packages which do a lot of things you may have wanted a dedicated programme for.
The MacTel machines still run Tiger and PowerPC applications using a piece of emulation software called Rosetta. If it works as well as described, that's a helluva piece of software. Native versions of applications will appear soon (MS office updates promised for March, Quark already have a beta). The true OS (Leopard) was not launched and is presumably still due Q3. Steve Jobs' whole presentation was done on MacTel.
No roadmap for transfer to Intel was announced (wasn't expected), and the old PowerPC books are still available. Microsoft announced continued support with Office for another 5 years, curiously for Intel and PowerPC. So perhaps the PowerPC chip isn't totally dead.
So what to do?
Mactel is the way forward. If you need the speed, or you want maximum future protection, that's what you should go for.
However. You can expect stock to be very limited (especially, if as I recall, you live in the wilderness known as Australia - you'll be waiting until the US, then Europe are fully serviced). If you placed an order today, I wouldn't bank on seeing it before April. Of course, you would prefer to have the native apps as well (though the impression I get is that the updates will be free, the major upgrades more likely to be linked to Leopard), and they are going to take time to come through.
But if you have the wedge, want 15", or want the iSight camera, I'd say commit and be damned. You can't really go wrong that way.
But the Powerbooks are still pretty decent (though I note no upgrades, and there doesn't appear to have been a price cut). I think it's reasonable to expect good support (uprated, native applications) for two more years at least, which might be the life you expect from it as your front line computer. If money is tight (or you really wanted 12" or 17", I would be tempted to at least wait for the full (not initial) magazine tests of the MacBookPro. Then decide whether it's worth the extra money to you (and pray for a price reduction on the Powerbooks, keep an eye out for keen deals, and keep on saving!)
. - Expensive, but really fully loaded (DVD writer, remote control, Gigabit Ethernet, etc.). It's £2-400 more than the equivalent PowerPC Powerbook. Or viewed another way: 15" MacBookPro or 17"Powerbook for the same money
- Launch claim is "4 times faster", but treat that with some caution and wait for some independent test results. Will you really experience that improvement with the things you do regularly? To be fair, all the bus speeds have been uprated significantly, so I'm guessing hard disk use would be the bottleneck.
- Includes a built in iSight camera (does anyone really use these the way Apple thinks we do?)
- Also check out the uprated iLife and iWork packages which do a lot of things you may have wanted a dedicated programme for.
The MacTel machines still run Tiger and PowerPC applications using a piece of emulation software called Rosetta. If it works as well as described, that's a helluva piece of software. Native versions of applications will appear soon (MS office updates promised for March, Quark already have a beta). The true OS (Leopard) was not launched and is presumably still due Q3. Steve Jobs' whole presentation was done on MacTel.
No roadmap for transfer to Intel was announced (wasn't expected), and the old PowerPC books are still available. Microsoft announced continued support with Office for another 5 years, curiously for Intel and PowerPC. So perhaps the PowerPC chip isn't totally dead.
So what to do?
Mactel is the way forward. If you need the speed, or you want maximum future protection, that's what you should go for.
However. You can expect stock to be very limited (especially, if as I recall, you live in the wilderness known as Australia - you'll be waiting until the US, then Europe are fully serviced). If you placed an order today, I wouldn't bank on seeing it before April. Of course, you would prefer to have the native apps as well (though the impression I get is that the updates will be free, the major upgrades more likely to be linked to Leopard), and they are going to take time to come through.
But if you have the wedge, want 15", or want the iSight camera, I'd say commit and be damned. You can't really go wrong that way.
But the Powerbooks are still pretty decent (though I note no upgrades, and there doesn't appear to have been a price cut). I think it's reasonable to expect good support (uprated, native applications) for two more years at least, which might be the life you expect from it as your front line computer. If money is tight (or you really wanted 12" or 17"
, I would be tempted to at least wait for the full (not initial) magazine tests of the MacBookPro. Then decide whether it's worth the extra money to you (and pray for a price reduction on the Powerbooks, keep an eye out for keen deals, and keep on saving!)cheers HiRich!
Am on break at the moment (internet cafe
), was gonna try a few links when i got back to work on monday!
I was originaly looking for a 15" powerbook, but with some upgraded bits from teh 17", such that price was almost the same anyway (i don't the 17" screen, it just makes the thing too darn big!)
So sounds interesting, i may well go down to the apple showroom here when next home (after i have researched a bit more)
Cheers
>> Edited by Buffalo on Thursday 12th January 10:03
Am on break at the moment (internet cafe
), was gonna try a few links when i got back to work on monday! I was originaly looking for a 15" powerbook, but with some upgraded bits from teh 17", such that price was almost the same anyway (i don't the 17" screen, it just makes the thing too darn big!)
So sounds interesting, i may well go down to the apple showroom here when next home (after i have researched a bit more)
Cheers
>> Edited by Buffalo on Thursday 12th January 10:03
Now the dust is settling, there are some interesting details leaking out.
On Speed:
Mac author & columnist Andy Ihnatko tested the Mac-Intel technology months ago. "You couldn't tell it was different" aside from its astonishing speed, he said in a telephone interview from San Francisco after the keynote. "Even Apple was surprised that the progress in developing the technology was free of glitches."
Now Ihnatko os a bit prone to hyperbole, but is pretty straight. So I think we can read into this that it works very well, and is significantly faster (let's say about twice as fast in normal usage, for the sake of argument).
Having said that, I have seen a site that indicates Acer are using a faster version of the same chip on their laptop. I find that odd as I would have expected Apple to demand (and get) the fastest possible chip. But it would appear there is at least one faster PC laptop.
Modem:
The MacBookPro does not include a modem, the USB unit is US$49 extra. Jobs believes even RoadWarriors have access to Ethernet and wireless everywhere. He may be right, eventually, but if you currently use a modem you will need to factor in an extra cost.
Battery Life:
Apple said nothing (and they normally do). The chip is believed to use a little more power. The screen, though slightly smaller, is much brighter, up to Cinema Display standards (which is impressive). But as a result, expect battery life to drop a bit from the 4.5-5 hours accepted for the PowerBook
PowerBooks:
The old 15" will only be available while stocks last. So keep a keen eye on apple.com and retailers for final discounts.
Mac On PC hardware:
Apparently things have gone very quiet, so don't expect to see this option, whether officially or unofficially, but...
Windows On Mac?
Apple have stated that there is nothing in the system to prevent users from running Windows natively (and therefore at full speed). Apple won't support this, but "word on the street" is that one company is already close to a beta to do this. If true, I think this could be a huge boon for switchers, and Mac users who are forced to Windows occasionally (e.g. for work). For the cost of a small app, and a bucket of extra RAM, (and an old Windows CD) you could run just the one machine as a Mac, but open the full power of Windows (like Classic) and Windows programs (specialist, or your old copies) with one click in the Dock. Of course you can already do this with VirtualPC, but only at half speed.
This is well worth watching.
On Speed:
Mac author & columnist Andy Ihnatko tested the Mac-Intel technology months ago. "You couldn't tell it was different" aside from its astonishing speed, he said in a telephone interview from San Francisco after the keynote. "Even Apple was surprised that the progress in developing the technology was free of glitches."
Now Ihnatko os a bit prone to hyperbole, but is pretty straight. So I think we can read into this that it works very well, and is significantly faster (let's say about twice as fast in normal usage, for the sake of argument).
Having said that, I have seen a site that indicates Acer are using a faster version of the same chip on their laptop. I find that odd as I would have expected Apple to demand (and get) the fastest possible chip. But it would appear there is at least one faster PC laptop.
Modem:
The MacBookPro does not include a modem, the USB unit is US$49 extra. Jobs believes even RoadWarriors have access to Ethernet and wireless everywhere. He may be right, eventually, but if you currently use a modem you will need to factor in an extra cost.
Battery Life:
Apple said nothing (and they normally do). The chip is believed to use a little more power. The screen, though slightly smaller, is much brighter, up to Cinema Display standards (which is impressive). But as a result, expect battery life to drop a bit from the 4.5-5 hours accepted for the PowerBook
PowerBooks:
The old 15" will only be available while stocks last. So keep a keen eye on apple.com and retailers for final discounts.
Mac On PC hardware:
Apparently things have gone very quiet, so don't expect to see this option, whether officially or unofficially, but...
Windows On Mac?
Apple have stated that there is nothing in the system to prevent users from running Windows natively (and therefore at full speed). Apple won't support this, but "word on the street" is that one company is already close to a beta to do this. If true, I think this could be a huge boon for switchers, and Mac users who are forced to Windows occasionally (e.g. for work). For the cost of a small app, and a bucket of extra RAM, (and an old Windows CD) you could run just the one machine as a Mac, but open the full power of Windows (like Classic) and Windows programs (specialist, or your old copies) with one click in the Dock. Of course you can already do this with VirtualPC, but only at half speed.
This is well worth watching.
If you are needing the laptop for Professional use I would hang back for a bit. This new intel thing may be quick but it appears to be more lifestyle consumer based than the previous powerbook.
There is no FW800 or SATA connectivity, none of the apple pro apps are supported yet and a fair bit of the cost is to do with marginal use items such as the iSight.
Expect to see a more Pro version appear soon.
Also my PB 15", 1.5Ghz, although now slow in comparison does what I need and is rock solid. Itrust it in a professional environment, not sure if the new ones will be fully glitch free yet.
I suspect that will be why apple haven't demanded the fastes chipsets yet.
There is no FW800 or SATA connectivity, none of the apple pro apps are supported yet and a fair bit of the cost is to do with marginal use items such as the iSight.
Expect to see a more Pro version appear soon.
Also my PB 15", 1.5Ghz, although now slow in comparison does what I need and is rock solid. Itrust it in a professional environment, not sure if the new ones will be fully glitch free yet.
I suspect that will be why apple haven't demanded the fastes chipsets yet.
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