PowerBook Updates Too?

http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0501expo5.html

Road to Expo: PowerBook speed bumps to 1.5/1.67GHz confirmed

By Ryan Katz, Senior Editor

January 10, 2005 - Armchair Apple watchers can add another item to the itinerary of Apple CEO Steve Jobs' Macworld Expo keynote tomorrow: PowerBook G4 updates. Mobile warriors will be disappointed to hear that they'll have to wait a little longer for the already long-awaited PowerBook G5--expect an announcement, possibly, at WWDC in June, sources say--but the speed bump will breathe some life into a line that has gone without an update since April of last year.

At the high-end, the new PowerBooks will top out at 1.67GHz, sources say. Other chances will be similarly minor: the 80GB/4200RPM hard drive found on the current high-end 15-inch and 17-inch models will be replaced with 100GB hard drive spinning at 5400-rpm. The video card at the high-end will remain ATI's Radeon 9700, but it will be given a boost from 64MB of memory to 128MB. The PowerBook SuperDrive will also gain official support for DVD+R media, along with the DVD-R discs that have always worked.

At the low-end, the 12-inch PowerBook will be upgraded to 1.5GHz. Hard drive size will remain at 60GB, but the drive will be upgraded from a 4200-rpm model to 5400-rpm drive, marginally improving performance. Other specifications will remain unchanged from the current 12-inch PowerBook.

All PowerBooks will also be upgraded to the new Bluetooth 2.0 specification with Enhanced Data Rate, introduced in November. Bluetooth 2.0 is about three-times faster than Bluetooth 1.1, consumes less power, and is backwards compatible with Bluetooth 1.1 devices.

I can't decide if I should go jump off a bridge now, or wait until the official let-down tomorrow. I've been waiting since last year for a revision... for THIS?

as long as they keep the price down it'll do me fine! even though a little late!

No way will Steverino promote such a yawn-tastic upgrade onstage in SF. This will be a typical silent tuesday speedbump in 3-4 weeks.

No way will Steverino promote such a yawn-tastic upgrade onstage in SF. This will be a typical silent tuesday speedbump in 3-4 weeks.

Of course there is always hope that ThinkSecret is wrong... can't we...? Can't we...? How often are they wrong? :(

Anyone know anything about BT 2.0? It sounds like it's a hardware change to the specification...no hope that existing BT 1.1 devices can be upgraded, is there? Hint, hint? :D

as long as they keep the price down it'll do me fine! even though a little late!

There were previously rumored price drops in store for the Powerbook line. Take the price drops in conjunction with these modest speed/feature bumps, and that should tide most people over until summer.

Surprisingly, Powerbook sales have remained pretty strong despite the aging configurations. I would imagine the 12" Powerbooks have sold poorly due to the overlap with the much cheaper 12" iBook; I don't think the rumored price cuts will be deep enough to fix that issue for now.

I'm disappointed that the next generation GPUs won't make the cut. I though the Radeon 9800 Mobility was supposed to offer a big boost over the 9700.

I'm disappointed that the next generation GPUs won't make the cut. I though the Radeon 9800 Mobility was supposed to offer a big boost over the 9700.

HUGE boost, actually.

That's what I'm extremely disappointed in as well.

Yawn - I'm doing just fine with my PB 17' 1.33 - looks like I will be for awhile. This just gives me more time to save up for the Rev B. G5 or dual core.

+170MHz and BT2.0... Impressive... :rolleyes: