Widescreen iBook(s) pop up on Apple's site?
By Ryan Block 
posted July 25th 2005 2:35PM
posted July 25th 2005 2:35PM
So word is, of course, that new widescreen iBooks are en route currently, but what's the noise we've been hearing today about them allegedly cropping up on Apple's site late last night? Well, it wouldn't be the first time something like that's happened, but the problem is the 12-inch iBook pictured has the usual 4:3 (1.33:1) aspect ratio, and the "widescreen" has a very bizarre 1.57:1 ratio—not quite WXGA (1280 x 768, the standard 15:9 widescreen res), but somewhere more in the range of 14:9. Basically, we're not sold on its authenticity just yet (even despite most people seem to have taken the image in question down), so we'll have to continue playing on the Engadget hobby of choice: the waiting game.
so let me get this straight, apple is way behind everyone else in releasing a wide screen laptop and its not even 16:9. why people worship this company is beyond me.
Calm down there, jg. In fact, Apple has released a nuber of widescreen laptops. They're called Powerbooks. Secondly, if you read the post you'll realize most people think this image is fake, so ripping on Apple because of it seems a little dumb. And finally, we don't worship the company. We like it. A lot. And since we're in the vast minority, chill out.
The Powerbook has been in widescreen for some time now. It's the iBook (the economy line) that's getting the upgrade now. Don't be so quick to bash a company when you're uninformed.
Worship this company?
The question you should be asking is why are there so many morons using Micrcrap Winshit AND putting up with all the headaches and loss of time and money!
Apple over Microfilth ANY F**KING DAY BUDDY!!
Umm, apple had the first ever wide-screen laptop jg. They're the reason they exist =)
"so let me get this straight, apple is way behind everyone else in releasing a wide screen laptop and its not even 16:9. why people worship this company is beyond me."
are you retarded? The Titanium Powerbooks were among the very first laptops equipped with a widescreen. Guess why other companies began releasing widescreeners? to copy Apple. Look at the number of 17" widescreen laptops that's been popping out all over the place since the 17" PowerBook first came out. You're ignorance is beyond belief.
Blimey. You Apple Macintosh zealots do appear offended at the slightest whisp of controversy surrounding one of their products.
woah, relax #4.
but I have to agree with #3 - in fact, i believe apple was the first company to come out with a w/s notebook ever (powerbook 15"). but i am surprised that it's taking apple so long to come out with a ibook version.
and why no sff one?
it's really not a pc vs. mac thing - since they both have their pro's and con's. but then again, i'm like the swiss on this one: i use both.
sorry i stand corrected. i meant to say on all their laptops. dell and others have had cheap widescreens for a while.
by the way jay you are exactly what i'm talking about i don't worship any company they are companies.
First of all, Apple has had widescreen laptops (PowerBooks) for years. In fact, I believe they were the first to introduce a 17" widescreen model. They were also able to keep it at 1 inch thick, something no one else has been able to do even two years later. The iBooks on the other hand have had standard non-widescreen displays to date.
Second, the image is fake. Note on the widescrren model in the background the latch at the top does not line up with the latch release at the bottom. Apple would never do this and why would they hide the new model behind the old one? Fake.
they are just* companies afterall*. sorry typo.
Er, I think #4 was being facetious. Look 'er up...
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=facetious
this picture was posted on spymac a few days ago with someone stating they had made it because they were bored. if this is what you thought was leaked, it is just a mockup
Alright, here's another one for you. If I'm not mistaken, it sure looks like it says PowerBook below the screen. Definitely not iBook, or Apple. Tiny/blurred type, hard to read, but still.
It is very easy to tell that this is a fake. You don't even have to look for little details. Apple would never do a product placement for other company on there product. Especially not Subaru. Apple have been using generic photo on there PB and iB advertisement. (For eample, snowboarder, windsurfer, and etc.)
Although, Joe noticed the latch doesn't line up on the 14" iB. That was another clue.
If someone going to fake something like this. At least make it look believeable.
:)
it says iBook G4
it says iBook G4
did anyone notice how off-kilter the picture on the 14 inch iBook is, uhh can you say: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=fake
"If someone going to fake something like this. At least make it look believeable."
It's not worth the effort at this point, no matter how good or bad it is thanks to the "fact checking is for losers, POST POST POST!" attitude of the 'blogosphere' a crappy mockup, properly timed will get you as many ad clicks as a good one.
Plus now that Apple uses Myriad for all their type it's pathetically easy to copy. Although the kerning on this image is a little wonky [look at the 'See'].
All differences aside, it doesn't seem practical for Apple to adopt a new display ratio. When Apple released the line of aluminum cinema displays, Steve joked about how they sold the LCDs that didn't pass quality control to their competitors (Dell, etc). Of course Steve wasn't really joking, and Apple really does push very high standards for their LCDs.
But if Apple is the only vendor that is ordering 14:9 LCDs, there isn't much of a resale market to dump the poor LCDs, since no other computer makers are using that aspect ratio. Which means Apple has to either eat the extra costs, or start selling lower-quality LCDs. Then again, there might be a psychological reason to use a 14:9 aspect ratio (and cladding it in white, and using a one-button mouse...)
As far as the aspect ratios go, my 20" Cinema Display is 1680x1050... that's 1.6:1, another wacky aspect ratio.
I love Apple, but marketing an iBook that needs a serious power bost based on the fact that it has a widescreen monitor (which is cool, but approaching gimmick, and yes I know why widescreen is good) seems a bit lame to me. Then again, I've been bitter for the past few years that Apple hasn't come out with a notebook that actually has some zest to it. I'm looking at you, 1.6 gHZ G4 Powerbook.
Blah, who am I kidding. I want a Pentium-M Powerbook yesterday.
Its a confirmed fake people.
Jesus...calm down.
http://www.spymac.com/gallery/show_photo.php?picid=435777
This made as a fake by a Spymac.com member a few days ago. Relax.
Engadget & #19 --
I'm not convinced you guys are being reasonable. What's startling about Apple not using a 16:9 display?
15" Powerbook: 1280x854 --- 13.5:9
17" Powerbook: 1440x900 --- 14.4:9
20" Cinema: 1680x1050 --- 14.4:9
23" Cinema: 1920x1200 --- 14.4:9
30" Cinema: 2560x1600 --- 14.4:9
Last thing.
Apple! We want resolution in our monitors/laptops. 1024*768 DOES NOT CUT IT on a 15" LCD! I had 1600*1200 on a Dell laptop like 4 years ago, what's so tough about getting that basic functionality in there?
Uh, Felix - Consider the Apple Cinema display and the Dell 2405FPW, they use the same display, but dell doesn't buy back apple's lcds; both of them return their qc defects back to the original maker (even if they share the same maker). I'm not quite sure where you got that idea from - Display used: LG.Philips LCD LM201W01 panel.
But to equate apple's aesthetics and marketing campaign (which totally rocks, btw) with automatic performance, that's not a acceptable assumption to make.
Anandtech review.
*I love apple, I think Steve Jobs is a punkass - what's with charging so much for an OS X update (Tiger) masquerading as a new OS?
oops, i forgot - no links.
http://www.anandtech.com/displays/showdoc.aspx?i=2400&p=11
"Blimey. You Apple Macintosh zealots do appear offended at the slightest whisp of controversy surrounding one of their products."
Is it any wonder why? Look at the original poster.
Mac "zealots" are just tired of the ignorance. LOL ONE BUTTON CANT PLAY GAMES UNIX IS FOR GIRLS stuff that everyone seems to have. Bleh.
Apple didn't release the first wide-screen laptop. That distinction, at least in the US, probably goes to the Sharp WideNote which was introduced 2-3 years before Apple introduced their widescreen powerbooks.
Is it ever possible to post something about Macs that doesn't result in a pro/anti-Mac flame war? It's 2005--why does anyone even care anymore? Just use what you like, live and let live, and so on. Why all the bitterness?
Best,
Ryan
None so blind as those who will not see. I don't get the point of either side defending PC or Mac to their respective haters. #1 makes a post and immediately some Apple zealots jump on him.
There is a simple reason why I call the Apple first responders zealots though, since not all Apple users are. If in fact they were not zealots, they would either ignore the post entirely, or reply to the effect that the poster just doesn't get Macs, and that's ok. 4 sentences of vitriol on a blog do squat to advance knowledge of the PC users who don't wanna know and just give them more ammo to point and jeer.
A computer is just a tool to complete a task. Use what works for you. Any reasonable user of either platform knows both have strengths and weaknesses. I just wish blog postings would stop with the "am not!-are too!" schoolyard crap. I'm not even old, I'm just 23, and I can't imagine I would have gotten into a flamewar even when I was 16. Maybe Engadget's readership skews younger than we all thought [or is that less mature?].
Anyhow, remember two things.
1. A superiority complex is the manifestation of feeling inferior and vice versa
2. People who know they are superior don't feel a need to defend anything. If you went up to a nun, and a girl who'd had 10 boyfriends in the past year and called them both sluts, who would smile and shake their head at your ridiculous comment, and who would go off on you?
Think.
*puts soapbox away*
Good point Ryan. Intel inside everywhere! Too bad Apple went with Intel and not with AMD.
"Apple! We want resolution in our monitors/laptops. 1024*768 DOES NOT CUT IT on a 15" LCD! I had 1600*1200 on a Dell laptop like 4 years ago, what's so tough about getting that basic functionality in there?"
Apple keeps all their displays at 100 pixels per inch on purpose. It makes small text like most webpages use easier to read. I can't imagine reading engadget on a 12" 1600x1200 screen.
Even if the Titanium was the first widescreen laptop, Apple was hardly innovating. It's essentially their company mantra to incorporate bleeding-edge mfg processes and components that don't really make sense for PC makers until the prices come down. That's the luxury Apple has due to their small marketshare.
"Apple didn't release the first wide-screen laptop."
Are you sure about that?
http://lowendmac.com/pb/portable.shtml
Released in 1989...
Most LCD pixels are not perfectly square, so you can't determine aspect ratio simply from knowing the resolution is e.g. 1280x854. You have to know the actual physical dimensions of the display surface.
All this aggressivity because of an iBook screen size? Is it me or more and more the Apple guys look like the Scientology cult. Death threats, insulting others who don't use Apple, wanting them to change, if they don't change they are idiots, Apple can make no mistakes... If this is not a cult then I don't know what a cult is.
Seriously, Apple fan boys freak me out. On the same level as Scientology. The fact that Steve Jobs is a borderline sociopath proves my point.
Oy, #9... This assertion that Dell having an inexpensive widescreen means Apple should have one is a little asinine. "Oy, my Yugo's got a cupholder to fit my Big Gulp, why doesn't your Jag?" I like PCs, I like Apples. Maybe try staying on topic, rather than finding a ridiculous reason to badmouth something you're clearly already biased against.
"See everything in widescreen" ???
Cmon, Apple is a lot more creative and a bit more abstract than that. They used "Life is random" to sell their shuffles! That fake catch phrase is purely the work of your bedroom photoshop illusionist that has no creativity of his own and therefore is prone to a life of cutting and pasting his friend's photos onto gay porn pics.
33: At 12", right, 1600 doesn't make sense. What also doesn't make sense is that you can have a larger 14" screen that can't do anything over 1024. The more resolution, the better; I need a good amount of screen real estate.
Out of curiosity though, what's the advantage of locking the screens at 100 pixels/inch?
all these comments make me want to puke.
Whether you use a Mac or a PC, you're all still just a bunch of losers with nothing better to do than post on a gadget weblog's message board. I can't believe I just became one of you...
One quick correction for some of you guys:
Most of Apple's widescreen LCD displays, like those of everybody else (you know, considering that there are only like, four panel makers in the world) are 16:10. It's not "14.4:9". It's 16:10, on purpose.
Of course, being the film school grad that I am, I think it's silly to ever express any aspect ratio in any terms other than as a ratio to 1. Keeps things nice and clean and comparable if everything is in relation to 1 (as in 1.85:1, 2.35:1, 2:1, 1.77:1, etc.). But that's the way the non-film world works, I guess. PC makers just love to confuse people. 16:10 is the standard ratio for widescreen PC displays, specifically because it's a compromise between 4:3 and 16:9. I mean, people are still doing real work on these things, they're not just buying them for watching movies. So 16:10 it is, and it's true of every manufacturer, not just Apple. My 2 year old Compaq laptop has a 16:10 display, for example.
"Blimey. You Apple Macintosh zealots do appear offended at the slightest whisp of controversy surrounding one of their products."
Naaa they just get offended when some schmuck comes on the net who spouts out a know-it-all comment that is complete BS just as Windows users go all rabid when Mac users say Windows can't stay up for 5 minutes without BSODing which we know isn't true.
"Is it ever possible to post something about Macs that doesn't result in a pro/anti-Mac flame war? It's 2005--why does anyone even care anymore? Just use what you like, live and let live, and so on. Why all the bitterness?"
Because 1 out of every 4 people on the net are flaming morons? Seriously people are stupid. Just a thought.
#36: I know that some of my fellow Mac users go overboard, but the "Mac users are crazy zealots" rhetoric doesn't help either. The best way to deal with it is to a) ignore it or b) respond with respect, even when others are being asses.
#39: Unless you have a resolution-independent UI, more pixels per inch means smaller objects on screen, which can result in more eye strain.
#40: Agreed.
right. right. the apple/wintel wars are boring. agreed. especially when it just devolves into name calling. still, let's clear up one thing. they're usually started by someone who calls mac users slavish, cult-like, blinded, etc. and what absolutely drives the mac faithful around the bend about that is WE ARE LESS THAN FIVE PERCENT OF COMPUTER USERS?!!!!!!! you need 100% of everyone to use windows? and if not, you get all nervous and upset because a handful of us choose to go in a different direction? have a little more faith in your 95% advantage and shut the hell up already.
screw the waiting game...lets play Hungry Hungry Hippos
~wC
#26 the dell displays use the same panels but sometimes exhibit quite bad backlighting problems. get a good one though and they're as good as the apple displays.
we started buying some dell displays to run on macs based on the same reviews but in use they've not been as consistent across the panel as the apple displays we have which just keep on working and are lovely to use. put two dell displays next to each other and quite often they don't look the same either. we've had one develop a flutter in the backlight which if you thump then goes away.
apple also has a 3 year warranty - dell have 1.
imho, it's still worth the extra cash for the apple display unless you need all the extra connections on the dell. in the uk, the price difference isn't very large and the apple monitor design just looks nicer anyway, especially attached to a mac .