New iBooks. No widescreen. Bummer, dude.
By Ryan Block 
posted Jul 26th 2005 9:34AM
posted Jul 26th 2005 9:34AM
Yup, after all that hullabaloo about
widescreen iBooks headed our way this
product cycle—it just didn't happen. So what do the new iBooks have? Well, a sudden motion sensor to shut down hard
drives if you drop your machine (trust us, you're going to have bigger problems with your iBook than hard drive issues
if it takes a fall), Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11, the enhanced trackpad, and spec bumps to 1.33GHz / 512MB / 40GB / combo
drive for $999, and 1.42GHz / 512MB / 60GB / SuperDrive (aka a DVD burner) for $1299. Wow, Apple, way to show a
commitment to your PowerPC based product line before you go Intel. Carry on, everyone!
P.S. And yes, their store is down right now—so you can't buy one yet.
nice bump. its ok that it doesnt have widescreen.
all i can say is, bring the intel powerbooks. they are very much needed.
no widescreen and inferior chip power management compared to intel? what a total waste of money for this thing.
when are the apple/intel computers coming?
no intel powerbooks until '06. but hey, to get an ibook to manage your emails and other stuff for the road that is a nice little bump. i will pick one up and thanks stevie j for letting me save some cash.
a disappointing bump in specs. they could at least improve the screens over that 1024x768 garbage that's in there right now. in fact, that's the only thing that's keeping me from buying a 12" powerbook right now. come on, apple, get with the program.
btw, the store was up for me.
yeah it's a little disappointing, but that's what we get for getting our hopes up.
to #6: i understand considering a higher resolution screen for the 14" models, since those exist. but among 4:3 aspect 12" screens, i have not found a single one in a production laptop with a higher resolution than 1024 x 768. they simply do not exist. so if that's the one thing stopping you from buying a 12" laptop, then you'll probably never own one.
i think it's a decent bump... the money you save on not having to upgrade the ram can be put toward their new 100 gig hard drive option.
sounds good to me!
yeah it's a little disappointing, but that's what we get for getting our hopes up.
to #6: i understand considering a higher resolution screen for the 14" models, since those exist. but among 4:3 aspect 12" screens, i have not found a single one in a production laptop with a higher resolution than 1024 x 768. they simply do not exist. so if that's the one thing stopping you from buying a 12" laptop, then you'll probably never own one.
6: agreed, the retarded screen resolutions on apple laptops are ridiculous. 1024 is not sufficient for a 14" monitor. i had 1600*1200 on a dell laptop that cost 1400 bucks or so. that was four years ago.
well damn, after all the buildup this mini and ibook refresh is pretty dissapointing. when the next mac event, maybe we'll see something more interesting then?
and no core image capable graphics card?! what are they thinking with, their ass?
does it come with the same software? seems like i remember a word processing program was included in the first version.
decent bump, although i was really waiting for the upgraded video card and new widescreen monitors...oh well...
#8, please don't exaggerate, 4 years ago you couldn't get a dell laptop with that resolution for $1400...i was working at dell at that time...
looks like i'll have to get a dell laptop then
i'd figure apple would of release a widescreen ibook by now, oh well
uxga on 14" is too much. i think thatd get hard to read, but thats me. qc must be a bit tougher, as well. the thing youre missing, andy, is that these are not made for super duper power lusers who need to see everything. its likegiving flak to the low end dell line. no one here will do that. yes, the powerbooks could probably use a larger resolution...unfortunately, this article isnt about them, so that doesnt apply. just sit back and use your 1600x1200 dell, confident knowing youve got such a superior product.
i dont own a laptop, but ive got 2 15" lcds running 1024x768 and i think its jsut fine. id like something bigger...but something bigger didnt cost 175 at the time.
i had a few discounts on my side. you're right, i should have specified that the laptop (an inspiron) retailed at something like 1700 or 1800. whatever. doesn't change the main idea that getting a decent resolution on a laptop monitor is both very useful and not impossible. i'd probably be happy even with just 1280 or whatnot. but 1024? any way you color that, it's pretty bad.
9: hopefully. i'm really pulling for a pentium-m powerbook next year at at least 2.5 ghz.
the one good thing at this point, though, is that apple is finally including 512 megs standard on their models. it really is pretty necessary on os x if you're doing any sort of multitasking.
ricardo chavarria,
not true, i purchased a dell inspiron 8000 5 years ago with the uxga screen which had 1600x1200 resolution.
benson leung (#7 and #9)
toshiba portege m205 tablet pc. 12.1" screen. sxga+ resolution = 1400 x 1050. and it's been out for a while now.
i've received mine this morning, i really love my ibook !
apple's web site touts the "mere 4.9 pound" 12.1 ibook as the "lightest all-in-one consumer notebook on the market". that statement bespeaks volumes about apple's corporate ethics.
again, yes, 1600*1200 might be pushing it for a 14" monitor. all i'm saying is that 1024 is low, and this is a common complaint, yet other laptops have been doing this stuff regularly for years. the 15" powerbook even caps out at something that is also comparably low (1280, is it?), and that one is marketed towards the power user. i don't think i'm missing anything, really, i would simply like to see apple up the resolution a little bit. and no, i don't think having a decent resolution so that an icon can be less than one inch or whatever on a screen is as much of a power feature as you're making it out to be. it's an easy way to get screen real estate, and something a lot of users want.
"just sit back and use your 1600x1200 dell, confident knowing youve got such a superior product."
right, because that's exactly what i was insinuating. come on now.
>>apple's web site touts the "mere 4.9 pound" 12.1 ibook as the "lightest all-in-one consumer notebook on the market". that statement bespeaks volumes about apple's corporate ethics.
example please?
hooty,
was your dell a bto orphan? i have a couple friends who got that uxga 8000 for cheap because someone customized it but their credit fell through.
[quote=engadget](trust us, youre going to have bigger problems with your ibook than hard drive issues if it takes a fall)[/quote]
chances are your data is more valuable than than the ibook...
jeff, for heaven's sake, go to www.cnet.com and look at all the ultra-portables, tablets/ corvertibles and thin and lights that are under 4.9 pounds
pc guys love to come and bag in these threads. just shows how uncomfortable you guys really are with any technology you dont understand. powerbooks out sell most hp's compaqs toshiba and gateways.
with optical drives? for under $1000? absolutely not.
"(trust us, youre going to have bigger problems with your ibook than hard drive issues if it takes a fall)"
actually the ibook is a very durable machine.. i dropped mine numerous times and nothing chipped off from the casing.. and the hard disk is still running fine after 3 years.
i'm using a 1600x1200 15.4" toshiba i bought in october of 2002. i'm now looking to move to either a 2x17"1280x1024 desktop {and add a 24" 1920x1200 dell later} or just get a 1920x1200 laptop.
i'd consider a powerbook if they had a 1920x1200 15.4" lcd in there. otherwise i'll hope to be able install osx on my pc laptop someday...
once you go wuxga, you don't go back to noob/geezer xga 15"...
#27 quote: "pc guys love to come and bag in these threads. just shows how uncomfortable you guys really are with any technology you dont understand. powerbooks out sell most hp's compaqs toshiba and gateways."
what? that is not a logical argument. and besides, your telling me that apple enthusiast dont bag every thread that even mentions microsoft? powerbooks may outsell hp, compaq, toshiba, and gateway laptops if compared individually. however, making a claim that powerbooks outsell similarly specd pcs? laughable.
*yawn* i can't wait to install os x on the hp tablet that i'm shopping now (and will probably wait till like 02/06 to get).
and anyone that thinks it will somehow be a lower-quality experience than anything apple offers really doesn't understand the situation. about the only thing apple could give someone like me that third party software can't (mostly in regards to drivers) is support, and i'd never have any use for that anyways.
is it just me or is the ibook a better buy than a 15" powerbook? it's seven hundred bucks cheaper, and you get a superdrive standard. i was really thinking about a 15" powerbook, but for that price difference i could really go without a backlit keyboard.
the powerbook is supperior in many ways. the 128 mb of vram sure kicks the ibook's 32. the powerbook is about an inch thin compared to the ibook's 1.3". weight is an issue. the powerbook line has widescreen models and better rez(besides 12"). the list goes on...
i do agree that powerbooks are pretty expensive. $1300 for the new 14" ibook is phenomenal. dell won't even touch that price with similar specs. what a deal.
btw....the reason they didn't upgrade the graphics to use core imaging is simply because they want you to buy into their powerbook line. why do you think you can only mirror on an additional monitor when the ibook's graphics cards support monitor extension? they want to sell more powerbooks because they are more profitable. there is an open firmware hack to enable the monitor extension. i did it to my ibook and it works wonderfully.
it does support core imaging. it absolutely does. and powerbooks outsell most pc laptops is true the numbers are there if you want to look them up
[quote=engadget](trust us, youre going to have bigger problems with your ibook than hard drive issues if it takes a fall)[/quote]
i accidentally dropped my ibook a few months ago, breaking the screen hinge. the data was fine. the screen itself still worked but it had to be supported at all times.
a few weeks ago the screen started blacking out randomly so i took the opportunity to get a powerbook.
i have never looked back.
i once dropped my 12" ibook off a table while in operation and once it slipped out of my backpack and fell on an escalator. it still works fine. i'd say these things are quite sturdy.
34.....core imaging requires at least 64 megs of vram. the list of core image capable cards is at http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/coreimage/. no where on the list is the radeon mobility 9550 which is found in the ibook.
****, i have to pick up my ibook on sat. and i doubt they'll have this new one. i wish they released these earlier.
:(
from apple.com:
core image-capable graphics cards include:
ati mobility radeon 9700
ati radeon 9550, 9650, 9600, 9600 xt, 9800 xt, x800 xt
in regard to my previous comments, anybody find a consumer priced full featured notebook under 5lbs?
the ibook's graphics card is a ati mobility radeon 9550, so it is not on the list and does not support core imaging.
What the heck is a "consumer priced" notebook? It's just an Apple marketing term and means nothing. People will pay considerably more than $1000 for notebooks with specs they want. Hey, the Powerbook is more than $1000, is it "consumer priced"?
Yes, there are at least a dozen full-featured PC notebooks under 5 pounds, with optical drives that have better resolution screens with xbrite technology and the like and better battery life and are faster. In fact, it would be hard to find a new PC with as low performance specs as the iBook.
Apple has, optimistically, 4.1% of the world notebook market. That means 95.9% of the world uses something else. To imply powerbooks and ibooks outsell PC notebooks is simply stupid.
What are you complaining about Apple's marketing talk? You just used PC marketing talk with "xbrite technology." It's just a fancy name for an LCD. By "consumer priced," Apple is just saying that this line is their economy line which isn't high end by any means.
You should put your money where your mouth is and price a similar system from Dell. Apple has them beat. It's not even close.
I guess the bigger problem is the restricted policy apple use for the iBooks. For example what is the sense of restricting the external screen to mirroring on max. same resoltuion, while you should @ least offer screenswitching, maybe even screening like on a Powerbook.
If you ask apple its because they don't want to make to much competition to the Powerbook.
Come on Apple, we are all users and would like to get a nice usuable mashine. Why such a restriction?
I like the new iBook esp. the 12" a lot. But I don't understand why I should not connect my 21" LCD and use it?
Its possible as shown by the screen hack for the iBooks, but that also takes away your warranty.
So please Apple, do some good and stop such restrictions on the complete i-Series, that are on since the iMac.
You can do the screen hack in open firmware and it shouldn't be a problem at all. To reset your open firmware back, just reset your NVRAM by holding command n and v at startup. The hack is really simple and apple would never know.
actually the new ibook does support core image as it says so on apples website in the list of core image capable GPU's
more just a flat screen..need more wide i think
Who's ever buy this ibook?