Traveling in Style: What Are They Thinking

PowerBooks, iBooks get boost.(Product Announcement) in our site ibooks for mac

Macworld December 1, 2001 | Michaels, Philip At a time when most computer makers are struggling, Apple’s iBook and Titanium PowerBook G4 have been remarkable successes. And updated versions, unveiled in mid-October, now make these laptops even more compelling.

PowerBook Viewed from the outside, the new PowerBook G4s look much the same as their predecessors. But inside are serious speed improvements, particularly on the new high-end model. Powered by a 667MHz G4 processor and a 133MHz system bus, it’s one of the fastest Macs–desktop or laptop–Apple has ever built.

The other new PowerBook, powered by a 550MHz processor, uses the same 100MHz system bus built into previous PowerBook G4 models. Both variations offer 256K of Level 2 cache, a drop from the 1MB of cache in the original PowerBook G4. However, that cache now runs at the speed of the processor, not at half the speed, as with previous models.

Hard-drive capacity has also been boosted in these two models, to 20GB in the 550MHz PowerBook and 30GB in its 667MHz counterpart. Space-hungry users can choose a 48GB drive instead, via Apple’s Web site, and the company will also offer a slot-loading CD-RW drive as a built-to-order option.

The video subsystem of the PowerBooks has also been markedly improved. Gone is the ATI Rage Mobility 128 graphics processor that’s been around since the days of the PowerBook G3. Instead, these new PowerBooks come with ATI’s Mobility Radeon AGP 4X graphics system, allowing for improved DVD playback and faster graphics on some 3-D games and applications.

Both new PowerBook configurations offer built-in Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000BaseT), an improvement over the 10/100BaseT Ethernet support in the original Titanium PowerBook G4. The 667MHz model even comes with a built-in AirPort card.

These models are less expensive than the previous versions, too. At $2,199, the 550MHz PowerBook G4 sells for $400 less than the 400MHz configuration introduced in January. The 667MHz model sells for $2,999, compared with $3,499 for the 500MHz PowerBook G4 unveiled earlier this year. see here ibooks for mac

iBook Like the PowerBook, the consumer-friendly iBook doesn’t look much different — but there have been speed boosts inside. While Apple still offers an iBook configuration with a 500MHz G3 processor, the company has added two new models with 600MHz CPUs to the mix. In addition, the 600MHz iBooks include a 100MHz system bus, as opposed to the 66MHz bus in other models.

Memory and storage space have both been bumped up in this update. All iBook models now come with the Mac OS X minimum of 128MB of RAM and are expandable to up to 640MB. The base hard drive configuration has risen from 10GB to 15GB. And as with the PowerBook G4, these new iBooks are slightly less expensive than their predecessors, with prices ranging from $1,299 to $1,699.

Apple’s New Laptops

MODEL PRICE RAM DISK SYSTEM BUS OPTICAL DRIVE

PowerBook G4/667 $2,999 256MB 30GB 133MHz DVD-ROM PowerBook 04/550 $2,199 128MB 20GB 100MHz DVD-ROM IBook/600 $1,699 128MB 20GB 100MHz Combo IBook/600 $1,499 128MB 15GB 100MHz DVD-ROM IBook/500 $1,299 128MB 15GB 66MHz CD-ROM

MODEL VIDEO CARD ETHERNET AIRPORT CARD

PowerBook G4/667 ATI Mobility Radeon 10/100/1000BaseT included PowerBook G4/550 ATI Mobility Radeon 10/100/1000BaseT optional IBook/600 ATI Rage Mobility 128 10/100BaseT optional IBook/600 ATI Rage Mobility 128 10/100BaseT optional IBook/500 ATI Rage Mobility 128 10/100BaseT optional RELATED ARTICLE: MAC STUFF The Writing on the Wall Michaels, Philip