Apple today announced a new line of PowerBook G4 notebooks with faster PowerPC G4 processors running at up to 1.5 GHz; faster graphics performance; and a 4x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) for burning professional-quality DVDs — all housed in the industry-leading aluminum enclosures that have defined the latest generation of PowerBooks. All new PowerBook G4s come standard with AirPortExtreme* 54 Mbps 802.11g pre-installed for wireless networking right out of the box.
“Apple’s PowerBook G4 notebooks continue to lead the industry with an unrivaled mix of performance and portability,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing in the press release. “No other notebook packs so much performance and so many cutting-edge features, including large widescreen displays, high-speed wireless networking, advanced connectivity and industry leading graphics, into such a thin and light design.”
Both the 15-inch and 17-inch PowerBook G4 now offer up to a 1.5 GHz PowerPC G4 processor and phenomenal graphics performance with the ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics processor. For customers who want the highest graphics performance, the 1.5 GHz 15-inch model and 17-inch PowerBook can now be custom configured with up to 128MB of graphics memory. The new 12-inch PowerBook G4 features a 1.33 GHz PowerPC processor, NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 graphics with 64MB of dedicated video memory and a larger 60GB Ultra ATA hard drive.
Offering the latest in wireless communications, every new PowerBook G4 notebook comes with built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking and an internal Bluetooth module for wireless connectivity to a range of peripherals such as cell phones, PDAs, printers and headsets, as well as the Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple Wireless Mouse.
All new PowerBook G4 notebooks include iLife ’04, Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications including iTunes for managing digital music, iPhoto for organizing and sharing digital photos, iMovie for digital movie-making, iDVD for creating and burning Hollywood-style DVDs and GarageBand, a revolutionary new music application that turns a Mac into a professional-quality musical instrument and recording studio.
Every new PowerBook G4 comes with Apple’s latest operating system, Mac OS X version 10.3 “Panther,” pre-installed. Customers can take advantage of FileVault, which uses the latest security standards and 128-bit encryption technology to ensure that data in the home directory is kept secure; Expose, a revolutionary new way to instantly view all open windows; Instant On, which wakes the PowerBook from sleep in just one second; and Automatic Networking, which automatically switches the network connections between Ethernet, 802.11 and modem. With enhanced Windows compatibility, files, printers and network services can easily be shared with Windows users.
The new 12- and 15-inch PowerBook G4 models are available immediately, and the new 17-inch PowerBook G4 is expected to be available in early May through The Apple Store, at Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.
The 1.33 GHz, 12-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of $1,599 (US), includes:
– a Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) optical drive
– 256MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM
– AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth
– DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support
– two USB 2.0 ports and FireWire 400
– a 60GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive
The 1.33 GHz, 12-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US), includes:
– a 4x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) optical drive
– 256MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM
– AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth
– DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support
– two USB 2.0 ports and Firewire 400
– a 60GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive
The 1.33 GHz, 15-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US), includes:
– a Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) optical drive
– 256MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM
– AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth
– DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support
– Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000BASE-T)
– two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 and 800
– a 60GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive
The 1.5 GHz, 15-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes:
– a 4x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) optical drive
– 512MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM
– AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth
– DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support
– Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000BASE-T)
– two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 and 800
– a Backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor
– a 80GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive
The 1.5 GHz, 17-inch PowerBook G4, for a suggested retail price of $2,799 (US), includes:
– a 4x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) optical drive
– 512MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM
– AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth
– DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video support
– Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000BASE-T)
– two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 and 800
– a Backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor
– a 80GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive
Additional build-to-order options for the new PowerBook G4 line include the ability to upgrade to up to 1.25GB DDR RAM on the 12-inch model and up to 2GB on the 15- and 17-inch models, backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor feature for the 15-inch PowerBook, the 4x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) optical drive, 128MB of graphics memory for the 1.5 GHz 15-inch and 17-inch PowerBooks, an 80GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive running at 5400 rpm on all models, an AirPort Extreme Base Station and the AppleCare Protection Plan.
See the new PowerBook line here.
Had a friend that I had been trying to switch for a while. He just called yesterday and told me that he purchased a 12″ PB. I had told him to call me before buying anything, just for something like this. Can he return it today and get a new model?
The 12″ is looking more and more like a real PowerBook with every revision. I love my 867, but it really does look like an iBook in silver clothiing in comparison to the current model.
What does this have to do with the iPod and the music business?
[for those that don’t get it this is sarcasm]
Ninth post.
This will be the final G4 revision of the PB.
Spending my money now…
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http://homepage.mac.com/johnhood
then add </sarcasm> tag silly, you don’t have to explain it. heheh, on my way to grab 15″ 1.5. Wooooo whooooo!
What’s with all this computer and software news?
13th post!
with this incremental spped bump now and the issues with the 90nm G5 chips, a G5 PB is not looking like it will happen until next year – sigh.
My sources tell me that Apple is trying to get liquid cooling into the Powerbook for the G5 chip and the technology still has a few bugs/leaks.
Rasmus:
A friend I helped to switch had a similar problem with the iMacs, when he bought it they came out with a new one the next week. They did an even swap at the Apple store. Even though he paid a little more for the old one. Apple had dropped the price, so the store charged him a restocking fee, but he got a better machine.
Damn, I no longer have the fastest Apple laptop. Oh well, 6 months is a good run.
No. That’s why you need to get duals in the first place….to kinda stay “ahead” of the curve.
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I like the size of the 12″ PB, however, one problem I have with it is that it does not have gigabit ethernet. The 15″ and 17″ PB’s have Gigabit
Well, I am disappointed they did not include at least the option to get a 7200 rpm drive. Those speed bumps are great, but will be barely noticeable to 90% of powerbook users and the drive speed is still a big bottleneck. My 1gz 17 really purrs with the 7200 drive.
sailfish, I wonder how “liquid cooling” can be the hangup. IBM knows how to cool laptops:
http://www.research.ibm.com/thinkresearch/pages/2001/20010808_cooling.shtml
heatpipes are very cool. and kewl. Small form factor shuttle computers come with them, and even with toasty amd processors, the fan never comes on.
Joe,
The “liquid cooling” rumor is one that just won’t die. But it’s complete bullshit. The 970FX processors run cooler than this latest iteration of Motorola chips at the same clock speed, so cooling isn’t the issue. It probably has much more to do with the production delays IBM is experiencing. Duh.
The lack of a high-speed HD interface leaves the Apple laptops in the in the past…
this is odd and troubling
A company pursuing the DV community and then selling laptops that are far below the standards required for serious DV producers.
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The 12″ PowerBook looks like a great machine now, and it is getting closer to being a full-fledged PowerBook, but the resolution is still too low. Why are they stuck on 1024×768????
And there’s no FireWire 800. And the default memory is still too low. So if I configure a 1.33GHz SuperDrive 12″ with 512MB of memory and add in the 80GB hard drive, I’m just $300 shy of the upper-end 15″ PowerBook – which also has Gigabit Ethernet, FW 800, higher resolution with a better graphics card, a faster G4 processor, backlit keyboard, and DVI + S-video (vs mini-DVI). But it’s not as portable.
Frustrating.
Thats what I thought A-bomb. They are really sexy chips.
kk is right about 7200 rpm drives, I think. No single hardware swap makes as much difference on pc’s than going from 5400 to the fast ones, imo.
The only thing I wish I had on my PB AL is the 4X superdrive, but Ill get along without it, not like I burn that many DVDs. I hope the 1GB RAM for PBs drops soon, would be nice to get a better price than $359
Red Wings never buy your memory directly from apple.com buy it at crucial.com much cheaper and works just as good. Ram is Ram.
The across the board standard AE is a nice addition as well. I too am very impressed with the new 12″ with this update.
Cool. Some new stuff.
Sputnik, if i am not mistaken, isn’t Apple and Panasonic working on delivering HD over Firewire?
Crucial ram always works, and 512 is about $125. this place has it for even less: http://www.wegenermedia.com/pbram.htm
I like the way apple charges for upgrades in nice ROUND numbers (including lots of zeroes). I bet BMW does it that way too
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