“Apple is planning to release its first entry-level iBook laptops with Intel processors next January at Macworld Expo in San Francisco, highly reliable sources have confirmed to Think Secret. It is not known exactly what processors or price points the new models will debut at, but it is thought Apple will expand the iBook line with one additional model and will lower prices—in some cases possibly $200 or more—to entice current Windows users and prove to the market it will be more competitive with the likes of Dell, Gateway, HP and Sony,” Ryan Katz reports for Think Secret.
“Those behind the report of Intel-ready iBooks are the same sources responsible for past reports of the Mac mini and photo iPod, first reported by Think Secret,” Katz reports .
Full article here.
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uh i mean don’t cripple it too much…
“Remember that they have one major competitive advantage that the rest of the industry does not: They don’t have to pay for a Windows license.”
What they save on a Windows license, they spend on OS development, so I’m not imagining a competative advantage here.
“The real problem is that major applications, like MS Office, probably will not be available to run natively on Intel Macs by spring. Would purchasing such a machine be a smart move before the software is available?”
It’s not likely that Apple will launch Intel-based machines without coinciding app releases. Majors like MS and Adobe are likely ready to release when Apple gives the signal.
I would take this with a grain of salt. This is wishfull thinking and hyping MacWorld. It would be a really great move by Apple if they could put out there first intel Mac that soon. But if this wishfull thinking doesn’t come true there will be a lot of whining and complaining about how bad MacWorld 2006 was. I hope it is but something inside tells me to be cautious.
FACT: THINK SECRET HAS AN AMAZING TRACK RECORD. Ok, now lets move on…
Apple is not going to intentionally cripple these machines. They will feature whatever iNtel can offer at the time. They will compare to spec wise to Dells that are probably in the same price range, except these will feature OS X and design by Apple. I think they will be priced starting at $699 (and will be comparable to a $699 Dell performance-wise).
They will sell fairly well and will bolster a traditionally weak quarter, but the iNtel Macs won’t really take off until Adobe and others release native running software. Next summer?
Think Secret also has a very big axe to grind. They want to get a little revenge for the outing of the site’s owner.
Whether it is spoiling Apple’s big surprise or raising impossible expectations for a big MacWorld disappointment, one way or another they are going to get it.
Take everything they say with a big grain of salt.
“…MS Office, probably will not be available to run natively on Intel Macs by spring.”
F*ck M$ Office! Don’t load that sh*t! NeoOffice/J and Appleworks/Pages for me!
MW = given
as in, I wouldn’t use M$ Office if it was given to me.
“F*ck M$ Office! Don’t load that sh*t! NeoOffice/J and Appleworks/Pages for me!”
Yes, be we aren’t counting individuals who live in their mom’s basement and fap to donkey midget pr0n.
True, the new version of Open Office is comparable to MS Office, but Appleworks is a complete and utter joke.
MDN Word: Class
As in, show some class, get an education and learn to express yourself outside of profanity.
Even though Intel based Macs will become hacker bait, if Steve announces Intel based Ibooks at Macworld SF 2006 for $200, I’ll buy 5 of them on the spot.
At this point, ThinkSecret could predict that the sun will rise tomorrow, and I’d still take it with a grain of salt. They have NO credibility at this time. They’re a joke, quite frankly, and I don’t understand why MDN bothers to report what they say.
I’ll also be waiting for the intel Powerbook, preferrably with the Merom chipset. 😀
What a hoot to triple-boot!
Elmer F.U.D.-
What? Why are you so mean to us? Why do you say, “we aren’t counting individuals who live in their mom’s basement and fap to donkey midget pr0n”?
I have two questions for you: 1) just because we live in our mom’s basement and use windows computers, are we not people?
2) How do I connect to donkey midget porn? What is the site address? Is it at MSN? mmmmmmmmmm sounds tasty . . .
PB smurf wrote:
“Is it 13″? Widescreen?”
For $200 it’ll probably resemble an eMate.
“No matter. I’m waiting for the PowerBook.”
Agreed. I’d rather buy a good product than something in Dell’s class.
A year ago, Apple’s ibook were very competitive laptops. These days, they just aren’t. Now, I’m not talking about for us Mac users (anything that doesn’t run os X isn’t even in the same park), but for switchers or anyone on the line, they just aren’t. I think the ibook will, or should be their best selling computer (it will be the biggest part of the consumer pc market), so they best make it competitive as fast as they can. I think it makes sense to introduce it first and they need to shave $200 off the price and add a third model. I really don’t see any other choice. People looking for desktop replacements, and that’s most of the buyers, want a 15 inch screen and they easily found under $1000 on the other side. Apple’s start at $2000!! It’s no wonder I couldn’t talk my father in law out the 15 inch Dell he just bought.
And once more Think Secret, the great bastion of truth and “insider info” raises its head to prognosticate upon us…
Can anyone tell me why the Mac mini is so ballsout cool? It’s a gimmic, a lure to get people on the dark side to take their first initial steps into the light of MacOS X. I’m plugging along on a Pismo 400MHz G3 with a DVD-ROM drive that bit the dust over a year ago (it was the 3rd to do so on my Powerbook – the first 2 within 6 months of buying it). But I’m not looking to “downgrade” to the mini. It would be good for the kids’ room, if I had any… It would be nice in the kitchen for recipes… It would be cheap in school computer labs… But it’s a non-starter for me, even if it’s more powerful than my G3 Pismo.
And if,… IF we see an Intel iBook at MWSF it won’t be Yonah, because it would negate the Powerbooks. I doubt it would even be a Pentium M, which is old-tech by now. It would have to be a Celeron, so as not to ridicule the Powerbook. And even then it couldn’t adopt the best features of that chip architecture, because it would still trounce the Powerbook.
Face it, if we see any new Apple kit “announced” at MWSF it’s gonna be a Yonah dual-core Powerbook – the bus, dual-core and faster cpu will ease a lot of the Rosseta lag, but it may be Summer before Adobe releases native versions.
The iBook would wait for the single-core Yonah, and when Merom ships in the Fall Apple will drop it in the Powerbook, creating the following range:
• iBook Jr.: Celeron 32bit, single-core, 12″, Intel graphics, combo drive…
• iBook “regular”.: Yonah 32bit, single-core, 13″ widescreen, Intel graphics, combo drive…
• iBook “hi-end”: Yonah 32bit, dual-core, 14″ widescreen, PCI-Exp 64MB gpu, SL superdrive, low-end of speed range…
• Powerbook: Yonah 32bit, dual-core, 13-15″ widescreen, PCI-Exp. x16 128MB gpu, DL superdrives, upper-end of speed range…
• Powerbook “Pro”: Merom 64bit, dual-core, 15-17″ widescreen, PCI-Exp x16 256MB gpu, DL superdrives, “bells & whistles galore”, hi-end of speed range…
I can believe the early introduction finessé but doubt the lower prices. We have seen lower price rumors in the past. People love to hope but Macs are worth it. And when you look at Total Cost of Ownership they usually are cheaper already.
This article says people don’t want 12″ laptops…that is B.S., I would say that is the most popular seller at the Apple Store. People love the size and most students lean this way over the larger 14″.