apple news/media reports

10/19/2005, 12:50pm, EDT

Wednesday, October 19th

New PowerBooks offer improved display, battery life

Apple today introduced new PowerBooks with higher-resolution and brighter displays and longer battery life on the 15- and 17-inch models. In addition, every new PowerBook now includes a DVD burning SuperDrive with prices starting at $1,499. Providing significantly more screen working area , the 17-inch PowerBook features a 1680-by-1050 pixel resolution -- 36 percent more than the previous generation -- and the 15-inch PowerBook offers a 1440-by-960 pixel resolution -- 26 percent more than the previous generation. Apple also said the new displays are up to 46 percent brighter on the 17-inch model and that both updated models also provide up to an additional hour of battery life. Prices are $1,499 for the 12-inch mode, $1,999 for the 15-inch model, and $2,499 for the 17-model. All new models are available today.

"The Apple PowerBook continues to deliver the ultimate in portability, performance and innovative features," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Our mobile customers are going to love working on the new high-resolution PowerBook displays and appreciate the added productivity that one more hour of battery life delivers."

The PowerBook line includes three models: the 1.5 GHz 12-inch PowerBook with an 8X SuperDrive and the new 1.67 GHz 15- and 17-inch PowerBooks with an 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support. Both the 15- and 17-inch PowerBooks include ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics with 128MB DDR dedicated video memory and now feature built-in Dual Link support to drive Apple's groundbreaking 30-inch Cinema HD Display as an external monitor, providing more than four million pixels of additional workspace.

Every PowerBook includes built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), integrated AirPort Extreme 54 Mbps 802.11g WiFi wireless networking, a scrolling TrackPad and Apple's Sudden Motion Sensor technology. Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger," the fifth major release of Apple's operating system and iLife '05.


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Ho hum...
0
10/19, 1:26pm, EDT
but better than nothing.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Jul 1999
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lucky me
0
10/19, 2:13pm, EDT
Wow. I bought a 12" PB back in Jan/Feb when the last revision came out. Doesn't seem like the 12" has changed much, if at all. Sorry if you really wanted an updated 12", but this is fantastic for me! At the time, I was really (naively) hoping for G5 PowerBooks, but when that revision was announced, I changed plans and bought then. Definitely the best Mac purchase I've ever made. And I find it hard to imagine that I'll ever do quite so well in this regard ever again.

(The 15s and 17s look like decent updates, though not fantastic. What this all really means, I guess, is we'll see really big things when the first round of Intel PowerBooks come out. Should be exciting.)
Dedicated MacNNer
Joined Oct 1999
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Battery life, but how?
0
10/19, 3:29pm, EDT
The substantial jump in battery life is intriguing. Did they a) put in a more energy efficient hard drive, b) install a more efficient backlight, c) run a 7448 processor at below its maxiumum bus speed, and/or d) use a more efficient chipset? I am very interested to know how they did it, partly because it would help to tell me how realistic it is going to be in practice. C) will show up if we can find out what the Level 2 cache is -- if it's 1MB, they used the new processor.
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Good question
0
10/19, 5:01pm, EDT
The Technology Overview pdf for the new Powerbooks says that the processor has 512 KB of L2, suggesting that it's still the 7447A in use. I noticed, however, that the SKU for the 15" battery differs from what you can order on the website and what the TO pdf states, so maybe it's a more efficient battery tech? (although they both are rated at 50-W-hrs).

A mystery...
Junior Member
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Good Enough!!!
0
10/19, 5:36pm, EDT
I've been dying to get a new PowerBook since my trusty old GigaTiBook has been slowly dying...

Sounds like a decent, if not exactly earth shattering upgrade. The bigger L2 cache, DDR2 RAM higher pixel count screen, better battery, optional 7200 rpm HD all sound good to me.

My only complaint (there HAD to be one, no?) is that they stuck with the same graphics processor. I'd have loved it had Apple gone with a 256MB VRAM model like the Radeon X800 Mobile.

But, this'll do me until the Rev. B MacTel PowerBooks (and bug-free software) make their appearance in a couple of years.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined Oct 1999
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10/19, 8:35pm, EDT
Argh, just got a Powerbook not too long ago too, towards the middle of summer. *sigh* The built-in dvd burner would've been nice, now that it's standard for all models.

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Intel PowerBooks?
0
10/19, 8:53pm, EDT
I know this has been talked about previously, but when are intel PowerBooks expected? Summer of 2006 or so?
Fresh-Faced Recruit
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Battery life
0
10/20, 7:27am, EDT
Response to photoeditor: longer battery life is not necessarily anything new. Higher capacity batteries have been available from Newer Tech for some time already. Apple's longer battery life claims may be a result of using new battery technology in addition to greater energy efficiency within the machine itself...
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battery life...
0
10/24, 2:15pm, EDT
is also probably extended with a 1/4 speed mode for the processor.

From my quick readings I think earlier PBs could only move to 1/2 speed...

jb.
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