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Monday, August 31, 1998 Reality News Is Updated Every Monday And Thursday  Seybold San Francisco: Apple Has Focus Apple has an awkward way of presenting its latest offerings as of lately, though from a business perspective the plan makes some sense. Lately the focus has been on the iMac, which appears to be selling quite well. In fact, recent statistics state the 13% of all iMacs sold are being purchased to replaced PC based systems. We dig deeper into the iMac situation later in this edition of Reality, but lets get back to the topic. Seybold will be the first time that Steve will have a rather large audience of consumers, industry figures, and press to boast to; he'll take advantage of it. With help from our sources, we've compiled a brief list of likely happenings during Steve's Seybold keynote and Apple's presence at the show . The Seybold run down Largest Presence: Apple will once again have the largest presence of all exhibitors at Seybold, accommodating about 20 percent of the show floor space. New Wallstreet PowerBooks: Steve Jobs will hopefully announce the new set of Wallstreet PowerBook configurations which are as follows : 233/512k 32/2/56k/CD/Ether/14.1" (no floppy) $2799 266/1MB 64/4/56k/CD/Ether/14.1" (no floppy) $3499 300/1MB 64/8/56k/CD/Ether/14.1" (no floppy) $4999 The new series of PowerBooks will feature the following: 1) a new graphics controller (performance increase and multiple resolution support) 2) new low-voltage, low-power-consumption processors 3) will not ship with floppy drives (available optionally) 4) the bus speed will drop to 66 MHz price drops of $300 or more on the cache-less 233-MHz are also expected New Workstations: Jobs will put emphasis on Apple's new speed-bumped Power Macintosh G3 series of computers which use rev 3 of the Gossamer motherboard and support MPEG decoding. Jobs will talk about the success of the Power Macintosh G3 and the way it 'toasts' the Pentium IIs. Jobs will also touch on the fact that these machines pack more punch per dollar than anything in the past, and they feature low-voltage Motorola chips. Bake Offs and Taste Tests: Sources tell the Reality staff that Jobs will have a couple of his favorite demos on hand for the keynote; some speed tests placing the current set of Power Macs against the current set of Pentium II 400s. Jobs is also expected to have a pre-production unit of faster G3 processors on hand for the demonstration. AppleScript & Allegro & Internet Integration: Sources tell Reality that Jobs will talk about and demonstrate some key publishing enhancements that have been built into Mac OS 8.5, including native AppleScript. A demo of native AppleScript should also be run. Jobs will tout Mac OS 8.5 as the most significant system update since Mac OS 7.0 Quicktime & FireWire: Jobs will also spend some time focusing on Quicktime, Quicktime 3.1 (which features live streaming), and FireWire. He may hint at a portion of the Yosemite project where certain configurations are expected to ship complete with onboard FireWire. Great Strategies: As mentioned above, Seybold is a giant opportunity to talk to media, to convince the media , as well as the desktop publishing world. Jobs will talk about the strategies that are currently in place: Great hardware roadmap, awesome Mac OS X transition. Of course Jobs will throw around some figures, close to 500 new applications announced since the iMac back in May, hundreds of thousands of iMacs already sold, hundreds of thousands more in production. (Yes, there will still be a question mark in the consumer portable space on the product strategy grid :) ). ColorSync and WebObjects: As Seybold evolves into the Desktop Publishing/Internet Publishing convention, Jobs has all the more reason to tout the advantages of both ColorSync and WebObjects. Jobs is said to speak about the future of both products including WebObjects 4.0. Jobs will also mention how well adoption of WebObjects has gone. Expansion for PrePress: Sources also mentioned that Jobs has penciled into his speech a short segment on improved expansion for the Pro workstations product line. Jobs will mentioned the now certified 'expansion chassis' and availability of 256 SDRAM chips. He'll also mention the FireWire kit. In all, nothing *major* is expected, but Jobs will do an excellent job of painting an upbeat picture of Apple to the media. Jobs will also make sure the media understands that Apple is committed to the desktop publishing community, as well as the consumer markets. Apple is expanding, its growing, and it is making a comeback. In the Q & A after the keynote, we're willing to bet that Jobs will be prompted with a question regarding supply and demand. If you ask us, Jobs doesn't needs some practice answering this question. A new product is in short supply because it is a new product, but when you're attempting to make one of the greatest comebacks in corporate history.... you've got to be ready, and Apple is making some false starts. If you have any further information on this subject, please inform us.  Back To News Index Go Back To Reality's Main Page			News Index 1)Seybold San Francisco: Apple Has Focus 2)Consumer Portable to Outmatch iMac? 3)Major Changes at Reality Finally Underway 4)Chablis & Moby, New Powerbooks, Mac OS 8.5b7 5)New Studio Displays to Complement El Capitan Project 6)DVD For iMac to Fill Mystery Slot Return To Reality

Consumer Portable to Outmatch iMac?

Some additional details regarding the consumer portable have caught our ears in recent weeks. Most notably is the rumor that the Consumer Portable will have more in common with the iMac than just a motherboard architecture. While sharing the same motherboard architecture, referred to as 'columbus' or 'gossamer junior', recent rumors suggest that the consumer portable will also share a similar iMac color scheme and plastics.

The consumer portable has been referred to in many ways, to run down the list of some of the most common names, we have ; eMac, cNote, cMac, gMac, P1, Consumer Portable, and now iBook. eMac is on the way out. Apple is developing a consumer portable, not an education portable, though it will serve its place in the education market. We'll refer to the consumer portable as iBook for the duration of this report.

With rumors, comes talent, and there is a lot of talent on the web, in this case Digital Concepts. They have a very nice portrayal of the iBook concepts and rumored features, and have placed them into a brilliant 3-D rendering of an iBook concept. Though the color scheme may be boldly bondi, the consumer portable is said to sparkle in iMac translucent colors, only weighing 42lbs less, and packing a lot of punch.

While rumor has it that Apple is readying a new version of the iMac, running at 300Mhz, to debut many months down the road, the latest word around the Apple campus is that the iBook may debut with a 300MHz low voltage G3 chip. Expected to ship with Mac OS Lite, a slim version of the Mac OS with several enablers and touch screen/handwriting recognition support, the iBook will also run Mac OS X, according to sources.

Sources have also attempted to confirm other rumors, heard first at Reality, and then lifted and published elsewhere on the web. We've heard stories that support our rumor of the iBook folding 360 degrees to form a tablet (see image), and in addition have received support regarding the rumor that the iBook will feature an enhanced sleep mode to allow instant access to the iBook. Its been mentioned that the Newton Message Pad basically sits in sleep mode, and reboots only when necessary; this is said to be the plan for the iBook.

As far as battery life, the iBook may feature Lombard PowerBook Gen batteries. Numerous times we've heard about the possibility that the iBook would use flash RAM to store and manage the System, but no support has been present on that issue.

The iBook will obtain its low street price by featuring the cheaper low voltage chips, smaller drives, no floppy, a small passive matrix screen, and a new battery implementation. Less material will also be needed to produce each iBook, another plus.

Rumor has it Steve was planning to turn Macworld SF into the iBook show, as he turned Macworld NY into the iMac show. If you ask us, we don't think it'll happen in time.

For more information on the Consumer Portable check out the Apple Hardware Information Archive.

Major Changes at Reality Finally Under Way

We must first start off by apologizing for the lack of updates last week, but will immediately tell you that things will be irregular at Reality for at least another week's time. The Reality staff is picking up and moving, literally, and that includes our offices and our computers. We'll be moving into our new location on Wednesday, which may seriously conflict with Thursday morning's update.

We hope that you'll stick it out with us, but for the next week, we won't make any promises that updates will arrive on schedule. We hope to stick to schedule.

In Other News
Many may remember back about two months ago we announced major changes at Reality. We've been hard at work this summer implementing many of these changes, designing new layouts, fussing with html and so forth.

We'll be addressing many of the known problems with Reality in the very near future, this includes over sized news pages, poor printing options (cannot print single stories), slow load times, poor organization, and the outdated format of course.

If there is a single feature you wish Reality had, that it doesn't have, don't hesitate to let us know.

The BIG News
The big news: In about two week's time, we'll introduce to you the most original Reality, since the original Reality. Those who followed us back in the days of the original Reality may know what we are referring to. Reality used to be quite different, and somewhere along the line the way we present material was forcefully morphed into clone of some other media outlets who, to tell you the truth, we really don't want to be like :)

So, many designs later, and a lot of crumpled HTML, we believe we finally have a winner, just in time for Reality's birthday.

Stay tuned!

Chablis & Moby, New Powerbooks, Mac OS 8.5b7

We apologize for presenting the following few reports in this dirty unprofessional format, but our time will be limited for the next week and a half as discussed above. Yes, we'll be back to full stories ASAP.

Chablis & Moby: Details Trickle In
Our latest report on Chablis and Moby, the new couple of handsome Apple displays due alongside El Capitan, drew an onslaught of updated inside reports, and apparently fed other media outlets who then illegally duplicated portions of our report for the benefit of their publication later in the week.

As we reported to you first last Monday, Chablis: the code name of the 17 inch display, and Moby: the 20 inch, are a new set of displays under development at Apple that will feature top notch industrial design and a sexy new set of dark translucent plastics. The new designs will allow the displays to complement the new desktop casings (code named El Capitan) quite nicely.

While previously suggest to be the new additions to Apple's flat-panel Studio Display line, sources have helped conclude that Chablis and Moby are not flat-panel at all, but rather cleverly crafted CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) displays. On the other hand, sources promised that additional flat-panel LCDs will be forth coming from Apple some time in the future.

Below are some of the rumored details for the new displays nick named after the fruit of wine:

• Both Chablis and Moby are widely rumored to be flatter Sony Trinitron CRTs with a short neck design. The new design allows for a more compact display from front to back and offers a flatter display with a super fine pitch.
• The new displays are said to feature a dark midnight blue color scheme with lighter blue highlights (similar to the Studio Display) matching Yosemite's El Capitan casings.
• The casings, according to sources, are "simply gorgeous". To put it simply, the cubic figure of Apple displays is a thing of the past. You'll have a hard time finding sharp edges on these puppies. Sources who've come in contact with pre-production units of the new displays are confident in saying that the new displays will make Elroy look dumpy in comparison. ('Elroy', for those who don't know, is the widely proclaimed code name used during the development of the iMac).
• The new displays will apparently hover above the desk on a a tripod (also translucent), which according sources looks kind of funky at first. The new tripod base is said to be a mini-revolution in terms of display stands. The tripod stand will allow the new displays a wider range of adjustment and will clear space beneath the displays where users can place other objects, including the keyboard.
• Moby and Chablis are said to support resolutions of up to 1280 x 1024 at a refresh rate of 75Hz.
• Our rumors of Apple's Multi-Scan line being placed in jeopardy may be partly true, but it's better than you think. Sources state that Apple is aiming Chablis and Moby as the replacement for the Multi-Scan consumer line. This is slightly more refreshing, as previous rumors suggested that the display line would be 'Steved'; a common phrase among employees in Cupertino for a project that has been axed by Steve Jobs. To quote one of our sources "I hate when things get Steved". ;)
• While pricing information is far from final, sources tossed around figures of $500-$800 for Chablis and over a grand for Moby.

A few questions still remain however: Will Chablis and Moby incorporate ColorSync technology, therefore allowing them to replace both the Multi-Scan and ColorSync product lines, or are ColorSync versions forthcoming? With word that larger LCD Studio displays are forthcoming, will these new displays accommodate a space in the Studio Display line, the Multi-Scan line, or will they form their own display line?

We hope to answer these questions and more on the next edition of unsolved mysteries.

Apple to Produce PowerBook Maintenance Release
Reliable sources have informed us that Steve Jobs plans to 'fix' Apple's PowerBook product line during his keynote on September 1st at Seybold San Francisco. Below are some of the rumored enhancements:

• Apple will drop the cacheless 233Mhz configuration. The cacheless 233s are not selling well, neither are the smaller screens. Apple VARs have found themselves with a backlog of 233 configurations.
• All new configurations will include a backside cache (512k on low-end config).
• All configurations will be based on Motorola's low-voltage chipset.
• Apple is rumored to introduce a 266Mhz and 300MHz versions, both with 66MHz bus speeds, though rumor could be wrong.
• The new high-end configuration top out at 333MHz with a 83MHz bus speed. The 333MHz configuration will replace the 292MHz configuration which was EOLed several weeks ago (the 250 was also EOLed, as we reported a week ago). [See Update Below]
• The new PowerBooks should support a wider range of games and other applications which require a substandard resolution. This should be accomplished by updating the graphics chip to a Rage Pro which has additional support to scale to smaller resolutions. (Note this is not the multiple resolution PowerBook we've talked of in the past which is said to feature Manta hardware, that will be Lombard).
• The price per performance ratio is said to shatter that of the original PowerBook G3 Series.
• Apple will offer the new configurations to customers who still have PowerBook G3 Series laptops on back order.
• The new PowerBooks should be announced on September 1st but may not ship till some time afterwards.

Update
Word from sources today has it that Apple will not introduce the new high-end 333MHz configuration but instead will stick to 233,266, and 300MHz configurations. Very weird, very weird. This would imply yet another speed bump before years end, unless Apple plans to play it like PC manufacturers and let their workstations leapfrog their notebooks in the coming year. Stay tuned to MacNN throughout the day as they will keep you updated on the situation. We'll get back to packing now...

Update Configs and Prices Posted
As promised earlier, MacNN sources were able to dig up the official configurations and prices on the new set of PowerBooks due to be announced on September 1st.

233/512k 32/2/56k/CD/Ether/14.1" (no floppy) $2799
266/1MB 64/4/56k/CD/Ether/14.1" (no floppy) $3499
300/1MB 64/8/56k/CD/Ether/14.1" (no floppy) $4999

As mentioned in our initial report early this morning, price per performance ratios are very VERY appealing. All US Configs feature a 14.1" display. Wow.

Stay tuned to MacNN throughout the day as they will keep you updated on the new PowerBooks.

Mac OS 8.5b7 Internally Seeded
Mac OS 8.5b7 was internally seeded about a week and ago, according to sources. The new build consisted of the core system software only: The System file, and System Resources.

• Also seeded with the System and System Resources files was the latest beta of Energy Saver 2.1.1.
• Dozens of bug fixes have been made.
• A number of speed improvements have been implemented.
• Stability has increased once again.
• MacOS 8.5b8 is high speculated to be the last public beta of Allegro.

To view a screenshot of the our MacOS8.5b7 markup, click here.

For more information on Mac OS 8.5, and a full list of features, check out our Mac OS 8.5 Information Archive.

Mac OS 8.5 Beta 6: Semifinal

The latest public beta of Mac OS 8.5 was available earlier in the week, but seeded officially last Friday. Symbolically code named "Semifinal", Mac OS 8.5 beta 6 may be one public seeding away from hitting final candidate. While some noticeable glitches still remain in this build, they will probably have already been ironed out by the time you read this report.

Apple Adds Info Documents
Apple has finally inserted the "About Mac OS 8.5" document into the system update, according to sources. The document has notes about slow screen redrawing, Internet Address Detectors, and unusual or inconsistent appearance. Apple will indeed leave it up to third parties to update their applications using the most current toolbox enhancements, rather than patching the system.

VM Via Removable Media
Mac OS 8.5 now includes support for the use of removable media for Virtual Memory. Iomega will be announcing an updated version of their driver (6.0.2) that will support this new feature. The version of the Iomega driver (6.0.1) that ships with Mac OS 8.5, does not support these feature.

AppleScript And Application Switcher
Sources note that through the help of already-made AppleScripts, and those which users can develop, the visual application switcher can be transformed into a dock (similar to that in OpenStep). Users have noted that the command - tab key command application switcher may interfere with some programs. Apple has built an assistant into the new Mac OS Help that will allow users to customize their own key command. Switching to the previous application in the program switcher can be accomplished via command-shift-tab.

QuickTime 3.0 and Mac OS 8.5
The documentation also notes that some portions of Mac OS 8.5 require QuickTime 3.0, and in the case that an application should install an older version of QuickTime, the user must reinstall QuickTime 3.0 to keep from running into problems down the line.

Last Minute Alterations
Apple has also apparently altered the "Options" tab of the Appearance control panel. The options for dual scroll arrows and size proportional scroll thumbs have been consolidated into a single "Smart Scrolling" option. The "Options" tab now contains just two user options; SmartScrolling and Collapsible Windows.

There is one thing that's quite disturbing about this alteration; the Smart Scrolling option only allows double scroll arrows on both the bottom right and right bottom of the scroll bars. Previous users could choose to have dual sets of double scroll bars, one at each end of the scroll bar. [see image above]

Pretty Boy... Behave Yourself
While sources are quick to note that smooth progress is being made in the area of themes, it is clear that Apple will tout the Platinum theme as the official Mac OS 8.5 theme. The Gizmo theme appears to function properly, while the Hi-Tech theme still has some appearance glitches with floating windows. With final adjustments being made to the new appearance manager, the both themes now perform at the speed of the default Platinum theme, a definite plus.

Documentation
Sources tell Reality that a number of manuals that ship with Mac OS 8.5 will be in Adobe Acrobat format (PDF). On the other hand, Apple's HTML based help viewer is said to be the greatest thing to happen to the Mac OS in ages. Apparently, the Apple Help files will include a complete tutorial to get users started developing AppleScripts, and also contains AppleScripts within its documentation pages to perform demonstrations and actions for the user.

The Apple Help Viewer is going to be the first piece of documentation that Macintosh users are going to enjoy reading.

For more information on Mac OS 8.5, and a full list of features, check out our Mac OS 8.5 Information Archive.

New Studio Displays to Complement El Capitan Project

While rumor has it that Apple's Multi-Scan and ColorSync product lines may be in jeopardy, another display line at Apple Computer has just begun to blossom. Evolving with the 15.1" Apple Studio Display in March, Apple has received both praise and honors for these new displays. Aiming to follow in its footsteps, Apple plans to take the Studio Display product line to the next level beginning in early 1999.

As we first reported back in March, Apple has been hard at work on a new set of Studio Displays, larger Studio Displays. The two new additions to the product line will include a 17" model rumored to be code named "Chablis", and a 20" model which goes by the code name "Moby"; both named after grapes, you see.

Sources who've had the pleasure of previewing these new displays claim that they are the "most beautiful displays they have ever seen". Would we expect anything less from Apple? Of course not, so why ask? Sources also noted that though the new displays sport an almost identical color scheme to the original Studio Display, both feature a slightly different architecture to accommodate their larger size and weight.

Both displays are due for a simultaneous introduction along side the Yosemite Pro workstations that will feature the sleek new El Capitan casings (Early 1999, see following story on Yosemite). Why you ask? Because they will match, of course. The Studio Displays will complement the El Capitan casings beautifully, according to sources. In fact, they may be the only displays whom will match the new casings; all the more reason to keep that hammer a safe distance from the piggy bank.

Speaking of piggy banks, the new displays will carry a hefty price tag, though according to Apple sources, will be extremely competitive in the flat-panel display market. While pricing has not been finalized, sources state that Chablis, the 17" model should fall in the consumer price range. Moby on the other hand, will cost significantly more money.

Having said all this, lets not be absent minded to one important factor: you're not just paying for a screen, you're paying for some outstanding Apple hardware and design that surrounds the display. Supporting resolutions as high as 1280x1024, the new Studio Displays will draw glossy eyes and watery mouths from millions upon millions of graphics professionals and wishful thinking consumers.

For more information check out the Apple Hardware Information Archive.

DVD For iMac to Fill Mystery Slot

Well, what a weekend; iMacs literally flew off the shelves, and it's quite impossible to find one for sale within a 100 mile radius. The key however will be for Apple to keep these puppies on the shelves. Apple also aired its first iMac television spot last night. It was quite humorous, and all together a well rounded commercial. Heck, we're more impressed by the iMac now then we were three months ago. It's an amazing machine. OK, enough with the mushy stuff, lets get on with it.

If you can recall our Macworld reports, we published what we knew about DVD for the iMac, which wasn't much. In fact, Apple representatives declined to comment so many times that they successfully altered the english language. What started off on Wednesday as "we have nothing to announce at this time" soon evolved into "nocomment" by Friday. And no, we did not forget a space character.

Yesterday, an Apple employee had a change of heart. It took a dozen donuts, some smiley pies and a cup of coffee, but it would all pay off in the end. Apparently the covered compartment on the side of the iMac (labeled "Mezzanine"), which once housed the external monitor port on pre-production models, will have the option of being filled with a new AV card that should ship as part of a DVD for iMac kit.

The DVD kit, which of course should include a IDE DVD drive (or possiblt a DVD drive which connects directly to the AV card, read on), will ship with an AV card capable of MPEG decoding for DVD playback. The AV card should also offer ports for DVD Video-out, or possibly both composite and S-video. A software package will also ship with the kit including DVD system software, the Apple DVD Player (awesome new-age software) and other DVD goodies.

Sources state that Apple may choose to include the DVD kit as standard, replacing the iMac's CD drive with a DVD, sometime down the road.

Well, that takes care of that.

For more information check out the Apple Hardware Information Archive.

Recent Reports
Yosemite, Alti-Vec, QuickTime, Mac OS X Server, and More
PowerBooks in 1999: Update
Apple Secretly Developing a Business Mac?
Mac OS 8.5 Benchmarks And Tests
Huge iMac Advertising Campaign Around the Corner
Apple's PowerBook Plans
DVD Playback for "Silk" Power Macintosh G3s?
New Apple Hardware in August!
New Apple G3 Servers Revealed!
Mac OS 8.5b5 Update Seeded
Mac OS 8.5b4 Inside Report
Apple's Consumer Portable Will Morph?
Unreleased iMac Radio Spots

Apple Hardware Page

Mac OS X Page

Mac OS 8.5 Page

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