Apple Website Points to PowerBook G5

lewsmind writes "The Register has a scoop on the new PowerBook G5. According to this article at the Apple website has hidden clues that suggest the coming of the PB G5 very soon. ."

Apple is hiring thermal engineers.

[Treker]

Apple has posted job ads [monster.com] in classifieds and on Monster Jobs [monster.com] for a "Senior Thermal Enginee r" and "Thermal Engineers". This is much more promising as far as the possibili ty of a PowerBook G5 than the article above. Oh, they've also posted ads on the ir own job site (jobs.apple.com [apple.com]) for a Senior Thermal Design/Engineer...

Re:Pretty conceited...

[HeghmoH]

Pretty cynical of you to think that their simple mention of the timing was actually trying to take credit for the change.

Media magnet

[mushupork]

I am impressed by the amount of attention little ol' Apple can generate with mainstream and tech media alike. Perhaps we are at the dawn of a time when Apple begins to retake their market share, perhaps (gasp) getting back nto the double-digits in the next few years?

People are sick and tired of Windoze methinks.

Where's the dual-core G4 powerbook?

[argent]

A dual-core G4 would be cooler and clock-for-clock faster than the G5. Apple would be nuts to put a case-melting G5 in a PB before they take advantage of the new dual-core G4...

Re:Since when is Slashdot an Apple Rumors site?

[garcia]

contrary to rumors around the Internet, Apple has told Macworld that you can even do it yourself without voiding your warranty "unless you break something when you open it.")

Looks like heresy to me just like every other statement out there. When I said that I want an official statement I mean OFFICIAL. From Apple on Apple.com.

Hoax

[Bruha]

Sorry guys but I never saw the code however if you fool around with that link you can change it and get a 1x1 gif image no matter what.

http://switch.atdmt.com/action/apple_g4_powerboo k
http://switch.atdmt.com/action/apple_g5_powerbo ok
http://switch.atdmt.com/action/apple_37337_pow erbo ok

All render a image.

I call shenigans

PPC 970FX

[jtshaw]

The PPC-970FX is a 46% power improvement on the original PPC-970 design and it still is a thermal nightmare for tight spaces. Not to mention still uses too much power for a laptop.

When IBM delivers a new PPC 970 version I'd start getting excited about a PowerBook G5.

Re:iMac G5 upgrade in the future

[KoopaTroopa]

Others have mentioned it before, and I'm inclined to agree with them. Since you're already paying money for the LCD component of the iMac, investing that much plus $400 more into a 20" LCD that you cannot keep and use with another computer (easily -- Mac surgeons need not jump in) may not be wise.

Of course they are adorable, and I'd love to have one of either screen size.

Re:Media magnet

[chrome]

The fact of the matter is that no matter how much people on /. bag apple for suing leakers etc, for less than The Most Powerful 64-bit etc ... everyone knows that deep down Apple's stuff is just better than Microsofts'.

Apple have embraced Open Source software throughout their product - every mac comes with apache installed for instance, UNIX, 64 bit computing ... all the things that /.ers hold near and dear.

While everyone loves to bash Apple, especially considering their past, most people realise that the products they are putting out are pretty damn good.

I waited til 10.1 came out before I bought my first PB 15", and havn't looked back since. I can do pretty much anything I could do with a intel box running linux, plus much more - and it has a GUI that is well thought out and works well. You really need to try it.

A mate here at work was pleasantly surprised when I showed him how ANY application that makes use of the Aqua text entry boxes gets spell checking as you type as a standard feature. I think he realised there is a nice side to having an OS that is designed relatively cleaning from the bottom up.

Most of the geeks I know who never owned a mac before, are now considering a Mac Mini, because its cheap and can be used in a lot of ways - plus its like, not windows. I would hazard a guess that this is Apples evil plan, and before long all those geeks will be queuing up for iBooks and PowerBooks.

And in turn, the masses will follow. Because in the land of computing, the masses always follow the geeks.

Re:iMac G5 upgrade in the future

[amichalo]

[why] LCD that you cannot keep and use with another computer

Excellent point!

I am troubled with this too, but I also find myself askinging, if this iMac G5 will be relevant and useful 5, 6, 8 years from now, would I really be happy investing in a monitor that will last me that long, plus the life span of another computer? In other words, if conservatively, a Mac is relevant for five years, and I want to get two lifespans out of a monitor, I will be selecting a monitor for the next ten years. And in that ten year lifetime, will the monitor not get damaged (scratched), have a hardware failure, or become so outdated as to be irrelevant before the 10 years is up?

Such a touch decision.

I think of the iMac sort of like a Laptop - buy it the way you want it to be because you won't be able to upgrade latter. Laptops run their useful life and then nothing can be harvested but the data they held.

Re:Already gone...

[mattkinabrewmindspri]

Damn Slashdot for having the preview and submit buttons so close to each other.

Here's what I was trying to say:

In Google's cache [216.239.57.104] of the page, it's there, but it's a 1x1 image. And the image is still there [atdmt.com]. That's at the very least interesting...

Re:A more accurate way to predict G5 laptop arriva

[gimpboy]

I see no indication of scant supply.
I see no indication that current models are EOL'd on retailers' stocking systems.

Like this from mac rumors [macrumors.com]

PowerBook shortages are being reported by resellers worldwide, with Apple's own online store putting shipping dates now at 7 - 10 days out. Delays like these usually signify a product change is about to occur, and the G4 PowerBook is expected to have a minor speed bump revision according to Think Secret. G5 PowerBooks have been in the rumor news recently, but aren't expected to show for some time to come.

Or perhaps this [macrumors.com]

Macbidouille posts that FNAC (largest multimedia shop in France) has declared the Powerbooks "End of Life". FNAC is also present in other European countries such as Spain.
There will be no new shipments of the old revisions once the stock is sold.

Other powerbook G5 typos from apple

[SPF22]

Search google using ---> site:www.apple.com "powerbook g5" --. You can see that there have been other powerbook G5 typos on their sites. Make sure you translate the pages. But either way, they are old pages and clearly someone accidently typed 5 instead of 4. Where were you on that one Register?

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Not really.

[Fwongo]

As _xeno_ and others have said, the Avenue A site will take any query for the file name ("apple_g4_powerbook," "apple_g5_powerbook," "mango_juice" etc.) and dump a transparent GIF. So it's impossible to tell whether Avenue A had it configured specially for the apple_g5_powerbook keyword, or the other one, or it's just set up to track all queries it's asked for. According to ThinkSecret Apple is soon upgrading its Pbook G4 model, which would explain why they're adding stuff about it. Probably the Apple employee who added that code was lusting after the G5 and couldn't control his fingertips ;)

Re:Dodgy rumours

[ArbitraryConstant]

PowerBooks are not currently fast enough for CPU-bound tasks that they're supposed to be able to do*. The only question in my mind is whether Apple decided to fasttrack G5s into the PowerBook line or if they decided it would be better to do the non-trivial redesign required for the new chips** from Freescale (aka Motorola).

I'm on the fence.

On the one side, using the new Freescale chips would require a lot of design work that will go out the window when G5s become low power enough to go in laptops. That might not be this year, but it will be in the next few years.

On the other side, maybe that work won't go out the window. Even though PowerBooks will be 64-bit in the next few years no matter what, the chipsets and other design work can be recycled in the budget lines, which will no doubt be using 32-bit chips for some time into the future.

One thing is certain: PowerBooks are not currently competitive in areas that are primarily CPU-bound (heavy graphical work, video editing/encoding, etc). They're falling behind now and when Centrino II comes out they won't even be worth mentioning. Apple needs something very soon. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume they are currently doing their best to move heaven and earth to make something happen before it's too late.

Now, I believe it's time for me to get modded down for being critical of an Apple machine. Better get started before too many people read this.

* - I know your PowerBook is more responsive than a much faster Windows machine. I'm talking about CPU bound tasks that aren't necessarily interactive. Any responses involving day-to-day user experience will be ignored because I'm not addressing that.

** - Freescale has a slightly faster PowerPC chip that's pin-compatible but doesn't upgrade the bus. They also have single and dual-core chips that scale to higher clock speeds and have on-die memory controllers, eliminiating most of the need for a fast bus. These faster chips are not pin-compatible and would also require a new chipset due to the on-die memory controller. None are 64-bit.

Re:iMac G5 upgrade in the future

[KoopaTroopa]

Well, I reason that way because IMHO the monitor difference is a luxury and not an essential component to at least my enjoyment of an iMac. A 17" screen is plenty big enough for me. Since it's certainly not "dinky" then I do not see how it is unreasonable not to regard a significant upgrade to it (both in size and price) as a luxury and thus something I might want to be able to keep, since it's not an integral part of the enjoyment I get from the base unit.

I do see your general point, as the original poster pointed out to me himself, that the iMac market is very similar to the laptop market where one simply has no expectation of taking components with them after the lifetime of the base unit expires. So, perhaps this limitation is something everyone can just expect and live with. However, I disagree with your implication near the end of your post that the upgrade is almost necessary. Rest assured that many folks out there can have that "dinky" 17" monitor (_especially_ those in the iMac market) and be perfectly happy.