Go2Mac readers know that we have been speculating that Apple is preparing to announce a new PowerBook that will fall directly between the just-announced iBook Dual USB and the professional PowerBook G4 Titanium. Never has one story elicited so many comments and reader feedback!
The new ‘Book, which we have affectionately dubbed Son of Pismo, will be just that: a Pismo logic board with Pismo features (14.1-inch TFT, G3 processor, Pismo ports, etc.) but packed into a new enclosure that is more in line with Apple’s 2001 PowerBook makeover.
Go2Mac readers know that we have been speculating that Apple is preparing to announce a new PowerBook that will fall directly between the just-announced iBook Dual USB and the professional PowerBook G4 Titanium. Never has one story elicited so many comments and reader feedback!
The new ‘Book, which we have affectionately dubbed Son of Pismo, will be just that: a Pismo logic board with Pismo features (14.1-inch TFT, G3 processor, Pismo ports, etc.) but packed into a new enclosure that is more in line with Apple’s 2001 PowerBook makeover.
A few additional nuggets have emerged since I first reported this story: the first is that SOP (Son of Pismo) will ship with a 500 MHz G3 processor, although slightly faster G3s are an option. SOP will not ship with a G4 processor to keep it from encroaching on lucrative and high-margin Titanium sales. The announcement is looking like it will happen at Macworld Expo 2001 in New York next month.
The enclosure is totally new and is likely to be manufactured from polycarbonate with a magnesium sub-frame for rigidity (like the PowerBook Duo). Apple appears to be staying away from Titanium for SOP primarily because of cost but also for product differentiation. Colors are still TBD, but test mules have been spotted in colors on the Apple campus.
SOP will also ship with a new, smaller AC adapter that is rectangular and similar to the Micro Adapter currently being sold by Madsonline.com.
Port selection appears to be identical to Pismo as SOP is based on the same motherboard. The main difference will be the addition of an optional try-loading DVD/CD-RW combo drive, like the one shipping in the top-of-line iBook Dual USB. The combo drive will grace either the top-of-the-line model or it will appear as a CTO (Configure To Order) option. From the nugget about the tray-loader we can deduce that it will be thicker than PowerBook G4 but probably thinner than the iBook Dual USB.
Wait! I can almost hear you asking: “You mean the bottom two PowerBook models will have combo drives? What about the Titanium?”
Patience young Jedi.
Go2Mac has received some additional juice on a potential “silent” Titanium upgrade that may also occur at MWXNY01. It is still highly speculative but a source that I met with at the Deauville Inn over the weekend mentioned that Apple is working on a silent upgrade to the TiBook that will add a slot-loading DVD/CD-RW combo drive top-of-the-line configuration and as a CTO option. At the same time Apple may move to a rev. B logic board that will fix several of the known issues that have crept up in the rev. A board since it was announced.
And if that wasn’t enough juice for a Monday: Steve Jobs may wow the world by offering the iBook Dual USB in colors. What they will be remains a mystery, but a source that likes to wakeboard and eat crab legs with me mentioned that white was the only color ready for the iBook Dual USB introduction and that colors would be announced next month. Further evidence would be the original descriptions on the Apple Store that listed the iBook configs as “iBook 500 MHz/128/10GB/DVD-ROM/White.”
Again, bear in mind that much of this is still up in the air. TiBook rev. B, may not even be announced at Expo due the raft of other announcements, but the SOP info will not stop coming. Summary: iBook colors – highly likely, SOP – likely, TiBook rev. b – pick ’em.
The possibility of THREE new PowerBooks at Expo? Someone pinch me!
