Apple Logic Pro special offer, Music Software Options

[ourmanflinty]

They should extend that offer to the iMac G5, I mean, it's a fantastic package.

[Jibreel]

peace

i have a strong feeling that every time i hear promos like his the new products are around the corner

The G5 powerbooks maybe here finally

[freevito]

peace

i have a strong feeling that every time i hear promos like his the new products are around the corner

Yes, that's usually true, but in this case I think it's just a case of Apple wanting to move some hardware, and using one of their most successful software assets to do it.

The G5 powerbooks maybe here finally 

As for the mythical "G5 PowerBooks", I doubt that we'll ever see one. By all reports (and Apple's own admission), Apple's design engineers cannot overcome the combined limitations of high power requirements, heat dissipation, and ultra-slim form factor. They've locked themselves into a mindset that their laptops have to be thin, thin, thin, and light (as in low mass). and that imposes physical constraints on battery size and on what they can do dissipate the heat.

Look at it this way: My Ti-400 PowerBook works its butt off just handling the 25MB MS Word files I process on it. If I don't elevate the back edge to get some air space underneath it, its fan will eventually spin up in an effort to keep the insides cool. In fact, calling it a "laptop" is a joke--I can't operate the thing on my lap without something to insulate my legs from the heat the PB generates.

Now, that's a 400MHz G4 processor. Even with the "low power G5 processor" that Apple has used for PBG5 prototypes, what kind of heat do you suppose it's generating? That's a big problem, not only for user comfort, but also from the standpoint of product longevity. Everything is crammed so tightly into a Powerbook's case that all of the components will be exposed to excessive heat that can't be dissipated quickly enough. At the very least, that will shorten component life, and it could even interfere with the operation of other components.

Add to all of the above the fact that, even if Apple could get a G5 processor to work in the PowerBook form factor, where do they go from there? IBM's roadmap for future G5 processor development will leave Apple lagging way behind in the speed of its laptops relative to the competition. That's one of the principal reasons why Apple is making the big switch to Intel processors; as long as they stick with the PowerPC CPU, their laptops won't be competitive. Sheesh...even now it's a real stretch to say that the PowerBook G4 is competitive.

When you add it all up, the idea of a PBG5 looks like a complete dead end. Why should Apple sink any money into R&D for a product that everyone knows will be extinct a year from now?

I don't have any inside information about any of this, so don't take this as anything other than my opinion. But it's an opinion that's based on everything I've read and heard about Apple's dilemma in upgrading the PowerBook line. Somehow, they have to make the existing line attractive until they can get the new Intel-based machines to market, even though people know that the PowerPC PowerBook is doomed to extinction.

That's what's driving the Logic promotion. It's a deal sweetener to induce people to buy a PowerBook...or any of the other machines that will be extinct a year from now.

Vito