What will the first Macintel look like?
 

ArticStones suggested this, and now I'm following up on it. What sort of innovations do you guys think the first MacIntels will have? They might look the same. Or they might introduce new designs.

Thoughts?

I think the chip change is probably considered radical enough that they won't want to significantly alter the look, but who knows? If they feel that the change is already well accepted, they may want to emphasize it with a new case.

Since it sounded like the Mac mini would be the first model to change, I suppose it will look like a Mac mini. ;)

As long as they don't put the Intel sticker on the outside, I'll be happy.

Welcome to the future. It looks bright.. better get your shades. :cool:

They might even call the intel chips G6 or some other word and
number combo.

I also hope they dont rename the new Powerbook and Powermac machines
with some stupid Mac & Intel combination like mactel or intellimac. If
they can't come up with something else that's cool then just leave it.

I seriously doubt they'll follow the G# moniker anymore.

They already have.. they filed for a trademark on the name "Mactel".

Darn! I guess I have to learn to live with
that :(

Is that the only name they filed for trademark?

No, they have quite a list of trademarks, but yes, that's the only one they filed for, AFAIK.

Won't "Mattel" raise a legal fuss? ;)

I think the popularity of the Mac Mini will lead to a similar design, however, I believe the first go-around will be a dual, 3 ghz tower much like the very popular G5.

Personally, I wish they would go with my idea for the Component Rack System.

Nope. "Mactel". :)

I believe the iBooks and PowerBooks will be somewhat lighter and more mobile than the current ones.

Intel's mobile technology is less bulky than IBM/Apple's currently, i think.

Maybe there is hope for a 3lb iBook so my girlfriend will switch :p

I am dredding having a STUPID intel sticker on my next mac.... even worse would be that IDIOTIC intel jingle (da da dada) on mac ads..
I hope to god Steve has put his foot down and wont have any intel branding. :mad:

I doubt he has. Intel inside has a lot of appeal to the masses. Many have grown up seeing and believing the Intel ads, so from a marketing perspective the Intel logo will help.

The best we can hope for is that the flood of switchers doesn't overwhelm Mac culture. I'd hate to see the Mac turn into a cheap, price of the box is the only thing that matters kind of platform. We have PCs for that.

nope, no intel sticker in the front, instead there will be a huge intel
logo imprinted to the side of the (intel)powermacs. there will be
a small sticker in front with the words 'designed for Mac OS X'.

But Seriously, I hope Apple will have little or no Intel branding and
even rename the chips something else ( like how they called the 970
chips G5).

I really hope the "Mactel" name isn't what they're thinking of using for the name of the computers. "PowerBook" and "PowerMac" were hybridized with "PowerPC", the name of the chip line. They didn't use the name of the company producing their processors in their naming scheme (IBMac), so I would tend to think that they will still use similar naming schemes. The trademark mentioned covers a broad scope of uses (computers, computer hardware, computer peripherals, computer software, integrated circuits, circuit boards, microprocessors, semiconductors), so it seems to me that they may be simply protecting the name from generic use by someone else.

Apple has more class than to use the name "Mactel" for the end product.

PowerMac, yes. Powerbook, no. Powerbooks were introduced during the 68k era. Power PC chips were a twinkle in ol' Moto's eye when the first PB shipped.

Tony

Hmm. I see. So was the "PowerPC" name something of a collaboration between Apple and IBM/Motorola? Or was it just a coincidence that they both had product lines that started with "Power"?

PentiBook and PentiMac. Or if they used the Intel Xeon chip it could be something like XpBook or XpMac. The reason for the "p" is if it was something like "xBook" or "xMac", they could be confused for an iBook or iMac. Unless they already had a new name for those. If they used the Itanium chip it might be something like ItaniaBook or ItaniaMac. :eek: :eek: :eek:

Those are all really really bad names.

Aagh! must scrub brain! AAAAHHHHHH

Focus will be on innovation - not Intel
 

Naw, I think they should put a sticker on the Intel chip: “Embraced by Mac". :cool:

Seriously, why should it have a special name? As far as I know, nobody ever spoke of IBMac.

I think Craig is right; the MacMini will still look like a MacMini – even embracing an Intel chip.

But after a couple of initial rounds, I firmly believe that Apple with dazzle us with some major surprizes. That way the focus will be on the "Wow" factor of the world’s most innovative producer of personal and professional computers – and not on the invisible chip.

I’m convinced we’re going to see quantum leaps in desktop and laptop technology/features. (Until then, I think it will actually be fairly quiet on the announcement front.) I can’t wait!


With best regards,
ArcticStones

Yeah, ArticStones, you are correct about those quantum leaps. But I think they will come from Apple only. Whether you want to admit it or not, Apple Software leaves others in the dust, save a few exceptions.

Remember at the WWDC, when Steve says Apple has some great products in the Pipeline, but couldn't make them with PowerPC? He showed the Apple Remote Desktop Connection Logo. Maybe a new version of that? hmmmmm...

Maybe its time Apple gave another stab at the PDA/Handheld market. I would definitely buy it. The Newton was good, but they could make something better.

What if they made a SmartPhone? Now THAT I would definitely buy. It would be a cross between an iPod and a Phone. If it wasn't released for Cingular, I would switch services just to get it. I'm such an Apple freak. ;)

You don't really think Apple would name their entire portable computing line something that began with XP, do you?

No. Like I said, they were all really, REALLY bad names. ;)

Haha...missed that :p

Really BAD Names...
 

It could be a lot worse than THAT...

What if they go back to the Titanium shell? That would be ItaniumTitanium!

If they stick with the Aluminum shell, that would be ItalumeBook.

Personally, I think if they put an "Intel Inside" sticker on the Mac, some entrepreneur will come up with a "stick over" sticker with some clever saying on it such as "Baby on Board".

It'll probably look a lot like this (minus the specs ;))

Blech. I hope not. While practical, the Mini has no soul.

I can't believe we have to wait until summer to see them...patience is truly a virtue

Seriously, I hope it'll be a 'radical' new design. It's a new chip, a new era, and therefore needs a new design.

Besides, the first models that will probably see Intels will be the laptop lines and the new tablet line.

This is my guess too. The laptops need the most work, still stuck in G4 technology, so a new laptop looking just about as you'd expect from Apple with an intel chip running very fast, a superdrive of some sort, and a raid array of small, thin, fast hard drives for storage.

A TABLET iBOOK OR POWERBOOK!?!?!
 

My heart skipped a beat. A tablet iBook or PowerBook would be AWESOME!

Isn't there a MacWorld Conference in January? Thats when they will show us a preview of Leopard, which I can't wait to see what it looks like, and some of the new Mac designs, if there are any, which I really can't wait for!

Has anyone ever noticed that at one point or another during one of Steve's Keynotes, he shows or announces something that makes the whole crowd go "Whoa!"? I have. :rolleyes:

Intel-embracing laptops that run all day?
 

I have a question for more tech savvy members than myself:

If the new Intel chips sought by Apple have the drastically reduced power consumption indicated, does this mean a revolution for laptops? Might we, for instance, be seeing iBooks/PowerBooks with a battery life that exceeds a working day? (say, 8–12 hours?)


– ArcticStones

I find that highly unlikely. I think "drastically reduced power consumption" is a comparison against current PPC laptop battery lives. For example, my PowerBook only gets about 2-3 hours of battery life for real use. I think with the Intel, we'll see about 4-5 hours of "real use". Remember, battery technology hasn't changed.

I could be wrong..

Lower power consumption will translate into "I can do more stuff with my machine" which will drop the average "real use" back to 2-3 hours, just as it's been since the first laptops came out. ;)

As the owner of an IBM Thinkpad WinXP Pro machine with Intel Inside, I can testify that if you're doing much, battery life for this machine is not notably different from iBook machines. Yellow is right - it's the batteries, memory, hard drives, and screen as much as the CPU that prevent long unpowered use.

I also have and IBM Thinkpad with WinXP Pro on it and I find that it will last around 3-3.5 hours unplugged. But I also have NO power saving measures turned on (its set in performance mode) and I'm using a wireless connection. If I put it into power savings mode I'll get close to 4 hours from it.

But, that Thinkpad gets no way near as hot as my PBG4.

Holy Crap! My PBG4 is a scorcher! I really hope they fix that. Seriously. :eek:

OMG... I just read the article Zeb linked to above... I quickly threw my Powerbook from my lap and spread my legs for some ventilation. Shoot.. I'm 25 and still have some use for my sperm ;)

My PB gets so hot. When Apple made the recent recall on the batteries I was certain mine would be one of them. Damn, how hot were the ones called back? Mine could fry an egg. And now Zeb (or CNN) wants to scare the hell outta me by telling me my sperm count is dropping b/c of this. Great! Now I'm frying my baby-batter. I guess that explains the strange smell coming from my crotch :D

Hmm.. Apple Brand Population Control..

My Intel Centrino-based laptop before I got the PowerBook gave me a real-world 5 hours of use, maybe 5 hours and 15 minutes. It had a lot of memory and a 1920x1400 large screen. I've managed to squeeze 5 hours from the 12" PB sometimes, but certainly my 17" doesn't come close in the same real-world use, even though resolution is lower and other specs are similar.

This is really the biggest reason for the switch I think. And as disappointed as I am that they didn't go with AMD, they also don't have great mobile processors. They have decent ones, and the desktop processors are vastly superior to Intel, but they don't have a great mobile processor like the Centrino.

An ignorant question needs a quick response:

I haven't read up on the whole Intel switch and I'm not familiar with programing. Will this allow the Mac user to run PC apps? Thus eliminating any need for programs such as Virtual PC?

Got a quick read I could get an overview with? Post me a link.

Yes and no.

No you cannot run it natively.. unless the fully functional WINE project gets moved to OS X (darWINE isn't there yet).

But there's rumors that Mactels will be dual-bootable, so you might be able to reboot into Windows Vista. Lucky you.

Again, I reiterate that I dont know the slightest about programming. But, just like the rest of you, I know a good product when I see (or use) it. I tossed out my PC a long time ago because I believed Apple was the superior product. Since then, the company has moved forward by leaps and bounds. However, I am concerned with Macs and PC's beginning to hold hands. IMO, PC programmers produce their software by the masses. It seems like they will just put anything on the shelves. And for just the opposite reason Apple has kept my respect. I am worried that with all the Switchers and Intel integration. Here's what I don't want to see.

Apple Market Increase = More Programming Revenues = More "make a quick dollar" Programmers = the end of Mac's reputation.

Make sense? Your sentiments on this?

Quality control is going to be a big issue as the Mac market share grows. Some of the PC mentality will unfortunately be absorbed.

You can already see some of the effects on Mac culture on sites like this one where Windoze users often post help requests for Windoze problems, even though they know it's a Mac site. I hope Apple is able to control it, but it is going to be difficult.

Lol!


(Boy, I haven't been to these forums for a few months except one thread and one random post... So much for an epic comeback post. :p )