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Apple Unveils New iBooks
1:11 PM | IMG News | Comment on this story
Apple has unveiled a new version of their popular consumer portable iBook at a closed press conference earlier today. While not made of titanium like the PowerBook, the new model does take on a very similar shape and color thanks to silvery polycarbonate casing. It also features new video outputs, improved graphics, and the possibility of a CD-RW/DVD combo drive. Since most Mac news sites are overloaded at the moment, here is a quick rundown of its specs.
- 500-MHz PowerPC G3 processor
- Built-in 12.1-inch (diagonal) TFT XGA active-matrix display
- Supports millions of colors at 1024-by-768-pixel resolution
- RGB video output port
- Composite video output to TV through AV port (requires optional Apple AV cable)
- ATI RAGE Mobility 128 graphics accelerator with 8MB of SDRAM graphics memory and AGP 2X support
- Width: 11.2 inches (28.5 cm)
- Weight : 4.9 pounds (2.2 kg) (1)
Head over to Apple's site for much more information. Other improvements over older iBooks include the built-in microphone, second speaker, and higher (1024x768) resolution. The models start at $1,299 and go up to $1,799 if you want the combo drive. Educational purchases will receive a discount, as is standard with all Apple hardware.
How will this iBook deal with gaming? Well, Apple's site features Aspyr's port of Tony Hawk 2 predominantly as an example game. This should be a good indicator of how it will handle 3D titles. Tony Hawk 2 isn't actually released yet, though the title is currently moving through the beta process and should be out fairly soon. The iBooks will also have a full Pangea lineup of popular titles pre-installed including Bugdom and Cro-Mag Rally.
The Rage 128 Mobility with 8MB of VRAM looks to be the same chip used in the current line of Titanium PowerBooks. Games should run similarly, though the PowerBook's G4 processor will likely give it at least some edge in FPS over the iBook's G3 chip. Be sure to read IMG's review of the Titanium PowerBook G4 for more information. And check out Apple's iBook section for screen shots and lots of good info.
 Tony Hawk 2 Web Site
 IMG Review of Titanium PowerBook G4
iBook Web Site at Apple
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