On paper, Apple's new 15-inch PowerBook bears all the hallmarks of great mobile gaming platform.
It's still lighter than most 15-inch Wintel wannabes, still better looking and still packs a wallop in the features department. Crammed into its sleek 1-inch aluminium frame are a faster SuperDrive, CPU and video processing unit. In addition, the 1.5GHz 15-inch PowerBook is the first Apple notebook (along with the newly launched 17-inch version) that's capable of supporting up to 128MB of video memory for extreme on-the-go gameplay. Officially released today, this latest Mac laptop retails at a high-end AU$3,999.
The Upside: With 4x DVD-R added to its roster of supported formats, the PowerBook's internal SuperDrive burner promises a faster DVD writing experience. Elsewhere, Motorola's PowerPC G4 CPU--while slowly reaching the end of its product lifespan--still offers plenty of processing muscle and now peaks at 1.5GHz. Assisting the Motorola processor in 3D-intensive games and applications is the industry's fastest mobile graphics chip, ATI's much-vaunted Mobility Radeon 9700. The 1.5GHz PowerBook has a standard graphics memory payload of 64MB, and for really retina-melting framerates, you can upgrade the Radeon's video memory to 128MB. This built-to-order option will set buyers back an extra AU$76.40.
Apple has left the PowerBook's attractive aluminium exterior relatively untouched, which is a good thing: Users will find the PowerBook's illuminated keyboard accommodating, and still decent in both form and feel. There are plenty of ports (USB 2.0, FireWire, FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet and DVI) for connecting to external devices and the new PowerBook retains its built-in Bluetooth and 802.11g wireless connectivity.
The Downside: Given OS X's flexibility when it comes to resolution rescaling, video and graphics editors will find it a tad disappointing to remain stuck on a 15.2-inch 1,280 x 854-pixel screen. The PowerBook's widescreen real estate appears visually restrictive compared with those offered by new Wintel power laptops such as Dell's WXGA-capable (1,920 x 1,200) Inspiron 9100.
The processor and video overhaul probably won't offer significant upgrade value for those who already own the previous 1.25GHz model, either--the performance leap just doesn't seem large enough.
Outlook: When it comes to a test of strengths and features, the new PowerBook clearly has the upper-hand over the earlier aluminium models. Factor in the improved specs and this updated model will also rival most PC-based desktop replacement offerings. However, there's already plenty of speculation that the next PowerBook revision will use the 64-bit IBM G5 CPUs. Owners of current models may be better off saving for the G5 variant instead.
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