Well, that came out of nowhere. Somehow it totally slipped under the rumor radar. The base-model price was increased by $100, but that's really because the base model was dropped -- before, the base $999 model had 128 MB of memory and only a CD-ROM. All new iBook G4s have 256 MB of memory across the line (finally), and all models have a combo drive, as well. That's great news.

I'm curious as to how much these iBooks will cannibalize the 12-inch Powerbook sales. I don't think it will cannibalize the 15 or 17-inch ones any (especially since they have the backlit keyboard feature), but the 12-inch PBG4 is pretty close to the 14-inch iBook G4. Interesting.

I suppose we should bid a friendly farewell to the G3 processor. It was a great run, although I can't say the G4 has been an enormously stellar improvement.