The updated PowerBook line introduced by Apple this workweek lark a bunch of additions and feature film worth getting excited about — everything from quick processor speeds and hard driving to 8X SuperDrives in the high - end models . In particular , I ’m looking forward to trying out the raw scroll Trackpad feature , which lets you habituate two fingers to quickly scroll through long documents or pan within the windowpane .

But there ’s another addition to the PowerBook line that may get lost among all the other modification made by Apple . And that would be a shame , since this particular change could have a far - reaching effect on Mac users .

Apple finally made 512 MB of RAM the standard for installed storage for every PowerBook modelling . Previously , only the mellow - oddment PowerBooks — the dissolute 15 - in framework and the 17 - inch laptop — ship with that much memory . The other three shape had to make do with 256 megabyte of install RAM ( unless , of course , you dictate more as part of a make - to - order of magnitude selection ) .

“ Make do ” is not an understatement—256 megabyte of RAM really delivers a noticeable performance make , peculiarly if you ’re used to working with more memory . AsMacworldhas note on multiple occassions — the most late clock time being our Mac mini review and our coverage of the iMac G5 ’s debut , 512 MB of RAM are necessary for users to enjoy the smooth , peppy performance of OS X.

Monday ’s news of more installed remembering seems to signal that Apple recognize that fact , at least when it comes to estimator aimed at pro exploiter . In addition to the PowerBook communication channel , Power Mac background also ship with 512 MiB of Aries the Ram . The consumer Cartesian product — the iMac , iBook , eMac , and Mac mini — ship with the paltry 256 MB . Again , users of those production can add more retentivity , either through Apple or by installing an upgrade themselves . But Apple ’s computer memory prices are noticeably higher than what other RAM merchant appoint . And since a tidy clod of the objective audience for consumer machines is not the form that jump at the prospect to install raise themselves are n’t you urinate things unnecessarily difficult on hoi polloi you ’re trying to draw in with appeals about ease of use ? ( That ’s specially true of a do - it - yourself store upgrade for the Mac mini , which , as we ’ve reported , is not an easy task at all . )

So I have this dream where , at some Apple consequence in the not - too - remote future , Steve Jobs takes the stage . And just as Jobs has used past speeches to declare the end of CRT monitor or pronounce OS 9 dead and bury , I ’d like to see the Apple CEO announce the end to the era of shipping Macs with insufficient installed memory . In this dreaming , consumer - level Macs now make out with 512 MB of RAM standard . And , if Apple still feels the pauperism to distinguish between its pro and consumer products , Power Macs and PowerBooks come with 1 GB of set up memory .

Such a move would n’t add up without a cost , either in the form of a smaller net income margin for Apple or a slimly higher Mary Leontyne Price tatter for consumer . But whatever cost boost installed RAM incurs would be outweigh by the amount of goodwill that Apple would generate .

In the retiring few long time , Apple has turn in a superb operating system and world - class applications . Now it needs to make available machines with the put in memory to take full vantage of both that osmium and those applications right out of the box .