Widescreen iBook rumours surface

Asustek is being rumored to be the chosen manufacturer of Apple’s next widescreen iBook laptop. Apple’s current widescreen offerings are limited to the PowerBook G4 line-up, as notebooks continue to takeover the desktop market; the demand for widescreen notebooks slowly grows.

This information was found in Taiwan’s Economic Daily News, possibly sooner than Apple had wished it to be known. Asustek and Quanta were both bidding on the Apple contract, EDN reports that Asustek was chosen to produce a larger, 15.4-inch widescreen iBook next year. Asustek is currently building Apple’s 12.1-inch iBook and PowerBook.

Other rumours indicated that Apple was planning a Q4 ship date of a G5-based PowerBook notebook. Considering the announcement of Apple’s new arrangement with Intel, this may not become a reality.