Official Apple Multi-touch 'Mac tablet' discussion, poll and mock-up thread.

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Comments

  • Reply 121 of 179
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    If it's just a newton wannabe it's not going to happen. The iPhone is there to cover all these purposes. There wont be a bigger iPhone.
  • Reply 122 of 179
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    This tablet is about getting rid of the keyboard, I can't believe you are missing that point.



    Well, no. Getting rid of the keyboard is simply to save on thickness. I have a slate. For note taking at meetings its okay. As a notebook replacement not so great. If it were my ONLY machine I'd have...a MBP. Or a convertible tablet if I had to have a tablet.



    A virtual keyboard isn't as good as a real keyboard.



    Quote:

    Take a notebook, make the display a bit thicker, get rid of the optical drive and the keyboard completely, and make the screen multi-touch. This is about a revolution, not a compromise.



    No keyboard is a huge compromise for any slate. A virtual keyboard only mitigates this compromise partially but not completely.



    A convertible is a compromise in weight and thickness (because they are typically designed as notebook replacements).



    A slate that docked into a real notebook is a design compromise (extra complexity) but not a usability one. Unless the docking latch sucked.



    Vinea
  • Reply 123 of 179
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by onlooker View Post


    If it's just a newton wannabe it's not going to happen. The iPhone is there to cover all these purposes. There wont be a bigger iPhone.



    I was under the impression of it being a smaller mac, not a bigger iPhone. Bigger iPhone = confusion.
  • Reply 124 of 179
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Fishyesque View Post


    Ireland, what kind of specs would you imagine in this? Would you expect this to be able to handle Maya? Ok, the more I think about this the more I'm confusing myself. Would this be a laptop replacement? I was just figuring this being a product that's along for the ride. Then I think about subnotebook coming out, and then all my thoughts mesh in to one, and now I'm just lost



    Look at existing UMPCs, tablets and ultra portables (or project forward using Intel's roadmap).



    Those are your specs. Maya? Not so much. Laptop replacement? Not so much.



    One way around this is to stick an ARM processor, 16GB SSD and battery into a 11" slate that can dock into your 11" MBP as the display. Then the slate can sync with the laptop half that has a beefier CPU, HDD, optical and keyboard. Preferably with a fliptop convertible type hinge.



    Something I was advocating earlier in the thread except with a ULV core duo in the display instead of an ARM. I'm thinking that a mobile processor like the ARM would reduce the batter size down to enough to drive the display and enough for an iPhone level of capability. Good enough for when you want to be in slate mode and reduces the slate weight further. It wouldn't need to be much bigger/thicker than the display half of the current MB/MBP.
  • Reply 125 of 179
    That's why I didn't think an onscreen keyboad was that big of a deal. I like your idea though.
  • Reply 126 of 179
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by onlooker View Post


    If it's just a newton wannabe it's not going to happen. The iPhone is there to cover all these purposes. There wont be a bigger iPhone.



    Yeah, for a phone it's big enough. This will be a Mac.
  • Reply 127 of 179
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea View Post


    Look at existing UMPCs, tablets and ultra portables (or project forward using Intel's roadmap).



    Those are your specs. Maya? Not so much. Laptop replacement? Not so much.



    One way around this is to stick an ARM processor, 16GB SSD and battery into a 11" slate that can dock into your 11" MBP as the display.



    This is Apple you're talking about right?
  • Reply 128 of 179
    I guess the biggest thing for me, is you look at what Apples done so far and what they've accomplished. And I just feel that what Ireland is describing is along the lines of what they'd do.
  • Reply 129 of 179
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    But it's codename "Project useless". It's a pointless machine when you think about they would do using similar ideas that had a keyboard. It's like a black hole. Why do this when you could do that. And that is 100x more versatile, has more uses, and actually has a market to sell it to.

    We did a similar poll on this earlier and last I recalled it was like 70%+ in favor of keyboard because without it the idea is fairly senseless. Nobody really needs this thing.
  • Reply 130 of 179
    Hmmm...

    Like I said earlier, smart man.
  • Reply 131 of 179
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by onlooker View Post


    But it's codename "Project useless". It's a pointless machine ... Nobody really needs this thing.



    Given that there are slate makers out there I wouldn't say there is nobody that prefers them. The market is limited but so is the convertible market.
  • Reply 132 of 179
    What would you suggest for the Japanese market? I suppose an ultraportable would work.
  • Reply 133 of 179
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    This is Apple you're talking about right?



    Yes. There is no reason why they couldn't build the equivalent of a ToughBook CF-08 as the display portion of a 11" MBP and make it look nice. The toughbook is a bit fugly but survives a 1 meter fall.







    http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/12/p...ce-5-0-tablet/



    http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp...y&displayTab=F



    You could then use this detached from your MBP when a lightweight slate is desired but it can wirelessly connect back to the base machine with bigger disks, beefier CPU, etc.



    A hard physical connection when docked is very desireable since you'd want to be able to access the LCD at GPU speeds...and runs say Maya on your MBP/Slate combo.
  • Reply 134 of 179
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea View Post


    Given that there are slate makers out there I wouldn't say there is nobody that prefers them. The market is limited but so is the convertible market.



    Slate market is mostly for UPS drivers, stores, and etc... It's not a high selling consumer product by any means. A convertible is just a laptop. Plain and simple. It already has a massive market.
  • Reply 135 of 179
    OK. So would you say that the only thing left for Apple is an ultraportable/subnotebook? Unless they actually do whatever iNewton ideas they have up their sleeve.
  • Reply 136 of 179
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Why do you think Apple needs an ultra portable? They had one and merged it with the MacBook. It was a 12" PowerBook. Then they made the 13" MacBook and "poof" it was gone.
  • Reply 137 of 179
    Attended a conference yesterday where I was the only person in the room with a computer that didn't fit on the tiny table we were provided with; I was the only person in the room with a Mac, my wife's MacBook. It also needed a special case and a big, heavy power brick (I was the only person who needed a power connection); many of the other attendees simply tossed theirs into their briefcases and ran off.



    That is why Apple needs an ultraportable, and the 12" PB was not one.



    Next year, I will be very busy going to conferences and do not want to be so embarrassed again.



    Oh: I did not use the optical drive (and haven't for months), nor did I need a big HD spinning around all the time when flash would have done the job better.



    Please help, Steve!
  • Reply 138 of 179
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bergermeister View Post


    Attended a conference yesterday where I was the only person in the room with a computer that didn't fit on the tiny table we were provided with; I was the only person in the room with a Mac, my wife's MacBook. It also needed a special case and a big, heavy power brick (I was the only person who needed a power connection); many of the other attendees simply tossed theirs into their briefcases and ran off.



    That is why Apple needs an ultraportable, and the 12" PB was not one.



    Next year, I will be very busy going to conferences and do not want to be so embarrassed again.



    Oh: I did not use the optical drive (and haven't for months), nor did I need a big HD spinning around all the time when flash would have done the job better.



    Please help, Steve!



    At a conference? What did you need it for taking notes? Why didn't you just break out a pen and paper like everybody else in the room.
  • Reply 139 of 179
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by onlooker View Post


    At a conference? What did you need it for taking notes? Why didn't you just break out a pen and paper like everybody else in the room.



    I though it was pretty clear that the other people in the room were using subnotebooks with better battery life, not pen and paper.
  • Reply 140 of 179
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    I'm not buying it. Sounds like a BS story to me. "I'm the one guy with a Mac, it doesn't fit on the desk." Gimmie a break.
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