Apple may offer external optical drive with new sub-notebook
Mac maker Apple Inc., which later this month will unveil its first sub-notebook design in over a decade, is likely to offer an external optical drive as an optional accessory, according to a new report.
Corroborating AppleInsider reports dating back to last February, MacRumors this week added that its own sources also believe the company's upcoming ultra-compact notebook design will lack a built-in optical drive.
Instead, Apple will reportedly offer customers a detachable external optical drive capable of both reading and writing CD and DVD media. Such a move would allow users to service and install updates on the new MacBook breed when needed, but otherwise present those users with the option to travel light while on the go.
The omission of a built-in optical drive, as has been reported, is part of the Cupertino-based firm's ongoing efforts to maximize its hardware real estate while simultaneously reducing the size of its notebook offerings. It also represents yet another parallel between the upcoming portable and Apple's much loved PowerBook 2400 sub-notebook design, which bundled an external floppy drive when it made its debut back in 1997.
It should be noted that the Mac maker's original design for the upcoming sub-notebook indeed called for the inclusion of an built-in optical drive through unconventional measures. However, the daunting ergonomics of the task reportedly forced engineers to make a concession early in the product's design process in which the idea was scrapped.
Other features of the upcoming Apple sub-notebook, due to make it's inaugural appearance during a keynote presentation by chief executive Steve Jobs at the Macworld Expo on January 15th, are on-board NAND flash memory, a 13.3-inch LED-backlit display, built in iSight, and a footprint that is nearly 50 percent thinner and lighter than the company's current MacBook Pro offerings.
The Apple PowerBook 2400 with its external floppy drive.
Meanwhile, it was also reported this week that the new sub-notebook may not be the only Apple notebook announcement to come out of the this year's Macworld trade show in San Francisco. While details are few and far between, it has been reported that Apple is also wrapping up development of a new breed of MacBook Pro notebooks that will employ Intel's upcoming 45 nanometer dual-core "Penryn" chips.
Last month, AppleInsider detailed its expectations for the impending updates in a series of configuration charts, which include models with 800MHz front-side buses, 6MB of Level 2 cache, and 2.6GHz and 2.8GHz processors at the upper echelon of the product mix.
In its report this week, MacRumors suggested that at least one the notebooks slated for an introduction at Macworld would include a trackpad with advanced mutli-touch capabilities akin to the iPhone. Apple in the course of the past year has filed for several related patents, including one for wide notebook touchpads with multi-touch capabilities and another for illuminated touchpads.
Much of the work being done on the company's multi-touch technology, which made its debut in June on the iPhone, is believed to draw from resources and engineers garnered through the quiet 2005 acquisition of Fingerworks.
Specializing in alternative input methods, Fingerworks' portfolio included technology for multi-touch hand gestures that could be used by notebook users for optimized cursor manipulation, application switching, web browsing, and more. Several animated tutorials depicting these techniques are still available from the old Fingerworks website and may provide hints at what to expect from Apple's next-generation trackpad and keyboard designs.
Corroborating AppleInsider reports dating back to last February, MacRumors this week added that its own sources also believe the company's upcoming ultra-compact notebook design will lack a built-in optical drive.
Instead, Apple will reportedly offer customers a detachable external optical drive capable of both reading and writing CD and DVD media. Such a move would allow users to service and install updates on the new MacBook breed when needed, but otherwise present those users with the option to travel light while on the go.
The omission of a built-in optical drive, as has been reported, is part of the Cupertino-based firm's ongoing efforts to maximize its hardware real estate while simultaneously reducing the size of its notebook offerings. It also represents yet another parallel between the upcoming portable and Apple's much loved PowerBook 2400 sub-notebook design, which bundled an external floppy drive when it made its debut back in 1997.
It should be noted that the Mac maker's original design for the upcoming sub-notebook indeed called for the inclusion of an built-in optical drive through unconventional measures. However, the daunting ergonomics of the task reportedly forced engineers to make a concession early in the product's design process in which the idea was scrapped.
Other features of the upcoming Apple sub-notebook, due to make it's inaugural appearance during a keynote presentation by chief executive Steve Jobs at the Macworld Expo on January 15th, are on-board NAND flash memory, a 13.3-inch LED-backlit display, built in iSight, and a footprint that is nearly 50 percent thinner and lighter than the company's current MacBook Pro offerings.
The Apple PowerBook 2400 with its external floppy drive.
Meanwhile, it was also reported this week that the new sub-notebook may not be the only Apple notebook announcement to come out of the this year's Macworld trade show in San Francisco. While details are few and far between, it has been reported that Apple is also wrapping up development of a new breed of MacBook Pro notebooks that will employ Intel's upcoming 45 nanometer dual-core "Penryn" chips.
Last month, AppleInsider detailed its expectations for the impending updates in a series of configuration charts, which include models with 800MHz front-side buses, 6MB of Level 2 cache, and 2.6GHz and 2.8GHz processors at the upper echelon of the product mix.
In its report this week, MacRumors suggested that at least one the notebooks slated for an introduction at Macworld would include a trackpad with advanced mutli-touch capabilities akin to the iPhone. Apple in the course of the past year has filed for several related patents, including one for wide notebook touchpads with multi-touch capabilities and another for illuminated touchpads.
Much of the work being done on the company's multi-touch technology, which made its debut in June on the iPhone, is believed to draw from resources and engineers garnered through the quiet 2005 acquisition of Fingerworks.
Specializing in alternative input methods, Fingerworks' portfolio included technology for multi-touch hand gestures that could be used by notebook users for optimized cursor manipulation, application switching, web browsing, and more. Several animated tutorials depicting these techniques are still available from the old Fingerworks website and may provide hints at what to expect from Apple's next-generation trackpad and keyboard designs.
Comments
Anyway, I hope the external drive doesn't require a proprietary adapter and uses Firewire/USB connection so you can use it along with other computers.
Pretty Great!
Mac maker Apple Inc., which later this month will unveil its first sub-notebook design in over a decade, is likely to offer an external optical drive as an optional accessory, according to a new report.
Japanese attack Pearl Harbor!
Man lands on Moon!
Computer without internal optical drive has option for external!
No screen would function well, but having a screen would be great: I have said for some time that it would be nice to have user-configurable (or at least developer-configurable) interfaces that could be adapted for each particular app. If done right, it could be a real plus. Apple would do it right.
Japanese attack Pearl Harbor!
Man lands on Moon!
Computer without internal optical drive has option for external!
What side of the bed did you wake up on today?
The external drive would likely be something special (ie, on board HD) as well as the same appearance as the device, thus the reason to sell it. If Apple makes a cool computer, no way am I attaching some lame CD-Rom drive to it; it's gotta play the part.
Someone has to explain a multitouch trackpad to me. The current trackpad already does scrolling, right-clicking, dragging, and the like. And how is it really multitouch if it's not on a screen?
Can the current trackpad do cut, copy, paste, zooming, escape, back, forward, open document/application, close document, quit application, text cursor control, emulate a five-button mouse, etc? Read the information on the FingerWorks site as linked in the story. Also note that it's called MultiTouch, not MultiScreen. Why do people get stuck on this notion that MultiTouch absolutely positively must be on a touchscreen? Read my lips: Not one FingerWorks product used a touchscreen, and they had the original MultiTouch technology in the marketplace.
Someone explain to me why it would be "optional?" If your system goes down for the count, how do you plan to restore your system? Remember, Apple gives you everything out of the box to restore your computer. So if the drive is "optional," how would Apple plan to let you fix your computer?
You can choose any maker you like, but the Apple one would have an extra enticement (and price tag).
They may make it so you only have to connect to your home computer once by cable (FW) and then can operate completely by WiFi, Blue Tooth.
So, if you do not have a main computer, you need a drive. If you have a computer (a Mac), you can always boot the computer in target mode.
Last year, Steve suggested in pretty direct language that the days of the DVD are numbered, which would lead me to think that something is up. They may go for a dongle for OS installation.
Mac maker Apple Inc., which later this month will unveil its first sub-notebook design in over a decade, is likely to offer an external optical drive as an optional accessory, according to a new report.
Huh? If this 13.3" laptop is it's first sub-notebook in a decade, did I dream of the 12.1" PowerBook and iBooks?
Huh? If this 13.3" laptop is it's first sub-notebook in a decade, did I dream of the 12.1" PowerBook and iBooks?
Yes!!
Were those considered "sub-notebooks"?
Yes!!
Hahahaha
Huh? If this 13.3" laptop is it's first sub-notebook in a decade, did I dream of the 12.1" PowerBook and iBooks?
LOL. Good point.
This thread seems to think thickness and weight are the primary considerations in a sub-note. I think screen size (and thus overall size) is critical.
An ultra-thin 13.3 inch notebook is OK, but I agree it ain't sub. Sub would put it at a smaller form factor than the MacBook, which is considered a notebook.
Sub is less than 12 inches. The smaller the better!
Lots of guests are looking at this thread; shows a lot of interest in a sub-notebook. Hello, Guests! (167 of you right now)
Sub is less than 12 inches. The smaller the better!
If this comes in at 2.5lbs and .5 inches thick, that is pretty portable. With a 13 inch widescreen, that is really a 12inch normal screen in terms of viable space. Any smaller is just not usable to most users. I have a 12inch ibook, a 12inch widescreen ultraportable, a 10 inch ultraportable from another maker.
Most users need a minimum of 12inch normal or 13inch widescreen.
Please also note that SSD drive, plus no optical drive will mean much more battery life, especially depending on processor configuration. So you'd have a paperthin computer that might last 6 hours... Alternatively, they can adopt smaller battery and save more weight.
Finally, less power consumption will allow a smaller power converter and not a brick...