New Apple tablet rumor: Larger form factor running Mac OS X

[AppleInsider]

Citing a "100 percent reliable" source, a new report alleges that Apple has fully working prototypes of 13-inch and 15-inch touchscreen tablets, with one model running Mac OS X.

The rumor reported Friday by Gizmodo states that the two new devices could be in addition to the long-rumored 10-inch device believed to be coming in early 2010.

"This source claims that the two touchscreen prototypes -- made of aluminum, but on the shape of big iPhones -- were in a factory in Shenzuen, China," the report states. "One of them 'was running Mac OS X 10.5.' When I asked, the source didn't know if these were built for demonstration purposes, or if they were preproduction units. The company has a tight relation with Apple but 'it's not FoxConn.'"

Writer Jesus Diaz goes on to call the rumor "surprising," given that most sources, including AppleInsider's own, have stated that the only forthcoming hardware has a 10-inch screen. The report speculates that perhaps Apple is exploring other form factors as internal prototypes, whether or not they will become final products released to market.

Given a report earlier this month that Apple investigated screen sizes of 4, 7, 9, 10 and 12 inches, these reports, if true, suggest that Apple has explored touchscreen devices at nearly every possible screen sizes. In the earlier report from a financial analyst, it was stated that Apple purchased large numbers of some screen sizes, suggesting they could have been for more than prototypes, but a more significant small production run.

As for the latest rumor, AppleInsider sources have been adamant that the 3G connected device due to arrive in early 2010 would come only with a 10-inch form factor.



Earlier this week, a new report stated that the upcoming tablet launch is the No. 1 priority of company co-founder Steve Jobs. AppleInsider's own sources have said that Jobs reset development of the device numerous times over the years, striving to create hardware that meets his own high standards. In fact, at times Jobs even had doubts that the product would even see the light of day. However, the device now seems set for its 2010 debut.

Gizmodo also reported weeks ago a rumor that the tablet would have a 10-inch screen and come in come in two versions: one for educational use, and one with a Web cam. That report said the operating system that the tablet would run is a "huge secret."

[Shogun]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

That report said the operating system that the tablet would run is a "huge secret."

My money's on OSX.

As someone wrote a while back, Snow Leopard has technologies that will make a tablet much nicer to use. Expose in the dock, for example. Smaller size, for example.

[Hattig]

Or it's just a proof of concept that could be six months away or six years away from being a real product, or never at all.

I can understand a 6 - 10 inch tablet, it's holdable, transportable, and usable. Any bigger and it starts to be a bit unwieldy, it needs to be rested in a stand, or placed flat on a surface. It's turned into a different class of device.

[dualie]

Why would Apple go to all the trouble of creating a whole new OS for the tablet when it's already got OS X? It doesn't make any sense.

[cmf2]

Originally Posted by Shogun

My money's on OSX.

As someone wrote a while back, Snow Leopard has technologies that will make a tablet much nicer to use. Expose in the dock, for example. Smaller size, for example.

The third party programs still wont be nice to use on a tablet though. For a consumer device, which is what a sub $1000 tablet would most likely be, I think a variant of iPhone OS would work best. However, a 13" or 15" tablet would not be a consumer device, and it would not have a sub $1000 price. I don't know what to make of this rumor. Isn't it coming from the same guy that said someone called him with details on the tablet, yet provided no additional information except for a codename he won't reveal?

Snow Leopard does have some touch friendly features like large icons with in icon previews and the expose feature you mentioned. I am very skeptical of this report though.

[bigmc6000]

Well there goes their 1 chance at getting something in the sub 1k range. If it's a 13" or 15" tablet there's no way they are going to price it low enough to encourage buying. Unless of course Apple does the unthinkable and prices it low... (which I would whole heartedly be in favor of)

However, there is 1 thing that I would want on an apple tablet that I would keep me on the sidelines (other than the obvious USBs, DVD, etc) I want the ability to run my iPhone apps on it I would absolutely love that and I'm sure both Apple and the developers would love that as well

[success]

6th

.

[SpamSandwich]

First of all, they aren't reliable if they think Shenzhen is spelled Shenzuan.

Secondly, no human source is 100% reliable.

[Ireland]

13 or 15" screens would be for future MacBook Pros, like how the MacBook Pro would evolve into a sort-of convertible.

The 10" one however would be pure tablet. Mac OS X? Shocking!

[Carniphage]

These "reports" are getting more and more bizarre
And less and less credible.

C.

[Booga]

Originally Posted by Shogun

My money's on OSX.

As someone wrote a while back, Snow Leopard has technologies that will make a tablet much nicer to use. Expose in the dock, for example. Smaller size, for example.

My money's on OS-Y. Of course they're not going to call it that, and it will borrow heavily from OSX, but every 10 years or so every company tries to re-invent their OS and the Mac's time has about come due. My guess is that Apple will demonstrate a device in the early spring to ship during summer, then devote next year's WWDC to it in June, then ship the device by July.

I'm just guessing, of course. But why would Apple release a fundamentally new platform with no third-party developer conference about it first? I would have thought they'd have learned their lesson with the iPhone.

[hypermark]

My thesis all along has been that Snow Leopard is the pivot OS between the iPhoneOS and MacOS, branches, and whether that means the ability to run Mac Apps unmodified, recompiled or some new form of new hybrid runtime model, it just makes sense that the Tablet is where Apple confronts the matrix between all of these different form factors, something that I blogged about in:

Apple, the ‘Boomer’ Tablet and the Matrix
http://bit.ly/46CtH

Check it out if interested.

Mark

[al_bundy]

Originally Posted by bigmc6000

Well there goes their 1 chance at getting something in the sub 1k range. If it's a 13" or 15" tablet there's no way they are going to price it low enough to encourage buying. Unless of course Apple does the unthinkable and prices it low... (which I would whole heartedly be in favor of)

However, there is 1 thing that I would want on an apple tablet that I would keep me on the sidelines (other than the obvious USBs, DVD, etc) I want the ability to run my iPhone apps on it I would absolutely love that and I'm sure both Apple and the developers would love that as well

with the itunes store turning in higher and higher profits, they might switch to the razor blade model

[iCarbon]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Secondly, no human source is 100% reliable.

What if El Jobso himself told you?

[DaveGee]

All I gotta say is that if Steve doesn't open the Keynote intro of these new tablets with a comprehensive rundown of each and every memorable tablet rumor going back as far as they can, it would be a crying shame.

Could you imagine, all the faked photoshop photos, all of the doctored videos (as I examine the iWalk sitting on my desk) all the 'I'm making the plastics now' references.

Tell me that wouldn't be a great lead in with Steve on the stage...

Dave

[Bageljoey]

Originally Posted by Carniphage

These "reports" are getting more and more bizarre
And less and less credible.

C.

Yes, but not less interesting!

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by iCarbon

What if El Jobso himself told you?

Especially if he told you. Like I say, watch what Apple does not what they say.

[Bageljoey]

Originally Posted by Booga

My money's on OS-Y. Of course they're not going to call it that, and it will borrow heavily from OSX, but every 10 years or so every company tries to re-invent their OS and the Mac's time has about come due. My guess is that Apple will demonstrate a device in the early spring to ship during summer, then devote next year's WWDC to it in June, then ship the device by July.

I don't agree. OSX has nothing but positive connotations at this point. And it is relatively well known. I don't see Apple moving away from the name any time soon... Besides, I thought the whole point of Snow Leopard was to renovate the insides of OSX (metaphorically speaking) so why move away from it now?

I'm just guessing, of course. But why would Apple release a fundamentally new platform with no third-party developer conference about it first? I would have thought they'd have learned their lesson with the iPhone.

Yeah, the iPhone has been such a disaster...

[teckstud]

I'll say it again: To be unveiled 9/09 by SJ and available 1/10. Announced then released just like the iPhone and AppleTV. Start the hype machine early.

[Carniphage]

This photograph was taken by an extremely reliable source!

It looks just like a giant-iPhone!!

And yet it is running Mac OS X!!!!!



C.

[possmann]

Is this Apple Tablet rumor mill really starting to get out of control? I mean come on! Why not have someone leak that two weeks ago in a remote production facility in Cambodia a 95% reliable resource spotted 13.5 Inch screen iPhone like touch screen devices coming off an assembly line?
geesh...

[anantksundaram]

Oh no, AI, not those heavily-mocked mockups again!

[Booga]

Originally Posted by Bageljoey

I don't agree. OSX has nothing but positive connotations at this point. And it is relatively well known. I don't see Apple moving away from the name any time soon... Besides, I thought the whole point of Snow Leopard was to renovate the insides of OSX (metaphorically speaking) so why move away from it now?


Yeah, the iPhone has been such a disaster...

You obviously weren't around for iPhone 1.0. The "development environment" there WAS a disaster. And the sales increased by an order of magnitude once developers were allowed to contribute. If Apple hadn't embraced developers the iPhone wouldn't have much market share right now.

They're in a worse spot with the tablet. They're coming from behind and competing against companies that have been adding touch capabilities to laptops for years. I don't doubt the product will be awesome and that I'll want one, but they'd better "have an app for that".

[nagromme]

I don't doubt that many different prototypes exist. What I doubt is that they'll all ever be sold to the public.

I especially doubt that Apple would release a Mac OS X tablet alongside a Touch OS X tablet. Talk about consumer confusion!

I expect one or maybe two sizes (to start with), and an OS more like the iPhone than Mac OS X. The iPhone OS is made for touch. Mac OS X is not. Underneath they have much in common, but I expect Apple to pick the right one for the job.

I'd be delighted to be ABLE to run "real" OS X apps in a pinch, but that wouldn't make sense as the main mode of interaction. Apps MEANT for touch make more sense.

[mstone]

A tablet as a netbook competitor doesn't make a lot of sense for a consumer device. A bit risky since it has been historically a rather unsuccessful form factor. Maybe it is another Steve hobby project. It will be interesting to see what they come up with.

[hiimamac]

Originally Posted by Shogun

My money's on OSX.

As someone wrote a while back, Snow Leopard has technologies that will make a tablet much nicer to use. Expose in the dock, for example. Smaller size, for example.

So, if true, what's the tag line? Anyone? Obviosly, this is apples anwser to the netbook so something like, (I'll start), "The rest of the world gives you netbook, we give you...?"


Also means 10" model might be handicapped, cheap graphics, whereas the 13, and especially 15 has features, that sneakingly, give you just a bit more, for a whole lot more. Need fw, opps, sorry, only on the high end. Or Apple could do the right thing and just make the differences screen space amd faster CPU. When do 8 cores come out? Those cores will be in the mbp line with 16/32 in macpro. Better would be 8 core in mid range, 16/32 in mac pro, 8 or i7 in mac pro jr. Lol.

[mpantone]

Originally Posted by dualie

Why would Apple go to all the trouble of creating a whole new OS for the tablet when it's already got OS X? It doesn't make any sense.

Myriad reasons.

There is ample reason for Apple to create an intermediate OS between the iPhone OS and Mac OS X.

The tablet's hardware resources might be constrained (CPU speed, available RAM, storage space). Perhaps they don't want to give the end user free access to the filesystem. The necessary APIs for a tablet computer might be easier to implement in a stripped-down version of the desktop OS.

In any case, Apple already has another device that could probably use the intermediate OS: AppleTV. The existence of the intermediate OS could drive introduction of new APIs specifically designed for gaming, Internet video, etc. and perhaps pave the way for other devices like game consoles.

[PaulMJohnson]

I hope it's about Kindle sized. That's a nice form factor I think and if Kindle were all screen, as opposed to having a keyboard, it would look lovely.

I'm sure Apple must be working on something - the amount of money being spent on Netbooks is too large to ignore!

[nizy]

This rumor makes absolutely no sense. A multi-touch, capacitive display at that size would be so expensive that it'd ship for $1000 or more. Even the 10 inch screen would likely be pretty expensive too. My moneys on 7 or 8 inch displays at the low end, 10 maybe at high end.

[Roc Ingersol]

I wouldn't be surprised if touch-screen tech showed up in macbooks and iMacs as alternative input method for normal OS X.

I would be terribly surprised if a tablet larger than 13" showed up.
13" itself is on the edge of plausible, but I doubt they'd do both 10 and 13".

And I would be shocked and dismayed if a touch-screen stand-alone computer from Apple ran an OS and apps designed for mouse/keyboard.

Could be they don't want to talk about the OS, because they're actually drawing the 'iphone OS X' branch back in as a generic 'PPC OS X'.

[Gazoobee]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Citing a "100 percent reliable" source ...

Gizmodo is an almost 100% *unreliable* source.

What's the result of an unreliable source quoting a reliable source?
Don't they cancel each other out?

[Robin Huber]

Originally Posted by Bageljoey

Besides, I thought the whole point of Snow Leopard was to renovate the insides of OSX (metaphorically speaking) so why move away from it now?

And, there has been some recent speculation about the real reason Apple is making such a big deal about Snow Leopard taking up significantly less room on a hard drive. In this era of ginormous and cheap hard drives, why would they make such an effort to do this, and to bruit it about so? Some have suggested that this bolsters the notion of putting it on something small and with an SSD.

[mstone]

Originally Posted by PaulMJohnson

I hope it's about Kindle sized. That's a nice form factor I think and if Kindle were all screen, as opposed to having a keyboard, it would look lovely.

I'm sure Apple must be working on something - the amount of money being spent on Netbooks is too large to ignore!

The thing that will have to be different on any tablet that is supposed to compete in the netbook space and differentiate itself from an iPhone will be the ability to control it with a greater degree of accuracy than can be achieved with fingers alone. It needs a mouse/pen or something that will enable precision interaction.

[phalanx]

Originally Posted by Shogun

My money's on OSX. .

My money is on them loading Windows 7.

You know it will be running on MacBooks. At least it doesn't default to 32bit.

[mstone]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

it was stated that Apple purchased large numbers of some screen sizes, suggesting they could have been for more than prototypes, but a more significant small production run.

They aren't planning to actually sell the device. They are producing only enough to replace those Windows point of sale devices they currently use in Apple Stores. If they catch on maybe they'll make more.

[Logisticaldron]

Originally Posted by dualie

Why would Apple go to all the trouble of creating a whole new OS for the tablet when it's already got OS X? It doesn't make any sense.

That wouldn’t. What is meant is that they would make a new flavour based on OS X, like the Mac OS X and iPhone OS X. Neither Mac nor iPhone OS X are right for such a project. It would have to have some things stripped from it like the like iPhone (though not nearly as many) and it would have to have a more touch friendly interface (which Mac OS X doesn’t have). Every tablet I’v seen running Windows sucks big monkey balls because it’s an desktop OS designed primarily for a mouse keyboard and larger display being shoehorned to work with a stylus. Something is going to drastically different for this OS if the tablet is created. I can only imagine that it’s mostly Mac OS X with all the crap removed and a new touch UI similar to the iPhone in that it’s designed for fingers but optimized for a larger interface.

[Dick Applebaum]

Originally Posted by nagromme

i don't doubt that many different prototypes exist. What i doubt is that they'll all ever be sold to the public.

I especially doubt that apple would release a mac os x tablet alongside a touch os x tablet. Talk about consumer confusion!

I expect one or maybe two sizes (to start with), and an os more like the iphone than mac os x. The iphone os is made for touch. Mac os x is not. Underneath they have much in common, but i expect apple to pick the right one for the job.

I'd be delighted to be able to run "real" os x apps in a pinch, but that wouldn't make sense as the main mode of interaction. Apps meant for touch make more sense.

+++ qft

[Gazoobee]

Originally Posted by Hattig

... I can understand a 6 - 10 inch tablet, it's holdable, transportable, and usable. Any bigger and it starts to be a bit unwieldy, it needs to be rested in a stand, or placed flat on a surface. It's turned into a different class of device.

Exactly. This rumour describes a device that is the exact opposite of what would be a "good tablet computer."

The reason the form factor has failed in the past is that it has very limited utility. To type on the screen you have to lay it down on something, you can hold it in the crook of your arm and poke at it with your other hand like a clipboard, which is why they are somewhat useful for doctors, but it's not a "mobile" computer if you have to put it down all the time, or sit down yourself, just to use it. Most tablets are also heavy enough that they are tiring on the arms and a drag to carry around.

Problems with tablet OS's run to the fact that with a desktop OS, you need precise positioning but all you have is a jerky handheld pen instead of a mouse on a desktop, and the fact that everything needs to be magnified for it to be visible at all. Also, most creative software like word processors and image drawing/editing programs are designed for the *opposite* end of the spectrum, i.e. - those with huge monitors at very high resolutions.

If you look at it that way, the successful tablet computer would be:

• small (the size of a steno pad or clipboard)
• hold-able in one hand for long periods of time (lightweight)
• easy text entry possible without putting it down (thumb typing)
• custom low-res interface software (not a desktop metaphor)
• custom creative apps (word processor at least)

If you then look at Apple's patents this is pretty much exactly what they describe. Imagine a 6x9 device (proportions of a Steno pad), but it looks like an iPhone. Held in portrait mode, with the software keyboard, the average person could type on this thing at 60 WPM. It's bigger than an iPhone, but thinner in respect to width and height and about the same weight. You could easily hold it in one hand all day long. You could easily type on it, cruise the web, etc. while walking, without needing to lay it down or sit down yourself, and it could wirelessly sync to your home or desktop computer. It's not a *full* computer really, more of an adjunct to your desktop.

Now *that* is a (possibly) successful tablet device, whereas a 13" tablet running regular desktop OS like Snow Leopard is pretty much exactly what has been tried a hundred times already and known to be a failure.

Who knows if they are even making a tablet, but if they are, it will be more like an iPhone than it will be like a laptop. Apple does some crazy stuff sometimes, but coming out with a standard 13" tablet running desktop software (but used with your fingers!), is asking them to make a product that will not sell and never has sold. I just don't think they are that dumb.

[joe in miami]

Originally Posted by iCarbon

What if El Jobso himself told you?

Love it.

[christopher126]

I love this, did anybody else's dick move when they saw this photo? Cause mine did!

I'm holding off on buying a new iPhone and a new MBA till I see this.

I could see getting a cheapo verizon phone and the Tablet and telling ATT to stick it up their nose!

I could pair down and end up with just a 30" iMac and a tablet...plus a cheapo phone. (one that updates contacts though!)