Apple sub-notebook to retail for $1500, 3G iPhone by June - report

[AppleInsider]

In a just-aired broadcast on CNBC, the network's Jim Goldman reported that a source close to Apple's manufacturing facilities has confirmed that the company will launch its much rumored sub-notebook at Macworld in January and that it will also have a 3G iPhone on store shelves by June at the latest.

Goldman's report on the new sub-notebook, which cited unnamed sources who have supposedly seen the product, mentioned several details first reported by AppleInsider over the past 12 months.

Among them are reports that the device will be 50 percent thinner than the company's existing MacBook Pro, employ NAND flash memory in place of a traditional hard disk drive, and that it will definitively arrive at Macworld.

Although Goldman did not specifically make mention of a manufacturing ramp, captions on CNBC accompanying his commentary suggested that production of the notebook had already begun. In addition, he did contribute one piece of new information, namely that the device is expected to be priced aggressively at approximately $1500. (It should be noted that Goldman referred to the device as sporting a 12-inch screen, but AppleInsider maintains that it will include a 13.3-inch display).

In his report, Goldman also added that Apple's iPod Touch is selling "far better than expected" during the current holiday shopping season, compelling one of the company's Asian manufacturing partners to increase production of the touch-screen-based media player to 5.1 million units for the current quarter.

Finally, Goldman said that while industry watchers have been expecting Apple to introduce a 3G capable iPhone by late 2008, his sources are suggesting that the device will be on store shelves by late May or early June at the latest.

A summary of Goldman's data points follows:
New 3G iPhone by late May, early June 2008.iPod Touch is selling better than expected this holiday season, with one of Apple's manufacturers increasing production to about 5.1 million units this quarter.New sub-notebook MacBook Pro.New sub-notebook 50 percent thinner.New sub-notebook employs flash memory instead of hard drive.New sub-notebook to retail for $1500.Apple declined CNBC's request for comment on the rumors.

A capture of the broadcast is available here.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Clive At Five]

Please be less than 13", please be less than 13", please be less than 13", please be less than 13"!

-Clive

[David Stevenson]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

In his report, Goldman also added that Apple's iPod Touch is selling "far better than expected" during the current holiday shopping season, compelling one of the company's Asian manufacturing partners to increase production of the touch-screen-based media player to 5.1 million units for the current quarter.

Since the Munster reports Touches selling at 10%+ of iPod sales, if Apple sells 4mil+ Touches, 25 mil iPod sales this quarter seems conservative. I still think 30-35 mil iPods this quarter.

[nagromme]

Less than 13" would be awesome. So would an external optical drive to save space when you don't need it. So would a combination of a magnetic HD plus a fast/low-power flash unit.

But 13.3", if sufficiently thin, would meet my needs.

I kind of hope it's more than $1500 just because I want all kinds of pro features packed in, like a real GPU and lit keys

[malus]

Nagromme, you can kiss any kind of GPU goodbye with a 50% thinner form factor.

[TenoBell]

3G with 16GB storage sounds good to me. I would sell my current iPhone and buy the new one.

If we can be certain of anything the sub-notebook will not have a dedicated GPU.

[malus]

We can all agree that if Apple is releasing a sub Macbook Pro it will have a new design, correct? Does this more-or-less affirm that Apple will be making cosmetic changes to the 15" and 17" Macbook Pros?

The lack of a dedicated GPU in a Macbook Pro seems to go against the whole point of buying a Pro, does it not? Aside from cosmetic differences and an express card slot, there is little difference between the Pro and the Macbook except a dedicated GPU.

Oh, surely there will be some kind of surprise.

[dagamer34]

Originally Posted by nagromme

Less than 13" would be awesome. So would an external optical drive to save space when you don't need it. So would a combination of a magnetic HD plus a fast/low-power flash unit.

But 13.3", if sufficiently thin, would meet my needs.

I kind of hope it's more than $1500 just because I want all kinds of pro features packed in, like a real GPU and lit keys

If it's only $1500, then it's just a better MacBook in a much slimmer form. I'm just hoping battery life doesn't suffer due to a slimmer profile (and thus, less space for the battery).

[g3pro]

They didn't mention if it had a traditional keyboard. We might be looking at a 13.3" (or 12") Mac Touch, slate style.

[Silencio]

Originally Posted by dagamer34

If it's only $1500, then it's just a better MacBook in a much slimmer form. I'm just hoping battery life doesn't suffer due to a slimmer profile (and thus, less space for the battery).

The battery-sucking hard drive will be gone. And it will use a LED-backlit display which is also easier on the battery.

[Eduardo]

Other than a "Wow, I wan't wait to see it!" factor I can't get excited over this. I need as much hard drive space possible.

[Fishyesque]

Wait.. Exactly how thin is 50% of the MBP?

[Fishyesque]

Originally Posted by Eduardo

Other than a "Wow, I wan't wait to see it!" factor I can't get excited over this. I need as much hard drive space possible.

Then you obviously don't need an ultraportable.

[malus]

about 1/2"

[ifiredmyboss.com]

I think some of the earlier reports said NO drives.
So add $$ to the cost to buy an external device.
Though it seems like a lot of people install from a server these days.

[Fishyesque]

So around 13 millimeters... nice..

[Frank777]

If it's just half-inch, that means the SuperDrive has been jettisoned, right?

[Fishyesque]

Optical drives blow. C'mon, you guys. Not in an ultraportable.

[Fishyesque]

Originally Posted by Frank777

If it's just half-inch, that means the SuperDrive has been jettisoned, right?

I hope so.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by malus

Nagromme, you can kiss any kind of GPU goodbye with a 50% thinner form factor.

And...? Not everyone needs a discrete GPU.

Originally Posted by Silencio

The battery-sucking hard drive will be gone. And it will use a LED-backlit display which is also easier on the battery.

I think you've fallen for faulty conventional wisdom. Hard drives take very little power, accounting for like 5% of a typical notebook's power consumption. Even if you take away the hard drive, you still have the remaining 95% to contend with. CPU and screen are much greater factors.

Originally Posted by dagamer34

If it's only $1500, then it's just a better MacBook in a much slimmer form. I'm just hoping battery life doesn't suffer due to a slimmer profile (and thus, less space for the battery).

It would need a lot less battery if it uses the U or L series Intel chips. The U series is rated for a third the power consumption but can still clock about half that of the T series. The L series consumes half the power of the T series but clocks at 2/3rds that of the T series. That allows for generally longer run times and for smaller batteries.

[aaarrrgggh]

All flash and no optical drive... hope they have a HDD too or a built-in SD card slot to store movies for plane rides!

But.. an SD card slot seems like such an un-Apple solution.

[Clive At Five]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

And...? Not everyone needs a discrete GPU.

That's fine... it just shouldn't be marketed as "Pro" if that's the case.

And if this thing is truly 13", they couldn't give it the "MacBook" name because it wouldn't be distinguished enough from the regular MacBooks. Therefore they're stuck with either "Pro" or some other suffix.

It's my opinion that "Pro" would be a misnomer...

-Clive

[malus]

Originally Posted by ifiredmyboss.com

I think some of the earlier reports said NO drives.
So add $$ to the cost to buy an external device.
Though it seems like a lot of people install from a server these days.

Umm, I doubt that--when looking at who buys Apple products--anyone installs from servers. If this were true, why did Leopard sell so many physical copies? Why does any software sell off the shelves?

Originally Posted by Fishyesque

Optical drives blow. C'mon, you guys. Not in an ultraportable.

Sony TZ series: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...tegoryId=16154

11" with DVD burner, Hybrid 64GB Solid State Drive, and 200GB Hard Drive.
This thing even has a damn Macbook keyboard and a modem. Wow.

[kaibeezy]

.
need to run mac + vista to demo software while on the road
tired of lugging around 2 laptops + 2 bricks + 2x etc
would appreciate a fast, lightweight mac to dual boot
64GB SSD won't be enough, even 128GB is about minimum
what do you think the odds are of those drive sizes?
combo flash and regular HD?
regular HD option?
.
thx
k
.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by Clive At Five

It's my opinion that "Pro" would be a misnomer...

Usually it is a misnomer, though Apple has been a little better than the industry average.

[TenoBell]

11" with DVD burner, Hybrid 64GB Solid State Drive, and 200GB Hard Drive.
This thing even has a damn Macbook keyboard and a modem. Wow.

No the WOW comes when you see the price, $3999.

[malus]

Originally Posted by kaibeezy

.
need to run mac + vista to demo software while on the road
tired of lugging around 2 laptops + 2 bricks + 2x etc
would appreciate a fast, lightweight mac to dual boot
64GB SSD won't be enough, even 128GB is about minimum
what do you think the odds are of those drive sizes?
combo flash and regular HD?
regular HD option?
.
thx
k
.

Even a 128gb SSD drive is $4000 right now, which is absolute madness. I suggest getting a Macbook pro and installing good virtulization software. SSD is in no way efficient yet when looked at through aggregate energy costs, hell, not even if you calculate how much the extra weigh of a magnetic drive affects gas mileage.

[Fishyesque]

Originally Posted by malus

11" with DVD burner, Hybrid 64GB Solid State Drive, and 200GB Hard Drive.
This thing even has a damn Macbook keyboard and a modem. Wow.

Still takes up space and power. Doesn't matter how much, it still does.

Out with it!

[Fishyesque]

Originally Posted by TenoBell

No the WOW comes when you see the price, $3999.

Haha Amen!

[malus]

Originally Posted by TenoBell

No the WOW comes when you see the price, $3999.

Well, when you want to have your cake and eat it too with ultra-portables, that's what it costs. The TZ is all carbon fibre, as well, which doesn't generally run cheap.

[ThunkDifferent.com]

iWonder is 13" is too big for some people. For me, it's not big enough, i really need at least a 14" powerbook or 15' mac book pro. Perhaps a 12" tablet will be introduced at mac world. iBet the call it the ipocket or something like that. Ther is always the modbook which has been out for a year or so.

Thunk Different.

[amac4me]

These will be strong sellers out of the gate. There's a significant amount of pent-up demand since the transition to Intel processors. People have been waiting for a small MacBook Pro ever since they were released. Get yours early if you can.

[GQB]

Originally Posted by malus

This thing even has a damn Macbook keyboard and a modem. Wow.

A modem?
Does it come with a 5.25" floppy drive too?

(snark... sorry. but seriously, if there was ever a place to save a little space be leaving off a connector...)

[malus]

Originally Posted by GQB

A modem?
Does it come with a 5.25" floppy drive too?

(snark... sorry. but seriously, if there was ever a place to save a little space be leaving off a connector...)

I agree. I was surprised they crammed one on the board.

[TenoBell]

Well, when you want to have your cake and eat it too with ultra-portables, that's what it costs. The TZ is all carbon fibre, as well, which doesn't generally run cheap.

$1500 is a lot better than $3000. I can see the wisdom of sacrificing the optical drive for more expensive SDD storage and lower cost. This price leaves room for 128 GB SDD at $2000.

That Vaio is also .17" thicker than the MacBook Pro. So Apple's ultra-portable will be over half as thin. And weight a lot less.

[kaibeezy]

Originally Posted by malus

Even a 128gb SSD drive is $4000 right now, which is absolute madness. I suggest getting a Macbook pro and installing good virtulization software. SSD is in no way efficient yet when looked at through aggregate energy costs, hell, not even if you calculate how much the extra weigh of a magnetic drive affects gas mileage.

.
could have been more specific, i suppose
road = flying around
lugging = in carry-on bag
so i'm very interested in reduced weight
compared to the thinkpad x60 + ibook i carry now
.
would definitely prefer large HD to $$$ small SSD
think it will be an option?
.

[kenaustus]

If the new ultra lite starts at $1,500 I think it will be difficult to put more than about 32 Gigs of flash in it at the base price. I'm looking for a design that allows the user to upgrade the "HD" with the same ease that they upgrade RAM. Look for upgrade pricing on BTOs and also 3rd party prices getting attractive in 2-3 years.

As for the iPhone, I'm looking for a 32 Gig version at a reasonable price, which probably means that it will be another 12 months before I can jump in. I do think that a second version will be announced in January and that the current one will have a price cut of about $1,000. I'm not that concerned about G3 WiFi as I probably wouldn't even use Edge that much. What developers do with the SDK starting in February is going to be far more important for me.

[waytogobuddy]

Quote:
11" with DVD burner, Hybrid 64GB Solid State Drive, and 200GB Hard Drive.
This thing even has a damn Macbook keyboard and a modem. Wow.
No the WOW comes when you see the price, $3999.

And then again when you read " external DVD±R/RW DL drive"

[TBaggins]

Finally, Goldman said that while industry watchers have been expecting Apple to introduce a 3G capable iPhone by late 2008, his sources are suggesting that the device will be on store shelves by late May or early June at the latest.

BOOOOYAH! THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!!!

A 3G iPhone less than a year after the initial launch would be very good.

Of course, I'm takin' it with a grain of salt. The same guy is saying that the iPod Touch is selling super-well, but if you go to Amazon, it's actually #20 in Electronics (as of this writing), being outsold by two models of the iPod Classic, two models of the iPod Nano, and (gasp) one Zune!

Still, one can hope.

.

[Splinemodel]

Ca-ching. Now I need to convince my boss to buy two.