I am not giving much credence to the iPod Touch one at all.
First, Steve Jobs was pushing the FaceTime thing so hard with the iPhone4 I thought he was going to have a hernia. And given the numbers he posted for FaceTime capable devices I will be absolutely shocked if the iPod Touch doesn't have a FaceTime capable camera. A still camera, I don't think they care nearly as much about.
The MBA might be real.
Given the economy of scale I am also skeptical of the move from the 13" screen on the MBA to an 12" screen (yes, I know I rounded). The 13" screen is the same size as the one used in the MacBook and the MacBook Pro 13". If they were to use the same screen in all three of these product lines then they can bring down the cost of all of them. Moving the MBA to a size that no other product in their lineup uses doesn't make a lot of sense from this direction.
That being said, there might be other concerns, and Apple is pretty well known for not caring a whole lot about the price.
A smaller screen would help with battery life, and would allow them to make it lighter. I honestly don't know about this one, but my gut says it won't happen.
An 11.6 inch MacBook Air would make so much more sense than the current version which effectively negates any gains in portability/size by having virtually the same footprint as the MacBook Pro 13... the whole 'thinness' thing is so played out.
If they're smart, they'll market this as the true netbook/thin & light competitor and price it accordingly.
I have a friend that does the exact same thing except she uses a MBP with a 7 hour battery.....and now that Starbucks is offering free wifi life is good!
Hope you get what you want out of the products releases....
If the snapshots of iPod touch cases I've seen are accurate, there's no flash on the new touch. The cases look like they have a single hole in the upper middle of the back.
Kuo claimed the notebook, which will reportedly sport an 11.6-inch screen, smaller than the current 13.3-inch display, will also be powered by an Intel Core i-series ultra-low voltage processor. Shipment volumes of the new MacBook Air, said to be manufactured by Quanta Computer, are expected to reach just 400,000 units this year.
The i3 ULV processor doesn't have turbo boost. I can't honestly believe Apple will drop the MBA from a 1.86 or 2.13GHz processor to a 1.2GHz one. It does at least have hyper threading so that would be 2 real and 2 virtual cores @ 1.2GHz instead 2 at the current speeds, but they would lose out on the NVIDIA graphics and have to accept much worse Intel IGPs. This just doesn't seem very credible.
Also, as far as the iPod Touch camera goes, maybe they will use a 3MP camera, but have a reversed sensor like the iPhone 4 has to allow for nicer pictures.
Even if this does happen, i can't see it being priced less than $1000. That would totally cannibalize sales of the iPad. If you had the choice of two Apple products for the same price, one running iOS and one running OSX, why wouldn't you take the one running OSX? No iOS and OSX-running products in Apple's lineup are priced the same, probably for this reason.
MBA... meh... I still want a 15" MBP without DVD drive.
As for the guy excited to work from Starbucks WiFi and on 3G, I hope whatever you do is very low bandwidth. I find remote (Starbucks, etc) wifi to be painfully slow for large transfers (synchronizing small web servers). Its fine for browsing, not fine for working. The same goes for 3G data, there is a LOT of overhead in the published speeds.
Finally for the person arguing the camera will be the same because of economies of scale, this is a false argument. Yes the unit cost of building 1000 items vs 1 is less, ASIs building 1m instead of 1000. But eventually it plataues as capitial costs per unit approach zero and 200m isn't different from 100m. Apple could easily justify the extra penny or two per unit to differentiate the products by having different cameras. Not saying they will, just that it's a false argument as to why.
an 11.5" MBA would be too similar to an ipad. not going to happen. as for the chincy 3.3 megapixel camera - i hope that's not true - i hope it's the same as the iphone 4 but apple might want to keep the iphone 4 a notch better...
i have an ipad and a mba and i have to say i mainly use the ipad for games. i'm taking a few trips this summer so maybe the ipad can prove it's real worth to me.
my buying advice for people with no computer:
if you can afford only one get a macbook (pro or air)
if you can afford more, you might want to get an imac 27" & an ipad.
True, but you're not understanding Apple's basic business model and target audience.
The typical Apple customer has lots of disposable income; it's one of the most desirable demographics in the entire consumer electronics industry. Something like 85-90% of Mac households also have a Windows PC.
Apple is selling their devices to people who can afford to have several Apple gadgets. The guy that has an iPad probably has an iPhone, a Mac, and a Windows PC. And probably a Blu-ray player, game console, Kindle, etc.
That's why Apple's gross margins are so fat. They are selling to rich professionals who want one of each, not cash-poor fanboi students or people on the dole.
All my current projects on an 11? MacBook Air, ready to grab and run out the door.
But at home/office, I?d use the Air simply as a server, feeding my files (with no sync needed) to a Mac Pro with a nice big screen Documents would load slower than local storage, but the convenience and flexibility would be well worth it.
an 11.5" MBA would be too similar to an ipad. not going to happen. as for the chincy 3.3 megapixel camera - i hope that's not true - i hope it's the same as the iphone 4 but apple might want to keep the iphone 4 a notch better...
i have an ipad and a mba and i have to say i mainly use the ipad for games. i'm taking a few trips this summer so maybe the ipad can prove it's real worth to me.
my buying advice for people with no computer:
if you can afford only one get a macbook (pro or air)
if you can afford more, you might want to get an imac 27" & an ipad.
no one really needs both a macbook and ipad.
While I agree with your idea of combining a conventionall Mac with an iPad, I believe the iMac is inherently flawed. Myself I'd get either a MB or one of the desktop units (Mini or Pro) combined with a quality display to compliment an iPad (the iPad is not the same thing as a MacBook, especially the Pro series).
The iMac combines an LCD screen with a life expectancy of around 12 years with a computer that can't last that long unless you spend a lot of money on maintenance. By maintenance I'm meaning replacing harddrives every three or four years and doing the same to maintain up-to-date iLife and OS software. I'm not factoring in other possible issues with the iMac's other components but there could be other costs involved iin trying to keep the computer running long enough to get full use out of the LCD.
Far better to buy a Cinema Display or less costly monitor to combine with a computer that you can replace when the time is right without worrying about the monitor. The cost of the Mini is low enough that if you trade-in the unit every couple of years, that covers the cost of maintaining the software and harddrive, yet your cost is minimal. I traded in a Mini last year and got close to half what the unit cost me new. Most of what it cost for me to buy the new machine (factoring in trade-in credit) is roughly comparable to buying a harddrive+new OS+new iLife suite. Six, seven years from now the Mini will be running more capable hardware than the current iMac. I like that set-up a lot more than the notion of running a 2010 circa iMac in 2017. The iMac looks better now but that advantage is short-term only.
Apple will release [...] a redesigned, thinner MacBook Air with an 11.6-inch display this year, a new rumor states.
thinner, no longer wedge shaped (or as wedge shaped), more ports, glossy black rim around screen, and no button on the trackpad (thanks to more room at the trackpad end)
my $0.02
images for illustration purposes only, copyrighted by me, 2010.
thinner, no longer wedge shaped (or as wedge shaped), more ports, glossy black rim around screen, and no button on the trackpad (thanks to more room at the trackpad end)
my $0.02
images for illustration purposes only, copyrighted by me, 2010.
Very pretty, but the screen shell would have no strength at all.
Core i-series means no NVidia GPU. OpenCL would still run on the CPU so not a huge problem for this class of user but it won't match the Macbook performance like the 9400M did.
They can still use the 320M along with the same Core 2 Duo they use now.
I'd rather see this model priced below the entry MBP. Even replace the white plastic Macbook at $999. Sure people will call it a netbook but it's not when it has a 7 hour battery life with a full Core 2 Duo + 320M.
What it would lack would be Firewire 800 and ethernet but these can be replaced easily with 3-4 USB 3.0 ports. Removing the optical from this audience would be the big move needed to phase out optical drives in the Pro models.
11.6" isn't terribly small - they used to have a 12" powerbook and the size was fine. Now the weight would be significantly less. I reckon with a smaller display, they can stop worrying about making it artificially thin by tapering it, just put in a 2.5" drive and work to that height but keep the number of ports usable.
Comments
I am not giving much credence to the iPod Touch one at all.
First, Steve Jobs was pushing the FaceTime thing so hard with the iPhone4 I thought he was going to have a hernia. And given the numbers he posted for FaceTime capable devices I will be absolutely shocked if the iPod Touch doesn't have a FaceTime capable camera. A still camera, I don't think they care nearly as much about.
The MBA might be real.
Given the economy of scale I am also skeptical of the move from the 13" screen on the MBA to an 12" screen (yes, I know I rounded). The 13" screen is the same size as the one used in the MacBook and the MacBook Pro 13". If they were to use the same screen in all three of these product lines then they can bring down the cost of all of them. Moving the MBA to a size that no other product in their lineup uses doesn't make a lot of sense from this direction.
That being said, there might be other concerns, and Apple is pretty well known for not caring a whole lot about the price.
A smaller screen would help with battery life, and would allow them to make it lighter. I honestly don't know about this one, but my gut says it won't happen.
An 11.6 inch MacBook Air would make so much more sense than the current version which effectively negates any gains in portability/size by having virtually the same footprint as the MacBook Pro 13... the whole 'thinness' thing is so played out.
If they're smart, they'll market this as the true netbook/thin & light competitor and price it accordingly.
That was good for a giggle, thanks.
I have a friend that does the exact same thing except she uses a MBP with a 7 hour battery.....and now that Starbucks is offering free wifi life is good!
Hope you get what you want out of the products releases....
Thanks!
Kuo claimed the notebook, which will reportedly sport an 11.6-inch screen, smaller than the current 13.3-inch display, will also be powered by an Intel Core i-series ultra-low voltage processor. Shipment volumes of the new MacBook Air, said to be manufactured by Quanta Computer, are expected to reach just 400,000 units this year.
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=49021
The i3 ULV processor doesn't have turbo boost. I can't honestly believe Apple will drop the MBA from a 1.86 or 2.13GHz processor to a 1.2GHz one. It does at least have hyper threading so that would be 2 real and 2 virtual cores @ 1.2GHz instead 2 at the current speeds, but they would lose out on the NVIDIA graphics and have to accept much worse Intel IGPs. This just doesn't seem very credible.
Also, as far as the iPod Touch camera goes, maybe they will use a 3MP camera, but have a reversed sensor like the iPhone 4 has to allow for nicer pictures.
As for the guy excited to work from Starbucks WiFi and on 3G, I hope whatever you do is very low bandwidth. I find remote (Starbucks, etc) wifi to be painfully slow for large transfers (synchronizing small web servers). Its fine for browsing, not fine for working. The same goes for 3G data, there is a LOT of overhead in the published speeds.
Finally for the person arguing the camera will be the same because of economies of scale, this is a false argument. Yes the unit cost of building 1000 items vs 1 is less, ASIs building 1m instead of 1000. But eventually it plataues as capitial costs per unit approach zero and 200m isn't different from 100m. Apple could easily justify the extra penny or two per unit to differentiate the products by having different cameras. Not saying they will, just that it's a false argument as to why.
http://macbookair10.net
i have an ipad and a mba and i have to say i mainly use the ipad for games. i'm taking a few trips this summer so maybe the ipad can prove it's real worth to me.
my buying advice for people with no computer:
if you can afford only one get a macbook (pro or air)
if you can afford more, you might want to get an imac 27" & an ipad.
no one really needs both a macbook and ipad.
no one really needs both a macbook and ipad.
True, but you're not understanding Apple's basic business model and target audience.
The typical Apple customer has lots of disposable income; it's one of the most desirable demographics in the entire consumer electronics industry. Something like 85-90% of Mac households also have a Windows PC.
Apple is selling their devices to people who can afford to have several Apple gadgets. The guy that has an iPad probably has an iPhone, a Mac, and a Windows PC. And probably a Blu-ray player, game console, Kindle, etc.
That's why Apple's gross margins are so fat. They are selling to rich professionals who want one of each, not cash-poor fanboi students or people on the dole.
All my current projects on an 11? MacBook Air, ready to grab and run out the door.
But at home/office, I?d use the Air simply as a server, feeding my files (with no sync needed) to a Mac Pro with a nice big screen
Now... to find some money lying around...
an 11.5" MBA would be too similar to an ipad. not going to happen. as for the chincy 3.3 megapixel camera - i hope that's not true - i hope it's the same as the iphone 4 but apple might want to keep the iphone 4 a notch better...
i have an ipad and a mba and i have to say i mainly use the ipad for games. i'm taking a few trips this summer so maybe the ipad can prove it's real worth to me.
my buying advice for people with no computer:
if you can afford only one get a macbook (pro or air)
if you can afford more, you might want to get an imac 27" & an ipad.
no one really needs both a macbook and ipad.
While I agree with your idea of combining a conventionall Mac with an iPad, I believe the iMac is inherently flawed. Myself I'd get either a MB or one of the desktop units (Mini or Pro) combined with a quality display to compliment an iPad (the iPad is not the same thing as a MacBook, especially the Pro series).
The iMac combines an LCD screen with a life expectancy of around 12 years with a computer that can't last that long unless you spend a lot of money on maintenance. By maintenance I'm meaning replacing harddrives every three or four years and doing the same to maintain up-to-date iLife and OS software. I'm not factoring in other possible issues with the iMac's other components but there could be other costs involved iin trying to keep the computer running long enough to get full use out of the LCD.
Far better to buy a Cinema Display or less costly monitor to combine with a computer that you can replace when the time is right without worrying about the monitor. The cost of the Mini is low enough that if you trade-in the unit every couple of years, that covers the cost of maintaining the software and harddrive, yet your cost is minimal. I traded in a Mini last year and got close to half what the unit cost me new. Most of what it cost for me to buy the new machine (factoring in trade-in credit) is roughly comparable to buying a harddrive+new OS+new iLife suite. Six, seven years from now the Mini will be running more capable hardware than the current iMac. I like that set-up a lot more than the notion of running a 2010 circa iMac in 2017. The iMac looks better now but that advantage is short-term only.
Apple will release [...] a redesigned, thinner MacBook Air with an 11.6-inch display this year, a new rumor states.
thinner, no longer wedge shaped (or as wedge shaped), more ports, glossy black rim around screen, and no button on the trackpad (thanks to more room at the trackpad end)
my $0.02
images for illustration purposes only, copyrighted by me, 2010.
MacBook 11.6"
- Q4 2010
- No more touchpad
- Touch Screen
- Introducing a new version of Mac OS with an iOS interface and touch screen support (as well as for standard mouse)
- Price: $1500
Apple is going to push FaceTime standard as far and as fast as they can.
In fact, I feel pretty sure Apple will not make any handheld device without both a front and rear camera ever again.
thinner, no longer wedge shaped (or as wedge shaped), more ports, glossy black rim around screen, and no button on the trackpad (thanks to more room at the trackpad end)
my $0.02
images for illustration purposes only, copyrighted by me, 2010.
Very pretty, but the screen shell would have no strength at all.
They can still use the 320M along with the same Core 2 Duo they use now.
I'd rather see this model priced below the entry MBP. Even replace the white plastic Macbook at $999. Sure people will call it a netbook but it's not when it has a 7 hour battery life with a full Core 2 Duo + 320M.
What it would lack would be Firewire 800 and ethernet but these can be replaced easily with 3-4 USB 3.0 ports. Removing the optical from this audience would be the big move needed to phase out optical drives in the Pro models.
11.6" isn't terribly small - they used to have a 12" powerbook and the size was fine. Now the weight would be significantly less. I reckon with a smaller display, they can stop worrying about making it artificially thin by tapering it, just put in a 2.5" drive and work to that height but keep the number of ports usable.
The iPod Touch will definitely contain the front and back dual cameras.
Apple is going to push FaceTime standard as far and as fast as they can.
In fact, I feel pretty sure Apple will not make any handheld device without both a front and rear camera ever again.
I agree, think that the new iPod Touch will fall inline with the new iPhone 4 in design will have a storage capacity of 128 Gb at the high end.
12-core Mac Pro
Verizon iPhone
Refreshed iPods
Refreshed AppleTVs
New Final Cut Pro Studio w/Open CL support
Etc.
Still waiting...