HP doesn’t deserve credit for this. It’s not by accident that they did this design second (third? seventh?) and Apple did it first. The first MacBook Air came out FOUR years ago and looked nothing like anything else. We can say there are only a few ways to make a hinge, or whatever... but where was a hinge like that done on a laptop before? I think the iBook had that drop-behind screen first, and now all Apple laptops have it, and many non-Apple laptops have jumped on it too.
If these designs are so “obvious” then why is Apple always doing them first? What a coincidence. I guess they’re obvious after you’ve seen Apple do it
And “credit” must be given to Intel, of course... don’t they claim to have “inspired” the “ultrabook” design? Let’s not kid ourselves about what “inspired” Intel there....
At best, Intel mimicked Apple and HP followed along. Change a few details? Apple was still first by years.
Even assuming this story is true, Apple is not likely to switch the MBA to ARM unless Intel forces them to.
Intel isn't forcing Apple to go to ARM, but they've already given Apple a swift kick. I don't know what Apple's CPU pricing is, but they're probably not getting the same volume discounts that the larger PC makers are getting. When the first MacBook Air was introduced, it had a custom-made Intel CPU. Yes, it eventually found its way into competing laptops. And Apple paid boutique prices for early access to that chip and a few others after it.
But not any more. For whatever reason, Apple no longer gets exclusive early access to the latest Intel CPUs. My guess is that Intel ended the honeymoon because Apple went with ARM-based SoCs for iPhone / iPad / Apple TV instead of the power-hungry Intel Atom chipset. Intel finally rolled out an Atom x86-based SoC this year. Five years after the iPhone was announced.
Meanwhile, Apple has been able to get very good per-unit pricing on most other laptop and mobile device components. Including flash memory, touch screens, batteries, machined aluminum enclosures, and yes, ARM-based SoCs. And Apple is getting used to those low, low prices. Because, at the moment, favorable component deals give Apple high margins. But what if Apple decided to sacrifice a few margin points for increased market share? What if they transitioned MacBook Air to ARM-based SoCs and dropped the price of the entire MacBook Air line by $100 or $200?
That's got to be one of HP's worst nightmares. A cheaper MacBook Air that still delivers huge profit margins for Apple. With premium build quality at a price that HP and the other Wintel PC makers can't match. Running an easy-to-use OS that Microsoft will spend years trying to copy. (Microsoft, of course, being a recurring nightmare for HP and other Wintel box-makers.)
Of course, Apple will need to wait for a 64-bit ARM-based SoC, probably quad-core, to be available. It will only need to be powerful enough to handle the tasks that average MacBook Air owners will be throwing at it. iLife apps, browsing, emailing, iTunes, text editing, blogging, tweeting, casual games, playing music / video / movies, etc. If you really need power, just get the MacBook Pro. It could still have a legacy Intel CPU for all those "pro" apps until they are recompiled for ARM.
Apple has lots of experience transitioning users and developers from one architecture to another. 68k -> PowerPC -> Intel. Been there, done that. ARM next.
Here is a direct copy of the MacBook Air. Acer Aspire S3-951-6646 13.3-Inch Ultrabook. If this had an Apple shaped icon most people really wouldn't know the difference. I wonder if anyone were to perform a public survey with this computer with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion installed, telling them that Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is the next version of Microsoft Windows, what would the results be? How many people would prefer Mac OS X 10.7 Lion over Microsoft Windows 8?
Absolutely amazing. How the **** can they do this and not get sued into oblivion? Even the damn hinge is identical (black). I'm not sure if they could have made it look more like a chinese knockoff if they tried. Watch everyone else jump ship to mimick the new MBP redesign to be unveiled soon, because it will be 'natural progression' of the form-factor. And it will just so happen that progression will come from Apple and noone else, just like every other progression in the computer and mobile industries.
"It is not because those guys (Apple) did it first. It's just that's where the form factor is leading it."
This guy must not have had any philosophy classes when he was in school, or at least some semblance of abstract reasoning.
"So..'Form Factors' just exist in an ether and direct the path of technology? Really? "Form Factors" that exist without anybody having created them? "The almighty "Form Factor" has decreed that we are to go....THIS WAY! That is where almighty Form Factor is taking us." Wait, but didn't somebody have to create Form Factor for it to exist? "No! Form Factor has always existed, and that is why we follow Form Factor wherever It shall lead!" Uh, huh. Weird how Form Factor strangely resembles Mac Air - "SILENCE, heathen!" "Just say'n."
“We think all notebooks will look like these one day.” - Steve Jobs, October 20, 2010, when presenting the new MBA.
The reason he was right isn't necessarily because we live in a Platonic universe where Apple just happened to discover a form that was just sitting there, waiting for someone to finally see. The reason he was right is because it's a beautiful design and he knew everyone would eventually copy it. Which they're pretty much trying to do. (In some cases right down to the color, the hinge design, every littlest detail...)
The reason he was right isn't necessarily because we live in a Platonic universe where Apple just happened to discover a form that was just sitting there, waiting for someone to finally see. The reason he was right is because it's a beautiful design and he knew everyone would eventually copy it. Which they're pretty much trying to do. (In some cases right down to the color, the hinge design, every littlest detail...)
But this has Beats Audio so that totally disqualifies it as an attempt to copy the Air!
Comments
HP doesn’t deserve credit for this. It’s not by accident that they did this design second (third? seventh?) and Apple did it first. The first MacBook Air came out FOUR years ago and looked nothing like anything else. We can say there are only a few ways to make a hinge, or whatever... but where was a hinge like that done on a laptop before? I think the iBook had that drop-behind screen first, and now all Apple laptops have it, and many non-Apple laptops have jumped on it too.
If these designs are so “obvious” then why is Apple always doing them first? What a coincidence. I guess they’re obvious after you’ve seen Apple do it
And “credit” must be given to Intel, of course... don’t they claim to have “inspired” the “ultrabook” design? Let’s not kid ourselves about what “inspired” Intel there....
At best, Intel mimicked Apple and HP followed along. Change a few details? Apple was still first by years.
AI editor: You wrote this sentence backwards.
"In no way did HP try to mimic Apple. In life there are a lot of similarities.". Of course, HP just plained copied Apple.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Applelunatic
So is Beats Audio the new Bose? Can anyone actually hear a difference in ABX tests?
Yep. "Louder is better" is pretty much their formula.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
Even assuming this story is true, Apple is not likely to switch the MBA to ARM unless Intel forces them to.
Intel isn't forcing Apple to go to ARM, but they've already given Apple a swift kick. I don't know what Apple's CPU pricing is, but they're probably not getting the same volume discounts that the larger PC makers are getting. When the first MacBook Air was introduced, it had a custom-made Intel CPU. Yes, it eventually found its way into competing laptops. And Apple paid boutique prices for early access to that chip and a few others after it.
But not any more. For whatever reason, Apple no longer gets exclusive early access to the latest Intel CPUs. My guess is that Intel ended the honeymoon because Apple went with ARM-based SoCs for iPhone / iPad / Apple TV instead of the power-hungry Intel Atom chipset. Intel finally rolled out an Atom x86-based SoC this year. Five years after the iPhone was announced.
Meanwhile, Apple has been able to get very good per-unit pricing on most other laptop and mobile device components. Including flash memory, touch screens, batteries, machined aluminum enclosures, and yes, ARM-based SoCs. And Apple is getting used to those low, low prices. Because, at the moment, favorable component deals give Apple high margins. But what if Apple decided to sacrifice a few margin points for increased market share? What if they transitioned MacBook Air to ARM-based SoCs and dropped the price of the entire MacBook Air line by $100 or $200?
That's got to be one of HP's worst nightmares. A cheaper MacBook Air that still delivers huge profit margins for Apple. With premium build quality at a price that HP and the other Wintel PC makers can't match. Running an easy-to-use OS that Microsoft will spend years trying to copy. (Microsoft, of course, being a recurring nightmare for HP and other Wintel box-makers.)
Of course, Apple will need to wait for a 64-bit ARM-based SoC, probably quad-core, to be available. It will only need to be powerful enough to handle the tasks that average MacBook Air owners will be throwing at it. iLife apps, browsing, emailing, iTunes, text editing, blogging, tweeting, casual games, playing music / video / movies, etc. If you really need power, just get the MacBook Pro. It could still have a legacy Intel CPU for all those "pro" apps until they are recompiled for ARM.
Apple has lots of experience transitioning users and developers from one architecture to another. 68k -> PowerPC -> Intel. Been there, done that. ARM next.
“We think all notebooks will look like these one day.” - Steve Jobs, October 20, 2010, when presenting the new MBA.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacBook Pro
Here is a direct copy of the MacBook Air. Acer Aspire S3-951-6646 13.3-Inch Ultrabook. If this had an Apple shaped icon most people really wouldn't know the difference. I wonder if anyone were to perform a public survey with this computer with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion installed, telling them that Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is the next version of Microsoft Windows, what would the results be? How many people would prefer Mac OS X 10.7 Lion over Microsoft Windows 8?
Absolutely amazing. How the **** can they do this and not get sued into oblivion? Even the damn hinge is identical (black). I'm not sure if they could have made it look more like a chinese knockoff if they tried. Watch everyone else jump ship to mimick the new MBP redesign to be unveiled soon, because it will be 'natural progression' of the form-factor. And it will just so happen that progression will come from Apple and noone else, just like every other progression in the computer and mobile industries.
This all falls into the "Liar, liar pants on fire" catagory. Similarities, no really?
"It is not because those guys (Apple) did it first. It's just that's where the form factor is leading it."
This guy must not have had any philosophy classes when he was in school, or at least some semblance of abstract reasoning.
"So..'Form Factors' just exist in an ether and direct the path of technology? Really? "Form Factors" that exist without anybody having created them? "The almighty "Form Factor" has decreed that we are to go....THIS WAY! That is where almighty Form Factor is taking us." Wait, but didn't somebody have to create Form Factor for it to exist? "No! Form Factor has always existed, and that is why we follow Form Factor wherever It shall lead!" Uh, huh. Weird how Form Factor strangely resembles Mac Air - "SILENCE, heathen!" "Just say'n."
Quote:
Originally Posted by paxman
“We think all notebooks will look like these one day.” - Steve Jobs, October 20, 2010, when presenting the new MBA.
Then some anti-Apple clown comes on and cites that as reason why HP, et. al. aren't copying.
Not to worry, it's a very bad copy and ultra ugly with the black lid and horrible logo.
It will burn as hell too.
J.
Yep. Because other than them both being silver, the ultrabooks don't look *anything* like the MBA.
*cough*
In life there are many similarities.... especially if you copy.
Yes, and he was meaning the size and form factor. Not the apeing of the brushed-metal finish, the nearly identical keyboard and trackpad, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by paxman
“We think all notebooks will look like these one day.” - Steve Jobs, October 20, 2010, when presenting the new MBA.
The reason he was right isn't necessarily because we live in a Platonic universe where Apple just happened to discover a form that was just sitting there, waiting for someone to finally see. The reason he was right is because it's a beautiful design and he knew everyone would eventually copy it. Which they're pretty much trying to do. (In some cases right down to the color, the hinge design, every littlest detail...)
Mac styled keyboard? It looks exactly like the chicklet keyboard that was on my TRS-80 Color in 1982.
I HATE the new calculator style keyboards.
But this has Beats Audio so that totally disqualifies it as an attempt to copy the Air!
Looks like a MacBook Air to me, LOL
The old NeXT cubes were made of magnesium too