Introducing the MacBook Touch

sport73

It's a Multi-Touch desktop.

It's a Laptop.

It's a Tablet.



a 13.3" Wide-screen multi-touch display

Patented scroll wheel/touchpad for standard mouse use

Full physical keybaord (modeled after recessed keys of MacBook)

iSight built in

Superdrive Built in

Core 2 Duo Processor

Leopard/iLife 07 Bundle

$2,499











Pardon the rough mockup, but I wanted to get this out there. I believe it represents the best combination of multi-touch usability and reliable form-factor we've come to count on. You still get the physical response of a keyboard, you get a nice 30 degree or so incline for the display, and you get a tablet Mac.



Can it be done? Will it be done?

sport73

It could be done with a standard single hinge that 'locks' when you hit a 30" angle or so, but it would be difficult to make it sturdy enough to allow people to reach out and touch it without tipping the whole thing backward, using the 2 section hinge provides a stable base so you can apply pressure naturally when using the multi-touch display.

nickgb3

Cool, but I don't understand the "window-shutters" double hinge approach at all. What is saved with this design over a Macbook with a 360-degree hinge? A stiff hinge wouldn't need the support of the optical drive (which sounds dicey anyway), and you're robbed of the palm rest for the keyboard. And if it did need the optical drive's vertical support, you couldn't rest it stably on anything but a large table. Moreover, it's two moving parts instead of one. And it's not as if it twists like the current PC tablets to protect the keyboard.



I mean, whatever, it's appleinsider and it's all fantasy anyway-- props for doing the mock-up, I just don't understand the design.

nickgb3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sport73


It could be done with a standard single hinge that 'locks' when you hit a 30" angle or so, but it would be difficult to make it sturdy enough to allow people to reach out and touch it without tipping the whole thing backward, using the 2 section hinge provides a stable base so you can apply pressure naturally when using the multi-touch display.

I see what you mean. But having the optical drive absorb the flex of being the vertical support seems dicey. What if you had the typical design, but with little feet that would flip out from the back of the screen? Not very apple, but it would save the drive at least. thoughts/

superbass

This design takes up more table space, unless you decide to sit 6" further away from the table than normal, or bend your arms more than is comfortable. Also, the screen angle looks really inconvenient. The Apple tablet won't happen, especially in this form. Neither will an accordion style fold-out touchscreen tablet (AATT) or a cube touchscreen tablet (ACTT) or a triangle touchscreen tablet (ATTT).