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

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  • Reply 61 of 140
    haggarhaggar Posts: 1,568member
    When Steve first introduced the original Powerbook G4, he made fun of other PC laptop manufacturers who called their laptops thin, but did not even have a built in optical drive. He pointed out that the Powerbook G4 with built in optical drive was thinner than those "thin" PC laptops with no optical drive.



    There will be no video iPod.



    Intel graphics suck. Now they are an incredible value proposition.



    There will be no native applications for the iPhone.
  • Reply 62 of 140
    haggarhaggar Posts: 1,568member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zanshin View Post


    And the entire GUI of the new "sub-notebook" OS will probably be iTunes.




    Will users need an iTunes account and credit card number for the "sub-notebook" to be functional at all?
  • Reply 63 of 140
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    Quote:

    Apple wouldn't be buying these disks. The NAND parts will be soldered directly onto the motherboard, with a controller.



    While I agree Apple would not buy NAND at those prices. Notebooks have a different expectation from iPods. Apple would need to leave a way for the SDD to be easily replaceable.
  • Reply 64 of 140
    shanmugamshanmugam Posts: 1,200member
    i do not know why there is so much excitement on this .... (i previously owned a 12" PB, that time that was a highend configuration like superdrive and other things which was not available on the PC side, but this is different ball game altogether with macbook 13" has all the feature except dedicated graphics)



    apple removed 12" from macbook pro line up and adding it back now ...



    i do not see something interesting on this with $1499 price tag and 12" with integrated graphics (assuming) and lower capacity HDD (assuming SSD) ...



    they should re-visit MacBook 15"/xMac instead of this white elephant where there is a need (5 to 10% marketshare)?



    too much hype ... be prepared to be disappointed ...
  • Reply 65 of 140
    dcj001dcj001 Posts: 301member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TenoBell View Post


    $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.



    Less than half as thick?
  • Reply 66 of 140
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    Quote:

    i do not see something interesting on this with $1499 price tag and 12" with integrated graphics (assuming) and lower capacity HDD (assuming SSD) ...



    Even though its slightly larger than the 12" PB. The MBP sub-notebook has two processors each one several times faster than the G4. The Intel GMA X3100 144MB is faster than 64 MB NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 used in the last 12". The screen will be brighter with higher resolution. Longer battery life. The case will be thinner and lighter. If Apple uses a 64GB SDD the hard drive will be about the same.
  • Reply 67 of 140
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zanshin View Post




    I fear there won't be much on display from Apple in SF that I'll covet.



    Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.
  • Reply 68 of 140
    frank777frank777 Posts: 5,839member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by zanshin View Post


    And the entire GUI of the new "sub-notebook" OS will probably be iTunes.



    Welp, that kills about half the magic of MWSF for me. With "breaking news" being leaked about the World's Largest iPod and a 3G version of iPhone, I figure about all we'll have left is an announcement of new iPages templates and movie rentals from the iTunes store. Maybe a speed-bumped iMac or two.



    ...I fear there won't be much on display from Apple in SF that I'll covet.



    As long as Jobs keeps the new Mac Pro under wraps, MWSF will rock.



    This ultraportable is the "one more thing" not the main event, and is mainly being built for the large number of CEOs that are asking for a signature Mac product. It is also aimed at recovering a large slice of the Japanese market.
  • Reply 69 of 140
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TenoBell View Post


    You may be looking at the price from last year. They are not that expensive today. 32GB SDD is about $350, 64GB SDD is around $700. Plus these prices change radically over a short period of time.



    By the middle of 2008 these will be even cheaper.



    Apple can drop 2 8 GB chips into an upgraded iPhone and make $500 a pop, or put 16 of them into a laptop and make maybe $500 just once. Which do you think they'll do? You have to use these scarce resources carefully.
  • Reply 70 of 140
    celcocelco Posts: 211member
    Was just thinking with all speculation leading to a ultraportable, I think we will see apple ship a smaller super drive ie those small half size dvd discs. They have already patented the adapter.. for small dvd to large... if they could manufacture a smaller optical drive in terms of physical size then they could get the form factor of the ultra portable down.. Just a thought...
  • Reply 71 of 140
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Celco View Post


    Was just thinking with all speculation leading to a ultraportable, I think we will see apple ship a smaller super drive ie those small half size dvd discs. They have already patented the adapter.. for small dvd to large... if they could manufacture a smaller optical drive in terms of physical size then they could get the form factor of the ultra portable down.. Just a thought...



    An 8cm optical drive would be silly, how would you put in all your software on 12cm discs? The optics and mechanism wouldn't be any more efficient or cheaper, just smaller for no practical reason.



    The best solution for max portability is an external 12cm drive that can be left at home. When it comes down to it, optical drives only absolutely necessary for software installs and media importing, both of which can usually just be done at home.
  • Reply 72 of 140
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TenoBell View Post


    While I agree Apple would not buy NAND at those prices. Notebooks have a different expectation from iPods. Apple would need to leave a way for the SDD to be easily replaceable.



    Not if it's $1500. At this price point it becomes a consumable for traveling business folk. Plus, NAND has a much better life than the HD, due to it's lack of moving parts. Beyond all of this, if the entire unit is indeed as thin as they say, there's no f-ing way that Apple has modularized the system design.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by shanmugam View Post


    i do not know why there is so much excitement on this ....

    i do not see something interesting on this with $1499 price tag and 12" with integrated graphics (assuming) and lower capacity HDD (assuming SSD)



    If it weighs less than a kilo and can run for a long time on a battery charge -- and you can't see what's to like -- then you're thick.
  • Reply 73 of 140
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Fishyesque View Post


    Hahahahaha Agreed.



    And if it is a notebook in fact, you're right. It wont be that thin.



    Totally.
  • Reply 74 of 140
    rolorolo Posts: 686member
    If Goldman is right and Apple is coming out with a 12" MBP, maybe it'd look something like my mockup:



  • Reply 75 of 140
    If Apple can get a 3G iPhone built that includes DUN, I'll buy it, until then, the lack of offically supported DUN is a deal breaker for me. AT&T is also an issue, but that's another post...
  • Reply 76 of 140
    are there any $1500 laptops with flash drive storage that people can point to? Just to see how feasible this is...



    Obviously the price of memory will have come down by the time this thing ships but I can't see how Apple could bring something like this to market (in this price range) before any other company.



    A 64 or 128Gb ultra-portable for $1500 just seems a little optimistic no?
  • Reply 77 of 140
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    Quote:

    Beyond all of this, if the entire unit is indeed as thin as they say, there's no f-ing way that Apple has modularized the system design.



    There will be a lot of complaining and gnashing of teeth if the memory is permanently soldered to the motherboard. But we shall see.



    Quote:

    A 64 or 128Gb ultra-portable for $1500 just seems a little optimistic no?



    It definitely won't be 128. 64 is more realistic and seems like a good place to start. 32 just wouldn't be worth it.
  • Reply 78 of 140
    rolorolo Posts: 686member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digiology View Post


    are there any $1500 laptops with flash drive storage that people can point to? Just to see how feasible this is...



    Obviously the price of memory will have come down by the time this thing ships but I can't see how Apple could bring something like this to market (in this price range) before any other company.



    A 64 or 128Gb ultra-portable for $1500 just seems a little optimistic no?



    Samsung has a new 64Gb NAND chip that uses a new 30nm process. They sell a module version with 8 on a card (= 64GB) that's on 3mm thin. Prices depend on how many can fit on a wafer so this new process will result in much lower cost chips. A module is much less expensive than a packaged unit since there's no metal case. My guess is that Apple will get a nice high volume discount on these new modules, making it possible to offer a 12" MBP for only $1499.



    The new ultra-slim MBP could even have dedicated graphics using a new nVidia GPU made just for this sort of portable like the GeForce 8400M GS.
  • Reply 79 of 140
    shanmugamshanmugam Posts: 1,200member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Splinemodel View Post


    If it weighs less than a kilo and can run for a long time on a battery charge -- and you can't see what's to like -- then you're thick.



    ok, i have to clarify few things here, i am not saying there is NO need for these kinda of product, what i am saying apple removed 12" and bringing it back again ...



    unless there is some definite new features which were not in current macbook pro (except 12" screen size) then what is new here? can you call this as a new product and get interested?



    i wish apple make my comments wrong (including some new features like tablet form, touch screen and other things)



    well, we will see soon
  • Reply 80 of 140
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by shanmugam View Post


    ...unless there is some definite new features which were not in current macbook pro (except 12" screen size) then what is new here? can you call this as a new product and get interested?



    As I see it, all this new notebook is going to be is a late replacement for the 12" PowerBook, albeit considerably thinner and sexier. I would assume the reason this replacement didn't come out with the rest of the Intel transition was because Apple saw SSD's on the horizon and decided to wait until the right components were available.



    To answer your question, no, I wouldn't consider this a strictly new product as much as say a Mac Touch would be, but an intriguing product none the less.
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