Even with a touch screen, I think it would be a bad idea for Apple to price it higher than the Macbook.
The answer to the question will depend heavily on what processors it comes with. I would bet on it being an Ion-based product with the 9400M chipset and Intel Atom.
10" touch screen
120GB HDD (SSD optional) - maybe a 1.8" drive
2GB Ram
9400M
sealed battery but with the tech in the 17" MBP, except maybe half the size.
runs Snow Leopard, small footprint, Cocoa Touch and optimized for 9400M
$799 (£599)
If you think this tablet will be $799 you're kidding yourself.
Even with a touch screen, I think it would be a bad idea for Apple to price it higher than the Macbook.
The answer to the question will depend heavily on what processors it comes with. I would bet on it being an Ion-based product with the 9400M chipset and Intel Atom.
10" touch screen
120GB HDD (SSD optional) - maybe a 1.8" drive
2GB Ram
9400M
sealed battery but with the tech in the 17" MBP, except maybe half the size.
runs Snow Leopard, small footprint, Cocoa Touch and optimized for 9400M
$799 (£599)
The Atom chip shaves off $200 from the lowest end $999 Macbook. It may be overly optimistic but I'd expect no optical drive unlike the MB. I think they need to aim for this price at most to sway netbook buyers who don't get an optical drive either.
A netbook can still be bought for £299 but the form factor, software, battery life, graphics performance and touch interaction should be enough to persuade some to pay double.
I can't see Apple pricing it higher than the MacBook, but I can see it be at least $800, but closer to $1000.
I don't see a need for a 1.8" drive, like in the MBA, because I doubt that it would (or could) be so thin that a regular 9.5mm drive wouldn't fit. Sure, a 1.8" HDD has a smaller footprint over a 2.5" HDD drive but there would be sufficient room for the larger drive once you get rid of the optical drive.
I think such a device would have the same thickness as the rest of the unibody MacBook line. I think that with a 10" widescreen, removing some of ports on the sides where the keyboard would be so you could thickening up the side wall, and a non-removable battery, that the keyboard could be about the same size as it is now. Maybe a little shrinking, but I hope not.
I think that some cool features like a back-lit keyboard would help to separate in the minds of shoppers wondering why this netbook-sized device costs 3x as much.
Internally I don't think that it would have Atom, but a low-powered C2D like in the MBA, just not the expensive small form factor dies that it uses. Of course paired with 9400M, a non-removable battery and the regular OS X goodness.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ireland
sigh..
You know you are known around here for promoting such a device and we do like your mockups. So why the sighing?
Even with a touch screen, I think it would be a bad idea for Apple to price it higher than the Macbook.
Actually I'm looking at this from the other direction it is fairly stupid of them to price it muchbhigher than the Touch devices and certainly not much more than iPhone as these will be the devices it will be competeing with in the consumers mind.
Quote:
The answer to the question will depend heavily on what processors it comes with. I would bet on it being an Ion-based product with the 9400M chipset and Intel Atom.
Such a device would loose right out of the starting gate. Mainly because it is too much power (as in watts) to put into a truely compact and portable device. Of course if Apple is waiting on Intels new transistor tech that would drop power ten fold then there are more possibilities. Right now though ARM gives you far better low power performance.
One big issue is that if Apple where to get access to and implement a true 64 bit Atom then the platform could have a long future. In fact I see 64 bits as the only reason to go with Atom. Otherwise Apple has a huge advantage in ARM built software.
Quote:
10" touch screen
120GB HDD (SSD optional) - maybe a 1.8" drive
10 inches is to big for my needs. More importantly I really hope that Apple can break away from the drive as a module approach and go with storage on a PCI express card like is becoming popular with netbooks. Why, because it offers up the potential for thinner devices and more importantly faster storage at low power. SSD have already gone beyond what SATA can handle speed wise so the use of PCI Express just readies things for the future.
Quote:
2GB Ram
9400M
RAM is important and how much will be in there depends in my mind on how the device is positioned. I'm affraid that if it is a Touch family device they will implement far to little in the way of RAM. As to the GPU it is possible to get better built right into the ARM chip so that I don't worry about.
Quote:
sealed battery but with the tech in the 17" MBP, except maybe half the size.
runs Snow Leopard, small footprint, Cocoa Touch and optimized for 9400M
$799 (£599)
Too expensive at $800. About that battery there are alternatives all the tech in the Pros battery is in the fact that it is bigger. Also how does a ten inch device equal a small foot print?
As to the OS it comes down to what family the device is positioned with. If it is to be a Mac then obviously Snow Leopard. If it is another Touch based device then Mobile OS makes sense. Personally I like the approach of Mobile OS as seen on the Touch devices. It would need minor tweaks for a more capable platform but these are easy things to implement. For example more RAM, user multitasking and better I/O support.
What really makes my iPhone great is app store and the ability to get and update apps from one source. It is sort of like a Linux repository in that you are pretty much assured that the apps work with your distro and you don't have to search all over the planet for them.
All that being said app store does need a little work in organization but the concept is sound.
Quote:
The Atom chip shaves off $200 from the lowest end $999 Macbook. It may be overly optimistic but I'd expect no optical drive unlike the MB. I think they need to aim for this price at most to sway netbook buyers who don't get an optical drive either.
I'm not sure where the optical drive even comes into the picture. It is a tech that shouldn't even be in the compact laptops.
As to Atom shaving costs it can certainly do that. But not to the extent that a custom SoC ARM based device could. This is absolutely key to producing a good performing machine at reasonable cost. Given expressions from Apple indicating that they are going this route anyways, that is SoC for portable devices I can't see them not doing so for the tablet device. I actually see the potential here for Apple to actually lead in price and performance. Especially if battery time is a component of that performance measurement.
Quote:
A netbook can still be bought for £299 but the form factor, software, battery life, graphics performance and touch interaction should be enough to persuade some to pay double.
Well they do that now for Apple products. Ouch!
Really though Apple has the potential here to meet that price, better performance and deliver a better user experience all at the same time with ARM. That is really the promise of a SoC, that is low cost and very good performance. Plus that huge vault of apps on app store answers in part the software issue.
Yeah, I was thinking the same. But DULL? Unless you got a big time Jones for living in Austin? And yes, I do know that Dell has locations around the world.... but it's still Dell.
I have met Michael Dell a few times socially. As a twist to the new old Bentsen-envoking-Kennedy lines goes: "Michael, you're no Steve Jobs!"
More money and a nice high executive position go a long way in luring people away from companies.
OTOH, you've been flogging the touch tablet for what, 5 years now? Since I think around the time you gave up on the integrated Apple TV thing (or are you still nursing that one?).
Therefore, you have forfeited your sigh rights based on some obscure statute of limitations that I just made up.
OTOH, you've been flogging the touch tablet for what, 5 years now? Since I think around the time you gave up on the integrated Apple TV thing (or are you still nursing that one?).
Therefore, you have forfeited your sigh rights based on some obscure statute of limitations that I just made up.
So there!
I'm not even sure of the sigh remarks are meant to be pejorative or not. I'd guess that they are since there was no emoticon to offset the cryptic and brief reply. I quite like the mockups, even though I think there are technical issues that need to be addresses with concept of tablet to make it viable, but they look slick. I would personally much rather see a netbook design arrive. To each their own, I guess.
I'm not even sure of the sigh remarks are meant to be pejorative or not. I'd guess that they are since there was no emoticon to offset the cryptic and brief reply. I quite like the mockups, even though I think there are technical issues that are being addresses with concept of tablet. I would personally much rather see a netbook design arrive. To each their own, I guess.
No, I like the mockups as well, I just like to give Ireland a hard time for the longevity of his predictions.
Did you ever think that someone else besides you may have seen the article on teh internets and sent in a link to it also? It's rather churlish to be hunting for kudos and the source is the New York Times anyway, (which is properly accredited), not you.
Wrong, asstard. I sent them the link to the wsj artlcle along with the article itself. I could give two shits about credit. What i do care about is that the author re-wrote the wsj article almost to imply that the blogger was researching the subject -- to which i call bullshit.
Only a flaming liberal reads NYT. Suggest you pull your head out of your liberal ass before claiming to know what you're talking about when it comes to sources.
Wrong, asstard. I sent them the link to the wsj artlcle along with the article itself. I could give two shits about credit. What i do care about is that the author re-wrote the wsj article almost to imply that the blogger was researching the subject -- to which i call bullshit.
Only a flaming liberal reads NYT. Suggest you pull your head out of your liberal ass before claiming to know what you're talking about when it comes to sources.
Charming. Feeling a little beleaguered these days, are we?
The tablet doubters will be cast aside with a flick of Steve Jobs' wrist soon!
We will rule this forum when that day comes! Muhoohahahaaaa! :P
Joking aside, I'm hoping beyond hope that Steve goes the extra mile and incorporates flexible screen technology. There is still a chance!
The ultimate mobile will upon us all in less than a couple months!
Oh, I've already braced myself for the Dr. Evil level pinky to mouth snickering from the tablet gang, should it come to pass.
What you don't know is that I've already predicted that Apple will release an iPhone that docks with a monitor and keyboard and which can edit 4k video on Final Cut Pro Super Extreme.
That would make it 6x8" (a shade over the area of a Kindle 2).
Slap in the new form-fitting battery as in the 17" MBP.
1/2" thick.
Run full OS X with WiFi & BT.
MagSafe and 1 USB, headphone and Mini Display port and that's it.
I'd get one. The only thing I don't bother with as much as other things on my Touch is the web. Yes, it works, but mostly the web is on the verge of unreadable unless you zoom in, and of course without Flash and Java too much of the web is hobbled. But if you're going this big, then go OS X and not the iPhone/iPT OS subset.
What you don't know is that I've already predicted that Apple will release an iPhone that docks with a monitor and keyboard and which can edit 4k video on Final Cut Pro Super Extreme.
And that monitor would not by chance be called iMac?
(More seriously, I would like to plug my iPhone into any Mac and continue working where I left of when I left my Mac at home.)
Comments
Even with a touch screen, I think it would be a bad idea for Apple to price it higher than the Macbook.
The answer to the question will depend heavily on what processors it comes with. I would bet on it being an Ion-based product with the 9400M chipset and Intel Atom.
10" touch screen
120GB HDD (SSD optional) - maybe a 1.8" drive
2GB Ram
9400M
sealed battery but with the tech in the 17" MBP, except maybe half the size.
runs Snow Leopard, small footprint, Cocoa Touch and optimized for 9400M
$799 (£599)
If you think this tablet will be $799 you're kidding yourself.
Even with a touch screen, I think it would be a bad idea for Apple to price it higher than the Macbook.
The answer to the question will depend heavily on what processors it comes with. I would bet on it being an Ion-based product with the 9400M chipset and Intel Atom.
10" touch screen
120GB HDD (SSD optional) - maybe a 1.8" drive
2GB Ram
9400M
sealed battery but with the tech in the 17" MBP, except maybe half the size.
runs Snow Leopard, small footprint, Cocoa Touch and optimized for 9400M
$799 (£599)
The Atom chip shaves off $200 from the lowest end $999 Macbook. It may be overly optimistic but I'd expect no optical drive unlike the MB. I think they need to aim for this price at most to sway netbook buyers who don't get an optical drive either.
A netbook can still be bought for £299 but the form factor, software, battery life, graphics performance and touch interaction should be enough to persuade some to pay double.
I can't see Apple pricing it higher than the MacBook, but I can see it be at least $800, but closer to $1000.
I don't see a need for a 1.8" drive, like in the MBA, because I doubt that it would (or could) be so thin that a regular 9.5mm drive wouldn't fit. Sure, a 1.8" HDD has a smaller footprint over a 2.5" HDD drive but there would be sufficient room for the larger drive once you get rid of the optical drive.
I think such a device would have the same thickness as the rest of the unibody MacBook line. I think that with a 10" widescreen, removing some of ports on the sides where the keyboard would be so you could thickening up the side wall, and a non-removable battery, that the keyboard could be about the same size as it is now. Maybe a little shrinking, but I hope not.
I think that some cool features like a back-lit keyboard would help to separate in the minds of shoppers wondering why this netbook-sized device costs 3x as much.
Internally I don't think that it would have Atom, but a low-powered C2D like in the MBA, just not the expensive small form factor dies that it uses. Of course paired with 9400M, a non-removable battery and the regular OS X goodness.
sigh..
You know you are known around here for promoting such a device and we do like your mockups. So why the sighing?
Even with a touch screen, I think it would be a bad idea for Apple to price it higher than the Macbook.
Actually I'm looking at this from the other direction it is fairly stupid of them to price it muchbhigher than the Touch devices and certainly not much more than iPhone as these will be the devices it will be competeing with in the consumers mind.
The answer to the question will depend heavily on what processors it comes with. I would bet on it being an Ion-based product with the 9400M chipset and Intel Atom.
Such a device would loose right out of the starting gate. Mainly because it is too much power (as in watts) to put into a truely compact and portable device. Of course if Apple is waiting on Intels new transistor tech that would drop power ten fold then there are more possibilities. Right now though ARM gives you far better low power performance.
One big issue is that if Apple where to get access to and implement a true 64 bit Atom then the platform could have a long future. In fact I see 64 bits as the only reason to go with Atom. Otherwise Apple has a huge advantage in ARM built software.
10" touch screen
120GB HDD (SSD optional) - maybe a 1.8" drive
10 inches is to big for my needs. More importantly I really hope that Apple can break away from the drive as a module approach and go with storage on a PCI express card like is becoming popular with netbooks. Why, because it offers up the potential for thinner devices and more importantly faster storage at low power. SSD have already gone beyond what SATA can handle speed wise so the use of PCI Express just readies things for the future.
2GB Ram
9400M
RAM is important and how much will be in there depends in my mind on how the device is positioned. I'm affraid that if it is a Touch family device they will implement far to little in the way of RAM. As to the GPU it is possible to get better built right into the ARM chip so that I don't worry about.
sealed battery but with the tech in the 17" MBP, except maybe half the size.
runs Snow Leopard, small footprint, Cocoa Touch and optimized for 9400M
$799 (£599)
Too expensive at $800. About that battery there are alternatives all the tech in the Pros battery is in the fact that it is bigger. Also how does a ten inch device equal a small foot print?
As to the OS it comes down to what family the device is positioned with. If it is to be a Mac then obviously Snow Leopard. If it is another Touch based device then Mobile OS makes sense. Personally I like the approach of Mobile OS as seen on the Touch devices. It would need minor tweaks for a more capable platform but these are easy things to implement. For example more RAM, user multitasking and better I/O support.
What really makes my iPhone great is app store and the ability to get and update apps from one source. It is sort of like a Linux repository in that you are pretty much assured that the apps work with your distro and you don't have to search all over the planet for them.
All that being said app store does need a little work in organization but the concept is sound.
The Atom chip shaves off $200 from the lowest end $999 Macbook. It may be overly optimistic but I'd expect no optical drive unlike the MB. I think they need to aim for this price at most to sway netbook buyers who don't get an optical drive either.
I'm not sure where the optical drive even comes into the picture. It is a tech that shouldn't even be in the compact laptops.
As to Atom shaving costs it can certainly do that. But not to the extent that a custom SoC ARM based device could. This is absolutely key to producing a good performing machine at reasonable cost. Given expressions from Apple indicating that they are going this route anyways, that is SoC for portable devices I can't see them not doing so for the tablet device. I actually see the potential here for Apple to actually lead in price and performance. Especially if battery time is a component of that performance measurement.
A netbook can still be bought for £299 but the form factor, software, battery life, graphics performance and touch interaction should be enough to persuade some to pay double.
Well they do that now for Apple products. Ouch!
Really though Apple has the potential here to meet that price, better performance and deliver a better user experience all at the same time with ARM. That is really the promise of a SoC, that is low cost and very good performance. Plus that huge vault of apps on app store answers in part the software issue.
Dave
Jobs hated the Newton for two reasons:
1) It was scumbag Sculley's pet project.
2) It was underpowered.
Just like with PowerPC processors.
Frankly, not much since Murdoch's bunch took over the helm.
He really did destroy it, didn't he! Happy to let my subscription lapse!
Yeah, I was thinking the same. But DULL? Unless you got a big time Jones for living in Austin? And yes, I do know that Dell has locations around the world.... but it's still Dell.
I have met Michael Dell a few times socially. As a twist to the new old Bentsen-envoking-Kennedy lines goes: "Michael, you're no Steve Jobs!"
More money and a nice high executive position go a long way in luring people away from companies.
You know you are known around here for promoting such a device and we do like your mockups. So why the sighing?
sigh..
sigh..
Okay, now your comments are becoming Teckstudian.
Okay, now your comments are becoming Teckstudian.
Heh. I like "Teckstudian" as an adjective. Kind of has a Shakespearian ring.
"Silence, you Teckstudian varlet!"
Okay, now your comments are becoming Teckstudian.
sigh matters.
sigh matters.
OTOH, you've been flogging the touch tablet for what, 5 years now? Since I think around the time you gave up on the integrated Apple TV thing (or are you still nursing that one?).
Therefore, you have forfeited your sigh rights based on some obscure statute of limitations that I just made up.
So there!
OTOH, you've been flogging the touch tablet for what, 5 years now? Since I think around the time you gave up on the integrated Apple TV thing (or are you still nursing that one?).
Therefore, you have forfeited your sigh rights based on some obscure statute of limitations that I just made up.
So there!
I'm not even sure of the sigh remarks are meant to be pejorative or not. I'd guess that they are since there was no emoticon to offset the cryptic and brief reply. I quite like the mockups, even though I think there are technical issues that need to be addresses with concept of tablet to make it viable, but they look slick. I would personally much rather see a netbook design arrive. To each their own, I guess.
I'm not even sure of the sigh remarks are meant to be pejorative or not. I'd guess that they are since there was no emoticon to offset the cryptic and brief reply. I quite like the mockups, even though I think there are technical issues that are being addresses with concept of tablet. I would personally much rather see a netbook design arrive. To each their own, I guess.
No, I like the mockups as well, I just like to give Ireland a hard time for the longevity of his predictions.
Did you ever think that someone else besides you may have seen the article on teh internets and sent in a link to it also? It's rather churlish to be hunting for kudos and the source is the New York Times anyway, (which is properly accredited), not you.
Wrong, asstard. I sent them the link to the wsj artlcle along with the article itself. I could give two shits about credit. What i do care about is that the author re-wrote the wsj article almost to imply that the blogger was researching the subject -- to which i call bullshit.
Only a flaming liberal reads NYT. Suggest you pull your head out of your liberal ass before claiming to know what you're talking about when it comes to sources.
Wrong, asstard. I sent them the link to the wsj artlcle along with the article itself. I could give two shits about credit. What i do care about is that the author re-wrote the wsj article almost to imply that the blogger was researching the subject -- to which i call bullshit.
Only a flaming liberal reads NYT. Suggest you pull your head out of your liberal ass before claiming to know what you're talking about when it comes to sources.
Charming. Feeling a little beleaguered these days, are we?
The tablet doubters will be cast aside with a flick of Steve Jobs' wrist soon!
We will rule this forum when that day comes! Muhoohahahaaaa! :P
Joking aside, I'm hoping beyond hope that Steve goes the extra mile and incorporates flexible screen technology. There is still a chance!
The ultimate mobile will upon us all in less than a couple months!
Hey Ireland, Wizard!
The tablet doubters will be cast aside with a flick of Steve Jobs' wrist soon!
We will rule this forum when that day comes! Muhoohahahaaaa! :P
Joking aside, I'm hoping beyond hope that Steve goes the extra mile and incorporates flexible screen technology. There is still a chance!
The ultimate mobile will upon us all in less than a couple months!
Oh, I've already braced myself for the Dr. Evil level pinky to mouth snickering from the tablet gang, should it come to pass.
What you don't know is that I've already predicted that Apple will release an iPhone that docks with a monitor and keyboard and which can edit 4k video on Final Cut Pro Super Extreme.
And I'm willing to wait it out.
Slap in the new form-fitting battery as in the 17" MBP.
1/2" thick.
Run full OS X with WiFi & BT.
MagSafe and 1 USB, headphone and Mini Display port and that's it.
I'd get one. The only thing I don't bother with as much as other things on my Touch is the web. Yes, it works, but mostly the web is on the verge of unreadable unless you zoom in, and of course without Flash and Java too much of the web is hobbled. But if you're going this big, then go OS X and not the iPhone/iPT OS subset.
What you don't know is that I've already predicted that Apple will release an iPhone that docks with a monitor and keyboard and which can edit 4k video on Final Cut Pro Super Extreme.
And that monitor would not by chance be called iMac?
(More seriously, I would like to plug my iPhone into any Mac and continue working where I left of when I left my Mac at home.)
no, i like the mockups as well, i just like to give ireland a hard time for the longevity of his predictions.
^_^ ɐɥɐɥ