Ultra-portable Apple notebook to splash down at Macworld Expo

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  • Reply 21 of 295
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by eridium View Post


    I'm certain that this ultraportable will help Apple in a market where it's done poorly the past few years: Japan. Most Japanese think that a 4-5 lbs notebook is absurd.




    I totally agree, one thing that I think would put this sub-notebook over the competition would be multitouch technology. Apple jas the technology and it would be silly if they didn't implement it, specially for the japanese market.
  • Reply 22 of 295
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by coolfactor View Post


    I think this would mark the beginning of Mac OS X being distributed on flash thumb drives. Wouldn't that be cool? Booting from a flash drive. Is that even possible right now? I don't think so. It would be another edge on the competition.



    That's a very good idea. Installations should be much quicker too. I'm not sure about reliability but a read-only drive shouldn't be quite so bad. 8GB thumb drives are as cheap as £20 these days so surely Apple could get them even cheaper and then add maybe £10 onto the price of the system.



    I would generally be against the idea of leaving out an optical drive but in reality, I only burn about one disc a fortnight and I've opted to keep all my DVD collection on an external hard drive for quick access. My only concern is when it comes to disc copying as two drives are much better to have but for an ultra portable, I don't see this as a problem.



    What I am disappointed at however is the fact that Sony have a 10" portable that is absolutely tiny and yet still has an optical drive so unless Apple's model has some significant advantage such as using similar components to the Macbook Pro then Apple's offering will look very bad in comparison. The Sony only has a 1.5GHz Core Solo and integrated graphics I think so if it's just a very small MBP, it would be a great machine.
  • Reply 23 of 295
    gqbgqb Posts: 1,934member
    Just a silly speculation, but what if

    1) the brains are all contained in the lid, and the keyboard is only that

    2) the screen disconnects

    3) its a touch screen



    All of these are currently possible. There's your tablet.



    Just thinking.

    Still a little big, I guess.
  • Reply 24 of 295
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Non-user friendly companies like Aspyr need the CD in the drive for their program to run.



    Now they will get payback for this despised method when they can't sell anything to the owners of the new hotness.
  • Reply 25 of 295
    gqbgqb Posts: 1,934member
    One thing to remember... the escape clause for iTunes DRM lock-in is the ability to burn any iTunes content to a CD to strip DRM. For that purpose, the drive may be fairly heavily used by some and seen as a loss.
  • Reply 26 of 295
    wircwirc Posts: 302member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by coolfactor View Post


    I think this would mark the beginning of Mac OS X being distributed on flash thumb drives. Wouldn't that be cool? Booting from a flash drive. Is that even possible right now? I don't think so. It would be another edge on the competition.



    Well, if you have your OS reinstalled at an Apple Store, they simply boot it up through a network connection. This is one option to consider as well. Dowloaded .dmg files might be there, in addition to USB or FireWire flash drives for distro. These techniques would save Apple a lot of money and reduce the environmental footprint of the products, both of which are great.



    However, it does reduce the legendary unboxing process, although that remains for physical products.



    The last thing, the big one, really, is that you can't watch DVDs on the machine. I guess there won't be Blu-Ray in at least this machine.



    It also boosts the value of Apple's iTunes movie service, something that I'm sure did not happen totally accidentally.Me, I'm just gonna buy one and the sue them since I'm locked into the movie service.
  • Reply 27 of 295
    what do you guys say about the initial price? somewhere between $1999 and $2499? more or less.





    I think it would be very much like apple to not even include an external optical drive, and just supply new software on flash drives. apple always says they are focusing on moving forward. the only reason you would need an optical drive would be for installing 3rd party software, most of which you can download anyhow. besides, external optical drives are becoming quite cheap.
  • Reply 28 of 295
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wirc View Post


    Me, I'm just gonna buy one and the sue them since I'm locked into the movie service.



    Put me down for that one as well. Perhaps if enough people buy one we can make it class-action?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sthiede View Post


    I think it would be very much like apple to not even include an external optical drive, and just supply new software on flash drives. apple always says they are focusing on moving forward. the only reason you would need an optical drive would be for installing 3rd party software, most of which you can download anyhow. besides, external optical drives are becoming quite cheap.



    I'm betting Apple will sell a super-cheap ($45?) external superdrive as an option for the new machine like the modem attachment for the MB/MBP.
  • Reply 29 of 295
    Apple has reportedly adopted design cues that fall in line with the minimalist nature of its chief executive, including a bold move to omit a traditional optical disc drive from the aluminum-clad systems.





    So bold that my year-old work Dell has ommitted it.



    I don't know why people think this would be either controversial or innovative. It is neither, though it is a very welcome new product.
  • Reply 30 of 295
    Wonderful news, but what I really need is a tablet. If I am to ever have any hope of converting my brother to the Mac, I need a tablet before he goes to Medical School - next year!



    (And no, the third party converted MacBook fake tablet doesn't count.)
  • Reply 31 of 295
    citycity Posts: 522member
    Standard letter size paper (8.5" x 11") is 13.9" on the diagonal. So, allowing for margins or some scaling, my work page will fit on 13" . Good deal!
  • Reply 32 of 295
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wirc View Post


    I'm just gonna buy one and the sue them since I'm locked into the movie service.



    Even in jest, please - Apple has had enough of this crap.
  • Reply 33 of 295
    citycity Posts: 522member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by potterhead4 View Post


    PI'm betting Apple will sell a super-cheap ($45?) external superdrive as an option for the new machine like the modem attachment for the MB/MBP.



    Nothing is cheap at Apple. Prices end in "9" with $29 or $39 being a skin for an iPod. That drive will be $149
  • Reply 34 of 295
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GQB View Post


    Just a silly speculation, but what if

    1) the brains are all contained in the lid, and the keyboard is only that



    Not nearly enough weight at the base for counter-balance requiring artificial weight, which defeats the purpose of a UMPC plus the screen takes up more depth that a keyboard.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GQB View Post


    2) the screen disconnects



    I doubt it but I see where you got that from. Due to the counter-balance issue, there would be no point in making a screen alone detach.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GQB View Post


    3) its a touch screen



    If it's designed like the MBP definitely no but again this relates to the above 2 conditions.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii


    Non-user friendly companies like Aspyr need the CD in the drive for their program to run.



    That's a good point. They could just turn round and say to buy a bus powered optical drive of course but it's not all that practical.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sthiede


    what do you guys say about the initial price? somewhere between $1999 and $2499? more or less.



    I've been wondering that myself. Now if other discussions are anything to go by, it would be a seriously bad idea for Apple to take a Pro level product, shrink it down and price it close to any of their consumer models so it will have to be at least 3 times the price of the Macbook in which case it will put anyone off buying it. Hmmm, this doesn't seem like such a good idea at all.



    Or...



    The price is perfectly acceptable and half way between the Macbook and MBP maybe £999. This way it's just slightly more than the most expensive Macbook. Either that or £1099.



    This way the laptop pricing goes



    £699, £829, £949, <£1099>, £1299, £1599, £1799



    You could almost say it fills a very large gap in the product lineup.
  • Reply 35 of 295
    what if there's a standard laptop keyboard and NO TRACKPAD, but the screen is multi touch - could you manage to be as productive if your trackpad is gone and you have to reach up to the screen to move the "cursor"? this would save room on the base of the unit that's currently taken up by the trackpad. [if the unit is thin enough, your desk [or lap] would be your wrist wrest.

    ...as long as they don't go to the "pencil eraser" style cursor control. i can't stand that thing. i have no problems w/ getting rid of an optical drive. skip right over HD DVD and Blu Ray to straight up WiFi downloading / streaming.



    this can't cost more than $1,999. i'm hoping for options ranging from $1500 - $2000 [depending on SSD size & Processor Speed]
  • Reply 36 of 295
    gqbgqb Posts: 1,934member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by desarc View Post


    what if there's a standard laptop keyboard and NO TRACKPAD, but the screen is multi touch - could you manage to be as productive if your trackpad is gone and you have to reach up to the screen to move the "cursor"? this would save room on the base of the unit that's currently taken up by the trackpad. [if the unit is thin enough, your desk [or lap] would be your wrist wrest.

    ...as long as they don't go to the "pencil eraser" style cursor control. i can't stand that thing. i have no problems w/ getting rid of an optical drive. skip right over HD DVD and Blu Ray to straight up WiFi downloading / streaming.



    this can't cost more than $1,999. i'm hoping for options ranging from $1500 - $2000 [depending on SSD size & Processor Speed]



    How 'bout a trackpad that is actually a touch that pops out?
  • Reply 37 of 295
    I maintain XP, Vista and Mac devices for a living. Since when is 13 inches (i'll assume 16:9 ratio) considered an ultraportable? I don't care if it is feather light, the size of this would still be somewhere near the current MacBook...and not very "ultra" portable. I seriously hope Apple is still planning to wow us in January with a UMPC-sized multi-touch device!



    (Also, Vista already allows for flash booting, called "ReadyBoost". And laptops and UMPCs exist without optical drives and some very small laptops have optical drives, so what is the big deal here?)
  • Reply 38 of 295
    lets hope they aren't freeze-happy like 30% (personal estimate) of all macs out there now.



    i really need this fix to come soon. it's annoying how unpredictable this ordeal is.



    anyway. NAND flash should improve performance...sounds interesting to me.
  • Reply 39 of 295
    I welcome an ultraportable - I need it badly and so does the Japanese market. But, dammit, you don't need any new technology to produce an ultraportable. Windoze laptop makers have been doing this for years and coming in well under 2kg, often under 1.5 kg even with an optical drive.



    So, it's really odd that Apple had to wait so long, when it could have used existing technology. The flash drives and all that other stuff to lighten the portable is nice - but after years of waiting to replace a 12" Powerbook - it just makes no sense.



    Let's hope this comes out in January, or I'll be buying a Windoze laptop and hacking it to run OSX.
  • Reply 40 of 295
    I can't believe anybody's excited by this rumor coming up for the umpteenth time. I'll believe it when it's not a rumor.
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