I find most of the above comments utterly useless and stupid.
Apple has clearly done its market research before investing in such a new product. As a business user, anyone who uses Word/ Pages, PowerPoint/ Keynote, Excel/ Numbers, any professional design/ imaging program, or database software, needs a minimum of a 13-inch screen to be able to use these common applications properly.
If you only need an email system, basic web browsing and a phone, well then you've got theiPhone.
As good as the MacBook is, it is much heavier and more bulky than existing products like the Sony VAIO SZ series, which is incredibly light and powerful and comes with - yes, a 13-inch screen. If Apple can produce a thinner, lighter version of the MacBook, it will sell like hot cakes.
The real unknown is whether it will come with an integral DVD drive.
It may be that Apple plans to relaunch its laptop range to encompass a single family of machines. Whether this is the case, or not, I am sure the 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros will be made thinner and lighter in time for January.
If Apple decides to stick with a two tier range, it may simply revamp the existing MacBook line-up and add the super-thin 13-incher to the MacBook Pro range.
But anyone who thinks an 8-inch or 10-inch mac makes sense is probably smoking dope.
It sees in only two color: Basic consumer and Pro.
Which is why consumers have as much chance of seeing a 10-12" ultra-portable as they do a 15.4 or 17inch Macbook. Neither are going to happen in the near or distant future. Apple doesn't change their product line based on what consumers want, it changes based on that Steve Jobs thinks we want.
I expect the 10" Macbook to be introduced at the same time as the mid tower, never.
All I want is a Sony Vaio TX with an Mac OS. The Sony is perfect: 11.1 in screen, 1.19 kg, optical drive included, etc. I suppose they could go to a 12.1 in screen, but otherwise, what more could one ask for except the Mac OS. Come on Steve, if Sony can do it, Apple should be able to.
For the last time, that's not the reason sales in Japan are down. People in Japan simply aren't buying computers like they used to. It's not high on their priority lilst.
Then why does every Japanese manufacturer make one (8"-10")?- Duh?
Apple's currently selling a 13" portable, so why can't this simply be new LED backlit LCDs to replace the CCFLs in the current MacBook line. In other words, what in this story implies a new portable? I'm missing something here. Sure, I always like to see new Apple hardware, but nothing in this story implies that.
... I barely notice the weight, either. Apple is not in the market of making folding keyboards, though.
Apple might not be in to folding keyboards but they are into operating systems. If they could get on the ball with their "i" devices and finish Mac OS/X Mobile with a fleshed out Bluetooth stack keyboards would not be a problem on theses sorts of devices. I'm sure about a half dozen companies would be marketing their BlueTooth keyboards to the "i" device market within days.
Quote:
If the 13 inch rumor is true, then I hope we will see a return of the Duo: a light portable unit that has the basics and a powerful base station to plug into when you get home.
Personally I hate the Base station concept so I disagree with that idea. The more the rumors come in though the more I have to believe that this is a MacBook Pro machine and not what many of us are looking for. It just doesn't sound like a low cost laptop to me any more - I do hope I'm wrong.
The few folks I know who have ultraportables use a dock with an external monitor, keyboard, etc. whenever they can. The built-in screen is for field work, or in airplanes, and such. So while the complaint that an ultraportable's screen is too small for "actual work" is valid, people do as little "actual work" on the ultraportable as possible - for "actual work" they dock it.
I have to wonder what these sorts of people do in the field with their laptop. In my case a slightly more powerful iPhone type device would serve my purposes better than the arrangement described above. The problem with docking laptops, at least the Dells at work, is that they really don't dock well. Generally you have to shut them down before docking or undocking if you expect things to work correctly.
With the right iPhone2 and a few software apps, the whole need for a laptop in the field would go away. One can then go back to installing desktop machines and reap the benefits of better hardware on the desktop. What really frustrates me to no end is that Apple is really very close with iPhone now, a slightly better screen and a bit of reworking the computer and it would be a go.
Quote:
I think 13.3" is too big for a true ultraportable, but if Apple can make it thin, light, and strong enough, and couple it with a powerful docking station, they may have a winner.
Well it won't be what I'm looking for either. As to winners I won't declare anything until I see the device. But, the 13.3 screen anything strikes me as to big for anything I want at the moment.
Quote:
- Jasen.
The good thing is that we have little over a month to go and the month in question is one that goes fast.
I find most of the above comments utterly useless and stupid.
And what you provide below isn't?
Quote:
Apple has clearly done its market research before investing in such a new product. As a business user, anyone who uses Word/ Pages, PowerPoint/ Keynote, Excel/ Numbers, any professional design/ imaging program, or database software, needs a minimum of a 13-inch screen to be able to use these common applications properly.
Here we go again with somebody trying to imprint their particular usage upon the general population. The biggest mistake here is that you assume that every business user makes use of the above applications, wither singularly or in combination. Many don't so your argument means nothing. Further many a good businessman has the ability to adapt to the tools at hand.
Quote:
If you only need an email system, basic web browsing and a phone, well then you've got theiPhone.
An iPhone like device might even cut the mustard for some of us if the right combination of features where introduced. In its current rev though the iPhone is a bit less than what is needed.
Quote:
As good as the MacBook is, it is much heavier and more bulky than existing products like the Sony VAIO SZ series, which is incredibly light and powerful and comes with - yes, a 13-inch screen. If Apple can produce a thinner, lighter version of the MacBook, it will sell like hot cakes.
I'm not sure what the problem with the size (mass) of the current Mac Book line is, they aren't that bad. This is America and I do expect people to be healthy enough to pick up a laptop of a few pounds.
Quote:
The real unknown is whether it will come with an integral DVD drive.
That is a given. More so though is the though of exactly what is coming. Everybody is wrapped up in a new notebook computer, but the possibilities are more than just a notebook.
Quote:
It may be that Apple plans to relaunch its laptop range to encompass a single family of machines. Whether this is the case, or not, I am sure the 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros will be made thinner and lighter in time for January.
Or in traditional Apple fashion they could milk the Mac Books for a bit longer. The Mac Book Pros are certainly past due for a refresh but I don't see the lines merging.
Quote:
If Apple decides to stick with a two tier range, it may simply revamp the existing MacBook line-up and add the super-thin 13-incher to the MacBook Pro range.
That would be a good guess. The other guess would be that this device somehow incorporates MultiTouch and Apple thus creates a third product in the line up. I see this as more than a reasonable possibility and depends very much on how far they have come with Touch technology. This would give them a platform to ease people into the newer man machine interfaces. Making a to radical of a change all at once would not be good for Apple's customer base.
Quote:
But anyone who thinks an 8-inch or 10-inch mac makes sense is probably smoking dope.
Not at all they just have a different set of needs than you . This shouldn't be hard to understand.
and i agree with you on this. If i could get an iPhone with full Quickview (being able to view spreadsheets and documents) with 64GB of flash storage, i would not need a notebook. I want to check my mail, surf the web, download and view my images, music and movies. Let me wirelessly connect my camera for downloads, have a few simple games and I'm in.
I don't think in todays time i need a notebook to do this. And yes, i can see what is happening in Japan to happen here with the texting generation also.
It has nothing to do with size or weight exclusively.
They are two different concepts, the first is your interpretation of the idea and not the current generally accepted use in the computer industry. The second, the currently accepted class of notebooks is determined by the weight and size. The generally accepted range of the class of devices is approximately 10-12" screen and 2 to 4 lb.
Quote:
The rest of the industry is making ultra-portables that are ultra-underpowered and ultra-unproductive.
By your measure, the iPhone should be considered completely useless. It's too underpowered to do anything useful or productive.
I find this assertion to be troubling because it's not really true. It's less powerful than the higher wattage chips (1/2 to 2/3rds the clock), but the point isn't to cram maximum gigaflops, because cramming extra gigaflops sucks battery life, and requires big batteries. Ultraportables aren't intended to do solid modeling, movie rendering or anything like that. If you're just doing documents, email, listening to music, or even watching movies, a 2.6GHz CPU is plain overkill, a 1.5GHz ULV chip can do that with far better battery life, making it more useful away from the plug.
Quote:
I believe Apple will deliver an ultra-portable that is powerful and feature-packed.
It will have a usable keyboard, a good size screen, ample horsepower and battery life.
I wouldn't be surprised if business people bought it in droves and many ran Windows on it.
I think you're smoking too much of something. Apple can't afford to have modern computer CPUs and computer chipsets made specially for them, they pull from the same pool as everyone else.
Apple's ultra-portable should be an 11" Mac touch®
Displays are for newly-designed, aluminum, consumer MacBooks
I am a bit confused. Isn't the Newton supposed to be the ultraportable?!
Speaking about ultraportable. This brings back memories of the first iPod introduction where Steve was talking about portable (the iBook) and ultraportable (the iPod).
The article seems to suggest that there's a notable maturation of the computer buyer market. The first example used said that the owner already had a three year old computer. Computers just don't need to be replaced very often, it's not like they all die young and it's not as if everyone has a compelling reason to buy a new computer every three years. Heck, earlier this year, I just replaced an old Xeon workstation that I gave my dad. It was 9 years old, and still functioned fine. I replaced it with a three year old computer that my sister's workplace was decommissioning and it's more than he needs, so it should serve him for quite some time.
The problem with docking laptops, at least the Dells at work, is that they really don't dock well. Generally you have to shut them down before docking or undocking if you expect things to work correctly.
So you're against docking just because the very limited examples you've seen were poorly executed? That's a very poor argument. That makes as much sense as saying the iPod would suck because the Nomad sucked.
I have docks for my notebook and they work fine. One dock even had PCI slots, which worked fine with PCI cards.
Comments
Displays are for newly-designed, aluminum, consumer MacBooks
Apple's ultra-portable should be an 11" Mac touch®
Displays are for newly-designed, aluminum, consumer MacBooks
Sha-BAM
Apple has clearly done its market research before investing in such a new product. As a business user, anyone who uses Word/ Pages, PowerPoint/ Keynote, Excel/ Numbers, any professional design/ imaging program, or database software, needs a minimum of a 13-inch screen to be able to use these common applications properly.
If you only need an email system, basic web browsing and a phone, well then you've got theiPhone.
As good as the MacBook is, it is much heavier and more bulky than existing products like the Sony VAIO SZ series, which is incredibly light and powerful and comes with - yes, a 13-inch screen. If Apple can produce a thinner, lighter version of the MacBook, it will sell like hot cakes.
The real unknown is whether it will come with an integral DVD drive.
It may be that Apple plans to relaunch its laptop range to encompass a single family of machines. Whether this is the case, or not, I am sure the 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros will be made thinner and lighter in time for January.
If Apple decides to stick with a two tier range, it may simply revamp the existing MacBook line-up and add the super-thin 13-incher to the MacBook Pro range.
But anyone who thinks an 8-inch or 10-inch mac makes sense is probably smoking dope.
I find most of the above comments utterly useless and stupid.
We disagree. You did say "most" though
It may be that Apple plans to relaunch its laptop range to encompass a single family of machines.
Wow, how original
But anyone who thinks an 8-inch or 10-inch mac makes sense is probably smoking dope.
I said 11". Have you ever heard of a place called Asia?
Maybe you reference smoking dope, cause you smoke "Tailpipe"
It sees in only two color: Basic consumer and Pro.
Which is why consumers have as much chance of seeing a 10-12" ultra-portable as they do a 15.4 or 17inch Macbook. Neither are going to happen in the near or distant future. Apple doesn't change their product line based on what consumers want, it changes based on that Steve Jobs thinks we want.
I expect the 10" Macbook to be introduced at the same time as the mid tower, never.
For the last time, that's not the reason sales in Japan are down. People in Japan simply aren't buying computers like they used to. It's not high on their priority lilst.
Then why does every Japanese manufacturer make one (8"-10")?- Duh?
Hahahahahahaha
How true.
No- How condescending.
... I barely notice the weight, either. Apple is not in the market of making folding keyboards, though.
Apple might not be in to folding keyboards but they are into operating systems. If they could get on the ball with their "i" devices and finish Mac OS/X Mobile with a fleshed out Bluetooth stack keyboards would not be a problem on theses sorts of devices. I'm sure about a half dozen companies would be marketing their BlueTooth keyboards to the "i" device market within days.
If the 13 inch rumor is true, then I hope we will see a return of the Duo: a light portable unit that has the basics and a powerful base station to plug into when you get home.
Personally I hate the Base station concept so I disagree with that idea. The more the rumors come in though the more I have to believe that this is a MacBook Pro machine and not what many of us are looking for. It just doesn't sound like a low cost laptop to me any more - I do hope I'm wrong.
Dave
The few folks I know who have ultraportables use a dock with an external monitor, keyboard, etc. whenever they can. The built-in screen is for field work, or in airplanes, and such. So while the complaint that an ultraportable's screen is too small for "actual work" is valid, people do as little "actual work" on the ultraportable as possible - for "actual work" they dock it.
I have to wonder what these sorts of people do in the field with their laptop. In my case a slightly more powerful iPhone type device would serve my purposes better than the arrangement described above. The problem with docking laptops, at least the Dells at work, is that they really don't dock well. Generally you have to shut them down before docking or undocking if you expect things to work correctly.
With the right iPhone2 and a few software apps, the whole need for a laptop in the field would go away. One can then go back to installing desktop machines and reap the benefits of better hardware on the desktop. What really frustrates me to no end is that Apple is really very close with iPhone now, a slightly better screen and a bit of reworking the computer and it would be a go.
I think 13.3" is too big for a true ultraportable, but if Apple can make it thin, light, and strong enough, and couple it with a powerful docking station, they may have a winner.
Well it won't be what I'm looking for either. As to winners I won't declare anything until I see the device. But, the 13.3 screen anything strikes me as to big for anything I want at the moment.
- Jasen.
The good thing is that we have little over a month to go and the month in question is one that goes fast.
Dave
I find most of the above comments utterly useless and stupid.
And what you provide below isn't?
Apple has clearly done its market research before investing in such a new product. As a business user, anyone who uses Word/ Pages, PowerPoint/ Keynote, Excel/ Numbers, any professional design/ imaging program, or database software, needs a minimum of a 13-inch screen to be able to use these common applications properly.
Here we go again with somebody trying to imprint their particular usage upon the general population. The biggest mistake here is that you assume that every business user makes use of the above applications, wither singularly or in combination. Many don't so your argument means nothing. Further many a good businessman has the ability to adapt to the tools at hand.
If you only need an email system, basic web browsing and a phone, well then you've got theiPhone.
An iPhone like device might even cut the mustard for some of us if the right combination of features where introduced. In its current rev though the iPhone is a bit less than what is needed.
As good as the MacBook is, it is much heavier and more bulky than existing products like the Sony VAIO SZ series, which is incredibly light and powerful and comes with - yes, a 13-inch screen. If Apple can produce a thinner, lighter version of the MacBook, it will sell like hot cakes.
I'm not sure what the problem with the size (mass) of the current Mac Book line is, they aren't that bad. This is America and I do expect people to be healthy enough to pick up a laptop of a few pounds.
The real unknown is whether it will come with an integral DVD drive.
That is a given. More so though is the though of exactly what is coming. Everybody is wrapped up in a new notebook computer, but the possibilities are more than just a notebook.
It may be that Apple plans to relaunch its laptop range to encompass a single family of machines. Whether this is the case, or not, I am sure the 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros will be made thinner and lighter in time for January.
Or in traditional Apple fashion they could milk the Mac Books for a bit longer. The Mac Book Pros are certainly past due for a refresh but I don't see the lines merging.
If Apple decides to stick with a two tier range, it may simply revamp the existing MacBook line-up and add the super-thin 13-incher to the MacBook Pro range.
That would be a good guess. The other guess would be that this device somehow incorporates MultiTouch and Apple thus creates a third product in the line up. I see this as more than a reasonable possibility and depends very much on how far they have come with Touch technology. This would give them a platform to ease people into the newer man machine interfaces. Making a to radical of a change all at once would not be good for Apple's customer base.
But anyone who thinks an 8-inch or 10-inch mac makes sense is probably smoking dope.
Not at all they just have a different set of needs than you . This shouldn't be hard to understand.
Dave
I continue to be puzzled by this use of "ultra-portable" and "13-inch" in the same sentence.
You shouldn't be.
Ultra-portable means very easy to carry.
It has nothing to do with size or weight exclusively.
The rest of the industry is making ultra-portables that are ultra-underpowered and ultra-unproductive.
I believe Apple will deliver an ultra-portable that is powerful and feature-packed.
It will have a usable keyboard, a good size screen, ample horsepower and battery life.
I wouldn't be surprised if business people bought it in droves and many ran Windows on it.
Apple's ultra-portable should be an 11" Mac touch®
Displays are for newly-designed, aluminum, consumer MacBooks
And they should call it the MacSlappy.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/...partner=alerts
There you go.
and i agree with you on this. If i could get an iPhone with full Quickview (being able to view spreadsheets and documents) with 64GB of flash storage, i would not need a notebook. I want to check my mail, surf the web, download and view my images, music and movies. Let me wirelessly connect my camera for downloads, have a few simple games and I'm in.
I don't think in todays time i need a notebook to do this. And yes, i can see what is happening in Japan to happen here with the texting generation also.
Then why does every Japanese manufacturer make one (8"-10")?- Duh?
Read the article in the like I posted.
Ultra-portable means very easy to carry.
It has nothing to do with size or weight exclusively.
They are two different concepts, the first is your interpretation of the idea and not the current generally accepted use in the computer industry. The second, the currently accepted class of notebooks is determined by the weight and size. The generally accepted range of the class of devices is approximately 10-12" screen and 2 to 4 lb.
The rest of the industry is making ultra-portables that are ultra-underpowered and ultra-unproductive.
By your measure, the iPhone should be considered completely useless. It's too underpowered to do anything useful or productive.
I find this assertion to be troubling because it's not really true. It's less powerful than the higher wattage chips (1/2 to 2/3rds the clock), but the point isn't to cram maximum gigaflops, because cramming extra gigaflops sucks battery life, and requires big batteries. Ultraportables aren't intended to do solid modeling, movie rendering or anything like that. If you're just doing documents, email, listening to music, or even watching movies, a 2.6GHz CPU is plain overkill, a 1.5GHz ULV chip can do that with far better battery life, making it more useful away from the plug.
I believe Apple will deliver an ultra-portable that is powerful and feature-packed.
It will have a usable keyboard, a good size screen, ample horsepower and battery life.
I wouldn't be surprised if business people bought it in droves and many ran Windows on it.
I think you're smoking too much of something. Apple can't afford to have modern computer CPUs and computer chipsets made specially for them, they pull from the same pool as everyone else.
Apple's ultra-portable should be an 11" Mac touch®
Displays are for newly-designed, aluminum, consumer MacBooks
I am a bit confused. Isn't the Newton supposed to be the ultraportable?!
Speaking about ultraportable. This brings back memories of the first iPod introduction where Steve was talking about portable (the iBook) and ultraportable (the iPod).
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/...partner=alerts
There you go.
The article seems to suggest that there's a notable maturation of the computer buyer market. The first example used said that the owner already had a three year old computer. Computers just don't need to be replaced very often, it's not like they all die young and it's not as if everyone has a compelling reason to buy a new computer every three years. Heck, earlier this year, I just replaced an old Xeon workstation that I gave my dad. It was 9 years old, and still functioned fine. I replaced it with a three year old computer that my sister's workplace was decommissioning and it's more than he needs, so it should serve him for quite some time.
The problem with docking laptops, at least the Dells at work, is that they really don't dock well. Generally you have to shut them down before docking or undocking if you expect things to work correctly.
So you're against docking just because the very limited examples you've seen were poorly executed? That's a very poor argument. That makes as much sense as saying the iPod would suck because the Nomad sucked.
I have docks for my notebook and they work fine. One dock even had PCI slots, which worked fine with PCI cards.