October macbook event....what is the mysterious...BRICK?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Ok, the rumor is all over the net right now but for those apple noobs who couldn't buy a clue here is a quickie story on it:

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/we...omments/18464/



Google for more on the subject.



Anyways, what do you all think the brick could be? A popular theory suggests it could be an updated mac mini or perhaps a mini-notebook.

But could it be that Apple would debut an apple tablet device on October 14th as a "one more thing"? That would be awesome because that day happens to be my birthday! Booyaaaaa! Gonna take that day off work plus the day before is already a holiday....plus gonna take off the friday making it a 5 day weekend ending with an apple keynote!! OH YEAH!!!!!



........but I digress. \

Yes it would be awesome to end the weekend seeing Steve debut a mac tablet but if Apple were to do that then what would that leave them to wow the public come Macworld 2009?



Opinions?
«134567

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 124
    I personally don't see the Mini making an appearance at a 'Macbook' event.



    I'm all for the Mac Touch, but is the world ready for that? Are Apple ready for it?
  • Reply 2 of 124
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Don't fall for this "brick" hype guys, it's balls.



    If someone mentions it may be the new mini I'll jump through my screen and choke them!



    As for Mac touch, July 2009! (shipping with snow Leopard)



    "A layer of snow falls on the Mac."
  • Reply 3 of 124
    macroninmacronin Posts: 1,174member
    I'm ready for it…!
  • Reply 4 of 124
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    Don't fall for this "brick" hype guys, it's balls.



    If someone mentions it may be the new mini I'll jump through my screen and choke them!



    As for Mac touch, July 2009! (shipping with snow Leopard)



    "A layer of snow falls on the Mac."



    No, something tells me that the codename: "brick" is in fact something real will indeed be at the October event. Its just a question of what. Yeah Fish I agree that it shouldn't be a mac-mini.

    Look at the ipod event. No matter how much we cried Steve still did not decide to mix product lines and debut notebooks at his music event. So if this new event is really on noteboooks then it would be notebook based products alone. This would give support for a tablet perhaps. But dang nabbit wouldn't it make sense to debut such a product at MacWorld?

    Follow me now........if they DO debut the tablet in October then that would mean something uber SPECTACULAR and earth shaking would HAVE to debut at the following MacWorld......I mean right? \
  • Reply 5 of 124
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Olternaut View Post


    then that would mean something uber SPECTACULAR and earth shaking would HAVE to debut at the following MacWorld......I mean right? \



    Maybe it'll be the Apple Television.
  • Reply 6 of 124
    How about a new Mac 'netbook'? A smaller notebook, smaller than the MacBook.



    People always assume that the mystical tablet Mac is a Mac. I'd rather say it's an iPod/iPhone, i.e. runs Mac OS iPhone edition, not a full-featured Mac OS X.



    With the tablet being a big iPod touch, there's room for a smaller, 'real' Mac netbook that can run Mac applications and has a real keyboard.

    Think successor of the PowerBook 12" - but smaller even. Perhaps not in keyboard width but in height by using a 16:9 aspect ratio screen.
  • Reply 7 of 124
    I disagree. I believe that it'll be a Mac Touch with an 10"/11" screen with the full OS.
  • Reply 8 of 124
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Fishyesque View Post


    I believe that it'll be a Mac Touch with an 10"/11" screen with the full OS.



    But we know that the current Mac OS X doesn't integrate multitouch as well as OS X iPhone does. The trackpad has it, but GUI widgets, checkboxes, popups etc. are not yet suitable for touch entry. This better integration is planned for Snow Leopard.

    At which point it would make more sense to introduce a Mac Touch when Snow Leopard ships - June 2009 or so. No?
  • Reply 9 of 124
    Correct.

    Which is why I don't expect it until next year.



    So I'm terribly confused as what this could be.



    It can't be the Mini, it's a Notebook event.



    ...but I just CAN'T see them introducing another type of notebook.



    Though I'll most likely be more than happy with whatever surprises come.
  • Reply 10 of 124
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Fishyesque View Post


    I disagree. I believe that it'll be a Mac Touch with an 10"/11" screen with the full OS.



    Hey hey!



    What FTW!?
  • Reply 11 of 124
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Fishyesque View Post


    It can't be the Mini, it's a Notebook event.



    Hmmm, maybe the 'brick' is a new mini after all?



    - all agree the current Mac mini needs an update



    - technically the mini is a notebook, even more so than the iMac



    - code name 'brick' fits the Mac mini quite well





    There is not really any category the mini fits in with.

    Introducing a new Mac mini together with a new Mac Pro doesn't make much sense either. Even together with an iMac doesn't really work as it would take the focus away from the iMac, being a headless, cheaper iMac.

    Inroducing it with new notebooks is perhaps as good as any.



    And perhaps they are updating it well enough to be a new generation, not merely a slight update.





    Other than that I can only think of new monitors, a new 30" with DisplayPort, or even larger, that could be considered 'brick'.

    New monitors perhaps?
  • Reply 12 of 124
    The Mini is a notebook??







    Now if you had said

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hobBIT View Post


    - technically the mini is an inferior desktop



    then that might be a bit more accurate.
  • Reply 13 of 124
    The Mac mini uses a notebook motherboard, it uses notebook chipsets, it uses 2.5" notebook drives and even comes with a notebook style external power supply (what serious desktop computer has an external power supply?).

    It is technically a notebook - just in a 'tiny desktop' shell.
  • Reply 14 of 124
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hobBIT View Post


    The Mac mini uses a notebook motherboard, it uses notebook chipsets, it uses 2.5" notebook drives and even comes with a notebook style external power supply (what serious desktop computer has an external power supply?).

    It is technically a notebook - just in a 'tiny desktop' shell.



    Mac.......micro?



    Until we know for sure....ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY BRICK!!!
  • Reply 15 of 124
    If it's a Mac mini then it's a substantial redesign. Apple would not make any kind of splash announcement of a new mini along with a new MacBook intro if it was little more than a specification update.
  • Reply 16 of 124
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    They said it was going to be a 'one more thing' so it won't be released at the event.



    Is it possible that they could fit the Mini parts into the power brick itself? A bit bigger obviously as it has to fit a hard drive in it. Well unless the HD somehow goes elsewhere so that when you upgrade your brick, your HD and data stay the same. Firewire 400 external is as fast as an internal so it's possible to do this.



    You could have a power cable coming out of it to drive the display and a DVI connector or preferrably displayport. Can displayport transmit power?



    They'd need some sort of hub coming out of it for ports and things though.



    This way they could transition the iMac and Mini line into an all-in-one but get rid of the biggest complaint about the iMac, which is not being able to choose your own display. They can then sell more Cinema displays, which may come bundled with an optical drive.



    It would be tricky to pull off and they'd need some serious motherboard redesign but it would be a pretty amazing feat. Dell already have Mini-sized computers so Apple need to go to the next level.



    "Computer, what computer? We just need a power supply. Introducing the iBrick"



    I don't see it happening myself but it would be very cool and cost effective for businesses. Especially if it left the hard drive external because if a computer blew, simply plug in another brick and there's is absolutely zero setup required. If a hard drive crashed, send it away for recovery and plug in another drive to the same brick. If the display goes down, again plug the brick into something else. Down-time for any scenario is almost zero.



    I could see it limiting the hardware choices but let's face it, we're now at a point where dual 2.5GHz processors can go in nearly every model. For the consumer line, that is enough. The 2.8GHz iMacs are pretty fast and a quad mobile CPU is just round the corner.



    For dimensions, if you take out the optical drive and HD from the Mini, cut the motherboard in half and add it to the current brick, that's a pretty small computer. It would probably be best to keep the hard drive inside there though so it can only be as small as a 2.5" external but that's still just the size of your hand.



    That would kick ass as a netboot render farm. If each had 4GB Ram, you could store all the data each node required in memory and you'd fit about two in the space of a standard Mini.
  • Reply 17 of 124
    A netbook wouldn't make sense as the Air basically is a netbook, albeit an expensive one...



    The Mac Mini (xMac, whatever) does make sense as it is kind of like a brick



    A tablet would make sense as well, however I dunno how the code name "brick" suits a tablet... Would fit in with any type of Mac really, so it would fit in with a notebook event.



    I would like it to be a new Mac Mini since they needed an update even before the 'Books.
  • Reply 18 of 124
    I hope it's actually a brick.



    The brick I have is old, dirt-red, chipped, and heavy. Apple could design a brick way better.
  • Reply 19 of 124
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NotScott View Post


    I hope it's actually a brick.



    The brick I have is old, dirt-red, chipped, and heavy. Apple could design a brick way better.



    Also hoping that Apple releases the most luxurious brick man has ever seen.



    This is not the sort of brick you build a house with. This is the kind of brick you put on a table and stare at for hours, asking yourself "Why? Why am I so unfulfilled?"
  • Reply 20 of 124
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
Sign In or Register to comment.