Apple Sub Notebook Hints: External Optical Drive, MultiTouch Trackpad?

What i want

I think that the the sub-notebook (Macbook Mini) Should have an open bay on the bottom so that different accessories can be inserted in and taken out when needed, such as:

An optical drive can be put in when needed

Another hard drive for maybe TimeMachine

A second battery for the long trips

or anything else a person wants.

4 minutes until the new year and here I am checking out Apple rumors. ^_^ I'm such a geek. I hope these rumors do come true I was looking forward to upgrading my 1st gen MacBook the last go around in October(November?) but so little was changed I couldn't justify a purchase, and put off a purchase for my SO also. Hopefully after MacWorld i can get her a laptop and maybe me a new one too. Although I was thinking about waiting until mid next year when something is running the Nehalem stuff from Intel.

Happy New Years everyone!

People won't whine about the external drive. People will whine because it will just be a combo drive and it will be 2008.

Waiting for 2 weeks is killing me!!

I just broke my old dell laptop...so I want to finally get my macbook, but I know in 2 weeks Apple is coming out with something big...I CAN'T WAIT!!! I can't wait for the new laptop!

Notice how quietly the Macbooks got updated...Apple didn't even grant the notable santa rosa chipset change a public announcement. While the update didn't dramatically change performance, I think the way Apple treated this update has something to do with the new laptops. I don't know how it's going to affect Macbook sales, but I'm sure Steve is going to either put emphasis on a new Mac Pro update and/or these new laptops. The pro's need updates badly, and I doubt that they will go overlooked at Macworld.

1) I think the iTunes Disney fox movie rental deal makes more sense now. People use the optical drives for very little on the road except for movies while sitting in airplanes. Now there is an easy way to get movies for the DVD-less ultraportable.

2) current macbooks have a multitouch trackpad. At least it is capable of sensing two touches. Wouldn't it be a 10.5 feature rather than a hardware feature to have multitouch a and if so why cant all macbooks get this feature as a leopard update? If a new hardware multitouch pad is coming out wouldn't we know about it because of some hidden code in leopard right now?

Stella said:

I hope Apple update the Macbook PRo with the new processor and track pad. Apple also better ship better quality displays too ( re: yellow screens ).

I'd be horrified if Mac Pro's went untouched.

It would be great if the MBP screen could be detached and thus turn itself into a mobile device.... however, you'd need ( lots of ) solid state ram or a hard disc somewhere for storage.

How many people would miss an integrated DVD drive inside a laptop these days? What percentage of people use their DVD drive on a regular basis ( measured in days )? Personally, I don't see an external CD player as a big issue.

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I agree that the MBP line could use a bit of refreshment, outside of the standard processor bump, and it would be lunacy to not re-vamp the Mac Pro line. That said, I'd expect to see those most likely being announced in February or at the very least at the end of January, given the traditional consumer orientation of MacWorld. Centre stage on the 15th is going to be the iPhone (probably with a 3G [4G?] model being announced along with rev. 1.1.3) and the new thin portable. I only say this to alleviate any disappointment when the pro line is not mentioned.

It's gonna be slow. Every true ultraportable (11.1" or smaller) has an ultralow voltage chip in them.

For example, this notebook by Sony is $3,599 AUD, and it has a 1.2GHz chip.

If you're looking for power, get a MacBook.

MarlboroLite said:

what about the processor of this thing? is it gonna be underpowered?

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It's Apple... of course !!

notjustjay said:

New laptop, or plasma TV? Decisions, decisions.

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You mean LCD or Laser right ?

KindredMAC said:

If ditching the Optical Drive could make my laptop smaller and lighter and possibly make more room for heat sinks then I am all for it.

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Heat sinks, haha... this is Apple not Dell. In the quest for the thinnest laptops, heat sinks were discarded long ago

Wayfarer said:

I just bought a brand new 2.2ghz SR Macbook last week. Just waiting for it to deliver right now.

Is it likely Apple would refresh the regular Macbook line so soon?

Otherwise I'd be feeling severe buyers remorse, having last year's Macbook model.

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You should never feel bad over your purchase, if you'd bought a MB the day it was released, it'd still be replaced 6 months later. However you bought it because it works for you... so it'll still work for you, it just wont be the new product.

Besides, Rev. A always has bugs, you don't want that.

airjuggernaut said:

Damn it, I just got a Macbook 4 days ago -_-

I thought it would be a MBP only update

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It'll likely be a new product, not really bridging the gap, but taking aspects of both existing lines and leaving them the same.

Stella said:

How many people would miss an integrated DVD drive inside a laptop these days? What percentage of people use their DVD drive on a regular basis ( measured in days )? Personally, I don't see an external CD player as a big issue.

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Not me, I rarely use my optical drive, usually just downloading my music (legally) and software. There are occasions where I rip a CD or install some CD-bound software, but those occasions are few and far between now, so using that space (I know not likely) for battery or storage or cooling would be much better.

wakka092 said:

A Bluetooth optical drive with a on/off switch and a Li-ion poly battery would be amazing.

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Would that have enough bandwidth for DVD movies and such ? What about when they include Blu-ray, would it have the bandwidth then ?

Chadder said:

I think that the the sub-notebook (Macbook Mini) Should have an open bay on the bottom so that different accessories can be inserted in and taken out when needed, such as:

An optical drive can be put in when needed

Another hard drive for maybe TimeMachine

A second battery for the long trips

or anything else a person wants.

Click to expand...

It wouldn't really be a sub-notebook then would it, as it'd be exactly the same size with a huge hole in it screwing up the balance most of the time.

gcmexico said:

I just broke my old dell laptop...so I want to finally get my macbook, but I know in 2 weeks Apple is coming out with something big...I CAN'T WAIT!!! I can't wait for the new laptop!

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Prepare to be disappointed then.

zub3qin said:

2) current macbooks have a multitouch trackpad. At least it is capable of sensing two touches. Wouldn't it be a 10.5 feature rather than a hardware feature to have multitouch a and if so why cant all macbooks get this feature as a leopard update? If a new hardware multitouch pad is coming out wouldn't we know about it because of some hidden code in leopard right now?

Click to expand...

Well 10.5.2 hasn't been released yet, quite possible they kept the code out of everything else for a change.

The reason current trackpads can't have an update, because it's Apple, and they sell new hardware, not upgrade the features of old hardware.

ricksbrain said:

Anyone recall the recent patent for collapsing usb and firewire ports? This thing could be really, really thin...

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I'll definitely be waiting out revision A then

wakka092 said:

A Bluetooth optical drive with a on/off switch and a Li-ion poly battery would be amazing.

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Isn't bluetooth slower than USB though, I just think that while that would be good if it worked at all it would be painfully slow.

airjuggernaut said:

Damn it, I just got a Macbook 4 days ago

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Tip for the newbies: Never, EVER buy a Mac just prior to MacWorld. You either get a better offering for the same price, or you get a chance to save hundreds on what you just ordered yesterday.

Anyone recall the recent patent for collapsing usb and firewire ports? This thing could be really, really thin...

Even though I won't be buying, it is always exciting to see what Apple comes up with.

Guys, it's not going to have an external optical drive.. Reason being is as follows.. Apple hates attached accessories, etc. Just think about the iMac with a wireless mouse and keyboard.. You have nothing except power.. They even criticize others for doing stuff like that.. Second, don't you remember that weird patent which showed a optical drive on the bottom of the notebook? Of course the picture was stupid, but patent pics usually are.. I think they are going to do something innovative with the optical drive no one has ever done before.. Having said that.. I wouldn't mind if the drive was external since you don't use it much anyway..

this is so exciting!!! this seems so accurate/cool to me! here's hoping and praying for all the notebook line to be updated!!!
peace

-FCA

Presumably there will be a top line model that has 100gb of RAM 'hard drive', or whatever it is they are calling it now.

With no optical and no hard drive it should have 6 hours battery life - maybe more.
Plus its going to be light and maybe have a 12" screen.

Its going to be $3k - aaaargh! I HAVE to have one.

BUT - if they bring out a 16 gb iPhone - what am I going to do?

Probably the iPhone - wait until Rev. 2 for the laptop.

January 15th 2008 - another exciting Apple day!

zub3qin said:

1)
2) current macbooks have a multitouch trackpad. At least it is capable of sensing two touches. Wouldn't it be a 10.5 feature rather than a hardware feature to have multitouch a and if so why cant all macbooks get this feature as a leopard update? If a new hardware multitouch pad is coming out wouldn't we know about it because of some hidden code in leopard right now?

Click to expand...

Maybe Arn or someone else could provide some clarification on that. What is meant by "multitouch" trackpad in terms of functionality?

Since Mac portables have had multitouch for a while now, we must be talking about some new functionality or utilization and I have never been able to get a clear picture of what it means.

BornAgainMac said:

People won't whine about the external drive. People will whine because it will just be a combo drive and it will be 2008.

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That's the truth right there brother.

Seriously though I use my optical drive WAY too much to even consider leaving it off. If Apple does take the drive out of this ultra portable then the book had better do something wonderful to make it better than the VAIOs that already have what everyone wants and still manages to keep a full working DL DVD burner on board. It would have been a nice machine to go with my 17" MBP with multi-touch trackpad and dual HDD and 512MB GFX card.

That and the new Mac Pro had better be the other topics this coming
Mac World. I am tired of seeing new kiddy toys being introduced by Apple. Time for the heavy duty professional stuff that can actually make my job easier and my bag a little lighter.

telegix said:

Guys, it's not going to have an external optical drive.. Reason being is as follows.. Apple hates attached accessories, etc. Just think about the iMac with a wireless mouse and keyboard.. You have nothing except power.. They even criticize others for doing stuff like that.. Second, don't you remember that weird patent which showed a optical drive on the bottom of the notebook? Of course the picture was stupid, but patent pics usually are.. I think they are going to do something innovative with the optical drive no one has ever done before.. Having said that.. I wouldn't mind if the drive was external since you don't use it much anyway..

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Removing the optical drive completely is one of the steps to making a completely thin sub-notebook, and Apple is known for trying to set standards when it comes to computer thickness. Apple patents tons of technologies that never get used or possibly don't get used for a while, so the patent itself means little. Not to mention that the little flap thingy looks pretty lame for an Apple design.

Other than that, I trust MacRumors' sources more than guessing. Obviously they don't just post every little tip that's sent in or this site wouldn't be what it is right now.

External optical drive is actually blu-ray and also plugs into the AppleTV.

Now that'd be something...

My guess is it won't include the external drive, but you'll be able to buy it for $150 as an optional accessory. They'll rip you off with it just like they rip off people who want the modem attachment.

MacRumors said:

This detachable external drive would allow customers to read/write from CDs or DVDs as usual, but would allow users to leave this extra bulk at home when on the road.

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You left your optical drive at home and now you need to install a program?



DANGER, Will Robinson. DANGER!

This could be the time to replace my iBook (It has served me well for over 4 years now).
I´m all for an external optical drive as long as it´s portable enough to bring along of needed.

As another poster said, I´m inclined to belive they won´t release a notebook with an external though. It´s not very Apple like.
Then again, they could have made something clever as they tend to do.

Looking forward to Mac World 08

kainjow said:

My guess is it won't include the external drive, but you'll be able to buy it for $150 as an optional accessory. They'll rip you off with it just like they rip off people who want the modem attachment.

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It will be included as part of the package.It has to be if one expects to re-install Leopard or boot from the DVD for restore and diagnostics purposes.

Of course Leopard could come on a 5GB flash drive.

Christian H said:

Notice how quietly the Macbooks got updated...Apple didn't even grant the notable santa rosa chipset change a public announcement. While the update didn't dramatically change performance, I think the way Apple treated this update has something to do with the new laptops.

Click to expand...

Doubt it. Apple did the same thing when they updated the MBP in June and the MB in May.